Switching Jobs - Talk To Your Boss

I ran across a post on switching jobs, which I thought was great. There are a few points in there that are worth point out, and which I've used successfully in my career. I've had a lot of jobs, but a mix of places I needed to leave, places I outgrew, and places that wanted me to leave (few of these).

Each of those experiences helped me grow, and I think the situations are very similar to the ones I see friends in. I wan to tackle one of those items today and others in later posts.

Talk To Your Boss

I used to be like most people, afraid to let my boss know I was leaving. I came out of the restaurant business. If you told your boss you were looking, you were fired. A lot of professionals have that view, and it's somewhat justified, but less and less so.

There are certainly bosses out there that take an employee leaving as a sign of disloyalty or disrespect, or more likely, a sign the boss is a failure. For the people that have those views, only the last item is true. If you have a boss like this, then you can't tell them. In fact, if you have a boss like this, that's probably the reason you're leaving.

In that case, I recommend constantly looking. Keep blogging, updating your resume, networking, and looking. If your boss asks, just let them know you're providing a layer of security in case the company experiences a downtown and lays you off. It's plausible, true, and likely not acceptable, but since it's your life and career, I'd do that.

However for most of my employers, and fellow managers when I managed, having a conversation about leaving is an adult affair. We can mutually discuss the issues, and often we find there's nothing that can be fixed. Money is often limited, though if this is the only reason, sometimes a change can be made.

If I (or you) want more responsibility or different projects, then part of the issue certainly is communication. The employee needs to let the manager know, and I've been guilty of this. Sometimes there can be changes; sometimes there cannot. At least not in the short term. If the issue is that you aren't ready, then a manager should help you understand where you need to grow, help you find training, and make a plan.

If you have culture issues with the company, often that's that. I had a few people work for me in this place, and we worked together for an orderly transition. One to a new company, one to a new position in another group, and in a way that didn't disrupt my team or cause any poor feelings between anyone.

I think most of you will find that your employers are grown up and understand that many people won't work for the same company for 40 years. Many of your managers will look to move on at some point, and they understand your desire. Good managers will help you, poor ones will sulk, but few will actually actively sabotage or fight you.

Why You Don't Get Hired

There could be lots of reasons why you don't get hired (or get the promotion/raise), but I found a good list of items from Mike Walsh on his blog: 6 Reasons I Won't Hire You. I like the list, and for the most part I agree with what Mike has written.

The first few items are important. You should be able to tell people you don't know. I might suggest that you actually document some of these items in your blog or resume/profile and talk about them. Show people that you didn't know something, you could admit it, and you could find out or learn it yourself.

I'd also caution people to be aware that not all jobs are for you. It can be hard when you are desperate for a job to not fit the profile, or get an offer, or something else. If you ask for feedback and they say you weren't a good fit, that can be very depressing or disconcerting.

However it's okay. One of the things a job interview is supposed to do is determine if you're a good fit for this position. Not that you can do the job or have the skills, but do you fit in this environment, with this team of people, with these clients. Sometimes you just don't fit, and it might not be your skills. It might be your personality or approach doesn't fit the system.

These are a few reasons you might not get hired, some of which you can change and some you can't. Change what you can, accept what you cannot.

A Fresh Start

That was the title of this slide:

It's from a Baseline slideshow that talks about staffing across the last 6 years and how even though many companies that shrunk their staffs after 2007 have hired since, they haven't necessarily hired the same people back.

That's an interesting statistic to me. It does mean a third of the companies did hire back old staff, which isn't a bad number. In baseball, that's all star territory for hits. If you have some knowledge of the systems, you might get hired back.

However two thirds of the companies did not hire back staff. There could be a number of reasons for this:

• The company is crappy and workers didn't want to come back
• They let the wrong people go, and those people found other jobs
• People already had a job and didn't want to come back to a company that had let them go
• Their skills weren't worth hiring back

There could be other reasons as well. However from the employee standpoint, unless you are in one of the first two categories, you would want the company to make an attempt to hire you back. Especially if you needed a job. It's not that you might need one when the company is hiring right now, but you might need one in five years, and institutional memory can be long. The last thing you want is for your application to be discarded without consideration because of bad feelings or poor performance.

You can't leave every job on your own terms, but you can do a professional job, and ensure that the decision to let you go is a hard one. You can also ensure that if you decide to leave, that they want you back and would hire you back.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side, and having a company that would be happy to hire you back is a great safety net for your career.

