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How I looked for quarantined work

I want to share with the community my recent experience in finding a job, to communicate, so to speak, with the best. Despite the fact that everything written is completely subjective, the note will be useful for other IT-employees. Especially if they are introverts and rarely go for interviews.

And I also think that many will be curious about the metamorphosis that has occurred with the job market in connection with recent events.



So, first, a little about yourself.

It is solely for the reader to “normalize” the experience.

I am a developer primarily on the .NET + MS SQL stack. He started working as a student, with a total work experience of almost 20 years. Four years ago, he moved from Senior backend .NET developer to the team lead of a small team in Moscow. Two years ago, old friends lured me to Germany for the "Signora", and six months later again became the team leader of a small German and Indian team.

And so, in February this year, I returned from Germany, full of confidence that behind such a cool “playing coach” like me, there will be a line of employers. While I was engaged in relocation (hello to the Kashira customs post), while in family affairs (greetings to maternity hospital No. 8), I did not notice how the virus fell on the world. I had to urgently revise my vacation plans, and so far the economy has not completely contracted, to look for a warm, stable place.

No sooner said than done! Posted an English and Russian resume on Headhunter and on Linkedin, responded to “tasty” vacancies and waited.

First, about the bad.

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  • Another consequence: if the company has made an ambiguous impression, and there are doubts whether it is necessary to have an interview, it is worth going. In the worst case, an hour will be lost, a maxim - two, and experience will be gained. But it may turn out that the first impression is deceptive. In the pre-crisis time, I refused dubious interviews, because losses would be up to half a day

The following paragraph will be of interest mainly to .NET developers.

What do they ask for "dot-netchikov"
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«CLR via C#» (, , ) , «/» Monitor, AutoResetEvent. 80% .

Which companies remained on the market?

In a word - respectable. Alas, far from always IT is their main source of income.
This must be taken into account. I got a lot of calls from banks, brokers, credit bureaus. There were, however, food companies. They can be divided into two categories: or having serious state. orders, or just successful guys who did not lose from the crisis.

Oh yes, there were a few more integrators and a couple of outsourcers. But I didn’t want to find a job for them. At this stage of my life, I first of all looked for stability and so that my nerves would not break.
For the same reason, despite my good English, I did not try to look for remote work for foreign companies. A couple of my friends who worked for Europe and the States have already lost their jobs, several more are in limbo.

How is the interview going?

In 40% of cases, everything starts with a call, 45% - a letter, 5% - a message in the messenger, 10% - response to hh.ru. If, after the contact had taken place, mutual interest remained, an interview time was appointed.

The first interview with HR was in 90% of cases by phone, 10% on Skype and it took me 30-60 minutes. This is a long time. Maybe I was too chatty, but HR thoroughly asked about my experience all-all-all and more. They, for the most part, were friendly and empathetic, and also surprised me with a fairly good knowledge. In addition, they were actively interested in what I expect from a new job.

There were, however, such HRs that were not able to interest anyone in anything. They chattered the job description in a robotic voice and were not able to answer questions. But there are not many of them. And thanks to accelerated natural selection, it will soon become even smaller. Some interviews ended with the understanding that we were not on our way. Which was immediately neatly voiced, and this is cool. I think so.

Much more often they told me that they would pass on information to colleagues. Then there were two options: either HR disappeared, or promptly scheduled a technical interview. In the event of disappearance, the main regret for me was that I did not understand what had gone wrong and how to act in the future if the problem was on my side.

The second interview is technical. It went through 80% on Skype and 20% on Zoom. As a rule, 1-2 interviewers participate in it. But a couple of times I spoke with 5 people at once! I must say that techies are not yet used to interviewing remotely. Many people feel this format is uncomfortable. Over time, I guess, get used to it.

As a job seeker, I’m also unusual. But it minimizes time costs. Takes 1 - 1.5 hours. Maximum - 2 hours. Even during the interview, it happens that technical malfunctions occur. Interviewers may have poor lighting, poor microphone, and poor internet. A couple of times the guys sat in front of the window and I talked with dark silhouettes. The same set of problems may be on the side of the applicant.

It seems commonplace, but I would advise everyone to check in advance that you are clearly audible and visible. The course of interviews was standard: tell about yourself, answer questions, solve problems, ask counter-questions.

It is noteworthy that the interviewers were divided into two categories: those who, in the case of my mistake, briefly reported the correct answer, and those who simply went on to the next question.
And this radically changed the atmosphere of the interview.

I never wanted to get to where there was no feedback right during the interview. And where the employer did not show his human interest. Because I'm moody and I want to work with cool people.

I must say that with feedback, and indeed with non-verbal signals, difficulties arise. Because of the remote format, they are not easy to read. And techies on the other side of the barricade are also worried. They meet the candidate with caution, it is probably difficult for them to understand what kind of person is in front of them. It is far from immediately possible to melt the ice.

Sometimes there was a third interview - with the leader. But most often he was present at the second.

Interviews took place on different days. It is logical, because the goal is to cram everything on the same day so that the candidate does not ride several times, it makes no sense.

In general, as you can see, a remote interview is not like a remote interview. But only - remote.

And if you decide or are forced to change jobs - it is quite possible. It will just take some serious effort.

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