If you see anything you like, and you apply, there is something of a referral program here, so if you put my name and email address in when you apply online, I might just have to buy you a beer or two to help you celebrate the new job.

To apply, complete the online application, and at the prompt “How did you first hear about this position”, select “Employee Referrals” and enter my full name Richard Murray and my work email address richard.murray @ rbccm.com

Salary ranges really vary around here, but I might be able to give you some idea of ranges and averages based on the pay level (PL) that the listing references. The lower the number, the higher the average salary; for example PL10 averages around 40-45K, PL08 around 60-70. These are averages, that can go either way maybe 20-25% depending on skill, fit, etc.

If you have any questions about environment, etc, get ahold of me and maybe I can give you more information.

Technical Service Analyst PL 09

Position Purpose:
This job supports the RBC Financial Group operations across the entire enterprise.
This includes security permission in the distributed environment as well as providing input to security administration processes, acting as a Subject Matter Expert in various platforms that we support.

The incumbent will also take responsibility for cross training with peers, manage a diverse workload and be able to manage multiple priorities.
Communication and teamwork are critical to succeed in this role.
Though a high volume area, if you are ready for a challenge and you have experience to bring to the table, then this diverse and high profile group is the ideal place for you to be.

Key Accountabilities:
Providing customer service to RBC Financial Group employees in their security requirements while maintaining adherence to process and policy

Job Requirements: (Knowledge/ Experience):

• Experience with the Peregrine application an asset
• Experience with NET IQ tools and DRA an asset
• Experience with Exchange account management an asset
• Proven ability to work in a high profile, at times stressful environment.

Required Skills/ Competencies/ Attributes:
Concern for Order and Quality, Analytical Thinking, Teamwork and Co-operation, Adaptability, Change Leadership, Sense of Urgency, Customer Service/ Service Partner Orientation, Impact and Influence, Listening, Understanding and Responding, Business Acumen, Organizational Awareness, Achievement Motivation

Education:
High School Diploma / GED

Technical Service Analyst PL 10

Position Purpose:
This job supports the RBC Financial Group operations across the entire enterprise.
This includes security permission in the distributed environment as well as providing input to security administration processes, acting as a Subject Matter Expert in various platforms that we support.

The incumbent will also take responsibility for cross training with peers, manage a diverse workload and be able to manage multiple priorities.
Communication and teamwork are critical to succeed in this role.

Though a high volume area, if you are ready for a challenge and you have experience to bring to the table, then this diverse and high profile group is the ideal place for you to be.

Key Accountabilities:
Providing customer service to RBC Financial Group employees in their security requirements while maintaining adherence to process and policy

Job Requirements: (Knowledge/ Experience):

• Experience with NET IQ tools and DRA an asset
• Experience with Exchange account management an asset
• Proven ability to work in a high profile, at times stressful environment.
• Proven ability to learn new process fast and be able to ramp up quickly to take on role. Time allotted and expectations to be discussed.
• Working knowledge of AD Console and the Active Directory environment.

Required Skills/ Competencies/ Attributes:
Achievement Motivation, Concern for Order and Quality, Analytical Thinking, Organizational Awareness, Teamwork and Co-operation, Adaptability, Excellent Written & Communication Skills, Listening, Understanding and Responding, Customer Service/ Service Partner Orientation, Building Partnerships With Stakeholders, Procedural Expertise, MS Windows XP, Impact and Influence, Initiative/ Proactivity, Change Management, Self-Confidence, Relationship Building, Business Knowledge, Change Leadership, Lotus Notes

Education:
High School Diploma / GED

Unix Systems Management Engineer PL 08

Position Purpose:
RBCs system management team develops and supports the monitoring and change management infrastructure across RBCs global UNIX and Windows computing environments, and provides solutions to all of RBCs IT operations groups.
This position provides the on-going design, development, maintenance and expansion of systems management products to support RBCs common UNIX platforms. Specifically, the individual is responsible for the on-going direction, support and integration of alarm and event monitoring (Groundworks / Nagios) and change management (Opsware) tools.

Key Accountabilities:
Life Cycle management of Opsware and Groundworks

Duties include:

• Design, build, deployment, and maintenance of infrastructure.
• Enhancements requests
• Testing and quality assurance
• Creation and maintenance of all supporting documentation.

