Web Site Awards

Scott Hardie | April 16, 2004
Today I was called by a recruiter from a company to which I had sent my resumé. Before they would schedule an interview with me, the woman was calling to ask if my web site had received any awards, because the project manager was very strict about hiring only award-winning web designers. I told her not really, and it seems I won't be getting that interview. But I have to ask, do people still give awards to web sites? I thought that trend died out years ago. I remember way back in the day, proudly displaying the Wraamyth Webpage of the Month award, the PCP: Pretty Crappy Page award from Jason Fedorow, and of course Erik Nelson's Seal of Approval ('It's pickle perfect!'). But unless maybe my site becomes a Yahoo! Pick of the Day or I somehow get nominated for a Webby, I don't see it happening again. Am I missing something?

Denise Sawicki | April 16, 2004
That sounds like a seriously dumb hiring policy. You could always try playing up the importance of those awards you used to have; that's probably what everyone else would do in such a situation.
I've heard it's really tough to get a job as a web designer, though...

Melissa Erin | April 16, 2004
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Jackie Mason | April 17, 2004
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Jackie Mason | April 17, 2004
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Scott Hardie | April 19, 2004
Thanks for the support. It would be fantastic to do this for a living.

Jackie Mason | April 21, 2004
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Melissa Erin | April 21, 2004
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Erik Bates | April 21, 2004
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Jackie Mason | April 21, 2004
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Scott Hardie | April 21, 2004
I'm just as frustrated by the practice as you are, but consider it from their perspective. If they have ten qualified applicants who are all about equally hireable, who should they weed out first? The ones who have never done it for a living. It stinks, but don't blame the HR department for doing their job, blame the economy for not providing enough openings for all of these qualified applicants, and in the meantime keep trying. :-|

Melissa Erin | April 21, 2004
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Nadine Russell | April 22, 2004
I had to do the drug test for my current job, but they didn't charge me for it. They also did a criminal background check at no charge to me. I was going to volunteer at a school in the area though and I would have had to pay to have the same tests. I passed on that. It would have been close to $200.

Scott Hardie | April 22, 2004
It was similar in the insurance business. $350 for a four-day seminar, $65 for the manual, $45 for online practice testing, $75 for the real test, $20 for fingerprinting, etc etc. (That doesn't count expenses like gas and lunch.) Not worth it considering that I made about $160 total in the job. :-(

Scott Hardie | April 27, 2004
Well, the persistence paid off: I have been hired as a web developer in Sarasota. I won't be saying anything else about the job/company for obvious reasons, but certainly I'm happy about it and relieved. I'll be spending the next two weeks finding and moving into a new house, so I won't be online much. I leave TC in your capable hands.

Denise Sawicki | April 27, 2004
Wow, that's great, Scott! Since I'm an early riser I get to be the first to say congratulations :-)

Anna Gregoline | April 27, 2004
Congratulations, Scott, that's fantastic!!!! I'm so happy that I can cross one more friend off the "unemployed" list.

Dave Stoppenhagen | April 27, 2004
Congrats Scott.

Dave Stoppenhagen | April 27, 2004
My computer likes to double post.

Erik Bates | April 27, 2004
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Melissa Erin | April 27, 2004
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Erik Bates | April 27, 2004
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Scott Hardie | April 28, 2004
Thanks for the kind words, everybody. Having a full-time job again means having less time to work on this site (which I created to keep myself busy after resigning my last full-time job), but I have every intention of resuming my activity level after a busy 2-3 weeks of packing and moving and starting work. As for leaving TC to the other authors, it's not like I've had much to say lately anyway. :-) I'll be thinking of you while I'm tossing my clutter into bins and dragging Kelly's abandoned crap to the curb in a hurry.

Jackie Mason | April 28, 2004
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Steve Dunn | April 28, 2004
Congratulations, Scott! Great news.

Kris Weberg | April 28, 2004
Awesome news, Scott! Glad to see your excellent web skills will be rewarded!