Reading between the lines of the job descriptions, coming from someone who has sent out a bazillion resumes in the last few months.
- Any time a job takes applicants from any major, they want you to sell something. Stop reading the job description now.
- “Some keyboard familiarity a plus” = “Mindless”
- Pay range: “depends on applicant skill level.” You could just say “commission based” and everyone would get the point.
- “Exciting opportunity to work closely with team managers.” Did you want to make copies or go to Starbucks today?
- Be cautious with jobs that seek people with “exceptional business and/or engineering experience,” as that tends to mean “we really want people with the technical abilities of engineers but without all the strange social behaviors that seem to breed in the science lab.”
There’s a lot more out there, but those are the ones I’ve learned from the application process. Hopefully you job search will be more fruitful and less frustrating than mine…
Holy crap you make me laugh!
Another Thing To Look Out For:
When a job interviewer says “there’s no right or wrong answer,” that is not true. (SIDE NOTE: I think there is ALWAYS such thing as a WRONG answer…just like there are ALWAYS categorically stupid questions. People might be polite enough to not tell you that you are wrong and stupid, but those options do in fact always exist. Anyways…) In my experience, it means, “there is my answer and other lesser answers.” Those who are not fortunate enough to figure out the “there is no right answer” right answer will most certain hear about “an alternative way to approach the situation,” which is code for “here’s what you were supposed to say.”
I have to say that your blog made me laugh so hard my diet coke sprayed out my nose.
I bet that stung…hope your computer’s okay…
And I’m glad you like it. : )