Job Requirements: (Knowledge/ Experience):
Knowledge / Experience with some of the following:

• Opsware (HP Server Automation)
• Groundworks Opensource / Nagios
• PERL, Shell, Python, Jython, C
• Very strong Unix experience with one or more of the following OSs:
• Linux
• AIX

Education:
High School Diploma / GED

Intermediate Java Developer / Support Analyst (Capital Markets) PL 08

Position Purpose:
Support / Enhancements of systems being managed and owned by RBCCM Architecture Services. Incumbent will be exposed to various technology aspects of Capital Markets technology. This is great opportunity for someone looking to gain experience in Capital Markets IT .

Key Accountabilities:
Reporting to an IT Technology Manager , the intermediate java developer / Support Analyst will be responsible for:

• Support and occasional enhancements of a Debt Capital Markets data system – which uses java /spring / Hibernate based middleware, Sybase ASE and IQ, Bloomberg Server API, Rfaj for Reuters, .net Based front end and Siebel reports.
• Be involved in refactoring of some of the codebase.
• Work with Stakeholders (mostly other applications within RBCCM who pull data off this system) to make sure all requests are met with accepted levels of SLA.
• Generate ad-hoc reports for business as and when required.
• Analyze data and logs for problem resolution, and suggest better solutions wherever relevant.
• Plan and execute unit, system, integration and acceptance tests for enhancements.
• Provide pager Support .

Job Requirements: (Knowledge/ Experience):

• Minimum of 4 years experience developing Java applications
• Strong Knowledge of java
• Good Experience with Databases
• 3-5 years of Total IT experience
• Proven Experience is a support/development role
• Prior Experience in Capital Markets is good to have – not mandatory
• The incumbent should be a Team player who can take task ownership with positive attitude.
• Able to take work pressure in fast paced environment.
• Able to work independently as well as with team.
• Good communication skills

Education:
BA/BS

Senior Technical Systems Analyst- Capital Markets (Web Solutions) PL 07

Position Purpose:
Works as a Senior Technical Systems Analyst (RIMMS eOPS Platform) on a global front end solution that provided access to multiple payment processing systems which support the processing of Foreign Exchange, Money Markets and Derivatives for RBC Capital Markets Operation Group. Accountable for the technical Analysis/Design (including data analysis and modeling) of solutions using detailed business requirements. To be fully involved in the development and testing of solutions that meet sponsor/stakeholder needs while demonstrating high levels of quality and productivity.

Key Accountabilities:

• Key design and development contributor to RIMMS eOPS application
• Quick learner and someone who understands the ‘big picture’ and able to quickly contribute quality designs and code on multiple aspects of the platform.
• Work closely with QA team to ensure high quality of the product
• Work with Business Analysts to come up with non-trivial optimal IT solutions for business problems
• Produce technical designs for business solutions that leverage existing components or allow the integration of new components to be as seamless as possible
• Raises and tracks issues and conflicts, removes barriers, resolves project issues and escalates to senior management where required.
• Ability to break large problems into well-defined and manageable tasks
• Demonstrate the ability to successfully act as the technical lead on projects with development teams of up to 8 staff

Business

• Good communication skills both verbal and written
• Experience with training users on new releases of functionality
• Solid understanding of the SDLC process / methodologies, relation database concepts, object-oriented techniques, user interface principles
• Experience with using Business Requirements to produce detailed technical designs both Logical and Physical
• Financial Industry experience including Foreign Exchange, Money Market and Derivatives is an asset

Core Behaviors

• Maintains client expectation without sacrificing deadlines and quality
• Coordinates and manages multiple tasks and priorities (sometimes competing), while still producing high quality results.
• Copes with change and ambiguity while ensuring all effort to make sure that there is cooperation and teamwork.
• Consistently maintains a positive ‘can-do’ attitude and inspires others to excel.
• Abides by the RBCCM Code of Conduct.

