Getting this job was a tough process. The last time I looked was six years ago and selling myself didn't come naturally. It took a long time. I was looking in a new country. I did not really understanding the cultural norms. I wasn't terribly happy with my last year of work and in general was in a bit of a funk. Here is some of what I learnt in no particular order.
Looking for a job takes longer than you think it is going to. This was certainly my experience and an ex-colleague said much the same so it must be true.
Much better to look for a job when you don't have to. This is one of those pieces of good advice that most people including myself know and then ignore. Even better is to get head-hunted, but that's not likely to happen if you move country now is it.
Don't accept a position unless you think it is going to be great or has a good chance of being great. It is hard to reject an offer when you need to find work - hence look when you are not under pressure. Since you really are going to spend most of your time at work, if it looks like it will not be great then say no thanks, apologize, feel a bit smug, and move on.
Look at the physical work environment. I got offered a position in a company located in a semi-industrial location - meaning cube farm with no light rather than trendy converted warehouse loft. If a profitable company places its staff in a dingy hole run like mad.
Don't hire anyone you would not want to work with. A former manager (she of much good advice), told me that if she interviews someone and she gets the feeling that they will not be fun to work with then she does not hire them. If you don't come across as someone who people want to be around and interact with, then you are not going to get the job. They'll tell you things like "We didn't think you were a good cultural fit" meaning you came across as a misery or seem to have three arms.
Passionate. This one killed me. Everyone seems to want passionate employees these days. Having had a pretty hard time work wise for quite a while I was not feeling very passionate about work, and not that passionate about the technology we had been developing, and frankly not that passionate about much at all. At first I thought that this was just wrong: Why do I need to be passionate if I can be damn professional and effective? But I think the desire for passionate employees goes beyond that - it says something about what type of person you are. At the least it probably says you are not grumpy or sad or boring. The reason it annoyed me was that there was not a lot I could easily do about it - I can learn new skills, techniques, technologies but I can't easily do X, Y or Z and become passionate overnight (although there are lots of books out there that try to help you do just that). Actually the reason it annoyed me was that it pointed out in a rather brutal way that I was not very happy. I used to be passionate about things and I'm hoping I will be again soon. Until then I learnt to appear to be passionate.
Linked In. Linked In is a networking site / service where each user has a home page with among other things a brief CV. It has a great feature. It allows people to write short recommendations about you. I included my LinkedIn home page address in my email signature and in my CV. People clicked through and saw the recommendations a long long time before they would even begin to think of asking for recommendations. I suspect this was invaluable. It is a differentiator - you get to shout how great you are without shouting how great you are. I got lots of interviews. The fact that I screwed up so many of them is another story.
Never start the process by applying for the jobs you actually want. Another piece of advice I didn't follow. Interviewing well takes practice and getting a friend to ask you questions is not the same as the real thing. Unless you are a natural, the first few times are going to be sub-optimal. There is a learning curve of things to say and not to say and how to say them. Don't try out for the places you really want to work at the bottom of the curve - you'll end up with none of the three jobs in the whole city that are of interest to you.
Get a blog. More in a long line of advice that I didn't take. A blog related to you and what you do professionally makes you stand out - even today when even your neighbours dog is liable to have one. Here is a person that has something to say, has thought about it and is published. It is silly but looking for work is about impression building.
Practice your answers. You can probably find a list of questions for QA Engineers, Architects, Chefs etc etc online. Copy it. Write responses. Review the material before you go to interview. There is no need to be surprised by questions. There is no need to struggle with questions or issues if you've had time to understand why they are being asked and what the appropriate response is. Don't learn them by rote - has to sound natural. Just try and remember the biggest challenge you overcame, the things you are not so good at, where you want to be in four years time, and how your friends would describe you etc. etc.
Create a story, a narrative. Almost every interview I started with "So I've read your CV but can you tell me in your words what you have been doing?" or words to that effect. Whether they ask you directly or not you need to have a narrative to present - your story. It needs to be aligned to the position you are going for, it needs to have a logical progression, it needs to address potential concerns the interviewer might have, and it needs to be damn good.
Don't be arrogant. Oops. Learnt this one a bit late.
Exercise. Looking for work can be a depressing and stressful experience. It is amazing what a bit of exercise can do as you shift the endorphins around.
Job interviews are chats, openers are key. Many people who interview (outside of HR) are also a bit nervous. First impressions count. Break the ice. Be confident. "So you've been here for three months, how is it going?", "Wow what a great view"...
Looks like Sharon got offered a job on the first interview :)
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