Engineer's Gate
Issue 1: Intro & What to Expect Moving Forward
You may be thinking, why Engineer’s Gate?
It’s the entry point to Central Park for the New York City marathon.
My favorite place & my favorite event to bring everyone together.
I’m a New Yorker, avid marathoner, and technical recruiter looking to give back to the city & industry that made me.
I moved to New York City for love on a $15 bus from Boston with 1 taped up suitcase to my name. Now I’m a successful business owner, wife, and mother with a mission to get you to a better place. You define what the better means.
Each issue explores:
Reframe of a common interviewing & hiring scenario
Life in New York City
Running insight of the week
Join the journey.
Reframe
“Why are you looking for a new job?”
Everyone asks this question.
Every. Single. Time.
Their goal is to find a red flag.
Your goal is to have them mentally check this task off their to do list.
And move on to more interesting conversation.
This week I spoke with a lovely lady with an excellent question:
“What do you do if you don’t want to speak negatively about your current/most recent company and had a negative experience?”
Here are the steps I guided her through:
Tell the truth. Talk through the real reason first. The unedited version.
Consider all the factors.
Stay in integrity.
Be concise.
Here is what that looks like in practice:
Before: “The environment was mean. People were apologizing to me when they found out I resigned. I produced all of these results and no one seemed to care. I felt like a commodity.”
After: “This was my first time trying fully remote work, and I learned I’d enjoy the option of coming into an office and seeing people. Conversations face to face bring me more energy than appearing on screen.”
See how that works?
In 15 years of tech recruiting & matching 500+ people to good jobs, small reframes and rethinking how you present information makes a big difference.
If talking through your story is useful, click here to book a 7 minute call.
Life In New York City
Check out this exhibit at The Museum of the City of New York
Analog in the City: New York City before computers
See how New York City scaled.
Skyscrapers, telephones, newspapers, Wall Street, & the library system experienced massive growth on a scale not attempted before. Recruiting & training a volume of people for brand new technical jobs to keep up with demand presented a challenge.
How could people with legacy skills learn the technical skills they needed quickly?
Sound familiar?
This section highlighted how trading worked before computers.
These are buy, sell, and ledger tickets for trading.
Loved seeing how far trading systems have come from just a concept at the World’s Fair.
My son loved banging on a typewriter and looking at microfiche.
The best part for locals is the Museum is pay what you wish.
Check it out before it closes on Dec 31st
Running
One of the most common mistakes people make is running too fast.
You should be able to talk while you’re running.
If you’re gasping for air or not enjoying the run, ease up.
Want to test for yourself?
Join me for a run in Central Park.
I’m training for the 2023 Tokyo marathon. (My 8th full marathon)
**No, you don’t have to come for a long run.**
Anything from 1 mile to 6 is ok.
See you next Monday!
Jen