Choosing 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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
The 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The A,B,C,D's of Career Satisfaction
What 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Irrational Expectations Vs. Resources for Renewal
If 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.”
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.”
Monday, May 4, 2009
IT 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.
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?
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.
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%.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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%.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Ageism:The Wounded Lions of Employment Winter
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Recruiting 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.
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…
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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