tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56497214040001809792024-02-20T09:32:49.316-08:00Career RenaissanceMichael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-58540691384805264792012-11-04T09:30:00.002-08:002012-11-04T15:53:21.322-08:00How To Be Company Focused And Achieve Job Seeking Success<br />
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In my many years as an IT Recruiter and career coach, I have found what I believe is the single most effective strategy to achieve job seeking success. What is that you say? It is simply to be focused on the needs of your prospective employer and convey that you can exceed their expectations of what is normally expected of their employee, who holds that position. I’m convinced the mindsets of many job candidates, and some
of their advisers are missing this key interview competency that would
significantly enhance the job candidate's chances of receiving a desirable job
offer. This strategy
goes a step beyond the conventional approach of merely matching the job
requirements.<br />
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How can you accomplish this? Well first you must make an
honest assessment that you possess the required skills, knowledge and attitude
for the specific job you are seeking. Often individuals’ expectations are too
broad and employers’ expectations are too narrow, particularly in the tight job market from
2008 until present. However, if you carefully read the job requirement, you
generally know whether you’re a potential fit or not. You might wish or hope
you had the key competencies, but if you don’t have them then you don’t have
them. Why waste your or and an employer’s time on an obvious mismatch?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next, in your resume and cover letter, you must create a
compelling case that you are the best, and most qualified person for the
job. Resume guru Martin Yate says that a resume is the most valuable document
you will ever own. Yate also recommends you spend the extra time to customize
your resume for every job you apply for. Minimally, this will display you have
closely read the job requirement, and you are conscientious and detail
orientated. Also keep your resume as brief as you can. Hiring folks are often
extremely busy. Show the courtesy by not taking more of their time than
absolutely necessary in reviewing your resume. They may well thank you for it
later. <o:p></o:p></div>
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OK, now you have done your due diligence with your job
compatibility assessment and resume and have been invited to an interview. How
can you prove you can be a potential star performer? First, exhaustively research the company, and
the job itself, so you can ask intelligent questions about both during the
interview. Of course you should prepare for standard interview questions like:
“what are your strengths and weaknesses... “ But also be particularly aware that
people, including job interviewers, like to talk about themselves and their
company, as much they like to talk about someone else. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Paradoxically, by shifting the emphasis of the interview on
the employer and discovering what their most critical needs are, you can gain
some control over the interview process. This can be accomplished by finely
focusing on how you can best satisfy these needs, which in turn can create
the chemistry, camaraderie and sense of security that will make them most
enthusiastic about choosing you above all other qualified candidates. In other
words, skills and experience can get you the interview, but rapport in particular and emotional intelligence in general will get you hired. In these uncertain
times, you must quell any uncertainty your potential employer has regarding
your candidacy if you want to be chosen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you can decisively display you have the right mindset and
skill-set, then it can quickly become obvious to your prospective employer that
you are the best person for their job. Concurrently, you want to instill the
thought in the mind of your potential employer that you can not only meet, but more importantly, exceed the tangible and intangible job requirements. This,
like discovering the underlying reasons, and related emotions for having this
position available, can create the certainty and confidence that hiring you is
essential to their success. And, your success as well. Remember be friendly,
flexible and most importantly, focused on the needs of your prospective
employer. Follow this formula and you will get hired.</div>
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<br />Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-27802564031557130182011-11-26T05:44:00.000-08:002011-11-26T05:53:21.251-08:00A Tale Of Two Resumes: To Update Or To Upgrade, What Is Your Best Solution?Often, as an IT recruiter and career coach, I hear people say “I need to update my resume.” This usually pertains to embarking on a job search and means adding new job related information since their last search. Now other individuals, information technology employees or otherwise, take a different strategy and decide to upgrade their resume which usually involves a revision of large portions to reflect their goals and career growth from in the most careful and comprehensive manner possible. Furthermore, an upgrade can be better targeted to a specific opportunity, which is where it can have tremendous value here I will briefly discuss the two resume strategies, their pros and cons, and what may be best solution for you. Now before deciding which way to go it is important to remember that a resume is one of the most important documents you will ever own, so making your best presentation possible is essential for your career fortunes.<br /><br />In the hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of resumes I see in a year, I would say the majority are resume updates. They consist mainly of inserting, or tacking on, their current, or last, job into the existing structure of the resume they used in their previous search. This is a basic update; and often the least helpful. The next type of update may involve changing other parts of your resume other than just “tacking on” your last job. Here we may perhaps see additions to your skills or summary from your current job, and possibly, but least likely, going back to previous jobs to highlight those responsibilities that are most relevant to your current job.<br /><br />I find if someone merely tacks on their current job to update their resume, then the resume may look like the writer either has little or no knowledge, or interest, in high quality of resume construction. Worse, this may give the impression that one is not serious about a job search or is disorganized or not detail oriented. Indications of this may be that the resume may give as much, or occasionally even more, space to jobs that were from five, ten or even fifteen plus years ago than they a give to their current position. Now, occasionally one might feel compelled to update their resume for an unforeseen, immediate need for a resume, by a recruiter…but resist this urge for a quick fix as much as possible.<br /><br />Recently I received an example of such an update from a Network Engineer with excellent skills and a stable work background. .He had had one position for 6 years and then a previous position for 6 months and he gave half as much space to this somewhat outdated, from a technical perspective, prior position. Also, he described his current job in the first person, which is generally not considered the best approach, while his earlier positions were described without first, or third, person references. These inconsistencies detracted significantly from what would be a very desirable job candidate. It was obvious he merely tacked on his current position without much thought of how this might look to a resume screener. <br /><br />In the above mentioned example a more carefully considered upgrade would offer more complete description of their current position which didn’t have that hasty “tacked on look, Also in updating the skills and the summary, and modifying the previous job description, my client would need to change the previous job descriptions reflect the current position and future interests. One thing I saw in this resume and frequently in other updates is that the tense of the verbs in the previous jobs needs to be changed from the present tense to the past tense (e.g.; from “is responsible” to “was responsible”). Luckily in this case, as the third party recruiter, I corrected all of these resume deficiencies, but often someone goes directly to the employer with a quick update they, unfortunately, think is good enough.<br /><br />In an effective update or upgrade, whether it is for a secretary, software engineer, or CEO, length is always a critical consideration. Updates seldom address this issue; a good upgrade must! The content and format of the first page is most important, although two, and occasionally more, pages is acceptable to include all of your jobs. Here is where you have the greatest opportunity to attract, or repel, the hiring source. Skills, summaries, competencies, significant accomplishments, all need to be quickly accessible here on the first page. Whether your resume is scanned by software or a hiring authority, relevant skill placement and quantity can determine if your resume is acted on or discarded. <br /><br />Also, in a good upgrade you should prune your previous job descriptions so that more current jobs are given more space and earlier positions display progressively less space. A good rule of thumb here is to try to think like the hiring authority, and try to impress him or her with what you have done lately not potentially loose there interest with overly verbose descriptions of what you did ten or twenty years ago. This fits into the spacing strategy, and additionally I would recommend targeting key elements of your background that, as much as possible, specifically relate to the jobs you are seeking. This may sound tedious; but it can give you a distinct advantage over competing candidates who favor an easy updating strategy. Remember, a resume is an advertisement for yourself, and the more you can draw the hiring authorities to your message the greater the probability they will buy!<br /><br />For an optimum upgrade I would recommend you consider researching what the “best practices’ in your industry, area of expertise, experience level. Susan Whitcomb’s work “Resume Magic” and Martin Yate’s “Knock em Dead” series offer exceptional upgrading, or even rewriting, advice. . Also, I recommend you particularly pay attention to formats offered that best visually represent your background and the position you are applying for. Again Whitcomb and Yate give great advice and resume templates. What is most important is that the format, particularly if you add graphics, doesn’t distract, and hopefully enhances, the effectiveness of your resume. In my upgrade example the candidate paid almost no attention to critical format issues life font selection, white space, or the advantages of using a more contemporary bullet…format versus large blocks of text.<br /><br />Now there are some occasions where you may need to do a total rewrite like if you are considering changing careers or you are from another country, like India, which has different resume standards. However, in these cases there are generally “chunks” of job descriptions you can transpose from the old resume to the new. Also, some of us just aren’t able to put together an appealing resume, even though we may excel at what we do. In these cases I recommend that you find a highly rated resume writing service. For a few hundred dollars this might be your best solution. However, before you hire a service ask them to show you a few samples of their work that relate directly to your background and aspirations. <br /><br />In conclusion, it is essential that you put a lot of thought into what your resume says about you and your background. Generally this may be all the perspective employer may know about you, particularly in this age of on-line resume submission. <br />In most cases I favor an upgrade over an update, with an entire rewrite to be considered only as a last resort. An update can look “tacky,” or tacked on, unless the previous iterations of your resume are very well crafted and are cohesive and compatible with the limited new information you add. However, even then the pruning process that is a hallmark of upgrades needs to be considered. Upgrades have more strategic value than updates because you are more likely to look at the resume as a whole and how it fits into your entire job search strategy. I know it’s tempting to get a quick fix that some updates provide. However, prudence and patience is essential in writing a job winning resume.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-44886304899473131942011-06-04T12:17:00.000-07:002011-06-04T12:26:42.825-07:00Four Job Search Competencies You Need To SucceedIn today’s challenging job market companies tend to look at why not they should hire someone rather than why. Consequently, you, the job seeker, must be well prepared to convince your potential employer that you are the best candidate available. In order to do so the job seeker must have overlapping competencies that are often essential in getting the job you want. Now my experience is primarily as a recruiter and career coach in the information technology and software domain. But these competencies are almost universal, encompassing all industry and service sectors. My intention here is to offer a brief overview of four core competencies you need to succeed in your job search, in particular, and your career development in general. In so doing, hopefully you can take away a framework that will maximize and motivate your efforts. These competencies are: job skills, rapport building, logistics and search strategies.<br /><br />Skills are pretty self evident. You need these qualifications to get an interview and get a job offer. Often in my years as a recruiter and career coach, I see people who say either I don’t have that skill but I have something similar, or with my background I can learn these skills very quickly. This argument, which sometimes worked in stronger job markets in the past, is generally ineffective today because of many candidates that have all, or almost all of the required skills. Moreover, the more senior or complex the position is the level of your skill knowledge is also an important factor. Finally, it seems many companies lack a sense of urgency in filling open positions, so they are content to wait for a near perfect match. Because, in some fields like IT, there are often low cost, offshore workers with the requisite skills, so often even good isn’t good enough. Finally, if you don’t have the necessary skills I strongly encourage you to acquire them through certificate programs or other education and/or training resources.<br /><br />Rapport involves most simply getting the hiring authority to like you as a person and thinking this liking will continue once you are hired Here soft people skills like listening, politeness, positivity and, in particular, emotional intelligence and empathy are essential. Rapport building is most prominently displayed in the interview process. However networking through social media, inside company contacts, and attending in person networking events can build rapport and improve your odds in finding the position you want. Also, showing concern and curiosity for the company in terms of what you can offer them, versus what they can offer you, is very important. Bottom-line, being present, positive, and polite is essential. Now, many people don‘t inherently possess these interpersonal strengths, but with a little effort and, if necessary, assistance by a job counselor or a career coach, these qualities can be learned. <br /><br />Logistics, in this context, refer to such issues as resume and cover letter construction, research on the industry and specific companies you are interested in, and acquiring and prescreening references. Also, cogently following up with the employer after the interview is a critical logistic issue as well. Each of these pieces are paramount if you want to be as appealing as possible to your prospective company. There are many excellent books (my current favorite is:"Headhunter" Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever! By Skip Freeman”), and, sometimes free, training centers will assist you in mastering industry standard methods in all these logistical issues. If you don’t approach these issues with due diligence, then you risk a relatively minor error derailing your job search<br /><br />While skills, rapport, and logistics can get you a job, an overarching strategy will help you both get the job and further your career. The planning and execution of your carefully crafted job search strategy provides the context in which your diverse competencies gain focus and continuity. Crafting a good strategy is a bit like being a good chess player where you are not only mindful of your current move, but future moves that raise the odds of winning as well. Over the years I have looked at thousands of resumes and it is almost immediately apparent to me who has an effective, upward trending strategy, and who seems to bounce from one position to another with no cohesive plan. Consequently if you desire career success and fulfillment you must develop and stick to a strategy that resonates with your skills, interests, temperament, and core values. Moreover, even if you find yourself unemployed, it is important to try as much as possible to maintain your strategic discipline and not succumb to tendency to take anything that is offered. This type of move might prove damaging later, and is only recommended unless you are facing an imminent financial, or other, crisis.<br /><br />As you can see from the four areas of competence I recommend for a successful job search, it is important your efforts are holistic, balanced and in line with a personal career development plan. The job market, especially if you listen to alarmist media portrayals, can be scary place to venture into, so a positive, patient, and persistent mindset is essential. However, if you possess the requisite job skills: rapport building, logistics and strategy, then you can be somewhat confident you can get a job you want. But be mindful that the potential employer is generally looking to exclude you, so it is essential for you to be resilient, as well as resourceful, in your efforts. There are situations where particularly rare skills, can compensate for mediocre competencies in another area, like when a highly skilled technologist possesses only mediocre, at best, rapport building capabilities. Finally, I strongly encourage you to take a very objective look at your own competencies, and if you see areas that need improving, please make every effort possible to do so before you begin your search.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-46651709725016289052011-05-15T09:46:00.000-07:002011-05-15T09:49:20.488-07:00IT Job conditions: Are we moving up or down?The IT job market appears to be holding steady for now .In the near term the determining factor whether this trend will continue is the larger economy and whether or not we experience a “double dip recession. Earlier in the year there appeared to be a little more optimism and that according to CIO/CEO surveys, but that optimism is marginally declined<br /><br />If we don’t have the next recession in the near future, then the new technologies like the cloud, SaaS etc. will engender IT job creation. Also, job changing, a traditional aspect of the IT industry, has been stymied since 2009 by the economic slowdown, and that has created a pent-up demand for the job changer. Workers also see moving to another job as one of the few ways to increase their compensation which has remained static since the financial meltdown in late 2008. An interesting aside to the compensation issue is that according a DICE.com hiring survey entry level IT hires have received a five percent decline in their starting salary.