10.25.2001

"Unless you are very young and very new to the labor force, you have probably had a really horrible, clearly sick boss. You've probably had more than one bad boss, in fact--and more than your share of unpleasant colleagues. You may hang around and stick with the job, hoping those people will change.

They won't.

You should obviously start each day with gratitude that you are not at work draining a swamp. But your boss will not wake up one morning and decide to be nice. The homeless panhandlers that talk loudly to themselves on the street are in the same shape decade after decade. They usually do not snap out of it--even with treatment and medicine--and become board members of GM.

Hard-hearted people may change a bit at the margins, but they rarely turn into nice, kind people. We have sympathy for them; they are our fellow humans and we care about them. But we do not want to spend a lot of time with them unless we are mental health professionals.

If that sort of person is torturing you day by day, go elsewhere. Nutty bosses and mean co-workers can stay there; you should leave for a place where sweet-natured people roam the halls."

This is from Ben Stein on careerbuilder.com. Good observation about mean people, but wherever you go, there will always be at least one fly in the ointment. Identify them quickly, so you can cut your losses if need be. You will never be someplace where everyone is nice... unless you are in a position of power. But you stand a good chance of finding a new job with a lower percentage of a**holes.

Where do IT people who have been let go fall down in their job searches?
We find a great willingness to use buzz phrases and acronyms. They are very nice at telling us the systems, the environment, the software, the hardware. What I really want to know is the results of what you did - that the results either directly or indirectly influenced revenue, cut costs or both. If you installed SAP [software] on time and on budget, how is the company better?
OK, good advice. Companies are greedy and want to know what you will do for them. Numbers are good. However, don't make the mistake of listening to all his advice - you want the most comprehensive list of hardware, software, and acronyms in that resume - that's how you'll come up better in the keyword searches. That's what it's all about, baby.

How long does it take to find a good IT job in this market, when many companies simply aren't hiring?
One thing that is not true is that it will take one month for every $10,000 in income. That's an old wives' tale. The length of a campaign is affected by so many variables: skill sets, perceived age, income, industry to which the individual is applying, time of the year. The jobs are out there, but the interview cycle always is slower in the summertime.
It is not true that companies are "not hiring". I just read an article this morning where Alexandra Hill is quoted as saying that the results of a government-funded hiring survey she orchestrated shows that there are 3,500 unfilled tech jobs in Colorado right now. And that companies are having a heck of a time trying to fill them. There are periods of dead time alternating with feeding frenzy. Summer is bad, especially July through Labor Day Week. Then it starts to pick up. It falls off again by Thanksgiving and is bad until about Valentine's Day. At that point, people are finalizing their 1st Q budgets and will start to hire more in March. This tapers off again in May/June. I have always gotten hired in the September/October timeframe... for jobs that didn't have long-term potential. Whenever I have gotten hired in the February to April timeframe, it has always been for a job where it worked out much longer term. Interesting; I just realized that. Guess what I'll be doing come the end of January, whether I need to or not?

What do you mean by "perceived age"?
There is still age discrimination. And there are some people who interview in a very energetic manner, which would suggest that they are not as old. They interview with strength, vitality, and conviction. There are others who project a much older age.
Stay current with skills and project enthusiasm. Embrace change - otherwise you will never have the stomach for a career in IT.

What about job-hunting on the Internet?
Fewer than 7% of people get their jobs through the Internet, even IT people. We have clients who will tell us they've had a good day job-hunting because they've responded to 20 or 30 Web postings. But they never hear anything. It's a waste of time. What we find is, in this market, the Internet is so big that the returns on using it aren't good. If you're going to use the Internet in your search, I would do it after 7 in the evening. During the day, use your time to make personal contacts and calls.
Boy, does this advice suck! Obviously, this guy is not a Job Fairy. An Internet-based search is the most cost-effective one out there. Companies pay to be listed. You need not. All you're paying for is Internet access, which you would have done anyway. You can send out hundreds of emails - letters are $0.34 a pop. Moreover, they are FAR less effective than an electronic version of your resume. Save the postage for the thank you note after the interview. BTW, the section on thejobfairy.com about the mechanics of the search details it all for you. Five sites a day. Refresh monster.com and dice.com every week. You should average sending out 50 - 75 resumes a day. However, with the emphasis on keywords, using the job fairy methods, you should get an average of two recruiter calls a day, and two interviews a week. This way you spend less time and gas money "pounding the pavement". The psychology behind this strategy is key, too. Using The Rules-based methodology, your bargaining position is better with the future employer, because they called you. They saw you, and had to have you. Those that brush off this method simply don't know how to make it work for them effectively. If you want to work with the best technology at the best rates of compensation, you won't be mailing in a paper-based resume. That's how this industry works.

