After being home without a job for more then 2,5 years, following a C# Developer course in between and applying for many jobs, I finally succeeded in getting a position in a automation company.
I went to that company for a first interview 2 weeks ago. During the revision of my CV he asked me about my Domotica stuff. I explained him what I was doing, and where I would like to go with Domotica. Being well prepared for the interview I thought that it would maybe help if I brought some GHI boards to the interview, and guess what…he was very interested and at the same time surprised that I had the guts to show off. While I was driving back home, he called the course center (where i followed the C# course and pointed me to this job) and he told my instructor that I was the kind of guy that is hard to find these days, and that he really liked that I brought the boards with me (I showed him the Cobra, Rhino, Panda and CanXtra).
The company in question (Intrion) makes automated production and packaging lines for Pfizer and many other pharmaceutical manufacturers. Also the luggage handling at many airports has been done by them.
The essence of this little story: If you’re looking for a job in the automation sector, guys, take you GHI goodies to the interview, it can make a difference.
Again, a BIG THANK YOU to GHI. If any of you ever touches ground in Belgium, make sure to contact me for a free beer
@ EriSan500 (Eric) - Congratulations!!! It is truly exciting to hear that you have had such a positive outcome. Well done for pushing through and doing the courses, may the source be with you
Dave Jones at the EEVBlog is a big proponent of taking boards to an interview. His rationale is that if you show the passion and interest to be able to explain to someone else what you like, that’s a huge positive. The scenario he’s usually talking about is someone who designs circuits but this is a logical extraction of that when you’re talking firmware.
Congratulations EriSan500!
And just so you know I had a very similar story and yes it involved the Spider popping up at the interview as well
I was going to wait to make the announcement but here it is:
I’ll be starting my new Job at Microsoft next week another Microsoft Evangelist will be added to this community…
Congratulations! You’re in for a very interesting and exciting adventure, especially when it comes to industrial automation. The really fun part of working in that industry is controlling equipment that move product around and knowing that your work is responsible for coordinating a complex mechanical dance involving dozens of machines and sensors. There’s something inherently satisfying about controlling something that [em]moves[/em].
My background is in industrial robotics, and it looks like Intrion uses a lot of that stuff, namely a bunch of ABB, KUKA, and Staubli robots, based on pictures from their website. What kind of work will you be doing?
Congrads on the new gig. Passion for what you do, is a huge factor for any employer. Gadgeteer and the other stuff you have done, would have rocked his brain to the point where he would have been crazy to let you walk out the door without an offer.
Congratulations! That’s really awesome! Glad to hear you’re getting back to work; job markets been tough pretty much everywhere. I’m also glad to hear bringing your kit along went over so well. I’m looking to switch dayjobs myself and planned on bringing the tablet along, definitely going to do so now.
BIG congrats to Eric & Jay Jay! Eric, that’s a fantastic story.
I started a new job back in February. It never occurred to me to bring a board to my interview but I did spend probably half of the interview jabbering on about my NETMF projects and the interviewers were already impressed with what I had been blogging. My job has almost nothing to do directly with these types of projects but showing that you have a deep interest and dedication to something is definitely at the top of employers checklists today.
Thanks for all the kind words guys, it’s really a relief to have a job again.
Add to that that we also found a new house after a hunt of 1 year.
Seems like we’re getting our lives back on track.
I was not very active here for the last couple of months, and will not be for the next month (we’re moving this month), but after that, things should get back regular (i hope).