<br /><br />On the other hand, if such macro-economic factors like energy prices continue on their upward trajectory, then that may cause a decline in the demand for new employees, or even significant new rounds of lay-offs. Also, the coming US presidential election in 2012 could make some disgruntled employers wait for the results before hiring trends to trend upward. Lastly, the global economic and political stability or instability could be a factor in the direction of hiring.<br /><br />How these situations unfold will determine if we experience an increase or decrease in general confidence in the economy. My best hunch based on 20 years of viewing these hiring trends that for the most part hiring will remain stable till the next election. Beyond 2012 we should see more a more pronounced upward or downward movement in IT hiring. One additional troubling factorMichael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-65141720123550348592011-02-27T10:27:00.000-08:002011-02-27T10:31:00.904-08:00The 2011 (and Beyond) IT Job Market: The Best, The Worst, and The ScaryIn the depths of the recession/depression in early 2009, I predicted that the IT permanent job market would start to improve at the end of 2010 or the beginning 2011, based on previous hiring cycles related to stock market fluctuations. Also I predicted this would be preceded, as it usually is in an economic recovery, by a strong uptick in contract IT hiring, which happened in the second half of 2010. All was not so rosy though. In the spring of 2010 it appeared briefly that the IT jobs recovery would happen even sooner, but then the European financial crisis stalled the nascent recovery and for the next four to six months there was a realistic fear that the dreaded “double dip” recession would occur, leading to widespread layoffs circa 2009. However, now such sources as Monster.Com, Dice.Com, “CIO Insight” and “E-Week” magazines have up until recently been predicting renewed and, in some instances, robust hiring within the first half of 2011. Yet in the early months of 2011 escalating political unrest in the Arab world, has led to conflagrations and epochal uprisings that again could send us careening towards the “double-dip” taking the IT and Tech sector down with it. However, for our purposes here, let us maintain a mildly positive outlook for IT hiring prospects in 2011, tossing in a few caveats that could impede short and long-term IT hiring possibilities.<br /><br />The overall forecast, from both media pundits, economists and the government is that we will still have a near or above 8% unemployment rate until, at least, the next election cycle in late 2012. This is still better than what we have now, but still disastrous for many. In particular, unemployed people in their 40’s or 50’s, or 60’s without a college degree or very specialized training, and urban minorities. Moreover the real rate of unemployment, including those that stopped looking, not on unemployment, or underemployed, will probably stay in the 15% to 20% range for quite some time. So why is IT any different? First, it is generally believed by those in the know, that IT was a major factor in the great explosion of wealth (mostly for a fortunate few in financial services and the upper echelons of corporate America) and productivity for most of the 1990’s and 2000’s. Secondly IT never had a very strong recovery from the dot-com and telecom bombs of 2001 to 2004 like construction and other sectors of the economy did. <br /><br />However, in the period since the major IT/software downturn, there have been many new innovations and iterations in IT products and services; examples include the rush to open source technology, virtualization, hand held devices (e. g. smart phones and tablets like the IPAD) and the cost saving cloud computing, which brings remote IT resources directly to thr desktop eliminating the need for large datacenters, and cloud related SaaS (Software as a Service). Also, the Web 2.O, with the triumvirate of Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter are bringing information back in popular favor, perhaps more than in anytime history of information technology. Moreover, the recent celebrity status of Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs in the generation before him, is indicative that “the buzz” in IT and software development is coming back in vogue. However, the progressive, even revolutionary, implications of the web 2.0 bringing vital information to the oppressed and under classes globally could eventually undermine a jobs recovery here by exacerbating fears of global uncertainty. Excellent examples of this “viral political process” can be found in Clay Shirky’s work “The Cognitive Surplus.” Here, the implications, and applications of these innovations is widening the so called “digital divide.” Now this divide is looking increasingly more like an unfathomable gulf for some sinking out of the middle class, others not having a chance to rise out of poverty, with many others just treading water, fearing they will be left behind as well.<br /><br />Nevertheless, if things do pick up this year as projected, what are the IT job categories poised for the most growth? According to ”CIO Insight“ magazine, Network Engineers and Business Analysts are the two hottest groups with Software Developers coming in third. In my own experience, I would also include Database Administrators (DBA’s) and Systems, and Enterprise Architects. The Network Engineer category makes sense because the cloud infrastructure implementation necessitates people with a strong network engineering background for WAN (i. e.; Wide Area Network) optimization and deployment, as well as, to facilitate cloud related network capacity build out. Along with Network Engineers, Business Analysts and DBA’s perform enterprise infrastructure and/or in house software applications specific functions, which, at this time, make them less likely candidates for outsourcing. In other words, these people are directly related to day to day operations. Open source-cloud related (particularly SaaS), database, financial service, and medical related developers, as well as Systems Architects, are currently in demand because of the initial phase of new applications development cycle is still the forte of full-time, domestic IT, and software, innovators. However, once these initiatives reach the maintenance phase of the development cycle, many of these jobs are either given to contractors, or are more subject to lower cost outsourcing. Moreover, the higher productivity and significant automization ushered in by these advancements could very well lead to a long term general decline, at least in the US and perhaps globally, of the need for IT workers. <br /><br /><br />Now this is a guardedly upbeat IT hiring prognosis, at least until this itineration of tech/IT advancements are rolled out. But in its malaise during the previous decade, the American IT industry lost a large percentage of its workforce to lower cost offshore workers. Ushered in by the US inspired globalization trend of the 1990’s, outsourcing has, and still does, lead to the cannibalization of the native, and sometimes non-native, American IT workforce. Perhaps the single most humiliating aspect of the massive outsourcing initiative is when lay-off candidates are directed to train their lower cost off shore replacements for a few extra weeks or months of compensation. Also, this troubling trend seems to contradict the patriotism that many of these CEO’s, and other corporate leaders, vociferously espouse. We still proudly, in the eyes of many, live in a relatively free market economy. However, the increasing lack of protective checks and balances (e. g., unionization as related to job security, strong financial service oversight) were defused with the “gold rush-like” growth of IT at the end of the last century.. Moreover, the recent IT, and other, job losses were, to a large degree, a result of excessive financial service risk taking that led to the economic meltdown of 2008. Also, with the over one third decline of American College students choosing Computer Science, and related fields, as majors since the dot.com bomb in 2001, it is no wonder US corporations are looking offshore for IT talent.<br /><br /><br />Also, the insourcing of lower cost HI-B workers from India, Eastern Europe and elsewhere continues to take a big bite out of the non-immigrant American IT worker’s pie. This is particularly bothersome because many American IT workers, who built the software industry when they were in their 20’s or 30’s, are shut out of the IT full-time work force now they are 40 or older. Frequently these unfortunate individuals’ plight, at best, is to survive from one uncertain three plus month assignment to another, with drastically reduced hourly earnings from what was the norm five or ten years ago. Ageism in unemployment is rampant, but in IT it may be even worse fueled by the mentally intensive nature of the work and the relative youth of the industry, particularly its management.. Furthermore, certain corporate and political concerns are angling to increase the quota of HI-B’s substantially now a recovery appears to be ensuing, particularly with the looming domestic labor shortage of highly skilled younger IT workers. But to its credit, insourcing, unlike outsourcing, at least keeps IT, and related innovations, in the US which conceivably can lead to more jobs for all. Moreover, insourced workers, in themselves, should not be demonized for this trend. They are only following the uniquely American historical tradition of highly productive, and upwardly mobile, immigrant workers. But while in the past it might take a generation or two for immigrants to achieve an affluent lifestyle .However, today, with IT workers in particular, this process can sometimes occur almost instantaneously for the most talented new arrivals.<br /><br />In conclusion, the domestic IT job market seems possibly poised for a modest uptick in 2011. This is primarily due to macroeconomic trends and industry innovations such as the cloud, devices like the I Pad and I Phone, other open source initiatives, and the transformation of IT from a cost center to an income generating center. Accordingly, insider publications, like “CIO Insight” and “E-Week,” predict a return to steady, if not spectacular, IT hiring. However, the economy is still mired in a slow growth mode. We are in the midst of a so-called jobless recovery in most economic sectors, and the possibility of a debilitating large scale terrorist event or further, major, European financial difficulties, or the rapidly accelerating unrest is the Arab world could quickly curtail hiring plans Also, continued outsourcing may mute rehiring, with the continuing lack of very little employment related leverage for domestic IT workers. In turn, makes a career in IT even less attractive for US college students<br /> Nevertheless, a commitment to IT staffing growth appears to be slowly crystallizing and gaining a little momentum as we head into the second decade of the 21st century. My deepest hope and concern is that the suffering related to job loss and uncertain futures will wash away in a wave of renewed commitment to excellence, innovation, and cost control. But for this to happen, in my opinion, the US needs, like other industrial superpowers, to develop a strong, and overarching, economic policy that protects the interest of American industries and workers. Unfortunately, in the current climate of sharp political and cultural divineness, and general uncertainty, such major initiatives seem unlikely. Thus the US IT industry could be in the midst of an accelerating and irreversible decline, like large manufacturing sectors in the past, which a modest increase in hiring would only offer a fleeting apparition of eventually dashed dreams.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-67435999186702605352010-10-23T07:21:00.000-07:002010-10-23T07:24:45.232-07:00Negotiating Strategy (4): The Curious Case of The Non-NegiatiorOur last job offer bargaining strategy consists of not bargaining at all. To be a bit colloquial, this “non-strategy” entails giving up any negotiating power you have to the will of an external source, the hiring company and sometimes a recruiter. It’s easy to write this off as being a passive or even demeaning strategy, because in this scenario you have an opportunity to influence a major part of your future, and you just let the opportunity go by. Is there any value in this seemingly passive approach? Or is it a total surrender tactic? Or, maybe, in certain situations this is all you can do and the best you c can expect? Here we delve a little deeper into this non-negotiable mindset of the job candidate, considering why one would adopt such a non strategy and the long term affect on not negotiating one one’s career success, particularly compensation. Furthermore, because the person who chooses this strategy decides to not actively engage in negotiating job offer, our intention is, unlike in the other scenarios, not to offer “almost” any direct advice. Rather our agenda is to describe and analyze this non negotiating posture as another way one may one receive a job offer.<br /><br />Well, first of all, in certain governmental, military, educational, day labor and institutional jobs, there really isn’t much room for negotiating the terms of a job: you either take the job or you don’t. In fact I would surmise that there are as many, if not more jobs, in this pre-set non arbitrary pay and benefit policy. Moreover, before the mid twentieth century, very few people had the option of negotiating their compensation and this was the modus operandi, and is still the case in many of the world economies. However, with the rise of the unions and then professional middle class, many employees gained the often empowering capability for compensation negotiation. So the notion that the job offer process always, or at least almost always, includes some negotiating room is always a myth.<br /><br />In fact, for some people predefined compensation can even provide a sense of security and certainty In his book “The Paradox of Choice” Barry Schwartz says that one of the sometimes most psychological disorienting aspects of modern life is that we have seemingly unlimited choices in our lives. This can evoke a sense of instability and uncertainty if we are indecisive, or perhaps, more commonly, overwhelmed with the universe of things and situations to draw from. So having the certainty of a job with a pre-defined compensation structure could bring a sense of certainty and stability in one’s life. Would this strategy with a negotiable job package lessen anxiety? Maybe in the short run for some people, but generally the knowledge you could possibly negotiate for a better deal, and you don’t, is more disturbing than not.<br /><br />However, in this venue we are more concerned with people who have an opportunity to negotiate, or choose but simply don’t. What is going on with them? Well you could speculate that when one takes what is offered with no reservation they may have less pressure, because they might feel under pressure to prove their worth to the company. In other words, there is never a risk of over promising and under delivering as is the case of the person of negotiates prom a position of strength or from a more symmetrical vantage point. However, in today’s high stress work environment this advantage may not mean quite, depending on the company and their area of expertise, particularly if their job category is subject to outsourcing. Also, they may be shy or, at times, totally lacking in assertiveness; or the non negotiator may suffer from a relative low self esteem or a negative sense of self worth. Although these psychological issues are common in those avoiding job negotiations- or a in avoiding any anxiety provoking situation” But can the much in vogue, often disempowering, psychological determinism be the major factor in refusing, or being incapable, to negotiate, Then what else could it be? Perhaps they, in some cases, enjoy their work for works sake, and compensation is a secondary issue for work that may intrinsically, or what my Psychology professor in graduate school, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, called flow. However, in a recessionary environment like we have been stuck in for the last couple of years most work has been too precarious to be called flow jobs. Finally, age may play a role in whether one negotiates or not for their job offer. Younger workers with with fewer responsibilities and often more options may be more likely to bargain, while older employees with more responsibilities and fewer options may be less likely to negotiate.<br /><br />An alternative scenario involves someone who has been out of work for a while, like a person bargaining from a position of weakness. Moreover, this person may be so thankful to have a job that any type of negotiations seems possibly risky. Of course, this could be a function of how long they have been unemployed, or if they are at an age that reduces their hiring prospects. So we might still conjecture that the person had been experiencing anxiety, fear, or depression, but it could be more situational than endemic. With the media, and friends and family all generally having a very pessimistic attitude regarding them taking what you can get doesn’t seem that farfetched. But as with the person who tries to bargain with an inflexible employer from a position of weakness, passively accepting a lowball offer (at least, and usually, more than 5% less than their last or current compensation) can be multiplied over one’s entire career, which can be a significant amount of money easily exceeding six figures of potential lost income (e. g., 7k over 30 years adds up to 210k). So with such a significant amount of money being potentially lost, it might behoove the frightened job seeker to hire a career coach or gom to a job search agency to help them develop, and hopefully carry out, a more proactive strategy.<br /><br />However, this non negotiation strategy is also utilized by people who are employed; just not as often. It’s easy to make the snap judgment that this person possesses a sense of low self worth so a lowball offer is a self fulfilling prophecy where diminished expectations lead to diminished results. Also unfortunately in a often “survival of the fittest” work environment, this non negotiator may find it hard to gain the respect of management or, in some cases, fellow workers who might be aware of this avoidance approach. In fact, some employees, if aware that the passive job seeker accepts less money for a job comparable to what they do, may feel that this may negatively impact their future bargaining power or job security. However, it is more likely that the non-negotiator may get the smaller reviews in the future and in some cases in a layoff they may even be one of the first let go because of their inability to promote themselves. Converse, this, at times, may work to their advantage because they are more “budget friendly” due to their lower compensation. This, in my opinion, is another more company, and employee, specific determination.