Andrew Hale: IT Talk & Other Topics

One thing that I enjoy is interviewing and hiring. It's something I'm very interested in. I'm often reading guides on how to write a good resume or watching Youtube videos about how to crush a job interview. Another aspect of this is sharing this information and helping others apply it for themselves. I consider myself a regular contributor to the /r/sysadminresumes and /r/Resume subreddits, as well as The Workforce section of Stack Exchange (The Workforce covers much more than resumes though). Throughout my time of looking at a LOT of resumes, I notice that a lot of people make the same mistakes. Below is my advice for making your own resume better.

Got an interview coming up? Interviews are two-way streets so don't forget to interview them back. I've written about this and you can read it  HERE . Talking about money is something we all dread but we all need to do at some point in our lives. There's a point in one's professional career where it's basically expected to negotiate pay during the offer stage of hiring. I never negotiated pay or asked for a raise until my more recent professional positions. I'd like to tell you what I've learned about it so it can help you too.

We've all been at that point towards what's often the end of your interview where the interviewer asks "Do you have any questions for us? This is a crucial moment because not only can YOU interview THEM, but also you get to shine by asking good questions. Not asking questions can make you come across as uninterested or too aloof. Most employers don't share everything so just as they're drawing conclusions about you based on your answers to their questions, you can draw conclusions about them based on their answers. INTERVIEWS SHOULD ALWAYS BE A 2-WAY STREET! 

Laying it out on the table, I've been looking for another job. I really like my current job but like any other job, it has pros and cons, things I love about it and things I hate about it. Just a recap for anyone who doesn't know, I work in the Network Operations center (aka, NOC) for a large Housing Department of a major university. We support the full IT needs of the staff (mostly administrative, custodial and maintenance staff) and limited scopes of support for the student-side of things (online check-in for housing, website hosting for various student Student Affairs groups, Internet services for the students in residence halls, etc). We're the first round of support. There's one phone number and one email address that 3 of us work out of. In many cases, we can help. Someone locked out their account, email "isn't working", "How do I do this?" sort of stuff. For things we can't fix, we create a ticket and assign it to the proper group. We...

I'll start by saying that I'm no expert at job interviews. I'm not an HR person, never interviewed someone myself, nor can I recall those daunting, double-edged questions that interviewers tend to ask. However, I did just go through an interview and got the job. Come to think of it, I've gotten almost every job I've ever interviewed for. I'd say that's a decent track record. Below, is my advice and general tips for an interview.