Genius Required

One thing that I have emphasised on this blog is the fact that our staff really get involved in interviewing. This means that candidates can have really cool technical conversations with exceptionally smart people. That’s all well and good but what else can a candidate get from an interview with a technical person?

The answer is… the opportunity to impress the next interviewer.

Huh? Doesn’t make sense? Well, actually, it does!

When you speak with our guys, they ask you questions about technologies that are really important to our company. So, when you speak with a Lab49 technologist who asks you a question about say, Garbage Collection for .NET and you don’t know the answer, say so. Maybe, you can work out the answer together (our interviewers are so cool that they will be happy to do this with you) or maybe, you are both on a tight time schedule and don’t have the opportunity to go through GC there and then. You know what you should do?

READ UP ON IT!

But, hey, you may say, I’ve already been asked about GC, so your other interviewers won’t ask me about that. Wrong! Whilst you may not be asked a question specifically about GC, you may be asked a question where your knowledge of GC helps you to come across as a really solid techie. Indeed, imagine how pleased your interviewer will be to hear those sacred words,

“I didn’t know the answer to the question that X asked me so I spent some time learning more about it.”

Those are just the kind of things that Lab49 wants to hear of it’s techies! It shows that you are passionate about technology and that you don’t see knowledge as something that is finite.

Our tag-line is “Innovation On Demand”. In order for that to ring true, we want passionate technologists who want to find out more and then go ahead and do so. We want you to come along and work with Lab49 to make our company even better. Are you up for the challenge?

Have a good Monday.

That line was shamelessly stolen from Friends..but there is a valid point to it. Many theorists have spent considerable time wasting tax payers money to come up with some form of ready reckoner to put us all into “boxes”. I don’t know about you but I am always interested in learning more about myself…narcissist I guess

Anyway, I found this test and thought it pretty interesting. In my mind, it’s somewhat simplified in that you have only two options for your answers which surely narrows the analysis of the subject. Regardless, take a look and let me know what your “type” is. I am apparently a “provider”, a subdivision of the “guardian” group in that they, “take it upon themselves to arrange for the health and welfare of those in their care, as well as being quite sociable. Wherever they go, Providers take up the role of social contributor, happily giving their time and energy to make sure that the needs of others are met, that traditions are supported and developed, and that social functions are a success.” I guess that makes me quite suited to HR!

Personality tests, whilst subject to honest reflection of the person taking the test, can be pretty interesting and illustrative. Such tests can help people to identify their role within a team leading to more motivated and happier staff performing and working in a way that is natural to them. Expecting a person with a particular personality type to perform well and enthusiastically in a role that is foreign or alien to their natural preferences and strengths is not helpful for anyone.

Obviously, relationships in teams are incredibly important which is why we spend alot of time speaking with and meeting prospective employees to try to identify whether they would be happy in our kind of environment. We’re not a “bums on seats” kind of company – we’re in this for the long term so invest plenty of time ensuring that our staff are contented, suitably challenged and surrounded by great people. Feel free to contact me at: marie.griffiths@lab49.com if you would like to find out more.

When I worked a well known recruitment consultancy, we had a manager who had a real penchant for talking “management speak”. So much so that we used to play bullsh*t bingo on a regular basis (Bullsh*t Bingo – like regular bingo but the boxes are marked with phrases such as – “think outside of the box”, “there is no “i” in team” etc).

A friend sent me this today which I thought was pretty funny:

TESTICULATING. Waving your arms around and talking Bollocks.

BLAMESTORMING. Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

SEAGULL MANAGER. A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

ASSMOSIS. The process by which people seem to absorb success and advancement by sucking up to the boss rather than working hard.

SALMON DAY. The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die.

CUBE FARM. An office filled with cubicles.

PRAIRIE DOGGING. When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people’s heads pop up over the walls to see that’s going on.(This also applies to applause for a promotion because there may be cake.)

SITCOMs. Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids or start a “home business”.

SINBAD. single working girls. Single income, no boyfriend and desperate.

STRESS PUPPY. A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE. The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

ADMINISPHERE. The rarefied organisational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the “adminisphere” are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve. This is often affiliated with the dreaded “administrivia” – needless paperwork and processes.

404. Someone who’s clueless.
From the World Wide Web error message “404
Not Found,” meaning that the requested document could not be located.

OHNOSECOND. That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that
you’ve just made a BIG mistake (e.g. you’ve hit ‘reply all’)

BEER COAT. The invisible but warm coat worn when walking home after a
booze cruise at 3am.

BEER COMPASS. The invisible device that ensures your safe arrival home
after booze cruise, even though you’re too drunk to remember where you
live, how you got here, and where you’ve come from.

MONKEY BATH. A bath so hot, that when lowering yourself in, you
go:”Oo!Oo!Oo! Aa!Aa!Aa!”.

MYSTERY BUS. The bus that arrives at the pub on Friday night while
you’re in the toilet after your 10th pint, and whisks away all the
unattractive people so the pub is suddenly packed with stunners when you
come back in.

MYSTERY TAXI. The taxi that arrives at your place on Saturday morning
before you wake up, whisks away the stunner you slept with, and leaves a
10-Pinter in your bed instead.

Have a great weekend!
Marie