recruiter in email: I don't think you are a fit, but perhaps you know someone who is, check out these two jobs. Job 1: Please have 5 to 10 years of experience designing UIs for handsets, and be innovative and wonderful and visual because we want to make a whole new way to have people use phones so they will buy from us. Job 2: Interaction designer to support Job 1, keeping tabs on information design and requirements.
Callback.
recruiter on phone: welll, we really want the 5 to 10 years.
me: Good luck hiring in Finland or Denmark, because that is where that level of experience is. However, I would also like to apply, at least for Job 2.
recruiter, dismissive: but wouldn't you agree that in their position you would want that level of experience?
me, sensing only one way to punch through this: well, if you want new ways of thinking you may want UI people who are not hampered by past constraints and understand that however fast the devices change, humans don't
recruiter later in email: well, I sent forward your resume, but really, do you know the star UI designers?
Yeah dude, I am so giving you the names inside Nokia. Sure, I wanna get fired for a guy who can't even pretend that I am good enough just to butter me up. Look, I know I was a lightweight for Job 1, but you could have pretended I could do Job 2, which I can.
- * - * - * -
Company 2: Researchy Now Very Big Company (but everything they release is Beta). Oh fuck it, it is Google, ok? Frigging "Research? Product? Who knows, ship it!" Google.
me: send resume to job advert for mobile-UI designer
--- 4 weeks of silence ---
recruiter & me: email for phone date
--- 1 week later ---
phone date
recruiter: blah blah what do you do
me: explain, where strengths are, experience with UI design, recent experience with mobile UI design in research context. Some things I do are currently confidential.
recruiter: evasive maneuvers, "but we do have a job opening for a mobile UI designer, perhaps you know someone for it?"
me: I'd love to apply myself, send it to me
recruiter in email: sends original advert for mobile-UI designer
me in email: "I'd love to apply and show you how I can fit that position"
recruiter in email: "I spoke w/ the staffing lead for UI and it seems that a portfolio of some
sort is required. I'm sure this request immediately makes you want to take
your name out of the hat. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!".
I. Don't. Think. So.
Until I get a "Please don't call us, we'll call you", I'll plug at this. I am not going down that easy. It may just have one or two cases, but the fact that this email happened Friday evening gives me a chance to put something together for Monday morning. And by the way, recruiter-dude, you aree about to be perceived as damage, and I will start routing around you.
- * - * - * -
My job life is just schizophrenic right now. On the one hand my boss loves, loves, loves me becayse I work on these research projects with demos grounded in reality that show results and possibilities inside the company. I take strange areas and make them work on the device. On the othe other hand, I can't seem to convince anybody outside the company I have the brain to make something that works on the mobile device, because I haven't been making dinky mobile websites for the last 5 years or had Nokia ship any of my explorations in the two years I have been on it, for technologies that are barely ready to be used by anyone.
I obviously will need to make some of these at night to show off if I want to go to the next step of these gigs. I am annoyed at that prospect, though. More coding, yay.
I obviously will need to make some of these at night to show off if I want to go to the next step of these gigs. I am annoyed at that prospect, though. More coding, yay.
