亲爱的安妮：一位朋友最近向我推荐了您的一篇专栏文章，其中提到明年科技行业的就业市场前景光明，但并没有提到“技术宅”如何吸引招聘方的关注。我自信掌握了那篇专栏文章中所提到的几项技能，而且我也想换一份工作，因为现在的工作让我感到厌倦。然而，虽然许多公司很需要我的能力，但到目前为止，却还没有一家公司注意到我。我怎样才能引起潜在雇主的关注呢？您有什么建议吗？——隐身人

亲爱的隐身人.：你似乎应该加大力气推销自己，如果最近你没有这么做过的话，那你就更应该如此。微软（Microsoft）操作系统部门的招聘人员科林•坎尼认为：“IT行业的许多人天生就不擅长自我营销及展示自己的最佳一面。”坎尼有一个博客专门介绍如何通过微软的面试。

    比如，坎尼最近面试了一位求职者。他不知道在自己的简历中是否应该提到自己利用业余时间开发的一款应用。她回忆道：“我的反应是：‘为什么不提？’有些人过于自谦了。”

    如果你也有这样的问题，现在是时候克服它了。纽约市科技招聘公司Harris Allied的执行董事凯西•哈里斯说：“不必害羞。如果招聘方没有给你打电话，不要傻等。主动联系他们，谈谈自己的能力和成就，还有自己的职业目标。”

    她补充道，要接受猎头对你的简历略作调整，甚至重新改写，以突出那些你认为理所当然但却是雇主迫切需要的技能：“我们会对大约90%的简历进行修改。”

    还有哪些做法可以引起招聘方的注意？下面是建议清单：

    完善自己在网络上的表现。坎尼说：“在我们看来，最重要的品质是对工作的热情。我们希望员工不要把他们做从事的职业仅仅看作是一份朝九晚五的工作——做过有趣的业余项目的人，创办过公司的人，或者在业内某个领域有知名度的人，更能引起我们的注意。”

    她补充道，再正规的教育也弥补不了热情的缺失。她说：“就算你读的是一流学校，GPA高达4.0，如果你对科技不感兴趣，也不可能在求职中脱颖而出。”她表示，微软网罗的最优秀的人才，有许多人是部分、甚至完全靠自学成才的。

    实际上，要在求职中脱颖而出往往意味着需要强大的网络影响力。招聘人员和雇主比较关注的网络板块包括：编程大赛、代码分享网站GitHub上的个人档案、商务社交网站LinkedIn上的个人资料和讨论组，以及个人网站与博客。保证招聘方很容易就能在所有板块发现你的信息。坎尼说：“我们最近录用了一位‘被动求职者’，就是因为他在自己的博客上发表了一些有意思的内容。”他现在是微软Xbox部门的游戏设计师。

    注意自己的关键词。凯西•哈里斯表示，在投简历或在求职网站上张贴简历时，一定要针对自己所申请的工作对简历进行相应调整。她说：“不要发送千篇一律的简历。相反，一定要突出职位描述中提到的特定关键词。”现在许多公司都在使用计算机筛选系统，错误的关键词就意味着“你的简历最终只能被丢到数据库中的某个角落，无人问津。”

    持续跟进。哈里斯指出，“科技从业者并不太擅长聊自己，也不擅长谈自己的成就”。她提到一种常见的错误做法是，在主动（或被动）与猎头联系之后，往往是人走茶凉，没了下文。她说道：“任何求职实际上都是处理人际关系的过程。”而关系需要努力维持：“如果你给一位招聘人员投递简历却一直没有收到回复，可以在几天后打电话询问对方的反馈。不想打电话，也可以选择发邮件。但一定要保持联系。”

    开心面试。假如雇主有一个你非常想要的职位，而且你也进入了面试阶段。坎尼的建议是：让自己放松，享受面试过程。众所周知，每一次IT面试都有一个名为“秀技”的环节，供求职者展示自己的能力。然而，非技术性的谈话环节却让许多求职者“偃旗息鼓”。

Dear Annie: A friend sent me your recent column about the bright outlook for the tech job market in the coming year, but it doesn't say how techies can get recruiters to notice them. I have several of the skills mentioned in that column, and I'd like to change jobs because I'm totally bored with what I do now, but so far, I seem to be off the radar of companies who might be looking for what I can offer. Have you got any suggestions about how to get noticed? -- Invisible Man

Dear I.M.: It sounds as if maybe you need to toot your own horn a little more, even -- or especially -- if you haven't been selling yourself much lately. "This whole business of marketing yourself and putting your best foot forward really doesn't come naturally to many IT people," observes Colleen Canney, a recruiter in the operating systems group at Microsoft (MSFT) who writes a blog about getting hired there.

    Canney recently interviewed a candidate, for instance, who wondered if he should mention on his resume an app he had just developed in his spare time. "My reaction was, 'Why on earth wouldn't you?,'" she recalls. "Some people really are too modest."

    If that applies to you, now is the time to get over it. "Don't be shy," says Kathy Harris, managing director of New York City tech recruiters Harris Allied. "If recruiters aren't calling you, don't wait. Reach out to them and talk about your skills and achievements, and what your professional goals are."

    Be prepared for a headhunter to tweak your resume a bit, or even rewrite it, she adds, to highlight skills you may take for granted, but that particular employers want: "We make some changes in about 90% of the resumes we see."

    Here's a checklist of what else you can do to get noticed:

    Polish your presence online. "The No. 1 quality we look for in new hires is passion for the work," says Canney. "We like to hire people who don't see what they do as a 9-to-5 job -- people who have done interesting side projects, or started their own companies, or who are known for something in the industry."

    She adds that even a great formal education can't make up for a lack of enthusiasm. "Even if you went to a top school and had a 4.0 GPA, if you're not really excited about technology, you won't stand out," she says, adding that some of Microsoft's best hires have been partly or entirely self-taught.

    In practical terms, standing out usually means having a strong online presence. Some Internet trolling grounds for recruiters and employers: coding competitions, profiles on code-sharing site GitHub, LinkedIn profiles and discussion groups, and personal websites and blogs. Make sure you can be easily found on any or all of them. "We recently hired a 'passive' candidatebecause of something interesting he had written on his blog," says Canney. He's now a game designer at Xbox.

    Mind your keywords. If you're sending out resumes or posting them on job boards, says Kathy Harris, make sure that each resume is tailored to the job you're applying for. "Don't send out one-size-fits-all resumes," she says. "Instead, make sure each one highlights the specific keywords that are mentioned in the job description." So many companies use computerized screening systems now that the wrong keywords may mean "your resume just ends up sitting in a database somewhere, unseen by human eyes."

    Follow up. Noting that "tech people aren't really wired to talk about themselves or their accomplishments," Harris says a common mistake is getting in touch with a headhunter, or being contacted by one, and then letting the connection cool off. "Any job hunt is really all about relationships," she says. So keep them going: "If you send a résumé to a recruiter and then hear nothing, for example, pick up the phone after a couple of days and ask for feedback. If you don't connect on the phone, send an email. Stay in touch."

    Have fun. Let's say you reach the interview stage with an employer who has an opening you really want. Canney's advice: Relax and enjoy. As you probably know, every IT interview has a technical part, called a tech-out, where you get to showcase your skills, but where many candidates flame out is apparently in the non-technical talking part.