Time Management

• Design/Development: 70%
• Technical lead 15%
• Work with business sponsors, project managers and other team members to understand business strategies and priorities: 10%
• Research new and developing technologies: 5%

Job Requirements: (Knowledge/ Experience):

• Significant experience in the development and support of Web-based dynamic, data driven applications using Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework
• Demonstrate ability to perform Analysis and design of complex solutions and be able to develop and implement multi-tier enterprise-scale business applications
• Database programming for Microsoft SQL Server or Sybase platforms
• Familiarity Web Services and Transaction Management environments
• Has developed reports for web applications in Microsoft .NET 2.0 (and above) environment
• Experience with Visual Studio 2005/2003, C#, ASP.NET 2.0, ADO.NET, JavaScript, HTML, XML, AJAX, IIS, T-SQL, Microsoft SQL Server or Sybase, Visual SourceSafe, Crystal Report, Web Services
• Microsoft Certification in C#/ASP.NET is an asset

Education:
BA/BS

I’m no expert on finding a job, but I have hired people, and I’ve seen a lot of resumes. I know which ones caught my eye, and I did speak to a lot of recruiters and HR people in the last six months while I was looking for a new position, so I heard all sorts of recommendations and suggestions.

Remember that; I don’t know what I’m talking about, but my changes in how I applied for jobs and using what format of resume did appear to correlate with a rise in call backs and interviews. More interviews seems to indicate to me that at least that portion of my job search was better. Even if my interview technique wasn’t that good, more interviews definitely helped my chances of finding a job.

How to find the jobs to apply to?

Put the largest version of your resume with the most keywords on Monster.com and Workopolis.com. Subscribe to the RSS or Twitter feeds of Craigslist jobs sections in your area, check out third party aggregators like eluta.ca and jobshark.com.

Post your resume on google docs, and share it out so that anyone can see it. Don’t be embarrassed that someone will see your resume; try to make sure everyone sees it.

Use social networks to your advantage. While you may not still be in touch with your mentor from College, or that first boss you got on so well with, maybe they’re on Linked In, and willing to give you a recommendation?Make sure that all your friends on Facebook, Myspace, Linked In, Twitter, etc etc, know that you have your resume on line, and that you’re interested in knowing if they hear of anything interesting that opens up.

Try not to limit your search, geographically. If you need to, move. Buy a car, sell a house; consider jobs in remote locations if they match your skills and your needs. Be willing to relocate and be willing to change your life in order to find a job, especially if you are currently or soon to be unemployed.

You will see duplicate jobs listed on a variety of job sites, and you need to keep track of every place you send a resume, and every place that If you submit a resume for a job through Monster.com and it goes directly to the HR department of the company, AND you’re later contacted by a recruiter looking to fill that position at that company, you need to know if you have or have not already applied to the company in question.

Don’t lie to the recruiter about having already applied; it can embarrass them if the company comes back and says “Why didn’t you check this applicant out better? We already have him in the list?” Since recruiters hold the only door at many companies, you don’t want to embarrass them and limit your chances.

About Recruiters

The thing about recruiters is that they don’t always know how to determine a good fit, and many of them end up relying on skills tests. You might see multiple choice exams on Redhat Linux or Windows Exchange Server that test trivial items on tuning and system installation where there are really two correct answers. They’re not typically technological themselves, so they don’t have the equipment to ensure you really know what you claim on your resume. These are gate-keeper recruiters, and they act mostly as a resume filter, keeping out the obvious liars. Most of these types are rational enough to appreciate that you’re not likely to hit 100% on any of these trivia tests, and anything that surpasses basic luck at guessing is good enough for them.

There are also boutique recruiters where there are a half dozen or so professionals who do very specific recruiting and matching for clients. These guys can often at least talk the talk, and their eyes won’t glaze over if you answer a question in an overly technical fashion. Even if they don’t understand, they work more on a bullshit detection system; they can tell more when they’re being lied to or played. I liked working with these recruiters most from both ends of the spectrum; when looking for work, and when looking for an employee. They don’t tend to fluff you up so much, and they’ll give you more of a real sense of your chances, etc.

You can also work directly with internal HR right off the top, which is a crap-shoot. Nobody knows what you’re going to see from that end, but nowadays, more often then not, they’re an extension of the keyword system from the Taleo based web site. They’ll likely choose a short list of candidates based on what their automated keyword search system spits out, and then they’ll start calling people and doing initial phone interviews to see if you match the high level picture and should then talk to the hiring managers

I don’t want my boss to know I’m looking

If you’re still gainfully employed and need to keep that job while you’re looking, consider who has direct access to your social network, and how would they react if they knew you might leave? If you post about looking for work, you may as well assume that your current employer will know about it. However you might want to hold off posting directly about interviews you’re doing, if you’re short listed, etc. Announcing that you’re looking should suffice; if they know that you’re doing well in the search, some employers might not react well to that.