Is Your Work Worth Doing?

This is an interesting blog that talks about people that find value, satisfaction, or worthiness in their jobs, however small, because they’re making a difference in the world. Sometimes a tiny difference, but a difference nonetheless.

I hope you view the world in the same way, that you think there are things you do that make life better for other people. Whether that’s one other person or one million.

That’s how I view the talks I give on SQL Server. I’m not trying to lecture the world or impress everyone with some amazing new technical item. I’m trying to reach one or two people, get them to think, and hopefully make their job better.

I also highly value the people I work with. If I don’t like them, I don’t take the job.

If you don’t think there’s something in your job worth doing, perhaps you should think about finding a new job.

This TED talk on the subject is referenced in the article, and worth watching.

Chip Conley: Measuring What makes life worthwhile

Is your employer professional?

Read this.

If they’re not, then should you move on?

(hint: yes)

Want a Better Job? Find a Better Boss

It’s been shown over and over, in a few studies, that bosses can make or break a job. You will enjoy a job more if you have a good boss, and consequently, do better work.

If you are unhappy in your job, is it your boss? Maybe you want to send that article to your boss, or your boss’ boss. Poor bosses hit the bottom line.

If you’re looking for a job, keep this in mind. If someone is a jerk in the interview, chances are they’ll be a jerk when you work for them.

After a Rejection

If you’ve been rejected after a job interview, you might feel bad, feel like just moving on and finding another company. It’s natural, and I certainly understand. I’ve been lucky in my career to have few rejections, but I have had a few and I haven’t always taken it in any way other than very negatively.

This article talks about some things you might want to do in the corporate world. Write back to the manager, thank them, and ask about other opportunities.  I hadn’t heard that before, but it makes sense, especially for the reasons given. Corporate people often “start over” with each job opening, not considering other candidates, even if they’ve been interviewed recently.

I have heard to reach out and ask what you could do better. I’m not sure how I’d respond to that as a manager, mostly because of potential legal issues. Also, it might not be anything that you did wrong, and just be that there were better candidates.

It’s worth reaching out, if for no other reason than to have your name in the mind of a manager that might need someone else.

Facebook Passwords and Privacy

One of the things that I always talk about is that you ought to separate your professional and personal lives. For many of us, this might mean that we want to have multiple profiles online, and perhaps make sure we separate those profiles.

I have separate blogs for different parts of my life. This blog is dedicated to the Modern Resume and branding, I have a blog for my running, a blog for my personal life, and a professional blog at voiceofthedba.com. I used Twitter and LinkedIn for professional work, but I reserve Facebook for connecting with friends.

Sidebar: If you can’t see much of my profile, it’s because I limit what I show in Facebook to non-friends. Also, if you haven’t met my family, or had a meal with me, I won’t accept friend requests.

I’ve seen recently that some employers are asking for your profile information on Facebook and other sites. I know that this can be a cause of concern, and while there are any number of places to get advice, here’s what I would do:

Politely decline in an interview, or at your place of employment - I would note that my Facebook profile is private correspondence with my friends and family. It is not visible to everyone, and not public information. I would point the employer to my professional, and public, presences.

Provide an analogy - Ask your employer if they would expect to require you to have listening devices in your home or on your person during off hours. Ask if your employer expects to be able to come to your house and view videos or scrap books that you’ve shown friends.  The postings on a private site, like Facebook, are the digital equivalent.

Agree to Remove your Professional Information - You should not use your private profile to identify your employer. Just as you want your privacy, so should they, and you may consider including a disclaimer on your profile. Here’s what I have on Facebook:

The opinions, links, status updates, thoughts, and comments  posted here are my own opinion and to not reflect on my employer.

If you want to show your employer your profile so they can see this, feel free, but I would just sign something to this effect. Note that this would imply you should not have a current employer listed on private social networks.

If required, cite Federal Law - Forcing someone to give a password does not constitute authorization, and I would ensure that if my employer forced this issue and I couldn’t quit, I would get the request in writing. Prior to signing this or handing over the password, I would cite Section 18 of the United States Code, Item 1030, which deals with computer fraud. Accessing someone’s account without their consent, is a violation of this law.

Ultimately it’s up to you to handle this, and you can do what you want, but I would encourage you to think about this before you get asked.

