you’re at it, block your parents. That’ll solve one part of the problem, right?
~Gayle
Will Code for Food
Dear Gayle,
I’m a freshman in computer science and I know I need some real work experience. I could get an internship at a start-up, but I also need to earn a bit of money. And that’s where the problem comes in. The companies that will hire me don’t pay, and the ones that pay won’t hire me.
I don’t need a ton of money—just enough to pay for basic expenses like dinners and stuff with friends. Am I out of luck? Plan B is to work as a waitress, which I know won’t exactly do wonders for my résumé.
~U. B.
Dear U. B.,
I suppose it wouldn’t help if I said, “Look harder,” would it? OK then. If you can’t find a paid internship in your area, why not look outside your area?
Outsourcing does not just mean shipping projects off to India. People outsource stuff within the United States, too, and you can get on the favorable side of that.
Sign up on a site like odesk.com , elance.com , or rentacoder.com and bid on some projects. If you win a few smaller contracts and do well on them, you can gain the credibility to get a more sustained summer contract.
You’ll get paid, and you’ll get résumé-building experience. It’s everything you wanted, right? The smaller projects can be listed in your “Projects” section, while your longer projects can be listed under “Employment.”
Remember that because your goal here is to get experience for your résumé, be sure to explain the situation to your temporary bosses. You may need their permission to list the project on your résumé, and to potentially ask as a reference.
~Gayle
The Un-Manager
Dear Gayle,
I’m currently working at large software company in Southern California. Things aren’t going so well at the company (layoffs, etc.), so it doesn’t look like a management position is in reach anytime soon. That’s OK, though, sort of. I’ll likely be leaving the company in a year, and relocating to northern California, where there are more career opportunities.
Even if I switch companies, though, will I be able to get a management position without prior experience?
~W. H.
Dear W. H.,
It depends. What do you call prior experience?
It’s certainly much easier to get a new position when you’ve already held that title. Otherwise, you need to prove not only your value to the company, but also your ability to accomplish something new.
However, you may be able to get much of the experience you need, even if you can’t win the title. Ask your current manager for more leadership responsibilities. You can even take advantage of the poor situation—explain that you recognize the company and the team are under some stress, and you’d like to help out by leading a subteam to do X. You won’t get the title for that, but you’ll get the experience. And ultimately, that’s more important.
When it comes to applying for new jobs, you can’t lie about your title, but you can tweak things to show what you really did. Your cover letter is a great place to emphasize the management-like responsibilities you took on, while the bullets under the job should focus on your leadership-related accomplishments.
~Gayle
Chapter 3
Getting in the Door
Think companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are getting tons of great applicants? Think again. “Hiring managers at Amazon are spending so much time recruiting these days that they barely have time to actually, well, manage ,” one technical program manager at Amazon told me. Employees from other top companies echoed similar concerns:
“There aren’t enough good engineers in the United States. Period. We’re like vultures fighting over what little there is to eat.” (Apple employee)
“We’re always hiring great talent. Always.” (Google employee)
“It’s not that we don’t get enough good candidates. It’s that we just don’t know who they are.” (Facebook employee)
It’s true.