Career Masterplan

Hi,
I'd like your insight into  an issue that has come up repeatedly in my career when I tried to switch technologies that I was using.
Recruiters  only respond to resumes that have a significant relevant professional experience in a language or technology that is required for  a particular  job.

For example : I might know Python well but not used it at a previous job or used it in a limited capacity. I see a Python based job that I can do.
How do I break through the recruiter/hiring manager wall than says I am not a Python programmer and my resume is cast aside?

Thank you,
Paul

You lie.

I've been rejected because I had experience with JES version 27 when they demanded JES version 26, Had recruiters pressure me to claim Oracle experience because their clients wouldn't accept DB2 as an equivalent.

HR departments are clueless idiots who have no concept of equivalencies or demonstrations that you can pick up a technology fast. And ironically, more often than not, what I end up doing is totally unrelated to what the position was supposed to require. I don't think I've ever been hired via HR in my entire long and very evil career.

Refusing to lie and refusing to move all over the country are the two primary reasons why I didn't get as far in the rat race as I might have. However, I did manage to build up enough of a retirement account that I don't care.

You lie.

I have been guilty of that and it worked out. That's how I got my first job .

Tech recruiters and HR departments are indeed pretty clueless for the most part.
Some get it but most do not. They just want to check boxes.

The thing with relational databases kills me. They really are all the same. Just some different bells and whistles .

I was consulting at a small IT shop here in town many years ago (everything's "many years ago", anymore!). I was talking to one of the people there who mentioned that when he applied for the position he held even though it demanded IBM mainframe assembly language and he didn't hae any experience doing that.

He lied, got the job, and did it quite competently.

More than anything else, the HR  conceit that you're only capable of what you've already done ("hit the ground running"). IT is such a fluid field that what I'm working on now and what I'll need skills for in 6 months will more often than not be vastly different. If you can't become competent in a technology in 2-3 months, you'll never be a good fit for any IT job outside of grunt-level operations where you only load paper into printers or whatever.

Heck, I figure given another month, I might even be able to tame Ceph, and the Ceph documentation for the release I'm working with tells me how to do essential tasks using utilities that no longer exist for that release, utilities that are not yet fully implemented to the needs of the documentation, and OS commands that haven't been available for 5 years now.

You can use keywords to pass the recruiters screening, and demonstrate your ability to learn new technologies on your resume. When I talk with developers about how they found their roles, most often you find there is a referral of involved. This means finding a contact in your network for a referral.  In the book we talk about networking and the importance of a support network.  

Thank you Heather . Good luck with the book.