Show People What You’ve Done

This is a good article worth reading: Why the New Guy Can’t Code. It’s a little heavy handed, but it makes sense and there’s one great quote: don’t interview anyone who hasn’t accomplished anything. Ever.

I think we are starting to see this, with all the research that hiring managers and HR people can do online about applicants. If you don’t have some body of work, some evidence that you have the skills needed for the job, why bother with the interview?

Blogging, building a project, having some volunteer projects or applications you’ve built on the side can bring some depth and color to your application, and it gives you the chance to let the interviewer know about your accomplishments when they are considering calling you.

It removes some level of doubt that you might not be a good fit, and it gives you the chance to make a positive first impression early. That’s half the battle of finding your dream job.

Get Your Manager Involved

I’ve always tried to make sure that I kept my manager informed of things I thought were important. However I hadn’t thought of getting them to attend local events with me.

This blog from Roy Ernest has an interesting idea, invite them to you user group. They’ll learn more about SQL Server, see your contributions, and maybe sponsor you to attend a conference.

A good idea, and worth trying if you have a manager that’s at all interested in the technology and you have some sessions that aren’t too complex.

Disclosing Salary

Do you disclose your salary information? You might need to at some point, but when should you not talk about salary? I have a few thoughts here on the different times when you can disclose it.

Blog (public disclosure)

Should you disclose your salary before you even speak to a company? No. You have nothing to gain here and plenty to lose. Friends might get jealous, or laugh. Potential employers might think they can low-ball you, or not even bother to interview you because you make too much.

This also makes it harder to ask for a substantial raise in switching companies.

Recruiter

Personally I have found most recruiters to be salesman that are filling a position on their way to the next position. Even when I have run into very professional recruiters, they often come from another business, like technology, and they might go back into that business.

When a recruiter asks me, I usually give them a range where I’d like to be, but let them know I’m flexible. For example, I have in the past said that I would like to make about 85k a year, but that I might take a lower paying opportunity.

If pressed, I would politely decline. The next company is going to pay me to do a job, not try to match my previous company’s salary. If they think I can do the job, then they should pay in their range.

If a recruiter wants to know which positions they can submit me for, I’d say for them to let me know the salary range for each position when it comes up and I’ll decide. Stay firm here.

Phone Interview

If you get a phone interview, then you know your resume, or brand, was good enough to pique their interest. If you are asked about your current, or previous salary, I give the same answer I give the recruiter.

This is important for two reasons. One is that you want to match up with what the recruiter says. The other is that you don’t know what the company is looking to pay, and giving away your information first means that you might end up giving the impression that you are cheap (some managers have budgets) or out of their range.

My technique here is usually to counter with a question on their range for the position. At this point, I should then determine if I can work in the range. I had a position in the past where the range was low and I told them so. They manager liked me, and was impressed, so he said that he might be able to get another 5-10k. I agreed to go interview then.

Remember that companies are looking for good people, and if you are talented in your area, you have more power. If you need a job, any job, perhaps you should find something to make ends meet while you look for a career position. Ultimately you won’t be happy working for way below you think you are worth. Even in the short term (< 1 year).

If pressed, I tell the manager that usually I discuss salary if I get to the point that we are both interested in the position. If I have a range, I’ll decide if I want to continue.

If no one asks me, I always ask here for a salary range.

Live Interview

If you get a live interview, you’re on the short list. When I was starting my career, this short list could have easily been 15 people. However in the last decade, typically companies don’t have time to interview 15 people. Most don’t look at 10 if they find 3-4 good candidates. It’s a hassle, and a waste of time.

Again, I try not to discuss salary if we aren’t close to offering me a job. If they press, I might joke about being on the short list. That can help break the ice, and by this time you should have an idea of the salary range.

However at this point I will disclose my range if the company is trying to decide how much they need to offer. I will typically say that I was making in the “low 90s” at xx position and the “mid 80s” at yy position. Your exact salary isn’t critical, but really the company is trying to decide:

• Can they afford you?
• How cheaply can they afford you?
• Will you be happy with their offer?
• Will you disrupt employee morale if you are too high on their scale?

The Job Offer

If they offer you the job, then they ought to attach a salary to the offer. If they offer you a job and want to discuss salary, again, get their range first. They have no good reason not to provide you a range (it should be public knowledge for employees), and if they refuse, I’d move on. Likely money will be a fight, both with COLA raises and promotions.