You shouldn’t be concerned about having your resume online; as a professional in the IT world, you should always have your updated resume online in the popular job sites, and out among your peers. I know, some employers might expect that you stay with them for the rest of your life, but they’re delusional. People can change jobs rather frequently, and companies can go away overnight.

In order to keep your chances up in the event that you’re unexpectedly without work, you need to have current information already out there, and any employer should appreciate that you need to look out for yourself by keeping your resume updated and active.

About that resume

For the longest time, I was sticking with the age-old “2-3 pages maximum” guideline they showed us in school, with bullet points and very little real information, and only really covering off the high points. It seems that the real answer, however, is to go big, with a proper Curriculum Vitae that lists as much as possible about everything you are professionally.

Listing absolutely everything, including the fact that you worked with Window 95 and Windows NT 3.5 becomes important in the world of keyword searching for applicants. It seems that absolutely every company I’ve seen lately, big and small, has moved to a horrible software based system like Taleo. These systems cause me to curse and twitch when I have to use them, due to poor UI design and questionable logic, but they help recruiting dig out the right people with key words, and the more keywords there are there, the better your odds of being found are.

I took my short three page resume that covered ten years (yeah, I know) and did a full re-write to focus on the skills that I had. It’s still relatively concise, but there’s ten times the information in there now.

I don’t have a degree, so I really need to focus on what I can do. You can take a look at it if you like; I have it on Google Docs. I think it looks like overload, but it’s been the most successful version I’ve had in getting call backs, possibly due to it containing some of the more obscure keywords that seem to be in demand (Actimize and autosys, for example).

If your current job is your only relevant job to IT, list your education with the same specificity you would were it a job; team projects, systems experience, etc. If you started a degree or other course of study but didn’t complete it, what happened?

A resume isn’t about the truth – it’s really about your version of the truth. It’s politics, spinning whatever you have into why you’re a good fit. I’m likely going to turn this reply into a blog post, and I wouldn’t be all that surprised if I get angry emails on that.

When I’ve done hiring in the past, I really didn’t care what your GPA was, or if you like hiking and camping. EVERYONE seems to say that they like to read, but hardly anyone can tell you what book they last read. I didn’t care about unrelated jobs at all, like if you delivered pizza in college or worked at McDonalds in high school, since none of that really says anything about what you can do with technology.

The value of editing

One of the things that bothers me is that every recruiter has their own idea of what is the ONLY way to do a resume, so sometimes you need to have that generic looking 2 pager for them and the big one for uploading to the job sites. I’ve tried to maintain slightly different resumes for different industries, targeting one more at Internet-related UNIX systems administration and one at financial industry production work, and others depending on the industry and skills they value in their listing.

To start off the re-development of your job-seeking self, sit down without a copy of your resume in front of you and think – “What HAVE I done?” If you have a lot of IT related job experience, it can be easy to overlook large areas of experience you have that you have forgotten about. If you have only one or two jobs, or just experience in school, you will likely have a harder time filling space.

What software products have you used a great deal, what software products have you tried and discarded as being inappropriate for what you were trying to do? What software do you know is vital to the role you want, but you only used it once a couple years ago?

Identify these items and don’t be afraid to say “knowledge of” or “exposure to” in describing the products that you have limited exposure to. People who know nothing about these products are claiming to in their resumes just to get past the keyword filters, and they’re disappointing interviewers everywhere because they made it through screening and you didn’t.

What projects have you worked on in your position, alone, or as part of a team?

Are you interested in QA as it relates to software development? What kind of testing, development, or deployments are you involved in? Any specific test strategies you have developed, methodologies you have used, deployment strategies used to promote code from developer desktops to production?

Are you looking into roles in operations or production support or administration? What ticketing and monitoring software do you use? Are there methodologies in use at your company that could be relevant? ITIL? ISO? SDLC? PFM? OMGWTF?

