Reginald Noble
Banned
Here is what I learned thus far off the roughly past 6 months of phone and in-person interviews, e-mails back and forth etc. Keep in mind I've been very selective in my search so results may vary. But most companies I've interacted with are good "on paper" and the books, but have varying levels of dysfunctional communication and process/procedure issues in relations to hiring. I spoke with my home boy the other day and have some insights to share from him as well:
So what can we do?
- First off, the attention span of recruiters and HR managers these days is zero. Have you optimized your resume to one page? I'm getting a huge amount of responses compared to before with the one pager despite having 5 years exp. I've left 2 of my earlier gigs off the resume and focused on the most recent 3 along with a list of key skills required for the new job. Beware also a lot of recruiters will say they love your experience only to try and pass off a B.S. job to you. So do your research and don't trust what they say at face value. And many will try to pigeon hole you into certain roles depending on your experience.
- The claims that they want diversity is largely false, corporate speak and something they say to assuage the public. Small business especially aren't held to the standard that larger corporations have. I've been applying to start-ups lately and you would think they would be enthusiastic that they have a candidate with some melanin that perfectly fits the job description. Well not really and I'll explain further.
- A lot of the decision to hire you will be based on someone who you will rarely interact with in the day-to-day, sometimes you never even meet the person. It is some stakeholder, some board member, adviser or investor. Quite possibly a jerk off that never worked a day in his life but loves to gamble his money on companies. You'll find that companies that have Rich White Men (whether old or not) who own majority stake - There will be some diversity, mostly bedwenches that work the phones or a brother at security, but anything related to actually driving business and being irreplaceable such as Dev work, Sales, MKTG or Legal? Not likely. At best we can hope for a Bookkeeping position but even that could be a stretch.
- Many companies simply don't know what they need or want. A lot of decisions at corporations both big and large funnel up to one person creating a bottleneck. Having the wrong person at such a high level spells disaster for many would be successful brother's careers.
So what can we do?
- Make sure your resume is one page unless your industry recruiters (at least 5) have explicitly told you that 2 is OK. Do an achievement based resume description for your top 3 roles where you made the most impact. This is all they care about these days. Leave irrelevant jobs off your LinkedIN profile. If there is a gap explain it later once you're in the interview. Don't put frivolous Taco Bell jobs and shyt in-between. Unless you are literally applying for a sales job in which they will ask you how did you negotiate the customer to buy 10 tacos instead of 5.
- By taking your skills to the next level you'll be able to overcome the race factor by being "too good to pass up". But keep in mind even that will get you to a 70% offer rate at MOST compared to a White candidate who would be at 90%. They will always make an excuse why they can't hire your black ass - But if their job is on the line and dependent upon you succeeding in the role, and you've demonstrated the ability then they will bring you aboard. Obtain a rare technical skill combined with good business acumen. You always want to have a mix of both. Technical skills become valued as a means to a business end goal. If you know Java and Python but can't solve specific business ordeals with it they won't hire you unless you're Indian and you come cheap. The highest salaries go to the technical guys with good business sense and project management skills. SCRUM/AGILE is HUGE right now. Look it up. Look forward to $200k+ salaries for those roles easily just because the lack of available talent in that niche.
- Determine early on in the interview process who has the final word in hiring decisions. Ask whether Finance has pre-approved budget for the role or not. Even if you are the final candidate, if the approval takes 3 months that does you no good and by then the business priority or need could change already. Especially with a smaller company. In addition if all hires have to be approved by board members evaluate whether you want to spend too much time or effort being judged by someone you've never met.
- FIND COMPANIES WITH A BIG CHALLENGE AND YOU'RE (PRACTICALLY) THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP. I can't stress this enough. The bigger the challenge and the more rare the skill set, the quicker they'll hire and the more they will pay. This is easier in smaller labor markets such as the Midwest that may not have as many qualified workers in tech compared to other markets that you'd have to compete with.