<br /><br />However, there are some people, who despite their passive, non-negotiating, position could be very competent at what they do, and because of good performance they could conceivably be respected and valued once they prove they are assets to their organization. Also a person may feel a bit hopeless from being out of work, but once they are on the job for a while their confidence starts to rebuild and they may start negotiating when review time comes around; or even they realize they are being taken advantage and leave for a more attractive position. In this case their company may quickly realize they are losing a valuable, often bargain priced, employee and offer them a large counter offer that could exceed the external offer and bring them up to what their work is competitively valued. Moreover, if a person chooses not to negotiate during the hiring process, this does not necessarily mean that he or she will be taken advantage of. Somewhere in this process the person will be asked what they are, or were, compensated at their former or current company. From this the employer may have a formula from which they make job offers to a reasonable job candidate, and this formula, at least for a potentially average performer, may not vary appreciably whether the candidate negotiates or not. Consequently, if company is wise enough to recognize that they want an employee to receive some incentive to potentially enhance job performance. Furthermore, when one’s job does not have a direct impact on the company’ s bottom line or involve negotiating, for example as a programmer or a graphic designer, then not negotiating for their job may not appear as much of an issue. On the other hand,. when the person’s job does involve negotiating, like in sales or purchasing, then not negotiating for their job may send a signal that the person does not have the right temperament to succeed at their job,<br /><br />In conclusion, this last job offer negotiating, or non-negotiating, scenario on the surface may appear counter intuitive to most of American’s aggressive business postures. Moreover, the non negotiator may, in some cases, even lose the respect of their employers by not engaging in assuming a non-negotiating posture. However, if one is employed or nor employed may be a determining factor on whether one negotiates with their future employer: the unemployed person may fear that negotiating may harm their prospects of getting an offer, while an employed person has more options and feels more emboldened to negotiate. Of course, some people may lack the assertiveness or confidence to bargain no matter what their situation, and depending on the employer, the position, and job market this may or may not negatively impact on their job situation once, or even if, they are hired. On the other hand, if the non negotiating job seeker, like the person who negotiates from a position of weakness, does not receive what they perceive as a “fair” offer, then they might be more likely to look for employment elsewhere if the situation presents itself. Furthermore, they in some cases may be more likely receive and take a counter-offer because of their negotiating naiveté and lower salary. Whatever, in this case I would recommend the non negotiator at least consider seeking out professional negotiating assistance (e. g.; from a career coach, some recruiters, and even government sponsored job search skills training agencies), because by following this passive path they may potentially be costing themselves a substantial amount of money over time. Granted, at times, getting a job regardless of negotiating can be a matter of survival, but one may need to not passively sacrifice their self respect and dignity, unless not negotiating is clearly one’s only option. Finally, because non-negotiators tend to be at the low end of the salary scale, they may have a little more job security, particularly in a recessionary job market, because they tend to have lower salaries and be viewed as bargains if they are good performers.<br /><br />This may be in employer’s best long term interest, to offer the non negotiator a fair offer, if they feel the perspective employee possesses skills that may be in moderate to high demand in a strong job market. However, this remains, because for whatever reason, the employer’s call in a situation where the potential employee may have the greatest opportunity to get a better compensation package than they had elsewhere. Finally, this totally putting power to negotiate one’s compensation in the hands of the employer may be the biggest minus in not negotiating the conditions of a job offer.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-17843889556317413832010-08-22T11:07:00.000-07:002010-08-22T11:24:54.912-07:00Negotion Strategies III: Bargaining Beyond WeaknessNow we have examined strategies of “bargaining from a position of strength,” and neutral bargaining in job negotiations, let’s consider “bargaining from a position of weakness.” This job negotiation strategy is most common in a recessionary job market like we have been experiencing from 2008 till today in August of 2010. Usually the compromised job seeker is not working. This is often the result of being laid off from their previous position; but, depending on the market, perceived bargaining weakness could be broadened to include entry level job seekers of any age, people who had been sick or institutionalized for an extended period of time… The main theme here is, unlike with the strength job bargainer and the equal job bargainer, the compromised (i. e,. the person bargaining from a position of weakness) job bargainer has less leverage due to not being employed, and consequently is often perceived less attractive to the potential employer. But this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case, and if you have desired skills and/or experience, or inside the hiring company contacts, you can improve your negotiating leverage, but again this may be a largely determined in general or, more specifically in to your job level and/or category. Here we will briefly discuss your perceived market value, and how you might be able to improve it, and negotiation strategies as well as attitudinal adjustments job search tools to do so.<br /><br />Often when someone is laid off, due to such factors as a recessionary job market or outsourcing, their self image can take a hit. If this is the case, I would work on rebuilding your self image and esteem first, before embarking on a job search. Of course, this depends on if you have an adequate savings. Moreover, I have seen people immediately rush out and seek every possible avenue of finding a new job without being psychologically ready and strategically prepared. Often people that do this can come across as unfocused, unprepared, or lacking in confidence or even appear desperate of depressed, all qualities that can be job seeking deal breakers. Although there are minorities of people, often possessing outstanding qualifications, who can begin their job search at almost any time. In rebuilding your self esteem, anything you can do this is critical. I have seen people get into an exercise regimen, meditation or yoga, if possible travel, get engrossed in hobbies with the aim of building your confidence and focus. Job related exercises might involve taking advantage of outplacement resources, taking classes, certification training. Bottom line, building and maintaining an optimistic, proactive, outlook is essential. One strategy that I have found can assist you in maintaining a positive mindset is to limit your access to negative portrayals of the job market that tend to permeate the media during economic slumps. Also, in some cases state availing yourself of sponsored re-employment services can give you a boost.. These activities can be a significant help in strengthening your resume, enhancing interviewing skills, and even aiding in job offer negotiations. What you want to do is to alter, as much as possible, the potential employer’s often mild to moderate bias against you because you are unemployed, particularly when there is stiff competition for your desired position, including employed candidates. <br /><br />In bargaining from a compromised position, it is more critical, than in strength bargaining or equal bargaining strategies that basic job search tools like your resume and cover letter are as flawless as possible and targeted to the job you are pursuing. I know there is a lot of controversy regarding resume length and design. My general attitude is that as much of the critical information the employer wants to see should be well laid out on page one, including skills and/or competencies, key accomplishments, career summary, career objective, and at least the most recent jobs that directly apply to what you are seeking. Moreover, if you are a junior to mid level person in your field a one page resume is generally the best idea, while in more senior person’s situation a two page resume is sufficient; but even here, because the rapid fire way hiring authorities often go through resumes, a one page resume is ideal. You don’t have to be overly thorough in presenting your experience. If you can find a tipping point between giving enough information to elicit interest but not too much that you lose your readers attention, waiting to disclose more pertinent details at the interview. Now a cover letter is, in some cases, a dying art. Recruiters, job boards, and social media generally don’t use them, but in certain instances they can be an excellent way to help you stand out from the crowd and accentuate aspects of your experience that make you uniquely attractive to your prospective employer. Also if you choose to have a “minimalist’, short and to the point, resume the cover letter can add some bulk to this bare bones approach.<br /> <br /> Also, you need to take a very proactive, rather than reactive, role in finding job prospects. Just putting your resume into the database of a job board, or putting out blind feelers in social media sites, and passively waiting to get back to you is usually not enough. With these resources I would advise you actively pursue opportunities listed in them including calling a contact person. In the on line job search, job aggregators like Indeed and Simply Hired can be particularly helpful because most job boards and many companies jobs are listed here. In social media, where I prefer using LinkedIn, although Twitter has been ginning popularity, which is optimized for recruiters and job searching. With LinkedIn it may be worth getting assistance in putting together your profile, which is basically like an on line resume but less comprehensive.<br /><br /> Depending on the job market, referrals from previous colleagues is often the best way to approach finding new opportunities if you are not, or are, working. You, and your skill level often precedes you, and the referring party gets a finder’s fee, which can work out the best in some job markets. Recruiters tend not to be the best route for out of work individuals, unless you are recently unemployed, are junior with a lower salary, and/or have a skill set in high demand in a weak job market. Often companies feel they don’t have to pay a fee for an out of work candidate because the candidate is looking vigorously on their own. However a career coach can sometimes help provide the structure and accountability to set and follow through in a successful your job seeking campaign. My viewpoint on this is based on many years as a recruiter and more recently working as a career coach and a recruiter.<br /><br />Next comes, for most people, the greatest challenge in the job search process, particularly for people who have are out of work, the job interview. This is the context where you need to show your best qualities, competencies, and communications skills. Like with resumes, there are many excellent books available to act as your guide. I do think interview role playing and informational interviews can be a good way to get your the optimal interview groove, before you go to a traditional interview with your career often looming in the balance. If you can be relatively relaxed, engaged, friendly, and focused, then this will go a long way in upping your odds to get a job offer, because often there are many people who can basically “do the job.” I think presence, body language, and how you say something as much as what you can say may also be determining factors in receiving a job offer.<br /><br />Now, we come to the job offer negotiations. Remember that often a company may have negative negotiating bias against out of work candidates unless the candidate has an exceptionally good skill set or have outstanding industry contacts and references. One way you reverse this is to have several good job prospects going at the same time, so the company gets out of the mindset that you may take any job offer that is not too far below what you were previously making, ranging anywhere from 5 to 25% below what your previous salary was. Moreover, I have seen candidates themselves put their desired salary at significantly below their prior salary. The latter usually occurs when the job seeker is at least six months unemployed, thinking that the employer will see them as a “better deal,” when often the employer may then perceive the candidate as “damaged goods.” This strategy, although understandable, is not recommended unless there is a career change or a job in the same industry that is initially lower paying but with more upside potential and/or satisfaction. Instead I recommend that generally, unless the candidate was compensated above industry standard, state what their former salary was and state that they would like at least what the former salary was, but be open to the best reasonable offer. This may be the best way to maintain respect in yourself and in the perception of your employer, and potentially receive the most reasonable offer you can when you are negotiating from a position of weakness.<br /><br />Here is a less common strategy of negotiating from a position of weakness that, in the long run, could be perceived as a turning a negative into a positive. Recently I worked with a mid level software support engineer who had been out of work approximately a year. He went on dozens of interviews but only three were of any interest. In the process he decided he would much rather be a software developer, so when a company offered him an opportunity in software development, which was more in line with his education and interests, he jumped at it even though he had to initially had to take a 20% salary cut from his prior job. To a certain degree the hiring company was taking advantage of his lack of leverage in making him a lowball offer. However, usually the upside potential for developers is greater for support people. So in a few years he may be more marketable and possibly command a higher salary than in support, and have much greater job satisfaction. Also because his new company is not compensating him fairly in terms of the market value of the work he is performing at a higher level, he feels no real loyalty. Moreover, the company’s low ball offer strategy, if not rectified in above average raises is the future, may cost them an excellent employee when he becomes more proficient and the job market improves for his skills, which it most likely will.<br /><br />This example is somewhat unusual, but is still indicative of the short sighted attitude of companies when they are negotiating with a job candidate from a perceived position of weakness. If a company can save money short term on salaries they usually will. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases you might not have an option but to accept this lower- than your previous position- offer. But remember if you take a 5k cut that could conceivably add up to 150k over a 30 year career. Moreover, it isn’t just the lower dollar figure that is the problem, but it may also be indicative of a subtle attitude of disrespect you may sometimes encounter by accepting less money than you might not ordinarily received if employed. The whole notion of bargaining from a position of weakness is rife with an aura of negative psychology. If you can hold out for a better offer elsewhere, or at least get some concessions outside of the dollar figure that might elevate how you may be perceived moving forward. Ideas here could consist of possibility of incentives, bonus, early review…are all pertinent. In the end you might not get a concession, but even trying in itself may moderate the loss of self, and company, respect sometimes associated with a low-ball offer.<br /><br />Here we have seen the difficulty, and a few possible solutions, involved in bargaining from a position of weakness in searching for a new career opportunity. Companies often don’t think you have any leverage in your bargaining, unless you have other situations pending, and generally will take advantage of this in making an offer. However, there are some more enlightened employers out there who may look at the long term implications of not making you happy with a lower salary offer, and if you can hold out till you find one then it can have a positive effect on not just your income, but your morale and motivation as well. Otherwise more than likely accepting this position may be a stopgap situation that you will seek to rectify as soon as either the economy improves and/or you find a company to compensate you fairly. That is why it is also imperative to dispel any negativity acquired in your termination from your former company. When there is a perceived sense of loss, a common reaction can be a lowering of self esteem, which can engender a passive, uninspired, job search. Be honest, and kind, to yourself. If you are feeling down, do something to elevate your sense of self worth before beginning your search like exercising or traveling. Make sure your resume, (if necessary) cover letter, and especially your interview skills are as strong as possible. Finally get out there, with a well thought out strategy in mind, and network with a renewed sense of self confidence. If you have friends or ex-colleagues to network with that is definitely your best path, but whatever your situation, be as proactive, persistent, and positive as possible.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-81966935566568327972010-07-05T16:27:00.000-07:002010-07-05T16:34:16.731-07:00Job Negotiating Strategies: (2) Bargaining From a Neutral PositionAs I showcased in my first section, the “bargaining from position of strength” negotiating stance could put you, the job seeker, in driver’s seat to dictate the terms of your job offer. However, the most common negotiating position, “bargaining from an equal, or neutral, position,” does not on the surface, at least, offer you such luxury. This is perhaps both the most complex and potentially risky type of job offer negotiations. For in bargaining from a position of strength or weakness it is generally a foregone conclusion you’ll either get an excellent or disappointing offer, while in this strategy negotiating skill and planning is the determinant in where the rubber does, or doesn’t meet, the road of new opportunity. Nevertheless, after exploring all available avenues with your present employer, and find your career is at, or approaching, a dead end, the only road to career reconditioning may consist of driving a better deal elsewhere. But don’t forget to snap your safety belt on, and remember opportunity includes money and much more if you want career to be back on the right, or sometimes even fast, track. Below we will offer some tips and strategies to help you map out, and reach your new job destination, via the safest and most secure route possible to career growth and satisfaction.