So this is what really got me off my butt, and working on changing my life….
Not to be a fanboy or anything, but I really enjoy Joel Spolsky’s blog. Here’s someone who knows what he wants, is competent at doing it, and is enjoying himself. He’s got excellent advice for software engineers and managers of software engineers – if you’re in either category, it is well worth your time to read him. Besides, he’s entertaining and articulate. ‘Nuff said. {end of advertisement}
So a little while ago, he posted three new job openings at his company. This was sometime late on a Friday afternoon; I saw them Saturday morning as I surfed my usual web pages. And. I. Freaked! Wow! Working for Joel Spolsky! Back to Linux programming!! Hell, I’d even clean the toilets for him, just to be able to eat lunch with his gang and hear the banter.
But was I good enough? He has talked about the process of applying to and getting selected by Fog Creek Software, and my application would be one of hundreds he would have to review. How to make mine stand out? I might have only 30 seconds to get his attention with an email cover letter, and no more than that to have my resume make some positive impression on him.
I spent the entire weekend polishing my resume, and crafting a cover letter. (I was totally pumped up for this, and worthless for anything else. Ask my wife.) Editing, tweaking, re-thinking, over-thinking, playing the “what if” scenarios out in my head. I zoomed from elation to despair. Was I way too far out of my league?
And then I knew – if I never tried, I would always have the nagging belief that I could have made it, and was too scared or lazy to even make the attempt.
So, like the Babe, I pointed my bat to the edge of the stadium, squared up to the plate, and swung. Spellchecked everything one more time, and clicked the “Send” button on my email.
Nothing happened. No reply. No read receipt for my message. I waited a couple of weeks, and then re-sent it with a polite cover note asking if my original had been so wacky that it didn’t even merit an answer. This time, Joel’s helpful email robot acknowledged that it had been received. (So much for the reliability of email!) Two days later, I received a very polite note from him that I hadn’t made the cut.
What’s the moral of this extended rant story? Whatever you do, swing for the fences. If you strike out, there’s always another opportunity at bat in an inning or two. If you don’t swing, you can never hit a homer.
In these days, even crappy low-paying jobs get a lot of applicants. The Costco around here had more than 10,000 applicants for low-level retail! If you’re going to get your resume shredded, it’s much less humiliating to have your resume shredded by somone of quality.