The Brand Called You

The last few weeks I have been talking to recruiters, engineers, hiring managers, tech managers and VPs. One interesting norm I've seen was that people like to introduce themselves using their big companies and schools. Like Google, Oracle, Princeton, Stanford ... had all endorsed them to say I'm Google, I'm Stanford....

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respects for these organizations and people associated with them. But, have anyone thought more seriously about The Brand Called You.

I just think the 'You' brand is more important than any other brands. I'm the 'Super Code Monkey' who writes elegant and efficient code, challenges his team members to bring out the best of them, delivers software products that add values to the businesses and customers. I felt good as I was typing the last sentence. Period. Isn't that more powerful?

Rejection #2

It's been some time since I last wrote here. And, it's Rejection #2 already. I felt down a bit and got myself back up, and look forward to the next ones. In fact, I'm pretty excited about a couple of startups which I've been talking to.

My last interview with KANA was so embarrassing that I couldn't get the code right to reverse a linked list in Java. It could be done in a few lines of recursive code! It's ashamed for me who uses the language since day 1 when it was called Oak.

Well, I was quite happy with my performance with the VP's and managers, but just didn't connect with the engineers there. Let's hope the next time we all get connected!

Rejection #1

My interview with Picateers ended with a rejection! That was expected after meeting their VP of Sales. I felt that she had a concern over my dedication to be one of the hands-on developer. Well, I have to tone down my management skills in a startup next time around.

OK, it's back to the search again.

A 4-hour Interview

Yesterday, I had my first on-site job interview in 15 years. I felt exhausted after a long 4 hour meeting with two VPs and a chief architect. I believe I did pretty well in the technicals but not too impressive with my performance with the head of sales!

Well, hope I get pass this interview and finally meet the CEO.

Interviewing While On Vacation

While on vacation in Southern California, Jake, one of my recruiters, set up an interview for me. It was for a tech lead type of a position in an early stage startup called Picateers. The company provides a platform for schools to sell portraits to parents, friends and families.

I know I am the right person for the job, but I don't think I did extremely well with the VP of Engineering. I could have done better if I had prepared a little more on things mentioned in my resume, and presented my J2EE skills in reference to projects I was in charge of. Luckily, he said he would bring me in for a second interview. I need to do better and show a bit more technical depth in the 2nd.

Go nail the 2nd!!