<br /><br />Before beginning your journey for bargaining from a position of approximate neutrality, it is advisable that you be employed, be committed to change, and have most of the tangible and intangible skills the hiring company(s) you have targeted are looking for. Moreover, to maximize your potential for getting the best offer and job, it is important that you have all of the successful job search accessories in place, which includes a high octane resume, strong and steady interviewing skills, specific company’s track record, salary comparisons, and an enthusiastic audience of pre-screened references…. . This may sound like an overkill job search tune up, but by the proverbial end of the day this will significantly enhance your chances of getting what you want. Now once your search is revved up and in high gear, it’s imperative that bargaining, or negotiating, from a neutral posture presumes that there is mutual interest, and that the employer have a sense of hiring urgency to fill their open position. Of course, the company may prefer to opt out for outstanding, “bargaining from a position of strength” type candidate, but they may realize they don’t have the available horsepower to attract their ideal candidate.<br /><br />So now, let’s suppose, you and the hiring company have established mutual interest, what can you then do to maximize the probability of the best offer possible? Most people start with salary considerations, Now, I have no doubt that money may ultimately prove to be the determining factor in your final decision. However, functional job satisfaction, work environment, learning new skills, company culture, benefits, and particularly management… should be considered as well. Of course, in this, as in other job seeking scenarios, both you and the company are trying to forge the respective best deal possible. Also, as I mentioned it is important for both parties, particularly the candidate, that you definitely don’t want to over promise and under deliver, regarding your job capabilities and performance; The worst case scenario of such hyperbolic hubris could wreck your credibility, and possibly even your career in that field.<br /><br /> Next is the time for salary negotiations to begin in earnest. It is essential that you do research into what the market value salary range is for your skills and experience in your geographic locale. Often people are paid in the mid to low end of what this local salary range is, and the hiring companies often have this information. Their question to you then becomes what are you making and what do you want? An appropriate response might be that you, based on your research, know this type of position pays in the (give the mid to high point)) and I’m looking for the best offer although what is equally or more opportunity is the job, including promotional possibilities, learning opportunities…..Then leave it in their hands. By using this technique you may avert the possibility of having to possibly disclose that that your current salary may even be lower than the low end of the market range, which opens the door to the hiring company offering you a low ball offer. However many companies may insist you give what your current salary is, and if they do, and your salary is below the range entirely, it is important to give the extenuating circumstances why this so (e.g.; the company is in financial trouble and no one has gotten raises for x years, or I got a promotion from a lower paying function but didn’t get a commensurate salary increase). If the hiring company insists that they can only offer you a salary increase from this lower, below market, base, then perhaps you should move on to another firm. Just do the Math. If you are, for example, being paid five k below the low or medium market range over a 40 year career, then you would be paid 220k less than if you paid at low to medium market rate. This attests to why you should be gearing your efforts towards at least at the mid-point compensation for the job you want<br /><br /><br />In my opinion the best strategy, however, is to, in a firm but friendly voice, ask for the high end of the market range, enumerating how you and your skills could benefit the company now and in the future. Also I recommend, making it clear from the get go, you are a “little flexible” on the dollar number, and it is the career opportunity, and contributing to the success of their company, that is most important to you. This gives you some space to ask for other concessions like additional performance incentives, an early review, or a signing bonus if they don’t give you a dollar figure you might not have really expected to get in the first place The most important thing here is that you and your potential employer feel that both parties have reached an equitable agreement. The proposal should be enticing enough for you to eagerly accept, while not having the company offer above, or most likely at, what the high average rate for your position is in the local job market. Holding out for your most desirable dollar figure, if they don’t just rescind or not make an offer, could create the potential damaging perception that, after the race has run, they have paid you more than they think you are worth. I did this once in negotiating for a personnel director’s position in a small company, and the negative repercussions and attitudes that this engendered (the company was financially unstable and eventually closed) for a few thousand more definitely wasn’t worth me being a bit “hard ball” in my salary negotiations. Consequently, my preference is for a slightly accommodative negotiation strategy, which can reap such benefits as: (1), you still have more potential upside salary growth once you join the company; (2), other employees may be jealous or angry, or even resign, if they find you are making more than they are for a comparable position: and (3), the perceived compromises in a range that is possibly more than you initially hoping<br />for will usher in the motivational “win” win” mindset that is the ideal way to begin working at your new employer.<br /><br />However, If you feel the company is dragging their feet or are balking at your requests that you used with your initial strategy, I would consider a more direct leveraging strategy involving either another, or potential, offer elsewhere or in rare cases a counter offer from your current company if you are certain that the new company is definitely the one you want to work for. Sometimes this strategy will buy you some additional concessions, because for the moment at least, you may move into the enviable position of bargaining from a position of strength. Now if they still won’t budge, you can either, ride away to look elsewhere, or stay with what their offer is. But still, unless they seem to be real “cheapskates”, you may want to look at the big picture and make a cost benefit analysis to give you a more rational perspective and, if so inclined, give yourself an intuitive gut check on which way you feel is on your best interest to decide. Also, this seemingly stubbornness on the companies part could be for reasons not specifically related to you, and, if finessed correctly, could make them feel obligated to give you more concessions down the road a piece. Also, always remember that in neutral bargaining there are generally other attractive prospective jobs out there. Now If it is a weak “low ball” offer prone job market like we have seen during most of the last few years, then you can remain at your current company till market conditions improve. Bottom line, if your potential company waxes and wanes on giving you an attractive offer they may not be the vehicle you want to drive your career forward with.<br />Now, if you decide to move to the offer acceptance stage, and you return to your previous company and tell them you want to leave, they may or may not offer a similar or higher offer than what you received. Although some career advisors may tell you different, I would definitely not reveal your intention to leave, or look elsewhere, unless you have a signed offer letter from your new employer. There is always a small, but scary, chance they would let you go if they thought you might be close to resigning, or even seriously looking. If you were viewed as an essential, “bargaining from a position of strength candidate,” then it really doesn’t matter what they know, but most likely if they haven’t treated you real well in the past there is no reason to believe, despite the short term necessity of utilizing your skills to finish an important task or project, that any positive attitudinal shift they display to you is only temporary and self serving. Moreover, they may view your external job hunting as disloyal, and possibly terminate you as soon as the critical period that requires your services pass. Consequently, I would not consider accepting their counter offer unless they, in writing, address all your reasons for looking- including often a new manager. Still unless you are absolutely certain they are sincere, and they strongly indicate you have a significant mid to long term growth potential within the company, I would still “keep on trucking” to your new company. At this point I would be polite and cordial but firmly say something like “thanks but I have already made a career decision to move on and I appreciate the time we have worked together.”<br />As we cross the finish line of this brief presentation, hopefully it has become clear that neutral status job negotiations, without a marked sense of strength or weakness, is by far the most common negotiating posture except perhaps in a bear hiring market, where often only exceptional candidates are hired . Moreover, bargaining for a new job when there is a good, but not great, match can be a very tricky, time consuming, and stressful trip; but if you intuitively and rationally feel it is in your short and long term best interest then put your pedal to the metal and go for it. But, again, as you accelerate off the starting line of this process, always proceed with caution for there should be multiple compelling reasons to leave, or your job search, as sometimes happens, may run out of gas. Also always get everything promised in writing, and be careful that you don’t “burn bridges” with your former company. Occasionally things aren’t nearly as rosy as they initially seemed when you were in the negotiating and offer acceptance phase with your new employer. Furthermore, I have seen rare cases where a misled employee has returned to their former company and it has worked out, at least as a rest stop before embarking on another job search journey. Still, at this juncture, shifting your mindset to a drive forward position is invariably the best route for you to follow. Who knows? In a few years you may have blossomed into that person who could bargain from a position of strength. Now that the career road ahead is clear, stay cool and composed, with your eyes firmly fixed on the well deserved prize of an attractive job offer that accompanies the completion of a well planned and executed job search.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-53425063426322770762010-05-16T09:16:00.000-07:002010-05-16T09:24:14.348-07:00Job Negotiating Strategies: (1) Bargaining From a Position of StrengthIn marketplaces everywhere bargaining, in one way or another, is an essential element in consummating the “deal.” In the job market this refers to the negotiations that formalize the terms of the conditions of employment with a primary emphasis on job offer negotiations. Here my thoughts will be primarily directed towards the Software Engineering and IT positions below the executive level ,employment areas where I have been a personnel consultant for 25 years. However, I think these ideas and strategies pertain to most salaried positions regardless of industry or level <br /><br />In this, and my 3 following presentations, I will be concerned with four distinct, but overlapping, bargaining, or negotiating, approaches to finding a new job: (1) bargaining from a positioning of strength. (2) equal bargaining,(3) bargaining from a position weakness, and (4) non-bargaining bargaining. Of course, these strategies are always somewhat impacted by the macro economic conditions effecting the job market, and here I will look at bargaining in a gradually improving post recessionary market. Finally in the four posts I will present key elements of each of these four bargaining types, starting with bargaining from a position of strength<br /><br />In Bargaining from a position of strength, you have “all the right stuff” that the hiring company is looking for in terms of skills and personal characteristics. To make as near to perfect match as possible, the employer is very motivated to secure your services, often offering almost anything it takes to have you join there company. Also, you are highly valued by your current employer. Consequently, you have (almost) everything to gain and hardly anything to lose in your job search efforts. This is not to say anyone should haphazardly embark on something so life critical as a job search without conducting in depth research in your specific employments niche hiring conditions and deeply reflect on the notion that this is the right time to change jobs for you<br /><br />In this scenario it’s ok to be quite confident, maybe even a little cocky, but you need to not come across as an ego maniac or arrogant no matter how good a fit you think you are. But, if the match is very good, you may perceived as “the answer” to some significant problem areas within the company, and, recognizing this, justifies you having a somewhat inflated, self promotional attitude in your approach to the hiring process. However a particular danger in this strategy, perhaps more than the others, is to not promise more than you can deliver in the particular role that you will assume in the new company. To this end, you must attain clarity in what you envision to be the scope of the position, how realistic are the companies’ expectations of you are, and, regardless of the high expectation, if deep down you feel you can at least meet, and hopefully exceed, the performance expectations of the new employer. <br /><br />You can often hold out for a substantial bump up in salary because the hiring company’s perception is that they need you more than you need them. Often if you seem unenthused by the original figure, and the company appears to be determined to secure your services, they will come back with a higher starting salary amount and/or other concessions. Bottom-line, they want you bad! Also, you may able negotiate a sign on bonus, more stock options…and other incentives like an early salary review, some telecommuting…. At this point the situation may appear quite appealing if the company offers all, or almost all,that you want. However, before accepting, make sure to give close scrutiny to the entire offer “package” I have seen too many people fixate on the dollar number only, and then discover that some benefit (e. g., vacation, health benefits) or policy (e. g. flexible hours, non compete agreements) is not what they had thought, or imagined it, to be.<br /><br /><br /><br />Once you have accepted the offer, a potential complication often arises if your present company gives you a counter offer that meets or exceeds what you have received elsewhere. The questions to ask yourself then are why they didn’t offer this to you in this first place, and if Ian m essential to the old company primarily in the short run or both in the short run and the long run. If you have any question that their intentions are not in your long term best interests, then politely tell your old company thanks but no thanks. Generally counter offers are good to avoid because they can sometimes limit, or even endanger, your future with your current company. Nevertheless, I have seen the minority of people who accept counter offers experience their career’s flourish going forward, particularly if the offering company is a direct competitor.<br /><br />Finally, if you decide to proceed , I would get as much of generous promises of potential employer clearly delineated in your offer letter- and possible let a lawyer confidentially examine it as well. You may never have as much bargaining power as you do at this initial stage, so use this leverage in every way possible. Also, if you hadn’t already done so, research extensively the company’s reputation as being creditable in treating, and honoring, their employees well. Nevertheless, chances are that if your new employer views you as a very good to exceptional prospect, they will generally follow through on their initial conditions of employment; as long as you meet or exceed the performance levels you led them to expect.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-63347275606365071842010-02-21T11:53:00.000-08:002010-02-21T11:59:57.062-08:00Passive Recession: Bringing the Jobs Back HomePassive aggression often stems from a situation where a person, often a woman or minority, fears a loss of security if they assertively convey what they are thinking or feeling about what they see as an unjust and inescapable situation. Rather they are left with the only alternative of indirectly expressing their contempt. Domestic examples may be as simple overcooking food, having a perpetual headache at bedtime, working in a slow uninspired way or even small instances of tax evasion these and a thousand other strategies are meant to annoy, and passively retaliate against, a controlling force, and they often become fixed patterns of muted defiance. Now in our current economic sphere we are sadly seeing a similar strategy played out. The unemployed give up their search for work, while still receiving governmental assistance, and engage in job search where they consciously sabotage any chance for re-employment by blowing an interview. “The job isn’t my ideal.” “Why work when the government is paying me not to work." And,"they want me to do a job that used to be done by 2 or 3 people." Of course, this is a small minority of job seekers, but as the seemingly endless recession marches on this, and similar, strategies are gaining momentum. On a governmental level we are experiencing a similar situation where authorities feel hopeless about the future, and thus “throw in the towel.” For any concerted effort to make the situation better a significant positive attitude change and effective government and corporate interventions needs to occur as soon as possible.