SQL Server Job Search QandA

By: Cate Murray || Related Tips:More > Professional Development Career Planning

Problem

During our recent Job Search webcast ( 14 Concepts for a Modern Day Job Search ), there were a number of questions that we didnt have time to address, including: how to pass through an HR/non-technical screener, resume tips for older professionals, acquiring experience when your company isnt working with new technology/features, finding cleared jobs, correcting negative feedback online, etiquette around leaving a job and privacy concerns.

Solution

Here are the questions, and our thoughts on them.

Resumes 1. How do you get your resume through an HR screener?

A challenge most job seekers experience at this point is that your application/resume has to first pass through an Applicant Tracking type system, and get ranked at the top of list of Candidates to Review by that system. Its most likely reviewed by someone whos not technical and then you have a conversation with that non-technical person, before it gets passed along to a Lead or the hiring Manager themselves.

Therefore, our first recommendation is to use a resume builder and/or resume optimization tool to help ensure your resume is optimized for your skill set and effectively communicates your skills in a way that translates to non-technical individuals.

Second, before your conversation with HR/Recruiter/Manager, review the job description and outline/bullet point your relevant experience, skills, technologies, certifications, etc. Consider this your customized elevator pitch for your candidacy of that role.

Third, practice your pitch to someone who isnt very technical, and ask for feedback. Did they understand what you were saying? Are you clearly communicating that youre a fit for that particular role?

Fourth, include your customized qualification summary in your application/email, and then use this as your elevator pitch when you talk to the HR screener.

Heres an example email application for a Senior SQL Developer role requiring custom development, SQL Server 2014, and client interfacing:

Im extremely interested in the Senior SQL Development opportunity you have available! Heres a quick summary of my related experience:

10 years of database development with SQL Server Worked with SQL Server 2008, 2008 R2, and 2014 Taken training with SQL Server 2016 Majority of experience, at least 70%, is doing custom database development Extensive stakeholder engagement and client interfacing experience, including leading status meetings and participating in requirements gathering sessions 2. Do you have any resume recommendations for workers who are 55 and older?

We provided some thoughts on this question during the webcast. To summarize, focus the content of your resume around your most recent experience; perhaps the last 10-15 years. Leave older positions off your resume, especially if theyre no longer relevant to your target career path. If youre really tenured, it could prove extremely beneficial to engage in the best practice we recommended around Understand Tech Trends and Develop Skills in those areas. Then communicate your interest and initiative in learning new skills to prospective hiring Managers. Lastly, recognize that you might just need to try multiple approaches during your job search to generate leads. Wed also recommend increasing attendance at relevant user groups, organic networking, consult with user group leadership, talk to multiple recruiters and make an effort to meet them in person to highlight your qualifications, share interests, engage in candidate risk management, and ask them for their honest thoughts/feedback. By candidate risk management, we mean identifying what potential red flags surround you as a candidate, and having a mitigation strategy for overcoming.

Skills Development 1. Not all companies give you a platform to work on new features you wish. How do you acquire experience in those areas?

Whenever we hear something like this, our first question back is have you been clear and assertive in communicating your interest to your boss in learning x, y and/or z and, if so, have you stayed on top of it? For example, if theres a new framework you want to get exposure with, express interest to your boss in person initially, and then follow up on it every 6-8 weeks, asking questions such as Do you know if anyone else in the organization is using this? Is there a chance for us to consider using it? Do we have plans to create a sandbox environment? Do you see any opportunity for me to work with that here? Any chance to do beta testing on new tools/frameworks/features in general for our team?

If theres a very slim chance of using those new features at work, you can invest time and energy in outside projects and initiatives.

First, invest time weekly/monthly taking online training/tutorials through reputable providers. Second, research local/regional conferences and sign up to attend 1-2 a year if possible. Third, identify local hackathons, and sign up. Fourth, try to identify an informal mentor who has experience with the tools/technologies youre interested in and pick their brain. If youre not sure how to find one, try speaking up at the next user group meeting and saying Hi! Im ___, and Im a mid-level Developer really looking to expand my knowledge base with ____. Does anyone here have that knowledge and an interest in chatting with me after the meeting about it? Or, any recommendations on other resources for learning and getting experience with those tools/technologies? Fifth, start building a pet project/application with the features you wish to learn/get experience with. Lastly, search around on an online community like GitHub to see if there are open projects you could contribute to using some of the new features you further want to learn. Finding Cleared Jobs 1. What suggestions do you have for cleared professionals?

Neither of us has extensive experience recruiting on cleared jobs, but we talked to the Recruiting Manager of our 22-member Government Services recruiting team, to get her suggestions of best job searching resources for cleared professionals.

Heres her list of the top 8 resources:

Clearance Jobs Dice Indeed Cleared Connections Heroes to Hire Job Fairs for Cleared Professionals Transition Assistance Online LinkedIn

Also, we work with Clearance Jobs a bit, and really like all of the advice they share via their blog! Check out their blog ( https://news.clearancejobs.com/ ), and specifically, the job search career advice section ( https://news.clearancejobs.com/category/job-search/ ).

Online Reputation Management 1. How do you correct something negative online? This is a tough one to address without knowing more details, such as the specific negative content/feedback, which platform its posted on, if its act