It’s been a long hard road, but I’m finally moving over to the Admin side of the house at work. Unfortunately I have to find a replacement Operator and train him/her before I can move over. For the past two weeks I’ve been interviewing potential candidates, but so far I’ve yet to interview a single person who has the slightest idea what he/she was doing.

I’m not asking for much. What I need is somebody that can open a command window, perform basic commands such as ftp/telnet, can follow procedures, won’t be a flake, has a decent personality and is trainable. Is this asking too much?

Apparently it is.

For all of you out there looking for an IT position, I have a few thoughts that might help you land that job:

1- Don't pad your resume. If you don’t have working knowledge of the tools and applications that you list on your resume, don’t include them. If you confidently record that you have “10 years Windows support specialist” on your resume, when I ask you to open a command window or the task manager you better know how to do it. You never know if you’re going to get quizzed on the applications and procedures that you claim to have a working knowledge of.
2- Proofread your resume. There’s nothing worse than having typos appear on your resume. For the love of all that is holy, use your spell/grammar checker. I can overlook a silly typo, but when I see multiple typos and grammatical errors on a resume I immediately stop reading and move on to the next one.
3- Take a shower and wear deodorant. Sure, you might have a nice suit on, but if you come into my office smelling like ass you’re not going to get the job. Period.
4- Don’t cop an attitude, even if you do have the skills. If I think you’re not going to mesh well with others, I’ll quickly show you the door.
5- Smile, shake hands, and be personable. Now, I’m not telling you to be Mary Lou Retton perky. Just be nice and approachable, but don’t talk my ear off. I’m tired of interviewing people who have the personality of a rock. Don’t me emo. This isn’t junior college poetry class.
6- Address people by their names. When you’re introduced to people, remember their names. When you leave, shake hands and say, “It was nice to have met you, [name].” This seems silly, but it goes a long way. If you do forget somebody's name (I know the interview process can make people nervous), at the very least say goodbye and shake hands. Don't just turn your back and leave. Bad form!

That’s it. You want a job, follow these simple rules and you’ll land one in no time. You won’t waste anyone’s time and you’ll leave a lasting impression.