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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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How to Change Jobs
Michael After seven years at AOL, I thought to myself: If I don't quit now, I'll have to stay at the company until retirement. Now, the selection of successful companies in Silicon Valley is quite large, and the job market is on the verge of booming again. It so happened that the company Yahoo! (correct, with an exclamation mark!) conducted a phone interview with me, showed interest, and then invited me for an in-person interview. Everything went smoothly there; they were familiar with my Perl modules from the internet, and the team and manager there made a very competent impression on me. In short, we reached an agreement, and shortly thereafter, I signed the contract.
How do you resign from an American company? Some people jokingly claim that I stayed at AOL for so long because I couldn't find the resignation form, but that's obviously not true. You simply tell your manager, "I'll be here for only two more weeks." This is called giving 'notice,' and to be on the safe side, you also send an email to the HR department with the following wording:
"The purpose of this email is to inform you of my resignation from my current position as [position] at [company]. My last day of work will be [mm/dd/yyyy]. I have accepted another position."
That's it, two weeks later, you're gone! Of course, there was still a lot to organize: projects had to be handed over, a "brain dump" had to be conducted for the colleagues, and all sorts of office tasks had to be completed. But, believe it or not, it somehow worked out. It wasn't easy, of course, after such a long time, but at some point, you have to draw the line.
When applying at a company in the USA, it is easiest if you know someone who already works there. Due to the massive layoffs at AOL in recent years, former AOL employees are now everywhere in Silicon Valley: At eBay, PayPal, Yahoo!, Amazon, Google, Adobe, and many smaller companies, you can currently apply quite easily if you have maintained your contacts well over the years. In some cases, real friendships have developed, and we still meet at fairly regular intervals. This is actually quite unusual in America, where work contacts are very superficial and it's rare to find people who at least go to the pub together in the evening. But we former AOL employees have gone through thick and thin together, which created a strong bond.
Diplomas and work certificates are much less valued in America than in Germany. Of course, for a software developer job, you do need at least a diploma (Bachelor's or Master's) in computer science or another technical field. However, the details are unimportant; what matters is the work experience and the personal impression the candidate makes.
For this reason, one should never include a certificate with a cover letter. Nor should you include a passport photo or date of birth, in order to prevent age and racial discrimination. Instead, you send a "resume" as in perlmeister.com/resume.html and then prepare for a phone call that typically goes on for an hour and is conducted by the hiring manager, who assesses the candidate's skills. If that goes well, the candidate is invited for an onsite interview and speaks with about 4-5 people in the first round, each for approximately 30-45 minutes. Further rounds may follow (I've heard that at Google, some folks went troug more than five).
There are strict regulations regarding what the interviewer is allowed to ask in a job interview and what is not permitted. Questions about age, religion, marital status, or country of origin are not allowed. Only "Are you authorized to work legally in the USA?" is permitted.
The easiest way to succeed with an application is if someone who already works there gives a recommendation. In America, personal references are highly valued. Many companies pay $1,000, $2,000, and even more if an employee suggests a candidate who is then hired.
On the application, you also provide about three "references," people who will put in a good word for you. And believe it or not, the hiring managers usually do call these people and ask if they think the candidate is any good.
Shortly before signing the contract, the company then hires a specialist for background checks, who does not verify the authenticity of a diploma certificate, but simply calls the university to ask if the candidate actually studied there. He also calls the listed previous employers to check if the candidate really worked there.
