Last week, SharePoint Technical Product Manager Jie Lie announced on the SharePoint Team blog the immediate availability of the October 2009 Cumulative Update Package for WSSv3 and MOSS 2007. As with earlier updates, you must have a service pack installed prior to installing the CU.
And as before, you install the service pack (SP2) on WSS prior to installing it on MOSS, then you install the cumulative update on WSS prior to MOSS. This must be done to every server in the farm. Links to detailed instructions for deploying cumulative updates can be found on another SharePoint Team Blog post.
We've also got all kinds of updates (of the “news” kind, not of the “patch” kind) for SharePoint 2010, starting with the announcement of the SharePoint 2010 lineup at SharePoint Connections. Now that we can talk about SP2010, we can tell you about the great sessions that Microsoft and top industry experts are presenting.
If you missed the excitement at the SharePoint Conference, this will be a great place to catch up with the most important news. And, unlike at the Microsoft conference, SharePoint Connections knows that you’re still implementing WSSv3 and MOSS 2007—there’s a great balance of bleeding edge and practical, real-world information on the conference workshop schedule. And if you haven’t begun to implement SharePoint, you should consider joining me there for my SharePoint Collaboration Jump Start on Monday the 9th.
Out on the ‘Net, there’s a lot of first-class new stuff for IT pros and developers about SharePoint 2010. Here’s a guide to some of the best news and SharePoint resources from recent days…
• Microsoft has four major web sites for SharePoint 2010:
o The SharePoint 2010 site, where you can begin looking for all things SharePoint 2010. By the way, this site is running on Beta 1 of SharePoint 2010! o The SharePoint 2010 Developer Center o For IT Pros, check out Microsoft's IT pro-related SharePoint site, which links to the TechNet Tech Center for SharePoint 2010 o And the SharePoint 2010 forums at the MSDN site
In part 1 of this series, we learned that candidates need to be able to admit their weaknesses for their strengths to shine through—someone who claims to have no weaknesses comes across as dishonest. And personality is the critical cog in any candidate.
In this article, I'll drill down even deeper into the hiring process with tips straight from a high-level recruiter from Staffing Technologies, an IT placement agency. After all, if you can impress a recruiter who is trained to pick apart your resume and answers to get to the truth in a matter of minutes, then you certainly have the skills to handle interviews with hiring managers.
"I don't know why people seem to think that all the jobs are available on corporate websites or job sites. Most of them aren't," said Jack Williams, vice president of national sales and recruiting for Staffing Technologies. "For a person who's out of work, regardless of what level, you need to make contact with three or four really solid technology-based staffing firms in your home town and stay in touch with them. They get new jobs every day, and those jobs get filled every day. You're not going to be in the mind of a recruiter who just got a hot job unless you do."
Resume and Cover Letter
The job application, which typically consists of submitting a resume and/or cover letter, is your first step into the door. Without a professional resume, nothing else you do matters. And according to Williams, the #1 mistake applicants make is a sloppy resume. "One of the things we see all the time is sloppy resumes—resumes with typographical errors on them, resumes where they claim they're on a job and then they're not, or a real cardinal sin would be when they have gaps in their resume and don't explain it. Or they don't include urls for the companies they've worked for, and just leave a lot of stuff out."
Oh, and this is important: modify your resume for every job you apply for. Structure it like a powerful piece of sales copy, leading the recruiter down a slippery slope that ends with you as the clear choice for the job. But can the buzzwords and lofty talk: provide quantitative, measurable data to support why you have those skills. "Employers are usually looking for a candidate that has 100 percent of the skills listed on the job application," Williams said. If someone can't look at your resume for a minute or two and have a strong understanding of your specific skills and expertise, then something needs to change.
What about cover letters? Probably not worth your time, according to Williams. "It's funny, cover letters used to be a really big deal, and used to be an expectation for most companies. At this time, I might see one five percent of the time, and I think most companies expect it virtually never. I'd even argue that it doesn't get read most of the time. Most of the time they're looking for a resume that is on the money and has everything they need."
You Must Prepare and Ask Questions
This one surprised me, but Williams was as clear as day: if you don't come into an interview with questions about the company and job, your chances of getting that job are slim to none. So always, always, come prepared with questions.
"I think [having questions] is a huge deal. If I'm interviewing someone and they don't have questions, I'll usually end the interview and never think about them again. Candidates for a job interview need to realize that they're interviewing the company as much as they're being interviewed. I really think someone should have 10-12 questions at least. When in doubt, make them up. And please don't tell me that I've answered all of your questions. I couldn't possibly have. I want someone that is inquisitive and wants the job and wants to know how they can be really good at the job if they get it."
Sample questions that are good to ask include: what's the company like, what's the culture like, what's your management style, what's the job entail, what's the turnover like, what's the history, who's your audience, what's your financial position, how can I excel, and any job-specific questions you can think of.
Jump to the next page for some more awesome recruiter advice.
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