<br /><br />This lack of any attempt to find a real and/or lasting solution to chronic unemployment and underemployment is a major element of what I will call a passive recession. This is a new occurrence, although employment patterns have been tending this way ever since manufacturing jobs began to be either, mostly, lost or sent offshore in the 70’s and the 80’s. For a while high tech innovation appeared to replace some of these jobs, but unlike the manufacturing jobs, these required more than just a high school diploma (or less) and on the job training. Now the high tech and IT jobs have followed the same path. But this time there has been an element of betrayal, ageism, and economic exclusion. I don’t deny that businesses have to be profitable, but some myopic C level executives fail to recognize that the long term, self destructive, effect of their policies on their company and their country. This is often obscured by the short term concerns of building shareholders equity. The frightened lay-off victim is often muzzled from any legal recourse, particularly those over 40, by a severance package either based on either being paid to train offshore replacements or signing a non-retaliation statement. In other words, they are being pacified by fears of financial insolvency. <br /><br />At present at least, there is little resolve to devise concrete solutions to extricate the US from this depressing situation. There is a lot of talk, but little agreement, or hope, on how to extricate ourselves from this increasingly precarious situation. There is no consensus or political will to make things improve. The media just reinforces the doom and gloom situation with their barrage of gloomy stories and scenarios that will further weaken the will of the populace. The administration, and its opponents to a certain extent, point to the recently strong increases in the GDP as indicative of a major upturn. But as any intelligent impartial observer may tell you, these are predicated on massive government financial interventions to prop up a precarious financial services sector and the buildup of inventory that may only have a few more quarters duration. This is not to say that the President’s recent assertion that these massive interventions staved off an extended depression, perhaps largely as an option to a much longer recession, offers little consolation to those who are losing their jobs, their houses, and often their self respect. Even the “recovery friendly” Federal Reserve, acknowledges that this “so called” jobless recovery will last to 2011 at the earliest. A very intelligent and insightful observer of the economic landscape recently told me that things won’t stay as they are now for very long. Rather the next two elections will most likely lead to either to improvement or a deterioration of the employment, and general economic situation. <br /><br />In conclusion how can we restore confidence, the political will, and creative solutions to pull our nation, and job situation out of the hopelessness, and passive, reaction that seems never ending. Keynesian economists, like Paul Krugman, argue the economic redevolvement act (AKA the stimulus) was too small to generate any significant growth in employment, and we need to go back to the proverbial well for another round of stimulus. But unless the situation worsens dramatically, the extreme divisiveness that characterizes the current political and national mindset will make it nearly impossible to break this logjam. Poet WB Yeats’ prophetic line from his poem “The Second Coming: “The best lack any conviction and the worst are filled with Passionate Intensity,” sadly characterizes our dismal, passive recessionary mindset. This negative passionate intensity has perhaps been most articulated by right wing ideologue, and de-facto spokesman for the radical conservative wing of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh, who made the incendiary statement that he “wants this president to fail.” Statements like this, and the activities of the populist, party supported, “tea bagger movement” are indicative that there is little concern for the dire situation of the demoralized, increasingly, pacified unemployed. Nevertheless I feel that the situation may not be quite as dismal as projected in the media, and the related national sense of helplessness could be improved. If the Fed could somehow cajole the banks to resume lending to small business, the acknowledged creator of most new jobs, then there could be an uptick in an employment and innovation; and innovation, in turn, could foster even more employment. Furthermore, if the administration can offer further incentives to mid large size corporations to slow down the steady stream of outsourced jobs, then the cynicism directed toward these companies could begin to abate. However, these solutions, if they occur at all, could take a significant amount of time to implement. Unfortunately, in the mean time, more suffering seems almost inevitable. But if the unemployed could organize, like the revisionist tea bagger movement, then they potentially could motivate Washington to attack the causes of this passive recession; and maybe a sustained recovery that addresses the dismal employment situation could begin..Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-4432411661323636582010-01-26T12:44:00.000-08:002010-01-26T12:47:20.999-08:00Bye Bye Zeroes: The Decade of Greed and GloomIt’s been a while since I’ve been here. Felt a twinge of guilt because I haven’t followed the marketing mantra of consistent posts. Well I’m not a low winter light person in spite of the many, somewhat successful efforts of dealing with the winter blues. The best involved entrainment through a sound /light machine (www.mindalive.com).<br /><br />In the months ahead I’m planning to continue my focus on the job world, addressing the plight of the employed and unemployed, offering success strategies, and questioning socio-political strategies that cater to the few and leave the many out in the cold. Also, since I have the beginning of a life, career, and business coaching endeavor in place I will be addressing that space as well. I haven’t forgot IT and will soon offer some perspective of year 2 (really 3) of the recession and so called “jobless recovery.”<br /><br />Here, to say goodbye to the last decade, I will offer a short poem that epitomizes the final, and maybe worst, year in one the worst decades in American History; perhaps only eclipsed by the 1930’s and the decade of the US civil war, the 1860’s.<br /><br />Moreover, in IT, and elsewhere, we saw many US employers sell out their employees, and many themselves, in an unparalleled wave of job expatriation that is politely called outsourcing, a profoundly unpatriotic practice that would have led to “tarring and feathering” of these mercenaries when there was still that somewhat hokey, but very humane, American mindset of “One for All and All for One”.<br /><br />Also it was a decade where greed ran rampant, terror was sometimes used as a tool by government suppress the free expression and thought of the populace (sound familiar?), and torture was justified by some of the last regime as standard operating procedure. The damage caused by these factors will take many years, and even decades, to ameliorate at home. The only silver lining lately is that our standing in the world has improved somewhat by the reaching out of the new Administration.<br /><br />Here is the poem called “Meltdown Moon.” I am also planning a little ditty in honor of a decade of profound discontent called “Bye Bye Zeroes,” but that, as they occasionally say in the web world, is “under construction.”<br /><br />Meltdown Moon<br /><br />In our hour of gleaming gloom<br />Of sickly shadows strangling<br />A meltdown moon.<br />Lost light of dimming dreams<br />Shattered and scattered in a<br />Fading beam<br />Floating pyres flicker then flee to<br />Find roses rotted, reflected in a<br />Plastic sea<br /><br />Wall Street wolves slyly smile<br />Luring lambs and lizards to leech<br />Their Pile<br />Right brain boosters chant free at last<br />As malled in masses mourn their<br />Imagined past<br />An eerie echo of phantoms squeal<br />Escaping eras of wealth, power<br />And sex appeal<br /><br />Michael Jay SullivanMichael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-27377502687762332492009-09-27T13:12:00.000-07:002009-10-06T15:24:18.655-07:00Planning for, and Recovering from, UnemploymentIn this presentation my intent is to give a brief description of an individual who has handled a lay off in a very proactive and productive fashion. I realize there are several fortunate and uncommon factors in this situation. Moreover I realize being laid off in these troubled times is often a very frightening, demeaning and sometimes immobilizing experience. In the current HR and corporate view of employee’s as human capital, or even wall street’s view of layoffs as being lagging indicators or cost controls that positively impact stock performance, there is a very dehumanizing, unsympathetic view, of the layoff victim. This is particularly devastating experience for IT individuals over 40 or 50 where there chance of finding a position comparable to the one they lost is dubious at best. <br /><br />However, there are several qualities that can lessen the impact of a job loss in these troubled times. They include: devising a pragmatic lay off contingency plan; having, or developing, a proactive and positive approach; trying not to take the layoff as a personal statement of your incompetency or inadequacy; and finally trying to be patient and not panic no matter what other people or the media may say about your job possibilities. Also too much pride and inflexibility can also impair chances of being re-employed. In this presentation I will give an example of a situation that epitomizes many of these qualities and discusses how they worked to assist a friend in his successful effort to be re-employed.<br /><br />“I went to see my old friend Raymond last weekend. Raymond was an exceptionally accomplished data base architect with over 25 years in the IT field, all at a large financial service company. As is often the case in the dismal days of the job market he was, Raymond was caught in a layoff. This was probably due to his relatively high salary, his age and comprehensive benefits, including fully paid medical benefits, a vested pension (a real rarity these days for an IT person), and a generous 401k match. However, Raymond has absolutely no debt, his wife has a very good job, and he has never lived beyond his means. More impressively, Raymond had mentally and financially prepared for his job loss. He did not display any anger, shame, remorse, denial or depression related to his former employer that could have impacted his re-employment efforts. <br /><br />Raymond had been checking out other career possibilities for a person in his 50’s that could utilize his strong IT background. Within 2 weeks of being let go by his former employers he began a certificate program in medical computer coding. He did not sign up for unemployment because he is a full time student and because of his savings, his wife’s employment and his frugal life style he didn’t need it. Now, after three months of training he has several good job prospects as a medical coder. He may only make slightly more than half that he did at his former employer; but because of his somewhat frugal spending habits, his pension and his family’s ability to live on one income at least temporarily, his life style will only be effected by his life style.”<br /><br />By closely scrutinizing Raymond’s situation, it is obvious that he made a realistic assessment of the possibility of being laid off, and developed a solid contingency plan. A key element of his plan included exploring optional career avenues where he may transfer the analytic, procedural, mathematical and other IT related skills that served him well in his previous career. His research, led to two new career possibilities: accounting and medical coding. On further research when he felt his lay off was imminent, he made a pragmatic decision to go towards the medical coding because the training was much quicker and opportunities were more plentiful. Also, due to his sense of self reliance and fortuitous financial situation, he did not, like most people who got laid off in this period, have to quickly apply for unemployment due to lack of savings and other pressing financial factors. Consequently, he was not subject to the scrutiny of the government and his receiving benefits might perhaps have been unethical or disruptive given his schooling. In other words, he did not allow his job loss effect his sense of self worth, which unemployment sometimes subtly does, or compromise his ethics or career change plans. <br /><br />So why was Raymond able to be so strategic and cool under the pressure and stress of losing his long held position? Unlike many people who were intoxicated by the leveraged wealth and supposed unlimited growth of the previous ten tears, Raymond didn’t live on credit and saved a reasonable portion of his salary. So when the Wall Street and Bush, and to a lesser extent Clinton, Administration induced real estate and equity bubble’s burst, Raymond had already converted his 401k investments out of the stock market and into cash. Moreover, he and his wife, who had a great rental living arrangement, never jumped in to the then seemingly endless skyrocketing real estate market. Simply said, Raymond lived well within his means and thus was not seriously affected financially by the mortgage and financial service meltdown. Consequently, when he lost his job, which was a result of this meltdown, he was prepared psychologically and financially. Moreover, he never felt shocked and victimized like so many Americans who faced the prospect of a very uncertain diminished future. Furthermore, with strategic and realistic financial and career planning many people may still live comfortably, and perhaps more meaningful lives. However unlike the proactive and patient Raymond, and many prudent people like him, it may be a long and rocky ride to renewed financial and career stability for many American who have faced job loss in these turbulent times <br /><br />In conclusion, and for future consideration, Raymond’s case of successively handling his lay off displays how to not experience many qualities and actions that can diminish the adverse effect of this often traumatizing situation. It was definitely not my intention to criticize or add “insult to injury” for the high percentage of laid off people who had not evolved a comprehensive plan to deal with sometimes inevitable negative consequences of being laid off. As I initially stated, planning, proactivity, a positive attitude, patience, and not living beyond his means all contributed to Raymond’s ability to successfully cushion and steer clear of most of the very painful effects of job loss. This doesn’t mean that Raymond didn’t experience some of the anxiety and uncertainty of being laid off, particularly that of people over 40 in the progressively outsourced field of information technology. However, understandable blame or a sense of victimization does not help these people in their efforts to withstand unemployment or the challenging effort to become re-employed. Nevertheless, our culture, and particularly the cultures of much of corporate America and Wall Street, often have a very short term perspective in their strategic planning and utilization of “human capital.” This is often dictated by the quarter to quarter demands of their investors and their sometimes greedy expectations of quick and large return on their investments. Finally, if this quick return and “trickle down” mindset is not changed to resemble the more long term perspective of most of the mature and emerging economies, particularly that of China, then the repeat of this nearly cataclysmic financial meltdown, and related job loss, is almost predestined to reoccur.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-14270173978224738732009-08-24T14:35:00.000-07:002009-08-24T14:45:43.949-07:00Games of Greed and Loss of JobsIt’s still real tough out there in the job market for many IT, and other processionals. My forecast of minor pickup in jobs in early 2010 and a return to normalcy by the fall of 2010 still stands,albeit on a much shakier ground. But there are looming dangers that portend that this debacle will last a few quarters, or even years longer. Issues that concern me here are the continued growth in outsourcing and that employers are making do with a smaller workforce. The productivity of the remaining employees has been pushed up to all time record 6% increase. It’s not that people are willingly working 50 plus hour weeks on a regular basis. Rather they are often in a state of fear and panic that they will be the next one to go if they don’t work these incredibly long hours. In this short exposition I will discuss a few of the economic underpinnings that may extend the still increasing level of unemployment. Also, unlike my previous postings on IT, here the primary focus will be on the abuses of the financial service industry, and the dire affect they have had on hiring and the economy as a whole. <br /><br />Based on a lot of first hand observation I am very suspicious of the rapid 50 plus per cent increase in the S& P 500 , the most significant broad index of stock market health, in the last 5 months. On the surface this could be interpreted as a positive sign, indicating we are moving in the direction of economic health and new job creation. Typically a sharply rising market looks 6 to 9 months ahead to predict a return to economic stability. “If” this is this case, like in the past, employers may soon start experiencing real growth in the fourth, or maybe even third quarter of 2009, but they will be initially fearful to start hiring for many months because they are rightfully concerned we will slip back into another recession. But not to digress too much, let’s look at this stock market recovery. Moreover, many well informed people, including the noted economists like ex Clinton Secretary of labor Robert Reich and the market analyst Mario Roubini (aka Dr. Doom, because he was one of few analysts to precisely predict our most current crash)feels that the rise in the market is like pumping air into a tire with a small, imperceptible, leak that ultimately leads to larger holes and quicker deflation. Translated into an economic realm, this may lead to the dreaded W shaped recovery where the market is currently at least halfway up the first V of the recovery. To return to our tire analogy, as it initially appears that the tire is reflated, and after a couple of quarters of an anemic “jobless recovery,” this small hole will start forcing air out of the tire after it appears to be functional once again leading to a second decline, which may comprise the second, and possible more severe, V of the recovery<br /><br />I, and people considerably more knowledgeable than myself in these issues, are quite fearful that the current upturn is built on a faulty foundation. Why is this foundation faulty like the pumped up tire with a small deflating hole in it? Well this apparent market recovery, and resulting economic rebound, may be based on three potentially ineffective hypothesis and actions: (1), the less bad, or green shoots, economic growth hypothesis, and (2) the temporary injection of unprecedented level of government money into the economy, and, (3), the ill timed and distracting essential social initiatives, like health care reform, by a well meaning, but mostly unseasoned, new presidential administration.<br /><br />The less bad, green shoots, phenomena, referring to the initial budding of plants and other greenery in early Spring, seems to be both real and unreal at the same time. On a year over year basis real earnings for companies are down about 20%, but these same earnings are exceeding their quarter to quarter estimates at more than 75% of companies based on lowered earnings expectations. Thus confidence is boosted and stock prices start going up. However, for the most part, the only people benefitting from this are the same people who’s greed and other shenanigans got us in this muck in the first place, Financial Service traders and executives from Wall Street and elsewhere. These people have been largely insulated from the pain and suffering of the rest of population, particularly those ills of the middle class and the unemployed. These “masters in the art of deception,”to borrow a line from a Bob Dylan song, are adept at market manipulation, and benefit immensely from the panic on Main Street. These people are incredibly resilient and never back down from their “survival of the fittest” and trickle down, “let them eat cake,” mindset.