Ask Slashdot: Why So Hard Landing Interviews In Seattle Versus SoCal? 506
An anonymous reader writes "I have been trying to make the move to the Seattle, WA area. I liked the weather, the nature, the scenery and the tech environment. However, for whatever reason it seems like interviews are hard to come by. As a MS Stack software developer in LA, I barely had to do anything and recruiters always come knocking, either via LinkedIn or from past connections. Not to mention in general I got phone interviews for easily .8 of the positions I applied for. I wanted to finally make the move and fulfill a live long dream to live in Seattle. So I have been applying for positions in the greater Seattle, WA (King County) area. So far the ratio of positions applied to phone interviews is a dismal .1. Which is terrible considering the economy was much worse when I was actively looking for job in LA. Something isn't right because I am still getting offers for interviews here in SoCal, but not much from where I really wanted to be. What could I be doing wrong? Why such a contrast? Is the IT market in Seattle in poor shape? Or may be I just lack the proper connections in a new area? Am I just being screened out immediately for not being local? Or is it the prevalence of bigger corporations vs. smaller startups? And frankly as nice as the city is I can't move unless there's a healthy IT market to thrive by. I hope someone can point me in the right direction."
Percentages (Score:5, Funny)
I'm guessing using decimal notation is throwing them. Check your resume and make sure it doesn't say that you give an effort ratio of 1.2
Re:Change your name to a foreign name (Score:4, Funny)
Absolutely. There's a very low probablility that I'd ever hire someone named "Anonymous Reader".
Re:Market Saturation (Score:4, Funny)
MS Stack software developer
I am just taking a stab in the dark here as I don't really know, but maybe there are a lot of "MS Stack software" developers in the home of MS. If they got a ton of them already in town why import more?
Good point. It'd be like applying for a job as a surf instructor at Venice Beach. Or being a hipster in San Francisco. "Hey, if we're supposed to be new and different, how come we're all dressed identically?"
No Homers (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Market Saturation (Score:5, Funny)
I believe the British would say that applying for a MS IT position in Seattle is like "carrying coals to Newcastle"...
Re:I live in the Puget Sound area (Score:5, Funny)
You seriously like the weather up here? Have you been here anytime other than July - September?
I know a LOT of people that moved here after visiting in the summer... they don't realize what the weather is like most of the time.
Maybe they're goth. Then the weather is perfect with just enough sun in the year to begin to bitch about it after your vitamin D level begin to build back up.
Re:I live in the Puget Sound area (Score:4, Funny)
That's why they won't hire him -- they know he's insane.
Re:No Homers (Score:5, Funny)
We're all full-up on Californians.
You need some more Texans. Here I come, YEEEEEHAAAAAW! [does Yosemite Sam dance]
Re:It's the global warming (Score:5, Funny)
That's how I like it. The sun just causes cancer and makes you wrinkle. That said,
Three guys are camping, one from Washington, one from Kentucky, and one from California. They're sitting around chatting when the guy from Kentucky pulls out a bottle of whiskey, takes a big swig, corks it, throws it in the air, whips out a pistol, and shoots the bottle before it hits the ground.
He then turns to his slightly shocked companions and says "no worries -- we got lots of good whiskey where I'm from."
The Californian then does the same thing with a bottle of wine -- takes a swig of wine, corks the bottle, tosses it, and shoots it before it hits the ground, remarking "no worries -- where I'm from, we've got lots of good wine."
The guy from Washington pulls out a bottle of Hales, pops the top, drinks it all, carefully sets the bottle down so it doesn't break, and shoots the Californian dead. The guy from Kentucky is shocked, but the Washingtonian says "no worries, where I'm from we have lots of Californians, but I really do need to recycle this bottle."