Simple Question
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You get referred to a job where your skill set and working experience is about 15% of the average employee. You have mild working knowledge of all required technologies - but no significant depth. Your design patterns are still maturing. Said employer is recruiting people with fifteen years of experience, you have three. Pay is 33% over what you are making now.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>You fumble the interview and get offered anyway, primarily because the referrer said, "you were good" (co-worker). The interview process contained a lot of "we have so much work to get done." <o:p></o:p>
Your current position uses a myriad of complex technology all wrapped by a framework team and developed to the point where it almost holds you hand.
Regardless of bravery, willpower, and dedication to improve, is it responsible to take the position.
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@Heretic said:
Regardless of bravery, willpower, and dedication to improve, is it responsible to take the position.
Did you mislead, in any deliberate way, in order to get the job? Is the prospective employer aware of the lack of skills to which you allude?
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I don't even think I have the capability. They have my resume - I have read this site for years - I know better than to add a littany of bullshit languages and frameworks I have no responsibility listing. I included only the base languages and frameworks I fundementally use.
Do appreciate the response.
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@PJH said:
@Heretic said:
That's exactly the question you need to ask yourself. It's not unusual for a seeking employer to inflate the requirements just a bit to try to find the perfect employee, even if they don't need it. If they think you're suitable enough, then they have decided that you're suitable enough.Regardless of bravery, willpower, and dedication to improve, is it responsible to take the position.
Did you mislead, in any deliberate way, in order to get the job? Is the prospective employer aware of the lack of skills to which you allude?Also, are you a fast learner?
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Tell your current employer your grandma's cousin's dog is sick and you need to take your FMLA leave. Then accept the other offer and try it out for three months.
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@Heretic said:
You get referred to a job where your skill set and working experience is about 15% of the average employee. You have mild working knowledge of all required technologies - but no significant depth. Your design patterns are still maturing (...)
You're gonna have to learn on the fly.
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There's nothing wrong with approaching your potential employer for one more round to discuss your concerns.
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I am concerned about your expectation of me given the relative experience of your other employees. I can do it but will have to learn (say 3 months). You need to understand that or this may not work out. I need to understand what it is you expect of me or it may not work out.
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I did frameworks at my last place that gave us x, y & z benefits. Would you like me to share that experience so you too can gain the benefits?
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I am not sure I did my best at the interview. I would like to clarify a, b, c as I stuffed those answers/didn't get the answers I was looking for.
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Will I have a mentor?
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Probe the "so much work". Is this a body shop or a career? Does this matter to you more than the money.
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Reiterate that your resume and your interview was the truth - are there any assumptions based on what is there? (Oh - he knows XML so must know how to write web services etc).
It's in nobody's interest to fuck this up so you have to be sure*.
*Sure as in "as sure as you will ever be given the difference between the interview sell and the reality".
HTH.
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Sounds like they're fishing. They're seeking a low-wage master w/15 years, yet they're willing to talk to a relative neophyte such as yourself? (No offense, of course!) While in this economic environment anything is possible, odds are good that competent 15+ year folks are running their own companies, or otherwise engaged. Remember, 15 years ago, Windows 95 was new, and about half of the common programming languages used today were barely newborns. Not that that matters much, depending on the position, but if you're really outside of their target, they wouldn't have wasted the phone call. (Generally speaking...some HR folks are bizarrely thorough.)
From the interview results, sounds like they're looking for someone who has a certain level of determination, who can finish the job. Probably not a 'cocky know-it-all', but someone who will work for a smaller premium, and do 'janitorial work' that's cost-ineffective for their 'stars' to do.
On a side note, sometimes being nervous during the interview is a plus, simply because it shows you actually care...a rare quality these days. Too many applicants are so arrogant and/or their resumes are so padded, that sometimes it's refreshing to come across someone who's more or less honest about their abilities...and lack of same. Lack of confidence is not even close to the same as lack of competence, even to the die-hard HR pinheads. As time passes, you'll not only slip into your role in the company, but occasionally, a lack of expectations can lead to positive surprises.
Oh, and the really annoying factor? Bosses tend to prefer to hire folks under their own skill level...because they won't be a threat to said boss' employment. So sandbagging can be a quite effective career strategy, if you play your hand with a bit of skill.
I.e., never feel guilty about being the low person on the totem pole...you should always aim to be in the company of giants. At the very least, you can learn far more from your peers than you'll ever learn in college.
Happy Hunting!