They aren’t likely to verify your salary, so if you must start discussing this, I’d use ranges again, as I did in the Live Interview. Give them an idea.

Never Say Never

As the saying goes, never say never because there will be an exception. However in the US, I don’t think you ever need to disclose your exact salary. The HR/Accounting people and the IRS will know, but no one else needs to know.

Discussing money is hard, but you need to learn to discuss it in a roundabout way in order to further your career. Use ranges and generalities and you should be fine.

Two final things: one, be honest. I wouldn’t say I was making in the mid 80s if my salary was $77k. That’s not right, and if someone finds out, this is a lie. Second, taking a job because it has the most money in spite of other issues is a bad idea. I’ve never met anyone that thought this was the best decision for them in hindsight.

Life’s too short to take a crappy job.

Your Brand is the first step

As much as I try and preach to people that their brand and their modern resume is an important part of their career growth, it’s just the first step. A modern resume might help you get an interview, but that isn’t a job.

Once you get the interview, it’s important to present yourself in a professional manner that will add to your brand and help you get the job. The last thing you want is for someone to be incredibly impressed by your brand, and your resume, but then be disappointed when they interview you.

Here are a few links that contain tips for interviews that I think could help.

• How to Nail An Interview
• Acing the interview
• Handle the stress interview

Ultimately you need to be yourself, and be honest. However, if you get nervous, and you don’t necessarily present a good image, here are a few things. If you’re not sure if you make a good impression, ask a friend.

• Speak slowly – Most people start to ramble and talk quickly when they are nervous. And most people are nervous in an interview. Take a breath, and compose yourself for a second before answering.
• Dress slightly up – I always ask what the dress code is when scheduling an interview. If they are business casual, I’d wear an Oxford and slacks (or the woman’s equivalent), perhaps a tie. If they wear ties, wear a suit.
• Bring a copy of your resume on paper – You’d be surprised how often an interviewer doesn’t have one.
• Turn off your cell phone – or leave it in the car. It’s really, really annoying to have one go off when I’m interviewing someone.
• Talk through your answers - Even if you don’t know the answer, you can show them how you think. If in doubt, I’d also recommend that you explain where you’d go to look for help.

There are plenty more, and the best advice I can give you is to practice an interview with a friend, or a manager. Ask them to really quiz you on topics, ask you code questions and traditional interview questions.

Practice makes perfect, and it definitely helps you to perform better in an interview.

Negotiating Salary for a New Job

Slightly off topic, but I’m adding this one to the Modern Resume blog since I think it’s something to be aware of in managing your career, and to some extent, your brand. How you handle this reflects on you, and I wanted to note a little advice.

I ran across this post from Brent Ozar on salary negotiations that gives some advice. It was in response to a Twitter post, which proves one great thing about where you can get inspiration: Twitter! For the most part I agree with Brent’s advice, but I have a slightly different take on how to handle it.

Ask, Don’t Answer

My basic advice is that you ought to get an idea of what the job is paying first, and as soon as possible. Money does matter, and it can break negotiations down if the number of too low.

There is no good average salary for some jobs. I know that HR people like to think there is, but I have seen it quite often that the ranges for a particular job, and skillset, can vary widely in companies. I think that it’s it’s in part because the value placed on a particular job can vary widely from company to company. However, I would say that the majority of the issue is that most people are poor negotiators.

I’m getting slightly off track here, but my first advice is that early on in the initial interview, probably over the phone, you get an idea of the salary range the company is looking to pay. If they ask you what you are making, tactfully ask them what the job pays. If they press let them know that you do not necessarily want to disclose your salary right now until you find out more about the job. Defer the discussion.

Why?

If you are expecting, or need, to make $75,000/yr and the job is for $55,000/yr, there might not be a point in continuing.  I’ve had that happen to me (not those numbers, but a similar experience) and it spurred me to ask them if that was a hard range or could anything be done to raise it. I have let them know that I can’t work for that number and in some cases they considered raising it, some they didn’t. However if it’s a make or break number, then it’s good to get that out of the way up front and stop wasting each other’s time.

After that, I think I’d follow Brent’s advice and give you current salary as a multiple of 10. You make in the “60s” or the “80s”, but there’s no need to give an exact figure. Information is power, and a sharp negotiator, like an experienced HR person or manager, will use an exact number to beat you down on your salary.