Some managers try to hide impending layoffs from employees until the day the ax falls. You say they should be honest all along.
The best downsizings get an outplacement firm involved in the planning [so it can] understand the company culture.
I have been downsized twice in my career, and I can't say that an outplacement firm was of much help either time. I'm not saying that they are of no help at all; just that no one can react as quickly as you can to changes in your own personal economy. Usually I'm hired somewhere else by the time the outplacement firm even gets around to sending me a form letter of introduction. Also, what company is going to be honest with you about anything? Why should it start at the end when it was never present to begin with?

Companies lay off workers to save money. But hiring an outplacement firm costs money. So, how much does it cost?
One-on-one counseling will be $1,500 to $3,500 for an individual in a one-month program. Groups are on a per-day basis. Additional services are typing and printing of resumes, critiquing of letters, generation of a database of employers. That's usually part of the planning process [with the company], and that is in the discussion of fees.
Now, the company pays for this, but... you could use thejobfairy.com for free. And with better results. Printing of resumes? That's so last millennium. Generating a database of employers? Why bother to employ a matchmaker for a series of one-night stands? Companies don't keep you around long enough anymore for you to particularly care about much more than do their paychecks clear... Call it a serious attitude problem, Generation X style, but no one stays at IT jobs long term unless they have management aspirations or they're not talented enough to master the newest technologies as they come along. Remember, the dinosaurs became extinct because they couldn't adapt quickly enough to a rapidly changing environment. Need I say more?

This is from a computerworld.com article by Kim Nash about an interview with outplacement professional Lawrence Stuenkel. Comments in italics mine.

10.24.2001

Also, since I now have a job and am off the market (at least for now), EVERYONE and their cousin is calling me for the same grotty handful of jobs. Why yes, I'd LOVE to be your third-shift backups bitch @ IBM for $17/hour. Funny, the other slimeballs who called me for that position yesterday, and the day before, and oh yes, most of last week – quoted it to me at $25/hour. Hey people-pimp - just how much do you think you’re entitled to take off the top? Especially since you’d all be billing me to the client at $60/hour? Even at (my cut, w/ no benefits) $25/hour, it’s still slave labor, but I had my revenge. When they submit you to IBM, you have to supply a Social Security Number to “uniquely identify” yourself. A) I don’t release that information to anyone except the IRS and B) I like making up new nine digit numbers off the top of my head, so no problem there! :) With any luck, ten different companies will have me submitted as their top candidate. Wow, too bad I already got hired elsewhere, huh? I could have been in like Flynn!

Workers are Cocooning... for Now

With all the turbulence in the economy and in the employment market, thousands of workers are burrowing in to wait out the storm. They're seeking the warm comfort of their corporate cocoons, as a protective strategy. Cocoons, the safety and security of current job(s), are the best places to be now. In their cocoons, workers will weather the storm while watching vigilantly for changes in the employment climate.

Needed by their employers, these workers are secure in their positions. But they're not happy. Many of these workers don't like their bosses. They're not happy with their co-workers and they're not excited about the work they're doing. In their cocoons, however, smart workers continue to grow. They are sharpening their skills and when the right opportunity comes along, they'll jump right out of those cocoons. They're just waiting for the right time.

Cocooning is giving employers a false sense of security. Those employers believe their people are loyal and happy. Because people are not moving, but hunkered down for safety, employers don't sense the restlessness. As a result, many employers have been lured into complacency. They're not devoting a lot of attention and caring to these employees, assuming that they're content and not interested in changing jobs.

When the economy begins to grow again, new job opportunities will be created. The need for cocooning - staying within the safety and security of their current positions - will be over. The volatility in the employment market will return, probably stronger than it was before the slowdown in the economy. When dissatisfied employees start leaving, many employers will be astonished! They will not be prepared for their sudden labor shortage and will probably be vulnerable to serious damages in product/service quality, production capacity, delivery schedules, and customer loyalty.

Please note that even today there are still plenty of jobs open, looking for people to fill them. The economy does not have to be in a turnaround growth mode for needy employers to be hunting. If the recruiters can convince employed workers that the positions they're offering are secure, the de-cocooning could come unexpectedly early.

This is from net-temps.com; Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists, www.herman.net

I have never seen such good advice! It's true; and employers are about to face the biggest backlash you have ever seen come the Summer of 2003. What this article fails to mention is that so many people have dropped out of IT, what with the recent market downturns. If they can find employment elsewhere, they have. If they can open up their own businesses, they will have already done so. People will not be picking IT as a career field or for post-degree training as frequently as they did before. Then when the market does correct itself, the shortage will be even worse than the last one. Yet there is a huge IT infrastructure out there that didn't stop needing to be maintained, even though there were setbacks in the economy. Employers are quite picky these days; they offer crappy salaries. They better enjoy it while it lasts; it's their last hurrah for a while...