Sometimes it’s the little things; are you working as a generalist, Geek of All Trades in an office filled with developers? What exposure do you have to the tools that THEY use; even knowing how to use their tools or what they’re used for can be important. When a developer refers to “Eclipse” what does he mean? There are dozens of products by that name, but only a couple that a developer would care about – knowing context can be important.

If they don’t have a title for you in your current position, you’re left to invent one for your resume. Are you doing the work of a Network Administrator or that of a QA Engineer? Are you working more as a Systems Analyst or a Systems Administrator? If you’re the only technical employee in the company, in charge of printers and desktop support, don’t be cute and list “Office Geek” as your role; HR and Recruiters won’t get it. You might be better off going with “Desktop Support Specialist” or something along those lines. Be descriptive but try to stick to terms that you can defend in interview; don’t claim to be a Network Administrator if you were little more than a customer support person who was in charge of resetting the DSL modem when it crashed.

Interviewing

I really have nothing to say here; try to be relaxed, and keep your extreme opinions to yourself unless the interviewer goes there first. Other than that, be the best version of yourself that you can be, and try not to act like these people are your friends.

There are recruiter interviews, HR pre-screening interviews, technical interviews, peer interviews, cross departmental interviews… they’re all different things, and no two technical interviews go the same way. Some don’t go well because they turn into little more than high-pressure trivia game shows like my Google interview did. I prefer interviews that allow you to think rather than regurgitate facts.

In my experience, recruiters and HR pre-screens are pretty informal, and they just want to verify that you’re real and that your resume isn’t a colossal lie. Don’t sweat those ones.

Ask the interviewers questions; ask them how they came to be there, or what they like about the company, etc. Most people like talking about themselves. Don’t ask right off what the wages are, and consider carefully when they ask what you expect.

Feel free to ask a recruiter if he can tell you what the budget is for this position; some have been able to guide me to a range that isn’t too low or too high. Do a bit of google searching, ask people who do the kind of job you’re looking at what they earn, and look for IT salary surveys; they can give you a kind of bell-curve for what people are getting in that role. I’d say ask for an amount that falls to the right of the top of the curve, and accept one slightly to the left, but still near the top.

Feel free to pad what your current or past compensation is if you feel concerned that it will colour what the new employer might offer. Get in writing any sort of compensation plan they might have; is there a performance bonus structure, and is there regular wage reviews? Vacation time and any other compensatory strategies?

References

If you have friendly managers, team leads, or co-workers from your current and last couple jobs that you can use as references, let him know ahead of time, and get their permission. Don’t include a list of references with your application, and stay away from including phrases like “references provided on request” – that’s a given.

When you are asked for references, contact the people you plan to use and ensure you have current contact information and check if they have any special restrictions on times and dates that they can be reached. Providing the least frustration to the reference checkers possible will only help in the long run.

Send your references a copy of your resume, and provide them with any talking points that you think might make sense. You might want to send them a copy of the job listing that you’re applying for as well, so they can also touch on why you’re

This first all-inclusive version of your resume is the one you use on the job sites, and it can be huge if you like. You can edit it based on the job you’re applying to, adding, re-phrasing, and displaying yourself as that perfect fit that has all the skills they want, or at least has parallel skills with what they’re looking for.

Life Long Learning

Mention anything that you’re currently doing or considering doing in expanding your knowledge. Life long learning is a nice phrase, and some companies really try to fund this through paying for courses or maintaining a library of reference books in the office. If you learn more, you can become that much more valuable to the company that shows that they respect and value employee growth.

Find industry specific courses that might benefit you both personally and professionally. For example, in the financial sector, there are a couple courses through the Canadian Securities Institute (yes, CSI) such as the CSC which are really aimed at mutual fund managers and insurance people, but could help understand the business side of things. Interested in becoming a Project Manager? Well, the Project Management Institute has some industry respected courses on that front. How about computer security? Well, check out International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc., (ISC)² for their SSCP or CISSP programs. There are other industry recognized organizations that offer programs in computer forensics, vendor specific products and methods, and plenty more.

Let’s take a look at a small chunk of a job listing and try to turn what they say into something tangible that can be mentioned in the resume and cover letter that might be good to submit.

