According to Glassdoor, IT job hunters report that Google has the toughest job interview in the tech industry. Here's a look at the top 10 tech companies with the most difficult job interviews, as ranked by job applicants, along with the applicants' assessments of how positive the interview experience was at each company:
Interview difficulty rating (1-5): 3.6
Interview experience (% positive): 59%
Citrix Systems
Interview difficulty rating (1-5): 3.4
Interview experience (% positive): 62%
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Careers
Amazon
Interview difficulty rating (1-5): 3.4
Interview experience (% positive): 60%
Adobe
Interview difficulty rating (1-5): 3.3
Interview experience (% positive): 71%
Microsoft
Interview difficulty rating (1-5): 3.3
Interview experience (% positive): 70%
Interview difficulty rating (1-5): 3.3
Interview experience (% positive): 67%
Salesforce.com
Interview difficulty rating (1-5): 3.3
Interview experience (% positive): 60%
VMware
Interview difficulty rating (1-5): 3.2
Interview experience (% positive): 75%
NetApp
Interview difficulty rating (1-5): 3.2
Interview experience (% positive): 67%
Oracle
Interview difficulty rating (1-5): 3.1
Interview experience (% positive): 75%
Source: Glassdoor. Report based on feedback from at least 25 job candidates who interviewed at a given company between April 2012 and April 2013. Interview difficulty ratings based on a scale of 1 (very easy) to 5 (very difficult).
No Exit
Retirement is beginning to seem like an elusive goal to a big chunk of the U.S. workforce.
According to a study published last month by HSBC, 18% of working-age Americans believe they will never be able to afford to fully retire. That compares to an average of 12% for all 15 countries, of varied economic development levels, where HSBC surveyed 16,000 people.
Insufficient planning and the global economic crisis were just about neck-and-neck as the most commonly cited reasons for why post-retirement income hadn't met the expectations of those respondents who are already retired.
Why Income Falls Short
" Insufficient planning: 35%
" Global economic crisis: 34%
" Unexpected expenses: 24%
" Still supporting children: 21%
" Debt: 21%
" Still supporting parents: 7%
" Fall in value of home: 6%
" Inheritance less than hoped: 4%
Note: Multiple responses allowed.
Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader: Judy Batenburg
The vice president of IT infrastructure and operations at Starz Entertainment offers advice on learning more about business.
I am an IT manager who has been moved out into the business. I am now in daily contact with the people whose business activities I have always supported from a somewhat insulated position, and I am amazed at how little I understand about business itself. How can I quickly and effectively get myself up to speed? First, congratulations on knowing what you don't know! That's the first step. I would suggest a multipronged approach. First, immediately start reading up on your industry. What are the trends? What forces are acting to change your industry? What are the challenges? And what is being said about your company and its challenges and opportunities? Next, take advantage of experts -- the ones you are working with right now, and/or ones in your network. Identify key approachable people in critical areas of the company and ask questions about how they see their role in the company -- what are their challenges? In general, people love to talk about what they do and the challenges they face. Offer to take someone to lunch in return for a tutorial on the business. If applicable, identify conferences in your industry, and ask for permission to attend. Identify someone within the business who can mentor you, and ask them for help.
After eight years in IT support and support management, I am not sure where to specialize. Any tips on the best area to get into right now? The best place to start is to figure out what areas of IT excite and interest you. If you aren't interested in it, you won't be happy. Talk to teammates and managers in other areas and find out what they do and whether it sounds interesting. Look at industry trends; big growth areas right now are social media, IT security, data management/big data, mobile and cloud. Take a look at job boards and see what skills employers are seeking, or look at industry articles to see what skills they predict will be in demand over the next few years.
I have always done everything I can to keep my skills up to date. I'm in my 30s now and am interested in moving into more of a leadership role. What courses or training do you recommend? Courses and training are great, but the best way to move into a leadership role is to take advantage of opportunities to show your leadership. These opportunities are usually all around you, but sometimes you don't notice them until you are ready. Volunteer to be the lead on a project or identify a project or function or service that needs to be done but is not being done. Then do it. I hear people say, "When you give me the leadership position, I will be a leader." That's not how leadership works. When you show others that you are taking the initiative and showing leadership, then they will begin to think of you as a leader.