Home 
CM Journal Articles HR Corner: Summertime - The Perfect Time to Crank up a Job Search!
CM Journal Articles HR Corner: Summertime - The Perfect Time to Crank up a Job Search!
|
The summertime is usually slow for job searches. Many people are on vacation and it can be very discouraging to attempt a job search during this time. The truth is that summertime is the best time to get your job search in drive. Many of our colleagues have been out of work for many months or even years. For these IT professionals it’s been an uphill battle, which has gotten very discouraging. It’s tough to get a stalled job search back in gear, or even accelerated into high gear! Read on if you’d like to make certain that you are doing everything that you can to make the best of the summertime to maximize your job search. Getting in Gear… The best part of long job search is trying to decide which lucrative offer to accept. But lots of people find that summertime to be especially tough and are anxious to get to September when the market often shows more activity. This is unfortunate for two reasons. First the summer is a great time to get your job search plan better organized and secondly this summer has an unusual amount of IT (and CM job) related activity. So the real job is to make certain that you are doing everything that you need to do to be successful. Here’s a list of things that need to be part of every successful job search effort. Cast a Wide Net… Recruiters always tell people to stay focused on their core skills. Well that makes perfect sense for a recruiter because they are only going to get paid for finding someone with specific (hard to find) skills. But the same is not always true for candidates. Sometimes an employer is looking for a flexible IT professional with diverse skills and a willingness to adapt and master new technologies. Obviously, everyone should focus on their strengths and CM is certainly in demand. But most of us could also work in other related areas that are also needed. I call this core competency “Technical Flexibility” and I believe that it is the most important skill that any IT professional can posses. I suggest reading the help wanted ads to ascertain which skills you should be learning and mastering to improve your own marketability and value to the organization. Managing Your Agent These are tough times for recruiters. Some of them resort to pretty unethical tactics to get a commission. I suggest being very careful with your resume. It’s usually a bad idea to send your resume to an agent unless they have agreed to meet with you. I keep hearing that many recruiters are overwhelmed with resumes and they don’t have the time to spend with meeting their candidates in person. But it is also true that they will do a better job if they know you, including how you present yourself to others. Often once you send in your resume you will never hear from a recruiter again! I’m suggesting that it is better to work with a limited number of agents than sending your resume all over the city. Compare notes with your colleagues (discretely if you are still employed!) and work with agents who have a reputation for honesty and being responsive to their candidates. (Recruiters should also realize that many candidates are likely to be on the other side of the hiring process in the near future.) Do you have your list of agents organized including all of their contact information? Do you know exactly where your resume has been sent? Keep notes on EXACTLY what your agents say. Don’t be surprised when your notes are better than theirs! Power Resumes… A resume gets you in the door. The interview lands you the job. Both are very important. So then why would you not create a resume that describes what you have accomplished? Too many resumes are just lists of technologies that the candidate has been exposed to. Being more descriptive and business oriented is important for many technology professionals. Think of your resume as an advertisement on TV during the Super Bowl! You should present the truth in a strong positive manner without any extra words or details that are not relevant to the position that you are trying to land. Your resume is not your biography! The hiring manager needs to be able to see that you are a good fit for the job in less than a minute. Does your resume do that? Researching Companies So where do you really want to work? Do you know who is hiring? How are their financials? Summertime is a good time to spend 2 hours a week researching companies and industries that may be recovering and expanding to profit in our current economy. Reading the newspaper should give you some ideas. For example, companies that respond to emergencies (including IT security) are getting significant venture funding and might be looking for someone with your knowledge, skills and abilities. (Here’s a secret! - When you do get an interview, stop and notice any other companies in the same building. In NYC you can often find similar firms in the same office buildings just by looking at the building directory in the lobby!) Sharpening the Saw It’s my opinion that people who are out of work should look for a job at least 35 – 40 hours per week. That’s right job searching is a job! But there should also be a few extra hours to learn new skills. Have you taken a look at the Yahoo groups list this week? I have been learning about new technologies just by browsing and subscribing to mailing lists. For example mailing lists that deal with the CISSP can provide information that complements your obvious interest in Software Configuration and Release Management. Support Groups There are many support groups that are available. If you find them helpful then by all means it is certainly helpful to accept support and encouragement from peers and colleagues. Certainly, this is also a great source of referrals (e.g. open positions and reputable agents) and leads on open positions. Summertime is a great time to get rejuvenated and also to get a stalled job search back “in-gear” and headed for success! Please send in your owns tips and ideas so that we can share them on CM Crossroads. Bob Aiello is a Senior Contributing Editor for Crossroads News and an Associate Director at Bear Stearns & Co. where he is engaged in Software Process Improvement on a large scale basis. He is also on the Board of Directors for the Organizational Development Network of Greater New York (ODNofGNY) and a member of the Steering Committee of CitySPIN in New York. Mr. Aiello has a Masters in Industrial Psychology and a BS in Computer Science. You can reach Mr. Aiello by email at raiello@acm.org
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email this
Hits: 3959 Trackback(0)Comments (0)
|
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 January 2006 05:41 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed