What is so good about this? It's straight out of the getting hired 101 stuff that most folks heard in college.
What about spending your time becoming someone worth hiring? Then moving to an area where they are hiring folks who do what you do? I could see the advice in the article working for a non-technical person, like a sales guy, but who is that passionate about working? "My dream is to come into your office five days a week and sit at one of your desks and work!"
This is just more propaganda from hiring managers with a financial stake in the hire. How are you going to negotiate salary after begging for a job for three months?
My advice: do what you love doing, whether in your current company, or in your copious unemployed time, then present yourself as someone who is very good at X; don't beg.
"How are you going to negotiate salary after begging for a job for three months?"
That was my problem with the article as well. It puts you in a position of weakness/subservience. Most people will take advantage.
My resume is a PDF document, black background with orange borders and text. The pages advance like PowerPoint slides. The headings are Who I am, What I know, What I've done. The whole thing reads like a story. In the very first section, Who I am, I tell them that I'm evolution's gift to humanity. I carry that same playful, yet knowledgeable attitude into the interview.
I sent it out once last year, and I'm at that job typing this now. My boss is quite a character, so he likes that sort of thing. I'll be sending it out to some companies this week, and see what happens.
If you're going to research companies though, find some that are going to be fair. You don't have to beg to be persistent, and if you have ideas for how to improve processes and understand the business, you will be able to negotiate a decent salary.
> This is just more propaganda from hiring managers with a financial stake in the hire. How are you going to negotiate salary after begging for a job for three months?
Agree. Derek Sivers normally has good advice but this is biased. This benefits the advisor more than the advisee.
It depends on what you want to do. Me, I really like cryptography, for now; I accepted a one-year contract at sub-market rates (i.e. the usual PhD salary) to work in that field.
There are, perhaps, five or six employers in the Netherlands who employ crypto researchers, and these people didn't actually have an opening. I admit that it's not the best job from a business perspective (little job security, highly specialized knowledge, sub-market salary) but I really like it.
(Of course, a "Django guru" or "C++ wizard" has a lot more options and might want to use a different strategy...)
You went to a better college, that's not what they taught me. They herded us to services to improve our resumes, and told us to check their job boards and other such bullshit.
I've done what Derek suggests. It's not begging, it works, and the salary I was offered was more than fair.
I'm currently hiring for my startup. Someone who showed keen interest like this would have a much better chance at getting hired.
What about spending your time becoming someone worth hiring? Then moving to an area where they are hiring folks who do what you do? I could see the advice in the article working for a non-technical person, like a sales guy, but who is that passionate about working? "My dream is to come into your office five days a week and sit at one of your desks and work!"
This is just more propaganda from hiring managers with a financial stake in the hire. How are you going to negotiate salary after begging for a job for three months?
My advice: do what you love doing, whether in your current company, or in your copious unemployed time, then present yourself as someone who is very good at X; don't beg.