The funniest is when HR people grab some technical certifications and apply them to every IT job they post. My favorite is seeing a posting for a "Business/Data Analyst" and the first requirement is that they are a Cisco-certified MCSE.
These folks shouldn't apply the terms if they don't know what they mean! Have someone in your own IT dept. explain it all to you.
In the old days it was enough to know just one of the above mentioned tasks. What I have found recently is that one has to know at least three of the aboved mentioned tasks and related tools to compete.
What a company would do during my interviews was to have the companies expert on whatever the task was and ask very complex and in-depth questions about that area of the flow. So I would have to interview with the manager of design, then the manager of DFT/verification, then the lead guy in test etc. Not only did you have to field the questions off the top of your head ... you could not miss even one question or you did NOT get the job. I was my opinion that most of my interviewers could not pass that same interview.
BUT after a while I learned to do several important things for and during an interview.
1. During the phone interview which is usually given as a pre screen ... determine what topic the questions are about. In one example the phone interviewer asked me mostly about "multi-cycle clock domains". Well that's a big big hint about what the on-site interview will be focused on. Schedule the on-site a week or so after the phone interview and then find and learn/cram ALL you can about that topic before the on-site.
2. If the interviewer asks you about something you don't know or may know but don't remember. Ask him to start you off ... because you may know it by another name. This not only buys time but it may jog your memory and you can take it up after a "jump start".
3. If you still don't know it ... ask the interviewer to explain it and make notes ... then later LEARN that stuff for your NEXT interview.
4. Study for your interview ... Don't assume you are totally prepared for it. I have been doing chip design for 25 years ... but I still studied for 40 hours for my last interview (and I got the job).
5. If your interviewer asks if you want coffee or a restroom break ... TAKE IT. It burns the time and each interviewer only has so much ... usually 1/2 hour. The important stuff is asked first and anything after that is just stuff that is filling up the time slot for the interviewer and is NOT really important to them .... but it still could trip you up. So don't give them the chance to stumble into an area that you may be weak in.
After 40 hours of intense study and then the interview from hell ... I got the job. When I started working for the company I realized that I was far above the rest in over all knowledge and I am recognized as the sites guru in what I do ... but I had to go thru the gauntlet to get thru the door. That's just the way it is now a days.
Good luck out there ... Lord knows it tougher than ever but getting a GOOD job is still do-able ... but now ya gotta really really earn it
Employers are under no obligation to appreciate anything of an applicant except what's pertinent to their qualifications.
One problem is recruiters and HR people not knowing what certain high tech jobs entail. They are getting people wrong for the job either by recommending an interview because someone possessed a certain skill, or passing over someone that doesn't have that same skill. To someone on the outside this may seems cut and dry, but it's not like being a plumber and wanting a job being an electrician. One example is HR folks and recruiters not knowing the difference between JAVA and JavaScript, or splitting hairs between dynamic JavaScript and dynamic HTML.
It's all about networking. If you are in IT, and you live in a major metropolitan area, there are dozens of various user groups where you can meet others and learn about new technologies, instead of paying through the nose for some tech course. More importantly that is how you learn about job leads and make contacts to get the jobs in the "hidden job market." But you better make a contribution, volunteer to give a presentation or serve as an officer if you want to make the most of it, just don't sit back and be a wallflower.
ping
I looked for two years for a job in this economy unsuccessfully. My barrier was age discrimination. I finally just retired early.
The problems in this article (hire me. I'm a customer), and for the most part silly and whiny.