Have Reasons

Whether you hoping to make more money, or take a pay cut, have reasons for your move. Keep in mind that anything you say as a slight against your current situation could be seen as a potential negative to a new employer. Tread carefully, but honestly in your reasons for your new salary (up or down).

Above all, be honest. There’s no reason for you to lie about your salary, and it can only hurt later on down  the road if someone finds out. Give an honest range in which you currently fall.

Lastly, the best argument is that they are paying you to do a job, and even if that job is paying 20% more than you currently make, if they think you can do the job, they should pay you.

Advice for Students (or new workers)

I saw a blog from ZDNet on advice for students entering the workplace. It's good common sense, and I think it makes sense. The highlight, though, is the last item.

Keep your work and personal life separate.

That fits with what I talk about. Keep your personal blog, thoughts, Facebook, etc., separate. There should be some separation in your life, and I'd extend that to your brand as well. Make a separate blog, even a separate Facebook profile, for your professional world.

For students that don't have a profession, I'd plan one when you start looking for jobs. For me that was the start of my senior year. If I were entering my last year now, I'd go about it this way.

In August, I'd get a hotmail/gmail/yahoo email address that will remain constant for me. I'd be wary of my school or ISP accounts. You might move across the country in a year, and you want a fairly permanent address. This also allows you to build a separate profile.

I'd choose the places that make sense for me. Ask professors, contact others in your field, see where they tend to make profiles. Many people use Facebook. LinkedIn has done well in many technology fields, Ning seems to work well in Europe. Pick the one that works for you, create a new profile, note your professional items: your major, internships, etc.

Set up a professional blog. Include posts that are relevant to your field, things you've learned or worked on, projects, etc. If you have a personal blog with this stuff in there, copy posts over.

Use this email and profile, and blog, in your resume, cover letters, etc. as the place to learn about you and why you're a good employee.

Don't Copy Other People's Posts

In my Modern Resume presentation I have a few slides on blogging, a couple of which are hints and tips on "how to blog." The second one starts out like this:

• Don't copy other posts
• Don't copy other posts
• Don't copy other posts

I know that repeating something three times is supposed to be a way to get people to remember something. This is one of those things that I think is really important to stress to people, especially after a few incidents in the SQL world lately.

Joe Webb recently wrote "The theft of ideas and content" after some of his content was plagiarized. I've seen a few other professionals in this the SQL Server world respond to similar issues of their own content. A couple professionals, Brent Ozar and Tom LaRock did a short presentation on how to deal with this.

You can't build a brand of your own if you don't do the work. It sounds cliche, it sounds like the advice you'd get from your parents. Do the right thing no matter what. Lots of people think that everyone lies on their resume, and I'm sure many do, but it can come by to bite you later. Here are six examples of people who lied on their resume and got caught.

In today's world, it's getting easier and easier to check up on plagiarism. I strongly urge you to do your own work.

Your blog is a part of your resume. It's a part of what people will look at before they call you for an interview. Even after you have the job, this survey said you might get fired if they discover you lied on your resume.

I don't know that I'd fire someone for lying on their resume, but I certainly would if I found you copying someone's blog and claiming it as your own.

Touch Your Resume

If you don't have one, right now, set a reminder.

I'll assume most of you use Outlook, but in whatever calendar program you have, be it Google, a cell phone, whatever, create a new reminder now. Here's what you put in it.

Title: Touch your resume

Recurrence: every 90 days

Details: Check resume

- update Linked In/Facebook/Plaxo/wherever your profile is.

That's it, and then save it. When it goes off in 90 days, do the same thing you'll do today.

Check your resume, see if you have done something significant since the most recent thing you have listed on it. A new job, a new position, new responsibility, a new project completed, anything. If you have, add it. Then look for something to remove if you're approaching the 2 page limit.

If you haven't added anything, you should have just spent about 90 seconds thinking about things.

Next go to your online profile(s) and give it a quick look to see if it matches your resume. Make sure it does, and then get back to work. You've only spent a few minutes on your career, but you're prepared in case something happens.

I'm Certified, Now What?

I saw an article from Certification Magazine recently (via Trainsignal on twitter) with that title. It compared the completion of certification to that of a marathon runner. You've completed a marathon, after all the training, and now what?

I'm not sure that's a great comparison, but it does beg the question of what to do when you've completed your MCITPro, MCSE, or any other certification.