Required Skills/ Competencies/ Attributes:

• Concern for Order and Quality
• Analytical Thinking
• Commitment To Continous Learning
• Customer Service/ Service Partner Orientation
• DB2
• WSAD / Websphere

Concern for Order and Quality

Any examples you have where your concern for quality in testing might have saved your current company money by you delaying rollout? Maybe you were able to prevent a nasty bug from biting them on the ass?

Have you developed / improved on a software rollout technique? Maybe you’re deploying software updates remotely from a central server, using Ghost, or other imagine or licensing techniques? Are you familiar with wikis like Confluence, mediawiki, twiki, or document repositories like Sharepoint, or Documentum ?

Many companies use some or all of these to house process documentation, and knowledge of them can be valuable, even if not mentioned explicitly in the job listing.

Do you have experience with ticketing software for job requests, etc? Peregrine, Bugzilla, RequestTracker, HP OpenDesk (or whatever it’s called now), etc?

Analytical Thinking

Show examples of how you’re used critical and analytical thinking to solve problems. When it worked, and when it didn’t; describe any techniques or resources you’ve employed in this.

Commitment to Continuous Learning

You could mention the CSC or PMI courses I mention above, any certifications, any courses you’ve audited, or any science and math books you’ve read that have added value to your brainmeats. List the why as well as the what; if you have an MCSE, why did you get that, and how does it apply to what you’re doing?

Customer Service / Service Parter Orientation

Whoever your customers are – internal staff, vendor partners, etc, how do you deal with them, how do you interact with them?

DB2, WSAD / Websphere

Even if you don’t have Websphere or DB2 specifically, maybe you’ve worked with other application servers in school or in a past position? If you don’t know what WSAD refers to, try to find out so that you know where it fits into the puzzle. (Check out GeekInterview.com for an interesting geeky interview question database)

Summary

I don’t know what I’m talking about, but neither do any of the job clubs or most of the recruiters out there when they tell you the Right Way to do things.

You will likely need to tailor your resume to a format that they like, and you can do it without protest if the job sounds good. So long as you have the all-inclusive version I talk about, with absolutely everything included in it, creating a more targeted version is a relatively simple. With a resume, I’ve always found it easier to take things out than to put things back in in a way that ‘fit.’ Your mileage may vary.

They pretty much insist that you use their amazing ResumeExpert system, which pulls the keywords out, and lets you pop up on employer and recruiter searches. I decide to give it a go, and upload my recently updated resume.

Good fucking luck.

I try uploading the new resume, and it spins and spins and spins, and then gives me an error that the file is too big. I check, and it’s 102KB. That’s too big? Do they specialize in resumes for people with teeny little one page resumes? I checked the page again for any warning about maximum size, and there’s nothing. What’s the max? Would I be okay with a file at 99KB?

Okay, fine, I’ll just copy the text and submit it in the hand text box that’s meant to allow you to copy and paste your resume… Or, so you’d think…

Hit the radio button for “Cut and paste your resume” and paste text in the box, and hit Next…

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. at PostResumeView.SaveValues()

Oh yeah…

Does anyone human even try these job sites before they roll them out? Try hiring a QA team and maybe a UI designer for a change, people.

Oh look, now it’s logged me out. I wonder why I stopped using workopolis last time…

Oh, and adding phrases like “as required” is just word padding. It’s a job; it’s all as required.

Other phrases I could do without, some in the following listing, some not; on a constant basis, on a going-forward basis, incentivized, do the needful, and actively participate. There’s also obvious pronoun / verb matching that drives me crazy; “We, this team, is working on the needful incentivization…”

Our Telecommunication Client is looking for a Solution Architect

A Solution Architect? Isn’t that a bit redundant? Architects aren’t typically hired to create problems… This is a bit like saying your client is looking for a Healing Doctor.