<br /><br /> Recently, Main Street has started to tiptoe back into the market through Mutual Funds and some individual equity investing. This makes me quite suspicious because most of the gains up to now have been made by Wall Street insiders. In similar cases in the past, as the Smart Money of Wall Street begin to exit the market, due to unrealistically high market valuations and a desire to realize huge profits as the upper V of the first part of the market’s W starts to top out. This, in turn, often leads to what is called the “greater fool theory,” where the not so Smart Money pushes the market a little, to a lot, higher only to have it come tumbling down due to the lack of support of the Smart Money and even their hedging and short selling strategies: making huge bets that the market will start to tumble in the second downward slope of the W. Soon after, panic selling starts to ensue at lower price levels, as occurred in the market crashes of 1987 and 2000. One generally reliable indicator that this is starting to happen is that the mass media start touting the markets miraculous recovery which starts to bring even more not so Smart Money into the market. This process can often take several months or even years, like in the 1920’s, to fully unfold The worse part of this whole fiasco is that we may be in the process of creating the next economic bubble that could horrifically explode in a few years, creating even more pain and job loss. If anyone wants to see an in depth explication of this process I recommend Naomi Klein’s excellent book, “Shock Doctrine.”<br /><br />This whole bailout and stimulus effort has mostly benefited the rich and their allies on Wall Street by allowing them to rebuild their net worth with a few, increasingly frayed, strings attached. Moreover, by this massive mortgaging of the future, which these efforts epitomize, the chances of any return to wide scale prosperity experienced by the middle class is a very dubious indeed. I don’t want to belabor the whole bailout stimulus initiative; it has been incessantly discussed in the media and has been a prime mover in stock market gains. Yet it is curious that the conventional wisdom that the bailout helped us supposedly avert a second great depression was most vociferously sponsored by Bush’s secretary of the treasury, Henry,"Hank”Paulsen.Paulsen had formerly been the chairman of Goldman Sachs, which now is the preeminent investment bank on Wall Street.Go figure? <br /><br />Finally, the well meaning but somewhat naïve Obama administration, has allowed the Goldman Sach’s and the Citibank’s to become the tail that wags the dog, not that they weren’t that in the first place. Sure congress and the administration may try to put restrictions on Wall Street’s hedge, “hog,” funds and other species of unregulated greed. Yet at the colloquially fashionable “end of the day,” the Wall Street masters of the universe will use their skills in deception and fear mongering to return to business as usual. For their part, Obama’s people have become virtually powerless due to their own idealism and their “gang that couldn’t shoot straight” congress. Just watch the spooked and enraged masses, who have largely dropped their ire towards Wall Street; see them engage in ridiculous, often right wing inspired, town hall, “food fight-like,” protests to maintain their second rate health insurance and further enrich the uncaring health care and health insurance industries. However if you listen closely to the gripes of the non-coerced citizenry of these civic brouhahas, you can hear shouts or fear and anguish that often refers to insolvency and unemployment precipitated by the miscalculations of the money managers . These meetings provide a double win for Wall Street. They are escaping the rage of the voting citizens, having it redirected toward people that sincerely want to help them, and they may able to pull off several billion dollars of windfall trading profits in health care related securities without the pale of “socialized medicine” hanging over them. <br /><br />In my statements here, I have not directly addressed employment issues, but rather have looked at the macro factors that will, or will not, lead to hiring in the future. I conclude that whatever new hiring that does occur will most likely consist of less secure and/or lower paying jobs (except, perhaps, in financial service). Moreover, I find it tragic and reprehensible that only 20% of the debt-ridden college graduate class of 2009 have job offers 3 months after graduation. The disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street is not new. But the level of manipulation, disinformation, and lack of any regard for the greater good is a newer, more self serving, phase in the extreme predatory fringe of our financial service oligarchs. Nevertheless there are still many fine and ethical financial service firms like the people at Edward Jones or TD Ameritrade, although most of them operate out of the heartlands and not on Wall Street . Yet for the most part this maniacal, mindless pursuit of self enrichment has reached a level not seen since the monopolies and robber baron’s of the late 1800’s, but at least these earlier moguls had a philanthropic streak that created such institutions as the Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Chicago, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hopefully I am wrong about the Obama administration's inability to enact their vast legislative agenda that will address the needs of the many rather than fail by the machinations of the elite few. Only the future will tell. But it is vital that people stop seeing themselves as victims and start to once again believe that they have the power to shape their own destinies, which often takes a herculean effort but is definitely worth the effortMichael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-16806367747014176232009-07-12T16:19:00.000-07:002009-07-13T21:20:44.029-07:00Job Search Strategies in Difficult Times(Sorry about the gap in my postings. I've been writing copy for my website <a href="http://www.advancementalternatives.com">Advancement Alternatives</a>)<br /><br /><br />For those of you who are conducting frustrating and fruitless job searches, you must use every method possible to get re-employed. In IT and Software, as well as in most fields, “there are jobs out there.” OK. We might be in a deep recession with no chance of it ending in the near future. But that notion is a self fulfilling prophecy. Proactive people are getting new jobs everyday. Again, you need to do whatever it takes to get your career back on track today!<br /><br />You must make yourself as an attractive candidate as possible to get that new job. If you lack strong interviewing skills, then get them now. If your resume doesn’t convey a compelling case why you should be hired, then find someone to assist you. If you don’t project a positive and proactive image and attitude, then change it. We have all the tools available that we need. You just have to use them.<br /><br />I see too many people whose job search is seriously impaired. They don’t know what they want; or they do know what they want, but they aren’t qualified, unless they get more training and are willing to possibly consider a position at a lower level. Remember the longer you are out of work, the more difficult it will be to find a position comparable to your last one. Still, for some of you, a career change may be your only hope for employment. If so, get good unbiased advice, get training, and then start looking.<br /><br />Sure you can contact all the headhunters you want, or you can post your resume on every job board that interests you. But if you have been walking these passive paths towards a new job for three to six months with no success, then it’s time to start running! It’s time to envision yourself working and regaining your self- respect and self worth. If your vision is strong enough, it will become a reality. <br /><br />Learn and utilize social media and other forms of networking. Contact companies directly -- even if it means knocking on companies’ doors and asking to speak with the appropriate hiring person. I know this may sound extreme, but these are extreme times that call for bold and innovative action. Contact alumni from your alma mater; contact everyone you have worked with in the past that has a remote chance of helping you. And most importantly, do it now! <br /><br />If you aren’t being ultra-assertive, then get a career coach to help you discover, and develop that vital competency. Bottom line: you have to take yourself off auto pilot and break through the barriers that are between you and the job you want. You might be angry, depressed, scared, panicky, or feeling sorry for yourself, but honestly, companies could care less. They need people with the right mindset to give them 150% effort from the get-go, and those are the people who are “acing” the interviews and landing the jobs.<br /><br />Why are ninety per cent of the calls I get for job openings coming from foreign born immigrants? Why don’t native born Americans call? What happened to our optimism, ingenuity, and work ethic? Why do we passively allow emerging powerhouses, like China or India to thrive on what were “our” industries and innovations? It’s simple. They often work twice as hard, with smarts and as long as necessary to get what they want. Do we want to be a fallen superpower like England, Russia, or even ancient Rome? Frankly, it’s happening right now.<br /><br />I hope my call to arms motivates you to develop a winning strategy and a winning attitude, and gives the employer no other choice but to offer “you” the job. Stop listening to the naysayers, the cynics, and the losers who sap your energy and poison your pride. Forget about the media and its endless barrage of negativity. I know you can do it, and, deep down, you know you can do it too. So, just get out there and do it. Soon you, and our nation, will be moving up in success rather than sinking down in failure.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-49568517008934934282009-06-07T11:28:00.000-07:002010-05-28T11:47:43.464-07:00Finding The Right Recruiter For Your Job SearchChoosing a recruiter can have a major impact on your career: the right recruiter can play a major role in achieving job success and security; the wrong recruiter get you stuck in a bad or even career damaging situation. In over twenty five years in the recruiting field, I have observed recruiters on both these poles, and mostly somewhere in between; observing both the career benefits and unhappiness a recruiter can cause in your life. Of course, you need not make an uniformed, or ill informed choice, on who you pick as your recruiter. In this post I will offer some key points for finding the right recruiter for your job search.<br /><br />1. Trust: As in most areas of human interaction, trust, or a lack thereof, can be a determining factor in successful personal and professional relationships. Without, at least, some initial intuition of trustworthiness, based upon your first impression of a recruiter, I would suggest you find someone else ASAP. When I started recruiting in its earlier, what I like to call pre-professional "wild west days," trust was almost always a concern, using a recruiter could often devolve into a "buyer beware" scenario. Today I think reputation, knowledge, recruiter consistency, ethics and career recommendations, are among key indicators in trusting, and working, with a recruiter. If you have a major negative assessment on any of these issues, then don't select, or fire, a recruiter immediately. To borrow a phrase from one of our favorite cultural icons, some recruiters are "masters in the art of deception." These recruiters should be avoided no matter what "rosy scenario" they paint of the job positions they offer to you. Finally, always be aware that a recruiter, no matter how effective, is paid by the hiring company, which can seriously impact the recruiter's objectivity and, occasionally, honesty.<br /><br />2. Knowledge: If a recruiter doesn't understand what you do and what, and why, you want to do next, then forget about working with him because he is not qualified to assist you. Beyond this basic qualifier, it is important that the recruiter you choose has knowledge, and contacts, in your area of specialization: either on their own or through a reputable firm who trains junior and intermediate recruiters. Length of experience shouldn't necessarily be the determining factor in your recruiter selection, although businesses, and business people, have a tendency to use length of experience as a main selling point in working with them. For the most part this may be true because unethical business people, and often their firms, quickly develop a bad reputation and do not stay in business very long. Moreover, an energetic and ethical junior recruiter may work very, very hard on your behalf to establish themselves and a good reputation, while a few highly experienced recruiters can sometimes become jaded and/or burned out (recruiting can be an extremely high stress occupation) and only give minimal effort to your job search<br /><br />3. Track Record: How successful is your potential recruiter in placing people in situations close to what you are looking for? There are many successful recruiters out there. In itself, that is an important bit of information, but these placements may not be in your area of expertise. However, these recruiters may often have friends, who are very familiar with what you do, and for a finder's fee from the other recruiters, or purely professional courtesy. When I first stated recruiting these recommendations or referrals were relatively rare except if the recruiters operated in different geographic regions. However, today many recruiters make a good part of their income through referrals, usually referred to as splits, to and from other recruiters with another placement firm. This is often beneficial, but make sure that your recruiter gets your prior authorization before forwarding your resume to a "split partner." The increasing specialization and globalization of career opportunities, particularly is the service economy like IT, has contributed to this trend. Finally, finding a recruiter who has exclusive access to a hiring manager or company can be major plus in finding a career enhancing position.<br /><br />4. Chemistry: As in most areas of human interactions, the chemistry between a recruiter and his client is essential for a satisfying relationship. If you are a "laid back" or deliberative type of person, then a high powered, very aggressive recruiter may not be for you or visa-versa. You might be on such different "wavelengths" that you may come to dread interacting with this person. Remember. there are a lot of recruiters who want your business. Take the time to find someone you feel comfortable working with. If you make a wise decision, your recruiter may evolve into an invaluable long term career asset, finding you future jobs, and even filling your job requisitions if you move into management<br /><br />5. Source: Today, where an increasing large percentage of personal and social introductions occur over the web 2.0, a major source for finding a recruiter can be found there as well, particularly on Linkedin. Also, job boards like Monster and, my favorite, Dice are a good source for recruiters. However, job boards are quickly losing their drawing power as the job boards lost their drawing power to print advertising before them. However. on a more personal level, for many years it was thought that getting a referral from a friend or trusted associate was the best way to find a recruiter. This may still be the preferred method in some cases. However, unless you have a background similar to the person who referred the recruiter to you, the value of the referral may be negligible. Furthermore, negative chemistry towards the recruiter, and an unrealistic sense of loyalty or obligation to the referring source, may, occasionally, lead to a very negative outcome.<br /><br />6. Shop Around: Your career is a very critical aspect of your life. If you allow someone to represent you, you should be fairly certain that this person values you as something more than a quick placement commission. To avoid being treated like a commodity, I would recommend that you speak with at least 3 recruiters to feel comfortable that you have found someone to represent your best interests. Next, after careful consideration, I would choose no more than 2 recruiters. If a recruiter senses you will work with anyone, then that could prove to be a disincentive for the recruiter to exert maximum effort on your part. However, if your recruiter(s) don't either get you some interviews or stay in close contact with you within a few weeks, then It may be time to consider other, or additional recruiters.<br /><br />As stated earlier, finding the recruiter who can most adequately satisfy your short and long term career needs is essential. This recruiter "must have your best interests" as a top priority. Although there has been a major improvement in the quality and legitimacy of recruiting professionals in the last 20 years, there are still shysters out there that should be detected and avoided to avert a potentially disastrous career move. Luckily, the increasingly competitive job market and very cautious employers have made unscrupulous headhunters an endangered species.<br /><br />So now your concern in working with a recruiter should generally focus slightly less on the recruiter's ethical legitimacy and more on issues related to competency, chemistry, and clientele. Interviews and job offers can often be confusing and inconclusive experiences. A good recruiter, should have the expertise to clarify ad coordinate this crucial situation, leading to a win, win, win, outcome for you, your future employer and you.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-16598128355659487032009-05-25T15:48:00.000-07:002009-05-31T18:41:54.222-07:00The Coming IT Jobs Recovery: Who, When,Why?The current state of the IT job market is, by historical standards, very weak. However, recently there have been a few signs that the situation is improving, with a few healthy companies upgrading the quality of their staffs because of the high quality skills possessed by some of the unemployed. But as is the case in the rest of the economy, the enthusiasm is based mostly on the fact that we went through an almost unprecedented panic phase from October 2008 until March 2009, which appears to have somewhat abated. However,the general unemployment rate has not yet hit bottom, and the estimates of cyclical low point are from 9.5 to 12%. This is well above the current 8.9% with the highest point of unemployment not expected till,at least, the fourth quarter of this year. Our concern here is to further analyze the current employment situation, focusing primarily on the IT related jobs, making some predictions regarding the return of a healthy job market.<br /><br />Another significant government statistic is the rate of unemployment for college graduates that are currently between 4 to 5%, while high school graduates, or drop- outs, are experiencing rates north of 12%. Of course, these statistics do not reflect the quiet desperation of chronic underemployment, significantly overworked employees, or those individuals who have given up looking for work altogether. Add all these factors together and we can bring the employment misery index to over 20%, which is approaching the 25 to 30% unemployment rate of the great depression. Moreover, this doesn’t even include the majority of the population anxious about their job stability. The panic in the job market is by no means over yet.