Surprisingly, I found quite a few other articles with that same title, and I thought this one from the MD Dept of Transportation was great. It talks about what companies that get certified to do business with the state should do, and it really lets you know that certification is the first step, not the last one.

Their advice?

• aggressively market
• identify possible employers
• contact them
• keep inquiring about new opportunities
• research opportunities
• network
• use resources

Is it any different for individual workers? I'd argue that it's not, and you should view a certification as the base step for moving your career forward. Whether you are coming out of college, or a twenty year veteran in your industry, the certification can add to your credentials, but it's just an addition, it isn't the ultimate goal or measure of your value.

I think certifications can help. They force you to learn something, and they help you to focus in certain areas. I'm sure there are plenty of people that just try to memorize topics and answers, but that should still help them. Whether they'll be able to apply those skills in the real world is a separate question, but they still have improved skills.

And that's what you also need to do. In addition to just marketing yourself, and showing off your certification, you also want to show that you've learned a few things. Blog and relate your studying back to your job, or to something in that area. I'd argue you should have been doing this all along, but it's never too late.

Pick up a project of some sort, even if you just duplicate some work of someone else. Show that you have picked up skills and can start to apply them. Make a point of communicating that you can apply your skills.

And if you can't do that, perhaps that's the next step for you. Learn to apply those skills and don't assume that certification will carry you along.

Tweet Your Job Away

A great example of how to “Tweet” poorly. This guy got fired before he started work.

Twitter is a series of hallway conversations. I think that’s a great description, and I’ll write more about that at some point. However just like those hallways, you need to be aware that you don’t necessarily know who’s listening. Putting it in writing means it could be overheard by anyone, and send on.

In case you’re interested, here’s the tweet that got him fired.

Mutually Beneficial

I saw a great blog post from Brent Ozar about whether or not you are being treated fairly at work. It’s the response to a question asked by Chris Shaw: Are you being treated fairly?

This blog talks about employees being replaceable and references the hospitality industry. That struck a chord with me because I worked in there for a long time as well. And I learned that I not only didn’t want to stick around, but very few people would. I thought it was a bit sad that I had a few friends in their 40s and 50s still tending bar, waiting tables, or doing some other relatively menial job. They were good at it, but it’s a hard life.

I’ve grown up a bit, and I’d retract my sympathy for them. There’s nothing wrong with that (or any other) job where you work and get paid. If you want to do it, and you’re willing to work, you earn your money the same as me.

You are replaceable. Even someone like me, who as the editor of SQLServerCentral, have built a brand that is almost indistinguishable from the site, can be let go and someone else do my job. I’m successful, people identify the site with me, it’s still growing and popular, but I know I could be replaced. It might lose some people, and there might be some short term (or long term) loss of revenue, but it could work.

At least I operate on that principle.

You have to make sure you’re providing value to your company. That’s common advice, and it’s out there. I wrote an editorial at SQLServerCentral on that recently. But the company has to be providing value to you.

In the past most people stuck with a company for a long time. Part of that was the promise of retirement, but some was cultural as well (leaving a job had some stigma) and there weren’t as many new jobs opening up. Skills were less transient between companies as many people were trained to work in that business and not as generally as I think we are now (mostly thanks to computing).

However I’m not sure many companies were fair to employees. That would be an interesting thesis for someone to write.

Today there are more jobs available. Even in this economy, you can still find a new job, though I would be more careful doing so. But the economy will turn around, and you should be positioning yourself to take advantage of that if you cannot find a job now. And if your company is not providing you with values as well.

The Power of Networking

I was contacted recently by someone that was hiring a new employee. They had searched out applicants on the Internet and found that one of them had a blog on my SQLServerCentral site. They sent me a note asking about my interactions with the applicant.
I can’t disclose who it was or what took place, but there are a couple of interesting things to note here:

1. Social networking matters. The person that contacted me knew me from my twitter posts and felt comfortable asking.
2. A person’s efforts online were noticed. The blog added something to the person’s application. I know because I asked and this was not an HR person, but another techie. They were interested in the posts.
3. What you blog about is fair game in the interview. This person said they were going to ask the person about some of their blog posts.

I don’t know if the person got the job, and that’s not really relevant to branding and the Modern Resume. A resume has never gotten you a job, nor will it. You have to stand on your own two feet and present a great employee in the interview, but a brand can help you stand out in these tough times when every position will have dozens of applicants.