• Responsible for the technical and infrastructure architecture and integration to support large scale enterprise initiatives
• Apply technical experience and leadership in technology direction, solutioning, design and development, implementation and support of technical solution encompassing multiple specializations, platforms and technologies
• Define project scope, plans and deliverables including cost projections and proposed implementation timelines
• Work collaboratively with selected technology vendors in developing technology options analysis and providing an optimum recommendation that meets the stated requirements in functionality, performance, scalability, reliability and resiliency while minimizing deployment and ongoing support costs
• Prepare detailed architecture and design documentation suitable for implementation teams and ensure disciplined, methodical and professional design processes are utilized on a consistent basis
• Actively participate in design reviews to ensure optimum solution delivery and provide technical support and direction to other members of the team
• Develop and deliver presentations to all levels within the organization including executive level, as required
• Work closely with peer departments in the Enterprise Architecture, Applications and existing Infrastructure & Operations groups to ensure alignment, effective planning and efficient execution and hand-over between departments
• Plan and participate in the execution of the necessary testing requirements to validate the technology platforms or systems (laboratory, development, QA, performance, operational readiness)
• Identify and apply established guidelines to effectively manage technical, product or business risks

Qualifications expect a lot, albeit abstractly;

Broad knowledge across the breadth of infrastructure technologies with deep skillsets in one or more of the following competency areas: enterprise class UNIX and X86/X64 platforms, web services, middleware, application messaging, database, enterprise storage solutions, business continuity planning, facilities engineering and security

“We want someone who knows everything, but someone who REALLY knows everything about one of a group of technical abstractions that we saw mentioned in an eWeek article. You’ll be drafting requests for quotes for a bunch of Dell desktops, but we’re sure that this stuff will make them better.”

Proven track record of optimizing technological designs to meet business demands is required

“Our executive team like the colour blue; make sure whatever technology you pick is blue. Sure, it’s leading edge business to business message based middleware, but is it available in blue?”

Must have experience in methodical, disciplined and professional design processes

“We said ‘blue’ – what part of that did you not understand? Idiot.”

Demonstrated ability to leverage existing technical knowledge and experience, conduct research leveraging a variety of tools and sources, while working with chosen technology vendors

“Everything we have is blue – if we went with what you’re suggesting, it wouldn’t match. Do you even know how this works? Oh, and it has to be from Dell, because the CEO collects an Airmile for every $100 we spend with them.”

They really want to abuse the lever; what about the inclined plane, the wheel, the pulley? Though, I think you might be covered on the screw…

Excellent communicator both verbally and in writing, with the ability to frame technology issues in business terms and vice versa, and to effectively manage and confront conflicts and issues

“Abilityness and readytude to inventize new verbized adjectivitudity seeked, with preferosity instantitized in personities not fearstantiated to flagrantly ignore proper grammartudinous.”

Hmm… maybe I should apply… It really is a Systems Analysis job, and it’s one that I could likely do well. I assume that the actual listing was generated by a recruiter, and not by the company,

Unless there’s some new developments at Microsoft, they don’t make MS SQL for Linux.

Build, configure, and maintain Linux servers, including:

• Install OS on servers
• Install Microsoft SQL Database and other applications on servers
• Configure and maintain data backups

Additionally, this last recruiter requires you to upload a resume, as you’d expect, but they also require that you manually input your job history. There’s a resume with that information in it, right there… how about you look at the resume?

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error ’80040e37′

Invalid object name ‘survey’.

/dev/common.inc, line 14

Did it save or not? Well, at least they appear to have an actual need for a systems admin, even if they were asking for a UNIX admin…

For that, they’ll pay you $42,000 a year.

Greenpeace Canada is seeking an experienced Webmaster to join our communications team. The Webmaster will administer Greenpeace Canada English Web sites, including design and content development, coordinate the creation of web content across a bilingual organization in collaboration with the Montreal Webmaster, and support campaigns, communications, fundraising and public outreach activities.

• Extensive knowledge in technical aspects of Web site development, includinglayout and design;
• Technical skills including: standards compliant HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and MySQL;
• Experience working with a content management system, preferably open source;
• Experience writing content for the Web and e-mail broadcasts;
• Administrative experience on a Web site: DNS management, statistics, basic server configuration in a shared hosting environment;
• Demonstrated aptitude and understanding of new media technologies as related to future web development, convergence and digital technologies;
• Demonstrated understanding of online campaign strategies and techniques;
• Knowledge of social networking sites (YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, etc…) and interest in leveraging the potential of these for extending the reach of our campaigns;
• Ability to generate and sustain traffic, membership and involvement to Greenpeace Canada Web sites, online newsletters and donations modules;
• Strong project management skills, organization and time management skills;
• Ability to be flexible and work in a dynamic environment, sometimes under pressure;
• Excellent communications skills (both written and verbal);
• Ability to work independently and as well as collaboratively;
• Understand and support Greenpeace’s core values including engaging in peaceful civil disobedience.