<br /><br />IT and related technology sectors, things may not be quite as bad. However, older employees and individuals without degrees are getting decimated by both layoffs and by future prospects. The layoff trend among non degreed IT workers is mirroring the national trend mentioned above, and the situation of older IT employees is being exacerbated by cost cutting and productivity concerns. Underlying this is the continued trend, and possible escalation, of the outsourcing of jobs. However, a mildly positive contrarian indicator, which is at least better than a panic phase, involves the insourcing segment of the job market that is starting to show an initial return to hiring health. <br /><br />Nevertheless, the technology, and particularly the software/IT related, sector is expected to show a quicker rebound. The arguments here consist of the following: (1), staffing levels in the IT and computer related fields were so reduced during the post “dot.com bomb” period from 2001 to 2005 that they never fully recovered; (2), during this period there was a consolidation of previous products and installations, which only recently led to the potential adoption of new, or at least replacement, IT related products and services, and (3), in a deep recession individual and company productivity improvement is critical, and that IT solutions can accelerate productivity.<br /><br />So when will the jobs start coming back? Actually in a few areas we are seeing a small pickup in hiring. For example, the Boston and New York financial services sector are seeing some rehiring because of a small increase in their trading and mergers and acquisition business. Also defense IT, which never stopped growing, has seen a mild pick up due to the huge defense budget. However, most companies still have hiring freezes, and there will be more lay-offs, particularly in mid to large sized companies that view “cost cutting,” (a code word often meaning significant lay-offs) as a way to return to profitability. Perhaps the most troubling continued trend influencing the IT, and other, labor markets is the lack of new business formation, which is seen as the “engine” of new job creation. Nevertheless, many companies remain open to hiring what they perceive to be as the ideal job candidate, which for most companies rarely, if ever, occurs.<br /><br />To speculate on the timing of a broad based pick up in hiring activities, we must consider some employment forecasting indicators. The first is the stock market. Generally, a sustained upturn in the equities market foreshadows an economic pickup by 6 to 9 months. Although it appears this upturn may have begun in April 09, it is not certain that it is sustainable. But given this indicator, it means that the economy may start to experience a small to medium pick-up in the October to January time span. However, based on the severe, systemic, and global nature of this downturn I don’t see a pickup of the US economy till the first quarter of 2010. <br /><br />If one accepts the hypothesis that a broad based economic pickup will ensue roughly sometime between January to April 2010, then it is typically thought that any meaningful hiring will occur at least six months later. This is due to the company’s general reluctance to begin volume hiring until an economic recovery is firmly in place. This is due primarily to fiscal concerns (e.g., how a new hire impacts the bottom line, the cost of hiring and potentially laying off a new hire…). Prior to this the only serious full time hiring initiatives will generally only involve replacement hiring of key employees due to attrition. <br /><br />This brings us to the time period encompassing the fourth quarter of 2010 till the first quarter of 2011 for the potential for any significant hiring of full time employees. In my experience as an IT recruiter through five previous recessions (i. e.; 1979-1980, 1982-1983, 1986, 1989-1991, and 2001-2003) the hiring of full time employees has always returned in the September-October time frame or the January to March time frame. This usually is similar to peak hiring periods in a good economy, and involves concerns related to staff planning, budgeting, and periods following end of the year holiday’s and summer vacations. The latter are periods when workers, and people in general, are more likely to consider life a change, including starting a new job, after a period of personal reflection and reassessment that time off allows. Of course for the unemployed, there is no calendar related to starting another job accept as soon as possible<br /><br />In conclusion, I don’t see a meaningful increase in full time IT hiring until September 2010 at the earliest, and this hiring turnaround may not occur till early 2011 or later. Significant hiring of lower cost, insourced contract employees may commence as early as the beginning of 2010. Next companies that don’t want to increase their payrolls directly will, based on previous recoveries, hire domestic contract employees. This could occur in early to mid 2010. Now the fact that technology and IT related services could be a strong sector might move up the onset of full time hiring to early in 2010. However, the escalation of both insourcing and outsourcing could mean that available jobs to green card holders and, in particular, US citizens could be reduced due to their higher total cost including benefits. Moreover, the constitution of the future IT staffs will probably be younger, degreed, with a higher percentage of individuals with green cards, EAD’s, and H1-B’s. Unfortunately, some of the older and/or non-degreed IT employees may, depending on their skills, find themselves forced out of the IT sector, which many of them helped to create. <br /><br />There are many factors that could, but hopefully won’t, derail these predictions. These factors include: the huge amount of government spending that could somehow forestall a job recovery due to unmanageable debt; a “W” or “L” shaped recovery that doesn’t offer enough time to start the rehiring process; a decision to make a significant increase in outsourcing; and, finally, an economic recovery that leads to little or no hiring (i.e. the so called “jobless recovery” scenario). Finally, if this has been the most severe economic downturn since, or rivaling, the great depression of the 1930’s, then is it at all reasonable to expect a jobs recovery, when it took over 10 years, and a world war, to lead to an economic and jobs recovery in the 1930’s and 40’s? My view here is that specific economic sector growth capacity potential may play a pivotal role. In Sectors such as IT/technology, health, education and energy may rebound the quickest given their high near to midterm growth potential and government support and incentives. However, the glutted housing and consumer discretionary, plus the struggling automotive, sectors may not regain many jobs for quite some time till demand catches up with supply.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-31554172766564577682009-05-20T17:51:00.000-07:002009-05-20T17:54:56.277-07:00The A,B,C,D's of Career SatisfactionWhat makes a job meaningful? What keeps an employee from changing jobs or careers? Or even what prevents job burnout? Is it money or status? Money and status are important extrinsic factors indeed. However as the sole career pursuit, money often leads to greed and short term thinking as we have recently seen in the financial services meltdown. Well if extrinsic issues don’t lead to job meaning and satisfaction, then intrinsic factors probably do, like relations with the boss and other employees, training, internal recognition, and creative projects. Here I briefly present what I see as the A, B, C, D’s for a meaningful job; Achievement, Belongingness, Creativity, and Development.<br /> <br />The first element of job satisfaction involves achievement. Here we are referring to the satisfaction gained by doing one’s job well, making contributions to their organizations success, and receiving recognition for above average to superior performance. Achievement can be at the individual, group, or company level. Achievement may occur in a single event or may be ongoing. Both are important. However, a company culture of achievement often leads to ongoing employee satisfaction and company success. This does not mean individual achievement should not be recognized. In fact, it is highly recommended that a high achiever be rewarded if one wishes to maintain his or her services. <br /> <br />The second factor of job satisfaction involves a sense of belongingness with one’s employer. Often this stems from camaraderie with one’s fellow workers, which can result in outside work activities and friendships. Employee sensitive management, particularly with one’s immediate supervisor, is also critical to belongingness. Benefits like spousal maternity leave, sabbaticals, and in house fitness programs enhance belongingness, and display company concern for the wellness of their employers. Union membership, which was once a major source of belongingness, has declined precipitously due to globalization. The once touted employee team concept has not provided the same sense of belonging. <br /><br /> The third factor of job satisfaction is creativity. Creativity in the workplace does not necessarily refer to aesthetic creativity, but more to innovation and originality in any field of endeavor. Placing a high value on creativity, through innovation and originality companies, like Apple Computer, have become extremely successful and very prized places to work. As with achievement, creating a corporate culture of individual and group creativity is the key element in spawning innovative and original products and services. This occurs by providing the management, facilities, incentives, and vision that allow for creativity to unfold. However, it is important to recognize by all concerned that creativity, at its core, is a mindset and a passion that must be nurtured to fully evolve. <br /><br />The fourth factor of job satisfaction is development. This involves the development of an employee’s new skills and competencies within a specific company, which benefits both career mobility and company growth. MIT dean Lester Thorow stated in his “The Future of Capitalism” that in our increasingly digital economy a primary reason for costly attrition is the lack of training of new skills. Moreover, opportunities for advancement based on achievement and competency must both be available and encouraged to insure company growth and career satisfaction. Management that holds promotions or training back, due to non progressive policies or the short sighted needs of a supervisor, often loose that employee to a competitor; Unfortunately, this attitude could lead to a company’s demise. <br /><br />In this age of the breakdown of the compact between employee and employer, the notion of lifetime, or even long term employment, is rapidly becoming obsolete. However, if we look at successful companies outside the US, job change and dissatisfaction appears much smaller. However, this does negate the value of American entrepreneurialism, which often leads one to form new companies that provide significant innovation and new jobs. Moreover, if an employer doesn’t offer opportunities for achievement, belonging, creativity, and development, their predictable loss of talent will cause irreparable damage to their reputation. Yet, for the most part we are becoming a free agent nation, where work has become a commodity that goes to the highest, or lowest, bidder. On the surface we tend to see this as an aspect of freedom and progress. However rapid job changes lead to career discontinuity and personal insecurity. Finally, even today many of the most successful and well adjusted individuals have spent long periods, or their entire career, at their current employer.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-21280614222685615262009-05-12T17:09:00.000-07:002009-05-12T17:14:01.185-07:00Irrational Expectations Vs. Resources for RenewalIf the current downturn in the employment market is part of a usual cyclical downturn of the economy, then we could just wait it out and everything will eventually resolve itself like a happy ending of a classic Hollywood movie. This would exclude the possibility of civil unrest brought on by structural unemployment and underemployment engendered by globalization and related ageism and other forms of employment related discrimination. Moreover, far from the futuristic office parks and glittering commercial skyscapes, many of formerly optimistic citizens are settling for a life of quiet desperation and sharply reduced expectations. Unfortunately, this time it really may be different.<br /><br />Nevertheless, most Americans, even the unemployed and underemployed, still believe in the “happily ever after myth.” Why not? The citizenry can’t, or won’t, let go, of the notion of American Exceptionalism (i. e.; we are the best in the world in everything we see as important), which may have been the case for a good part of the post WW II period. However, cultural pluralism, market meltdowns and fundamentalism, techno-mania, terrorism and the resulting individual and socio economic fragmentation is making it harder to maintain our delusions of global grandeur and omnipotence<br /><br />What can we do to stop this slide? Do we have to hit a total socio economic bottom before we start an authentic process of renewal? Catatrophising and all-or-nothing thinking will get us nowhere. And there is too much politically and culturally manufactured fear, particularly in the mass media, to envision quick fixes in the current milieu. <br /><br />Translated to the area of employment we have to realize that the age of the free lunch has passed us by. Sustained recovery only begins by radically altering the way we view ourselves and our realistic possibilities for our careers and our lives. Strategic, rational, and even critical thinking need to once again begin to guide our actions. In the job arena this might require significant sacrifice to acquire marketable skills and core competencies. <br /><br />This is particularly the case for unskilled high school graduates and dropouts who experience the highest rates of chronic unemployment and underemployment, which currently approaches fifteen percent plus. It’s not that those resources of renewal aren’t out there for them or all of us; rather we need to develop the motivation and “chutzpah” to go out and get them. <br /><br />If we are job hunting in IT, or in almost any other field, then we need to focus on the mechanics of what will lead to a successful outcome: Do we have an appropriate skill set for the job we are seeking? Can we write a powerful resume? Do we possess strong interviewing skills? Do we know where and how to find, and research, realistic opportunities? The keys here are flexibility, tenacity, and creativity. <br /><br />In this unforgiving market we often have to offer value that far exceeds a written job posting, because the competition is so formidable. The employers know that, and in this buyers market for their offerings, they can, and do, often wait for the perfect match. But this perfectionism is often a matter of semi-arbitrary perception. Bottom line; they won’t hire you unless they think you can do the job very well, and you are someone that they would very much like to work with. Given strong skills, attitude, for all intents and purposes, is almost everything if you want a successful job search.<br /><br />Every day I talk to people, whose skills and/or experience are not compatible with what they want to do. One recent example involves an environmental engineer, with a private sector experience, who has been out of work for nearly a year. He wants a local government job, which he perceives as offering less stress and more job security for himself and his family He has been tenacious in his job search, coming in second in the interviewing process on a few occasions, and having had several interviews in a very tight market. At times he has been quite creative in finding potential positions. His problem is flexibility. Right now local government jobs are relatively scarce and highly political; the few mid to senior level jobs available are going to individuals with substantial experience in that specific sector.<br /><br />I spent four hours speaking with him about options, but I gave up coaching and advising him because all he wanted was to be a town engineer. His lack of flexibility was crippling his job search. For now he can continue to dream of his ideal job, and there is a miniscule chance he may be successful. His chances would be much greater in a private sector job, but after a few half hearted efforts he exited from that avenue altogether. With his wife’s salary and his extended unemployment benefits he doesn’t see any necessity to change his strategy. I do wish him well, but his unemployment benefits and his wife’s patience, at least for his ideal job search, may soon expire. Still he clings to his own version of the self defined happy ending.<br /><br />I could offer you several more examples of generally intelligent and rational people, who are conducting ill advised and irrational job searches. Other questionable actions like quitting a secure job in the middle of a near depression with zero prospects, or paying “big bucks” to career advisers and then doing the opposite of what they recommend, just reinforce this troubling trend.<br /><br />The new world order of easy job searches and unlimited job creation has been moving away from us for nearly a decade in IT, and for more than a quarter century in manufacturing…. Our safety nets are being stretched to the shredding point. The fear that has characterized this tumultuous decade has now set its sights squarely on the diminishing job prospects of the unemployed, underemployed, and the many others who may lose their livelihoods in the months and years to come<br /><br />However, if we wish to regain our optimism and cherished possibility of upward mobility, then tenacity, flexibility, and creativity, balanced by competency and rationality, is essential. Maybe our days of dream jobs and storybook endings to low stress job searches have passed. Concurrently, the vision of America of what Ronald Regan called “the shining city on the hill’ that the rest of the world sought to emulate has been tarnished as well. But, if we try very hard, we still can have rich and rewarding careers, and will find that our hopes and dreams sometimes can come true. As the cultural Icon Mick Jager once sang: “We can’t always get what we want, but if we try sometimes, we just might find, we get what we need.”Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-36657612346750337052009-05-04T22:55:00.000-07:002009-05-06T20:46:04.846-07:00IT Ghost Town: Where Have All Our IT Jobs Gone?I have a friend named Mark, who is a software Engineer in his early fifties. Despite having outstanding technical skills, Mark has no job prospects. He’s had two jobs, only lasting three months in the past year. An offer was presented to him six weeks ago: a three month job in Denver, which is two thousand miles from his home in Boston, MA. The job didn’t offer transportation, housing or health insurance, so consequently he turned it down. He has since extended his job search internationally, but with the global recession his prospects aren’t any better than in the US.