Entries tagged 'ryan'

  • Fri October 8, 2010

    The Secret of Networking: it’s a lot easier than you think

    Dear JobsBlog:
    I am able to network when I  already have an “in” with someone. But what about networking with strangers?  Do you have any pointers on how to approach contacts you don’t know?

    -Scared to Cold Call
     

    Ryan

    Dear Scared to Cold Call:
    There are many different mediums and places you can meet work contacts: conferences, LinkedIn, restaurants, you name it. I’m not going to go into those, because I think the secret to networking is the same no matter the medium.

    And the big secret is not really that much of a secret at all: be genuine, be polite and ASK for what you want!

    Here’s a story about how I recently did some networking with great results…

    More...

  • Fri September 10, 2010

    Your interview: finance, sales and marketing

    RyanInterviews for finance, sales and marketingMy last series of postings (see the original articles here) were written to help people better prepare for their interview day at Microsoft. One of the comments we received asked how an interview for a position outside of our core-tech roles may be different.

    Since I am primarily a technical recruiter, I decided to sit down with one of my fellow Staffing Consultants, Theresa Larson, who recruits for the finance, sales and marketing teams within the Microsoft Business Division (MBD).

    As we were discussing the differences between the interviews – it seemed the main difference was the absence of technical questions, such as the need to code on the whiteboard. In this posting you’ll get a sense of what types of questions you may encounter. For those of you interviewing for one of our core-tech roles, (SDE, SDET, PM, etc.), you are also asked these types of questions, so this could be helpful for you as well.

    More...

  • Tue May 25, 2010

    Seattle Times on Microsoft Recruiting

    Following my last articles about interviewing at Microsoft (read:Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), many of you asked for some pointers about how to get noticed by a recruiter or how to get your foot in the door at Microsoft. I didn’t respond with a post on the topics because I had already done an interview with The Seattle Times back in April and knew there would be a story was coming out.

    Take a look through the article "Online presence helps companies such as Amazon, Expedia and Microsoft notice you" and gain some insight from myself and other recruiters in the industry as well.

    I’ll look forward to hearing your specific questions after you read the article. 

    More...

  • Mon April 5, 2010

    JobsBlogger Ryan on the radio

    Our very own Ryan Graves was interviewed on KUOW 94.9 (the National Public Radio affiliate radio station in Seattle and the most listened-to news station in Washington State) last Friday.

    Host Ross Reynolds, of the popular program The Conversation, looked to Ryan to provide a recruiter’s perspective on how to find a job in this economy.

    Reynolds previewed the show as, "In this tight job market, people are competing with many well qualified applicants for every job. How can you make your resume standout? If you get the job interview, what can you do to make a positive impression? Microsoft staffing consultant Ryan Graves joins us to offer advice. Have you ever totally blown an interview, or been appalled at an interviewee? Tell us about it."

    Ryan - as always - had a ton of insight and great ideas. Check out the interview here. You might just learn something.

    More...

  • Fri March 12, 2010

    Your Interview: Question & answer game plan (Part 3 of 3)

    Read Part One: How to prepare and what to expect here.
    Read Part Two: The anatomy of the big day here.

    Based on some of the comments we’ve seen, as well as your prior questions to the JobsBloggers, I suspect this may be one of the more popular segments in the three part series. I’ve tried to think of the various things I bring up when preparing candidates for the interview at Microsoft. If there are other things you’re curious about, please ask in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.
     
    Nerves
    Interviewing can be nerve wracking. I’ll share with you some insight I received on being nervous from a facilitation training program I’ve taken. “You’ll either be nervous, or you won’t.” To expand on that, if you’re nervous during an interview, that’s ok! It’s expected even. I find that beating myself up for being nervous, or trying not to be nervous, makes it worse.  If you notice you’re nervous…  great… notice it and move on. You can answer questions, and be nervous at the same time. If you start to worry about being nervous, instead of focusing on what the interviewer is asking, things could go downhill. So remember… you’ll either be nervous, or you won’t.

    More...