The first time I met Graham Weston was at Datapoint. I was not a Racker. I was a customer who borrowed a training room. I had invited Robert Scoble and Rocky Barbanica to town to do some videos, and I needed a location. Towards the end of the day Graham walks in and after our session we suddenly found ourselves in the bar of the Menger Hotel talking about an abandoned shopping mall, and Katrina refugees, and Windcrest.
As Robert and Rocky went to their hotel rooms to change before Graham took us to dinner, Graham was closing out the bar tab. The bartender asked if he worked at Rackspace (he had his badge). He never said he was the Chairman, he just said that yes, he did work for Rackspace. She then spent ten minutes telling Graham how hard her husband was trying to get hired at Rackspace – that he was taking extra classes to learn more skills – and that he really wanted to be a Racker.
That day, Graham surprised me. Knowing him much better now, I should not have been surprised. Graham handed her his business card and said, “Ask him to send me a resume”. Then Graham stepped out to use the restroom. The bartender looked at the card, then looked at me and said, “HE is the Chairman? Is he serious?” I told her I only knew the guy for a couple hours, but I knew he was the chairman. I wasn’t sure he was serious. But I suggested she have her husband follow through.
I don’t know if that guy is a Racker now – perhaps he is, and he is reading this today. That would be cool. But this story is not about Graham sharing his business card. It is about me sharing mine. A few months ago we had a Leadership Offsite meeting. Think 10-12 hours of serious work – thinking work. Then some of us headed to the hotel bar for a refreshment.
I was sitting with someone senior to me having a long talk about what were probably important things. I ordered a frozen margarita and the bartender brought me a margarita on the rocks. I did not notice. It was only after I was taking a sip that the bartender realized his mistake. He apologized, and offered to fix it. I was fine, I told him, and I continued my conversation, and my drink.
Minutes later the bartender brought me the correct drink and told me they were both on him. He was one of three bartenders tending to a couple hundred people, but he found time to correct his mistake and make his customer whole. Even though his customer had told him not to worry about it. That impressed me. So I gave him my card, and asked him to call me, or send a resume. And I told him why – I told him he had the natural urge to please people that we needed at Rackspace.
Just a few weeks ago, at Open Book, I was sitting in the second row prior to the start and I felt a tap on my arm.
“You are Rob, right?” a voice asked. After saying I was I was delighted to be reintroduced to that bartender who had served me so well. He was in his Rookie Orientation week.
And he is now a Racker.
One way to get a job at Rackspace is to impress a Racker. Especially if you are impressing them with a heartfelt attitude towards serving customers.
Category: Rackers Tags: Rackers
This is such a great story of a hard worker being recognized for his efforts. In this day and age we can find ourselves in the grind giving everything we got only to be paid the same as the “just getting by” worker. I find myself in a similar situation, I strive to make every customer happy but without a college degree not too many companies care to see how great a worker I am. One day someone will. Way to pull a deserving person into a better place. Now I have to go find me a Racker.
Christopher – send me your resume at rob@rackspace.com. No promises other than someone WILL look at it.
BTW – I do not have a college degree either. But I have patents and have built companies.
I am much more interested in your passion than your pedigree.
Rob La Gesse
Rackspace
210-845-4440
rob@rackspace.com
I love to teach. I love to encourage. I knew a Grainger Weston who was an amazing child and wonderful boy whose mother was from Mexico. I hope to join RackSpace as a leader and teacher. I have a B.S and M.A. in Education and Instructional Technology. I know Anthony Swartz. I can learn anything you wish for me to learn and am enthusiastic and good with with ppeople.
I like this posting. I m not sure if I could ever empress a Racker or be one. But I do have the
same interest and desire to work for a good company. My first encounter with Rackspace was in 2010, I was in class at UTSA and I had the pleasure of meeting someone who represented them.
All I have ever dreamed of is making my family proud, I’ve worked so hard in school and for certain company’s who never appreciated my work. I think working for this company would be a true blessing and it would make some of my dreams come true. I am a very hard working individual and hold 2 Associate degrees to show for it. I appreciate if someone reads my humble message and could possibly help in anyway.
jef.loya1980@gmail.com
Degrees: Business Administration / Economics
A great and well deserved story. Congrats are in order. I am determined to get to Rackspace as well. right now I am working on my A+ certification. One step to my CCNA Cert. A long stairway to climb to get to Rackspace as well, but very promising.
