What are the minimum requirements to get a job in?

[Dave Angel]

On 12/13/2012 10:33 PM, Dave Angel wrote:
> On 12/13/2012 09:49 PM, suresh.pinnapa at gmail.com wrote:
>> My aim is to get a job into google or cisco or facebok.
>> I have basic knowledge in python,c,java and good in javascript,html,css, database concepts.
>> If i learn django and python. Shall I get my dream job?
>>
>> Please suggest me
> You didn't say what your dream job is, but I'll assume it's as a
> software Engineer.  You also didn't say at what level you expect to start.
>
> There are lots more questions than what you've answered so far.  Like
> what degree do you have, and from where?  Can you read/hear and
> understand English quickly, both written and verbal?  Can you write
> correct English (as opposed to what we see here on the forum)?  Can you
> write a good resume, and a great cover letter?
>
> Do you know any one computer language thoroughly?  Or just a little of
> many languages?
>
> Have you ever worked in assembly code?  Do you know what a transistor
> is?  Have you ever built a compiler or a debugger?  Have you ever
> written code that has to run in very little memory (like less than 4k)? 
> Have you ever worked on projects where the end result had to have 100%
> reliability?  Have you written multithreaded code?  Have you worked on
> multiple operating systems?
>
> Have you ever read Knuth?  Or P.J. Plauger?  Or Sedgewick?  Can you
> explain (roughly) Huffman encoding?  (I looked up Huffman's paper (I
> think it was written in 1952, in IRE) and studied it, about 25 years ago)
>
> Have you ever worked with the public?  Have you ever debugged somebody
> else's code that was over 200k LOC?
>
> Do you have good references from past jobs, and are those jobs relevant
> to what you hope to be hired to do?  Do you belong to any professional
> organizations, did you get any honors in college?  Do you have any
> industry honors, either from patents, or from ACM or other recognized
> organizations.
>
> Can you point to projects where you've made a substantial and
> identifiable contribution, and describe those contributions in terms
> that will interest your prospective employer?
>  
> Are you personable, and can you participate in a debate with someone who
> seems to deliberately be trying to trip you up?  If you have opinions or
> preferences, can you explain clearly why you have them?  Can you
> interact with an interviewer as an equal, respectful but not subservient?
>
> Perhaps most important, have you worked with somebody who really liked
> what you do and who now works at one of these companies, in a place
> where his recommendation will help?  The best jobs are seldom given to
> people who send in a resume blind, or who work through ordinary headhunters.
>
> These and many other questions, plus luck, patience and persistence will
> determine whether you get that dream job.
>

I should have pointed out that there's no need to have 100% on these. 
But there will be a similar list for any good job, and each hiring
manager will have some things which are just plain mandatory.  But most
important is that you can discuss intelligently what you have done, and
what you do know.  I've been hired in several positions where I didn't
match the "requirements" in the least, but talked them into it anyway. 
And I've turned down at least one job when I discovered they wanted me
for what I already knew.

It used to be that if you could just get any job at a company, you could
eventually earn your way into the perfect spot.  But that's frequently
not true anymore.

You also should spend some serious energy trying to decide what your
perfect job would be like.  I once gave 49 subordinates to a new person
i hired, and stepped into a new position for which I wrote the HR job
description.  It was either that or take on 30 more, and I didn't want
to manage any more.  I was working for over 20 years before the first
time I ever wanted my boss' job.  And I got over that quickly.





-- 

DaveA