<br /><br />Mark is not alone. Thousands of IT professionals face a similar fate. In the 1980’s and 1990’s IT jobs rated among the top in future growth potential. IT and CS curriculum became among the most popular and lucrative majors in US higher education; up to the bachelor’s level. CEO’s at technology companies like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison became national icons. With all that incredible buzz where and why have all our IT jobs gone? Why is our IT industry starting to resemble a ghost town of the Old West?<br /><br />With the nearly trillion dollars spent on the dubious Y2K scare, coupled with the hundreds of billions lost on the dot com bomb, the answer to the job loss query appears clearer. One major causal factor can be related to the up to 30% increase in IT salaries from 1996 to 2000 peaking in a recently globalized economy. The cost of US, IT labor rose too high to remain competitive; once the IT, and related jobs bubble burst. Moreover, with the growth of the internet and global call centers the floodgates were opened to outsource IT jobs. Jobs gushed to India first, and then to almost any politically, stable low cost of living area in the world with IT talent. <br /><br />As a consequence, in the nearly four year information technology recession from 2001 to 2005 the US lost nearly 5% of its IT jobs. Larger losses occurred in the more portable software development and call center support jobs, with only strong growth in the defense sector. If you factor in the earlier predicted annual growth of IT jobs in the area of 5%, then the declines based on projected growth in IT jobs in 2000 was in actuality, around 30%.<br /><br />In addition, the “in-sourcing” of a huge number of moderately lower cost, highly skilled H1-b workers from 2000 on led to the loss of up to 50% of the estimated jobs to American born IT workers, based on government data. In-sourcing, a form of temporary and permanent immigration employment has always been an intermittent socio-economic part of the American Experience (e. g. the nineteenth century Chinese railroad workers). But, such a large increase of highly paid foreign workers in a specific sector like IT is unprecedented. <br /><br />What are some of the other negative results of this massive downsizing of IT jobs? IT became a less desirable career for US college students, therefore causing a precipitous decline in the number CS and IT graduates. Also, the previously predicted 5% plus annual growth in salaries declined from 2001 to the present levels of a 1 to 2% increase; less than the rate of inflation. For older workers like Mark, there is was no increase or a lower salary, if unemployed in their next position. A recent study conducted by researchers from Wharton Business School concluded that the impact of the H1-b’s led to an average 6% lower salary for US IT workers. Posted on the internet, five days later this controversial study mysteriously disappeared.<br /><br />All may not be gloomy on the IT job horizon. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that there would be a 30% increase in the number of IT jobs from 2006 to 2016. However, this was before the deep global recession that began in 2008 and engulfed us, leading to IT job losses that may not abate until 2011. Based on recent experience, job growth may only reach 15 to 20%, and the majority of those increases will be the result of in-sourcing. Even more ominous is the possibility that the average IT workers older than forty may never be able to work in IT again, particularly with the exponential rise in health insurance costs. <br /><br />What can be done to reinvigorate the ailing American IT industry? Can we rise above the ugly xenophobia and ageism resulting from globalization, which has plagued IT for a decade? Unfortunately, in our post union and protectionism era, IT workers have little or no collective leverage to improve their situation on a large scale; and corporations have relinquished their loyalty to local workers to survive globally. <br /><br />However, on an individual and team level there is a glimmer of hope. Creative solutions may spawn new jobs in areas such as green energy technology, health care, as well as new, unforeseen employment opportunities just over the horizon. Moreover, the new Administration, unlike their predecessors who were adverse to technological innovation does have a vision of IT, which will lead to additional funds funneled into large-scale projects. At the core, American ingenuity and tenacity may, and must prevail to avert a “ghost town scenario.”<br /><br />This revitalization of the IT industry will not be easy. In the near term, salaries may remain stagnant and globalization will continue to accelerate. But, with focus, fortitude and the inventiveness that characterized its golden age, the United States IT industry must restore its enthusiasm to reverse its decline. <br /><br />However, for people like Mark who built the American IT industry into a global powerhouse, the future may pass them by; unless they can maintain a commitment to quality, reclaim their vision and acquire the latest IT skills. <br /><br />Regaining the "American Dream" for the IT industry will be no easy task. But, this is America, where an abandoned "ghost town" can be resurrected and flourish. Any endeavor thought impossible here by many, is still possible for the dedicated and committed few; even those over fifty.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-54690081147312207282009-04-27T16:37:00.000-07:002009-04-29T00:09:52.541-07:00Ageism:The Wounded Lions of Employment Winter<p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal">Ageism, or more precisely, age warfare, like class warfare, race warfare, and the "so called" battle between the sexes, do all unfortunately exist. Often the age issue gets the least press; particularly in the US, because there is hardly any economic and media support relating to those over age fifty. With the exception being marketing medications like Flomax, Viagra, antidepressant and anti-Alzheimer drugs, which are continually advertised in print and on television.<br /><br />In the workplace, particularly in this millennial downturn, there is an irrefutable correlation between age and unemployment in certain industries like high technology. I estimate that more than 70% of the recent layoffs are for people in the age range of forty and over. This statistic is based on my reading of thousands of resumes from unemployed workers in the last year.<br /><br />One approach to counteracting ageism in the workplace is to have indispensable skills. I have a close relative who was begged to work until he was seventy (the company, a Fortune 50 conglomerate, had a retirement requirement policy for employees at age sixty-five), so he was picked up by their international division. Now, he is eighty-five and still receives occasional calls to consult on his area of expertise internationally, which are steam turbine generators. Perhaps, another proactive method in circumventing ageism is self employment. But most people, no matter what their age, have neither the indispensable skills, nor entrepreneurial inclinations to be self employed.<br /><br />Usually the catch-words that you hear about older American workers are that they are more loyal, reliable, friendly, and disciplined: kind of like a well behaved golden retriever. But when I, as a fifty-plus year old deal with non-Europeans or non-Americans in general, I receive more respect, which I don't ask for. Perhaps, they have more stable traditions, and are just more comfortable in who they are and where they are going. This is not to say that all Americans, or Europeans act in this manner, but the majority do. Many people themselves in this age group, through a kind of brainwashed self-fulfilling prophecy, buy into the notion of their vocational and socio-cultural inferiority based on age.<br /><br />Fifteen years ago there was the public perception that people aged sixty-five or over, would be able to work in a high capacity, as long as they wanted to. It seems apparent today that this is not the case; unless you count being a greeter at Wallmart or bagging groceries in a supermarket as a high level of employment. Perhaps, this expected trend was aborted by the recent, rapid onset of outsourcing and globalization. The case can also be made for the ease in subrogating cheap foreign labor to a developing country; meeting the bottom line for an American CEO who’s only loyalty is to his stockholders and his net worth<br /><br />I recall reading that you can evaluate the strength and value system of a culture in how well they treat, and accept as equals their older and sicker members. On that basis our American culture is sick indeed. What is paradoxical about ageism in the American economy is that many of the people, like IT workers, who are being “aged out” here have skills that are still in demand globally, which could be effectively utilized remotely to offer tremendous economic value to the developing world and elsewhere. Consequently, globalization could begin to improve, rather than detract from the employment prospects of older American workers.<br /><br />In my opinion, there are at least three plans of action that should be taken to speed up the globalization of underutilized American skills, especially for the older workers.<br /><br />1. The American media, in particular, must portray a more positive image of people aged over forty; to make them more attractive to the global marketplace.<br />2. A clear and comprehensive vision of a “global village” needs to play a major role in the realm of employment, so that underutilized American technical and professional expertise can be remotely placed; just as the skills of Asian technology workers are remotely employed by companies from the United States.<br />3. The most idealistic plan is to get the policymakers and the citizenry to realize the obvious: globalization leads to the leveling out of global labor costs and a lowering of the quantitative standard of living in richer countries like the United States. </p><p class="MsoNormal">However, if there is a shift to a more qualitative standard of living that uses less resources and luxuries then we could begin the arduous process of combating the deleterious effects of ageism and poverty in America. And then most of the developed world in turn could provide meaningful employment to the skilled, semi-skilled, and chronically unemployed in the US and elsewhere. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Moreover, this movement to a more qualitative and frugal utilization of human and natural resources could go a long way in alleviating looming global eco-calamities such as global warming, and the myriad of severe socio-cultural, political, and economic upheavals that may follow. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-26406534422738754772009-04-23T18:34:00.000-07:002009-04-23T18:59:13.198-07:00Recruiting a need-for-greed mentality in a down turned economy. It's all about the money after all, or is it?If we, as professional recruiters hope to best assist our clients in achieving a career renaissance, then the recruiters who often place them need to regularly review their own renaissance values. In doing so they need to look beyond their purely personal financial and ego gratification, and instead facilitate a situation that leads to the greater good of the job-seeker’s and hiring company's mutual growth and satisfaction.<br /><br />As in most sectors of the economy, recruiters are sometimes subject to the need-for-greed in their desire to make a quick dollar (placement) and then run; having little, or no consideration for the potentially, negative impact of their actions on the career and life of the candidate, or the success of the client company. Of course, the majority of recruiters do not fall into this category, but in all honesty we generally got into this field to make a decent living, and not to become saints. Well, maybe not all of us…<br /><br />Recruiters at quasi-ethical or unethical firms are particularly subject to this practice of greed. Harassed by their manager (who often are intimidated themselves by their owners), junior recruiters are harried to make their numbers add up in greater placements, or else face being fired. They (the junior recruiters) are acculturated into this ends-justify-the-means mindset and in so doing are forced to objectify and dehumanize their clients. Why not? It's all about the money after all, or is it?<br /><br />As luck would have it, the third firm I worked for was based on the principle of establishing long-term, ethical relationships with their clients. We not only made money, but valued friendships with our clients, too. There were even occasions when we would advise a candidate or a client company to pass on a potential placement if we did not think it was in the best interest of the client or the company.<br /><br />What about letting a bad placement go by when you are struggling in a tough market like today. Well, if recruiters and agencies had created good will in good times and managed their money wisely, then they wouldn't have this problem. This isn't a question of candidate/client control. Most candidates and companies will naturally gravitate to a mutually satisfying hiring situation. We need to have the self control, intuition and, maybe a touch of wisdom to set up the right parameters, offer guidance and skill, and let the good placements happen as they should.<br /><br />One, positive aspect about a recession is that it tends to weed out the questionable (unethical) characters in recruiting, and as we have seen, in many other types of business as well. Am I advocating a socialistic approach to recruiting? No. I'm stating that although ethical capitalism may be an oxymoron for many, it isn't to me.<br /><br />Did I never make a placement, particularly when I first started out in the business, that I was not proud of, or out of (a la Ayn Rand) "enlightened self interest"? -- Of course not. But, those placements often led to short tenures at the client company, an occasional fall off, or even a firing, accompanied by a lost fee; let alone the additional anger, embarrassment, and general negative feelings that often followed.<br /><br />Despite the advent of technological based recruiting, which many seem to see as a panacea to insuring the continued growth of the recruiting industry, particularly of the contingency variety; if we don't add considerable value to a placement, beyond being a surface, but shaky match, then there may be a precarious future for the entire recruiting business. Some recruiters are already well aware of this paradigm, and their business will generally thrive over the long term. Others on the other hand don't realize the inevitable negative impact of their actions, and often eventually leave the field out of frustration and dissatisfaction, which can cause irreparable damage to the credibility of everyone involved in recruiting as a whole.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-49990584306239510162009-04-18T19:07:00.000-07:002009-04-19T05:01:22.235-07:00An Effective Resume GuideAn Effective Resume<br /><br />To understand what makes a resume effective, think of what it has to do. It has to attract the eye of a prospective employer, immediately communicate why you’re qualified, and tell something about who you are—inside of a minute’s time! That’s all you can expect from a typical, busy manager.<br /><br />When you’ve seen as many resumes as we have, you can compile a long list of misguided resumes that won’t even get that minute: five-page resumes; graphics created by somebody with no graphics skills; brash resumes; sarcastic resumes, presumptuous resumes—the list goes on, which is too bad, because it’s not that hard to create a good resume, if you keep a few simple tips in mind.<br /><br />1) Keep it short. This will take some work and time. Rework it until it says as much as it can about you in the fewest possible words. One page is ideal, but if you have an extensive work history, you’re justified in going on to a second page.<br /><br />2) Make it attractive. This is the “attract the eye” part. Attractive in the world of resumes equates to clean. You can achieve this by the judicious use of white space, headers, bold face, underlining and italics. You don’t need more than that.<br /><br />3) Tell a story. This is the story of your professional life. A prospective employer should be able to follow the thread of your career summary, and it should make sense. Detours are OK—most of us have at one time or another detoured into a different field—but in a resume, treat these like spice: you don’t want too much of them.<br /><br />4) Keep it focused. Keep a strong focus on your goals, incorporating parts of your background to illustrate them. A statement of your goals is one of the clearest indicators to a prospective employer of whether or not there might be a match.<br /><br />5) No mistakes, please! A resume with a mistake in it is a traveling billboard advertising your carelessness and inattention. Proofread it. And ask somebody else to proofread it. Watch for mistakes in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Check how the dates follow one another: does the chronology make sense?<br /><br />6) Online Considerations. You need to take into account resume-scanning search engines. They will be looking for keywords and key-skills, for example "J2EE," "C#," in the IT job world. Make sure that you include these key terms near the top of your in a separate skills section. Also, you need to put these skills in the specific job context that you used them. Although your resume may become slightly longer, this can offer you a better match.Michael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649721404000180979.post-57259527507359653762009-04-13T03:13:00.000-07:002009-04-18T17:40:25.474-07:00It is now critical to have a trusted and well-informed professional, career consultant close at hand.Whether you are employed, unemployed or contemplating a career change, we can advise you on such issues as resume preparation and interview techniques. However, our primary mission will be to present and analyze attitudes, approaches, insights, and macro socio-cultural and economic trends, which affect you and your career. Our emphasis will be on the software and IT career environments. In addition, we will touch upon all fields and levels of employment.<br /><br />By offering you differing perspectives on career development issues, it is our intention in future posts to provide you with valuable insights and tools to optimize both your career and life situation. For example: we will help you to cope with the stress and sadness that often accompanies job loss. Moreover, we will assist you in both accelerating your reemployment process, and in making the most beneficial, new job decision. Our expectation is that this will maximize your career development and lead you to a true "Career Renaissance."<br /><br />We possess over twenty years of experience in career placement; mostly in the IT and engineering fields. We also bring to you an expansive and varied background in Human Resources, psychology, socio-cultural scholarship (e.g. at Harvard University and the University of Chicago, et al) and, most recently, in career and life coaching. Through our extensive experience, we are uniquely qualified to offer you advice and support to realize your career and life goals.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Michael Jay SullivanMichael Jay Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00090327740603353994noreply@blogger.com0