What a cool story! It makes me think about the dreaded interview process. Dress up in clothes usually reserved for weddings or funerals. Sit in the car nervously, waiting for exactly five minutes before the scheduled meeting time. Rehearsing answers from a self help book on getting your dream job. Praying they don’t ask the time honored question “what is your biggest flaw?” I have admit to doing all of those, with the exception of reading the book, which may be why I don’t have my dream job yet.
How great would it be to make that first impression without the stress of facing the firing squad? The mutual benefits are great. Thanks for sharing, and giving me hope that you might happen to show up at my workplace as well!
Interviewing at Rackspace is no joke – Glassdoor named us one of the 25 hardest companies to interview for. But the hard parts of the interview shouldn’t be comfort or culture fit – that stuff should be easy and obvious!
I agree! What I had intended to convey in my comments is that the person in this story had the benefit of already making a good first impression. I know that doesn’t discount the rigors of the rest of the interview process. However, having been on both sides of the table myself, I still see an immense mutual benefit in a situation like this.
As an example, I could put on my resume that I took ownership of an IT project that included planning a new network layout, relocating equipment to a new part of the building, sourcing and purchasing hardware/software, installation and implementation as well as training. In doing that, I saved the company over $20,000 when compared to written estimates from outside contractors.
Of course I wouldn’t put on my resume how I mistakenly ordered four 3.5″ hard drives for the servers when they were configured for 2.5″ drives. Obviously, I would not mention how, two days before the switch-over, I had overlooked that the cash drawers for the POS’ weren’t compatible with the new system. I wouldn’t talk about how I was extremely under-qualified to tackle a project like this, having mostly self-taught skills. I would highlight the best parts of my experience.
What I liked about this story is that the bartender made a mistake, and Rob got to witness the actions taken to correct it. In my story, those cash drawers were a vital part of the operation. Had a prospective employer witnessed the steps taken to solve the problem, they would have a much better understanding of how I work under stress. I have tried a couple of times to include mistakes I have made during interviews, and what I did to overcome them – and never got an offer!
Maybe this is my fault. It’s very possible that my resume writing skills are far from ninja. It’s probably true that I struggle during interviews because of how shy I am. On the other hand, I have interviewed people who had their resumes professionally prepared, and mastered the art of blowing smoke turn out to be less than average when hired. That is what made this post stand out so much to me.
The recruiting process is always a gamble. I’m sure that is a big part of why Rackspace’s hiring/interviewing process is so challenging. I always preferred having applicants submit resumes and applications in person because that gave me the opportunity to informally talk to them. Now, with so many companies going to an online-only application process, it is much harder to identify good candidates. The content of a resume is only a small portion of the equation. Job seekers also know that the content of their resume is often the only only way to land that first interview. So much effort goes into crafting resumes now, and that only adds to the challenge of hiring. The bartender surely didn’t get a job at Rackspace solely on that first impression, but the added benefit of Rob’s experience with him that night added an extra element that made it easier for him to be identified as having qualities that Rackspace find desirable.
My point is, armed with just a resume being displayed on a monitor, one of potentially hundreds of others, any opportunity to give an employer additional insight into your value and ability is a blessing!
Not sure how impressed anyone will be, but thought I would give it a shot.
I am an Independent Consultant for the Hospitality Industry and a Rackspace shareholder. My main focus is being a Revenue Analyst for large independent resorts. I have been in the hotel business for over 17 years from operations management, revenue management, systems integrations, and liason for software engineers to the hotel environment. i have conducted major system beta testing for companies such as Expedia / Hotels.com. i am the guy behind the scenes that keeps the travel sites up and running while doing extensive research on the latest technology that apply to the hospitality environment. I am a degreed Mathematician and apply that knowledge to making money for hotels.
