Evan Burr lands as Principal Engineer at Aspect Software in Chelmsford! Read how he did it.

I am pleased to announce that I have landed a full time position at Aspect Software in Chelmsford as Principal Engineer. In this role I will be focusing on improving the security of Aspect's latest generation software products. This I believe is a great opportunity as Aspect is now a partner with Microsoft and is now focusing on melding their products with Microsoft's Unified Communications Foundation (UCF). So of you heard my story at the Acton Congregational Church last Friday.

Now for how I landed this position.

My background as a software developer has been very varied to developing firmware applications for embedded system, BIOSes for PCs, to drivers and other system level software for Windows and other Microsoft environments to developing native and .NET applications for Windows. I have a very strong background in C/C++ and object oriented design and development. When I was laid months ago I took a really hard look at what my skills were currently, and what skills the job market is currently looking for.

For me there were two main choices if I was to stay in software development, learn Linux to continue to leverage my skills in C/C++ or familiarize myself more with the latest and greatest technologies available from Microsoft mainly .NET, WPF, WCF and the whole Service Oriented Architecture(SOA). For a while I spent a lot of time pursuing both paths, but realized after a month or so that I needed to focus on one direction to increase my chances of getting hired sooner. I chose to stay in the Microsoft camp.

So I spent most of the summer become very familiar with the new Microsoft technologies. I developed a fun sports statistics application using the technologies that I could demo to people showing them I had the experience, was interested in learning new skills, and did something positive with my time out of work. I would say that I probably spent 3 days a week at least between May-August looking at new things and the rest of time looking for opportunities based on my past experiences. 

In September I updated my resume with the new skills I had honed (In the skills section, not the work history sections) because I felt that I understood them well enough that I could do a job using them, and felt very confident I could talk to them in an interview.

Within 2 weeks I started getting many more hits as a result of new list of skills and several interviews resulted.

I found out about the opportunity at Aspect through Monster. I responded to the request for my resume which led to a phone call from Aspect HR a week later. However, the position they were considering me for WAS NOT the original position they had posted a description for in their original e-mail. It was a position for a "security evangelist" position which at first glance did not attract my attention, however, once I read the description I realized this is a great job, I could do this, as I had gained security in my previous job along the lines they were interested in, and it would get me away from the day to day development role which is what I wanted.

A phone screen was scheduled for the next day with the hiring manager and I reviewed as much security info as I could. The phone screen when very well and they scheduled an interview for the follow week. In the next week I researched security and the company as much as a could. The interview went very well. I showed them screen shots of my sports stats program while I was in there, along with a description of the technologies I used and how they were used. They were impressed. It took about 3-4 weeks but I got the offer.

So in summary here what I thought were the keys.

1) Figure out if your current skills are in demand, if not update them. Make this a priority. Know the material well, so you can convince people you could do the job.

2) Develop a sample project showing your new skills and don't be afraid to show them in an interview (this may not be easy but you may have to be creative).

3) Believe in yourself and show this in your interviews and conversations with people. 

4) Practice interview questions so no question is really a surprise. For technical people, don't forget about the "how do you feel about .." type of questions, this can be critically important.

5) Apply for positions at companies of interest to you that have positions that are similar to ones that are of interest to you and you have the background for. They might contact you about a great position for you later! 

5) Make your own educated decisions about how to market yourself. The important thing is that you get yourself noticed and that you have the right skills and attitude. 

Final thoughts are that even though I did not get the job directly through networking, I did network with a former colleague who advised me to get familiar with the using the latest Microsoft technologies.

I also worked with a guy at my last job who we recruited away from Aspect, whom the hiring Manager contacted. So networking did likely get me the job though INDIRECTLY.

Also I used Linkedin to mange my network and research companies. I did not use Facebook or Twitter at all. I registered with Monster and took daily alerts from SimplyHired and Indeed.

One last thing; consider the New England Job Show. I was going to record my video and would have if the I did not get the position at Aspect.

Thanks and good luck to you all. I will remain on the list server.

Take care and keep networking!

Evan Burr