Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Waiting, endless waiting

So I've been sitting here ALL DAY now, on my laptop, waiting for a miracle to happen.

My contract "ended" which triggered Oracle to expire my account, which in turn caused me not to be able to log onto my work computer, or access email from anywhere.

If you think this sounds bad, just think about how it felt yesterday when I was sitting here WITHOUT my laptop, just SITTING all day.

I'm so brain dead I really don't have much to say. I just wish they'd figure out whatever bug this is that makes me invisible in the system.

I would go home but then I wouldn't get paid. BLAH, going out drinking on a Monday night, even if it's St. Patty's Day, was not the brightest idea. I wouldn't say I'm hung over, but just feel so out of it right now, haha.

Hopefully I'll report tomorrow with better news.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

The general opinion

Something I've learned since my time at VMware, which was not so apparent to me before: Most people despise recruiters.

Now definitely this claim is not aimed at anyone in the industry in particular, and it's almost understandable why we're so hated.

There are alot of headhunters out there who SPAM.

Now while most of us, myself included, would be incredibly flattered that someone went through all that trouble to find me and offer me a job opportunity because they recognize my skills and talent, I think there are others that are just plain fed up, always being called or emailed at work, sometimes regarding positions that have nothing whatsoever to do with them. They start to regard these calls as those made by dreaded telemarketers that most of us screen or hang up on.

Now this is my opinion on this topic:

1. I NEVER email or call anyone at a work related address/phone number. I wouldn't want you to ambush ME at work either.
2. If you're not interested in what I'm presenting, a simple "no thank you" will suffice. Otherwise I would probably follow up with you to make sure my email somehow didn't end up in a spam folder but you were actually interested (this actually happens quite often). Please don't get too worked up about me following up, since that IS my job.
3. Please consider my feelings as a human being before you come back with some harsh or unnecessary response when all I did was ask you about your interest in exploring new opportunities.

For the most part, those I've contacted are easy-going when I approach them, so keep in mind my opinion is aimed at the general masses, and not at any one person in particular.

On a lighter note, I'm STILL looking for that hardcore Silk programmer. Do you or anyone you know fit that description?

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Making up for lost time

OMG it's been a WHILE since I last wrote in here! Thanks to one of my wonderful candidates for reminding me I still have a blog! :)

Also recently I got a less than nice message about my LinkedIn profile picture, sent straight to my vmware.com account. Just want to say to whoever it was: NOT COOL! Definitely NOT appreciated! And unless you have something nice to say, find something better to do with your time instead of writing hate mail!

That picture was actually taken during my Hawaii vacay with bf. I did remove it from my profile though because I'm scared there are other less than nice people out there just dying to send me an email about it.

So since the last time I wrote, a few things have changed. My dear friend who came on board at the same time as I did has gone back to Google. I'm sad I no longer get to see her every day, but at the same time I'm so glad I get to enjoy Google lunch once every two weeks now.

I eat at my desk just about every day now, especially since my other close friend who came from Google is on vacay in Thailand. So please, send me emails telling me you're looking for a job. I'm definitely available to help!

So just to update what I'm looking for right now: the Russian G11n person I was previously looking for is no longer needed, my main goal is to find a super hardcore Silk programmer. Otherwise my main criteria for my other reqs are still UI QA, mainly manual testing but experience in automation on the Linux or Mac or Windows platform. If you are a great Windows/Networking admin, I'm also looking for you!

I'm excited that I now get a chance to meet my candidates who make it onsite, since I'm now training to be full-cycle and more involved. I've been given the privilege now to extend intern offers, and God willing, if I ever hire another person (yes btw hiring has been slow...) I might get to extend an offer to a FULL-TIMER. Then FINALLY I'd feel I've accomplished something. (It might sound weird that I get so excited about this stuff but I'm all passionate about all of it! I'm guessing I actually like my job!)

So please, if you or anyone you know is interested in working for us, contact me! I'm scouring LinkedIn, job boards, the internet every day trying to find you people! Why not just come straight to me? ;-)