I have a clear understanding that the cloud is the future of technology and have the experience and expertise to convey that principle to the Hoteliers of the world. The hospitality industry is a small world and the jargon is extensive. The hotel people speak their own language and I have done my share in the development of the evolution of the industry.
I have basically written the book on revenue management for hotels, i have done system integrations for companies such as TravelClick, Sabre, Softbrands, eRev max, etc.
It would seem the hospitality industry is possibly an untapped resource for your corporation. I have a strong belief i could deliver your product in a language the savy hotelier can understand and respect.
So that’s my story. I would love an opportunity to put my extensive knowledge of the hotel industry to work for your company.
Best Regards
Stacy B Kasinger
I have a few friends that are currently Rackers. They always speak positive of the company and how it is the best place to work. I want to be a Racker, so I recently enrolled my self back in school and looking to get my Linux certification. Hoping to be part of the Fanatical Support Team soon.
Wow, what an awesome story! How great would it be to work for a company that not only recognizes heart and good work, but acknowledges, nurtures and encourages it? I have been dreaming of a company that works this way. Next week I encounter the door to those dreams… my interview at Rackspace.
Great story, and thanks for sharing. I have found this to be true in my life as well. I hired into a company and went to work with a team at an oil company. The team took care of the Unix side of the support. Being hired to manage backups and printing support while seeing all the cool things the team was doing made me feel outside of the team. I started looking for ways to expand my duties and thus be more a part of the team. I won two customer service awards within months. I looked for ways to better serve my customer in order to be part of my team. I reduced my support time freeing me up to seek out new challenges. Stepping out of your box, and finding opportunities will get you noticed. Don’t just sit back and enjoy your job, look for ways to grow your company and rep. ps. by the time I left, help desk support went from taking messages (45min response time) to answering phones and immediate response. When someone steps up, your whole team will do likewise.
For the past 2 years I’ve grown fond of Rackspace’s work ethics, leadership, teamwork, customer support, and most of all their sheer talent and innovation that oozes from it!
Awesome Story! It is the humbleness of leaders like him that make their companies so great! A true inspiration that only fuels my passion more!
What is my passion? My passion is the Open Source Mindset, teaching others about it, how to use it; so that they can go impact other peoples loves with it. I’d love to be a Racker for that reason!
I want to drink the Racker koolaid so bad, I made my own graphic: http://bit.ly/S20d1U
Enjoy!
And thanks for the post!
Rob, thank you for responding and I hope my resume reaches you soon. I didn’t notice that you replied to my comment until today. I have several applications in the system and I thank you for your time.
This is such an inspirational story. It is refreshing to hear of people in the world that take ownership and remedy and issue, no matter how small of an issue it is. I am fairly young, but I cannot tell you on how many occassions, whether it be in the work place or out in the public, that people do not assume responsibility or act when it only benefits them. I believe that selflessness is the true recipe for success. When you take the time to care about other people, magic happens. Now I know not everyone feels that way, but when you take the time to honor your word or ethics, it is far more fufilling then just being indifferent. I have been employed with several large companies in the city and have learned many different things about people relations, not all agreeable. But it sounds like this company has passion in spades. I have looked into employment at Rackspace over the past few years and I must say this company is a hard egg to crack (most companies that are worth their salt usually are) But as joe dirt would say ” you keep on keepin on.” Time to try and find a RACKER!
This is an awesome story. I have a high school diploma and some college, but no degree. However I do have a strong desire to go out of my way to make a customer happy. I have been doing it for years, but feel I am wasting my talent at a place that I no longer want to be. I’ve heard so many good things about Rackspace and am not sure where to start. But it definately sounds like the shoe fits and am passionate to work for such a highly recommended company. What is my first step in becoming a Racker?
The first step is to really get to know us. Get CloudU certified (Google it – that is a test!).
Learn out products – understand our culture. Study, study, study.
Try to meet a Racker to mentor you.
Apply, apply, apply – but only to things you are suited for.
Be patient. Be tenacious. Don’t quit trying. Never be afraid to share with Recruiting or people doing an interview your passion for our mission – our desite to not just change the world through technology but to change our community through giving back and making our city a better place to live – today, and for tomorrow.
Drink the Kool-Aide. It is good stuff.
Rob