To sum up, what Greenpeace seems to be looking for is someone with a sizable portfolio of web sites and projects and a large online portfolio, as well as a marketing slant to write copy. They want a social media expert who can not only run the website but drive new members to sign up and donate money. They want a project manager who can also keep these other 3-6 hats all in the air at the same time, and they want it all for $42,000 a year. A lot of expectations for one person and not a whole lot of compensation for someone living in Toronto.

It really sounds like too big of a wish list for the price, and they’re going to have to deal with one of a couple scenarios: 1. hire someone who meets all the criteria who gets an offer within 6 months somewhere else for an extra $18K annually; 2. hire someone who hits one or two of the must-haves but fails to be able to learn anything else and you have to hire another human to do the rest; 3. hire a kid right out of college with a great portfolio, who has all the ideals and desire, but is an insufferable twat that nobody else would hire.

Or maybe I’ve lost track of what a webmaster is expected to do for the compensation level they’re offered.

Where it starts sounding a bit weird is when you get to the signature; “Replies to this message are undeliverable and will not reach the Human Resources Department. Please do not reply.”

There’s no phone number provided, but above this odd signature bloack there’s the contact person’s name and email address. The message itself is sent from someone@invalidemail.com, which we’ll just assume is a bogus address, so to reply, I click to forward the message, copy the email address from the body and paste it into the ‘To:’ field.

A bit cumbersome and it makes me wonder about the choices made by the developers of the software they’re using in recruiting. I mean, how hard would it be for the system to put the HR person’s address in the ‘Reply-to:’ field?

I’ve already written about some of the systems that I’ve been running into in the corporate HR world, and I really think that there must be an opening for some really solid purpose-built and user friendly talent contact management software.

1. Are you eligibile to legally work in Canada… Yes/No
2. IF THE ANSWER IS NO, are you eligible to legally … Select One

I’m the kind of guy who answers yes or no to questions like “would you like to go to a movie or a play” because I’d first think of it as a logical or… The second question would seem to mean that I can ignore it if I did not answer NO to the first one.

I would be wrong. I still need to pull down the select and choose “Not applicable”

This same site had a couple submit buttons that don’t work in Mozilla on Linux or Mac OS. Safari was also ignoring the javascript submit button… I had to go through a much less desirable method for posting my resume with them. Most of their IT jobs are UNIX based, and anybody who actively uses Linux or BSD at home as well as professionally would be stuck as well.

General web site design issues I encountered:

• The lack of “BACK” buttons in some of the application systems are rather annoying too; once you have entered something, you’re all too often stuck with it.


• Redefining widget behaviour in new and annoying ways. licking in the scroll bar for a looooong selection list should page up or page down, but some developer decided that that normal functionality should be replaced with moving up or down a single line.


• Seriously, why use a javascript submit button when you simply don’t have to, and then neglect to test it with one of your target audience


• Speaking of target audience, if you’re a Canadian bank looking for Canadian employees located in Canada, why does your default selection of countries on your sign up list United States and then Canada? Besides that, why does it default to US?


• Imposing useless restrictions on data formatting is pointless; your system should adapt to what is entered. Being forced to enter format your postal code on one site as A1A 1A1 (with a space) and on another as A1A1A1A (no space) on another is silly. Phone numbers in North America should consist of 10 numbers, and punctuation shouldn’t matter; brackets, dashes, etc. White space and punctuation shouldn’t matter if you have competent developers.

This sort of thing just reinforces in my mind that competent developers are more rare than you could imagine, and few people understand that user interfaces shouldn’t be obstacles.

I prefer the web pages to mailing and faxing in resumes, though only in the same fashion that I might prefer the guillotine over the gas chamber…

So, if I have integrity, that means I want to be paid poorly, or that if I want to be well paid I lack integrity? This isn’t lady or the tiger, this is LION or the tiger.

This question pops up, and the only correct answer I can see is #3; Neutral.

Of the companies described below, I would prefer to work for a: