Technology a Dead End Career? No Way!

Technology a Dead End Career? No Way!!

According to the US Labor Department, the demand for IT professionals has returned to levels last seen in 2000 at the height of the dotcom boom. Concurrently, the importance of information technology as the underpinning of corporate life has become obvious even to the most strident corporate Neanderthal. More organizations like Google are seeing that technologists with good technical underpinnings and business savvy can create wealth.

At the same time this is going on, fewer computer science graduates are coming out of America’s universities because students learned through what happened to their parents in the last recession that technology was no longer the fast and secure path to happiness, prosperity and wealth. That’s what happens when all those stock options became worthless and hundreds of thousands of IT professionals lost their jobs and new ones were created overseas.

O unless more people enter the labor force, more jobs will shift overseas to lower cost centers and America’s intellectual capital and advantages and technology advances will expire in a fit of outsourcing not caused by cheap labor but by lack of talent sources.

A number of things need to occur concurrently in order to stem the tide and get US students back in the game.

1. Every child in every classroom in America must have a computer or Internet accessible device with full features to help them learn and explore. We all know the stories of the music protégés and young athletes who took up the game very young and were able to achieve greatness because a violin or tennis racket was put into their hands when they were very young. Let’s have kids learn computer basics as they learn to read and play age appropriate online games until then.


2. Make computer science a required course for every major in the universities. Te Despite George Orwell’s fears, technology has become a liberating path


3. Why can’t students spend an additional year in universities interning between their junior and senior year? It makes more sense to me than the programs that send students abroad to study at foreign colleges. Social work students spend 20 hours per week doing field work at social work agencies, providing a source of cheap labor. Why are university students in computer science incapable of providing a comparable contribution?


4. “Code monkeys” or people who program in a vacuum are a dying breed. Make sure that even the most junior staff learns the importance of programming in the context of a line of business.


5. Finally, and what may be most important, the industry has the reputation for drudgery—for being the modern day equivalent of factory work. We have to re-think the industry and make it fun again!

Tick. Tick. Tick. Time is running out/ unless we take action in the next few years that lack of supply will send all the jobs overseas . . . and once that happens, what had been US businesses will follow.

Jeff Altman
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2005 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, has successfully assisted many corporations identify leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines as employees or consultants since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

For additional job hunting or hiring tips, go to http://www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.com.

To subscribe to Jeff Altman’s Search e-zine, send an email to jeffaltman@cisny.com and write
EZINE on the subject line.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Survey explains reasons for hiring failure

A recent study of over 5000 hiring managers indicated that there was a serious failure in hiring in the executive to middle management ranks. These managers, who hired more than 20,000 people over three years, reported that almost half the people they hired (46%) failed within the first 18 months of hire.

During that time, only 19% will achieve some level of success

26% will fail because they can't accept feedback
23% fail because they can't understand and manage their emotions
17% lack the drive to succeed
15% have the wrong temperament for the job
11% lack key skills

82% of managers reported that in hindsight, their interview process with these employees elicited subtle clues that they would be headed for trouble. But during the interviews, managers were too focused on other issues, too pressed for time, or lacked confidence in their interviewing abilities to heed the warning signs.


Te study found no significant difference in failure rates across different interviewing approaches (e.g., behavioral, chronological, case study, etc.). 812 managers experienced significantly more hiring success than their peers. What differentiated their interviewing approach was their emphasis on interpersonal and motivational issues.

This begs the question, how well are you evaluating potential hires prior to their joining your firm? Are you evaluating them in these key success areas? Do your hiring managers take the time to evaluate people on these criteria, or purely on skills competency?



Jeff Altman
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2005 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

For additional job hunting or hiring tips, go to http://www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Have you ever evaluated . . .

Have you ever evaluated the agency prior to giving them the order?

Most agents are trained to make cold calls, calling absolute strangers, making an initial brief introduction/speech, and then asking for orders.

The conversation often is, “Hi! My name is __________. I’m a recruiter with a firm called _______. We’re in the business of locating top talent for firms in the _____ industry. I understand you’re trying to fill a few positions and wanted to see if I could help you.” Based upon hearing that canned speech, hiring managers and HR professionals decide whether or not to give a recruiter a job or two or a hundred to work on.

Does that really make sense to you?

What would really be useful to you when you get a phone call like this?

Why not ask about the individual recruiter’s experience, capabilities, previous successes and size of the firm. That online brochure they have—it’s as useless as reading a magazine ad for life insurance. Fee policy? That’s good; it’s like finding out what the store will charge for something before you get to the register.

Why not make a 15 – 30 minute investment of time to meet with the person? After all, you’ll be reviewing resumes they submit, listening to their opinions and, generally, investing time with them all with the hope that they will refer people to you who you’ll hire.

Taking time with them at the beginning will help you figure out whether you should give them the opportunity to help you staff positions and whether to trust their advice.


Jeff Altman
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2005 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, has successfully assisted many corporations identify leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines as employees or consultants since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

For additional job hunting or hiring tips, go to http://www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Not Hiring Consultants?

Not Hiring Consultants? Are You Missing a Great Opportunity?

Yesterday, I spoke with my umpteenth client who said, “Gee, we don’t want to interview them because they’ve been a consultant for so long.” I scratched my head and wondered, “Why do managers stop thinking?” Let me explain.

The bias against consultants is that they are mercenaries and are only working for bucks (unlike our charitable manager who is working for the greater good of humanity). They are not good team players. They will change jobs if they are offered $5 more in payroll. When the market gets better, they’ll go back to consulting.

Some consultants do not play well with others. They do not tolerate “politics” well and have trouble accepting decisions that make little sense. I know a lot of employees who are that way, too.

With the rising cost of everything, consultants won’t stay long in a job. Well, with the rising cost of everything, how long do you think you or your staff will accept 3% salary increases when the labor market is so strong?

But when the market gets good, they’ll change jobs! Well the labor market is good and will get even better over the next few years.

But worse yet, blindly closing the door on men and women who would like to be former consultants is plain pig headed. It excludes people who are used to handling difficult situations, are client service oriented and may have excellent reasons for wanting to give up consulting. Reasons like:

I’m tired of having to constantly market myself instead of doing what I love and do well
I’m getting older and want to settle down
I’m buying a house and need to be stable for a lender
I need cheaper benefits
I want to watch the kids grow up instead of working 80 hours a week on assignment and marketing myself
I was on a visa. It was my only way to work in the US
There were no jobs between September, 2001 and 2004; it was the only kind of work available

Blindly closing the door on consultants is wrong and bad business similar to excluding anyone based upon a prejudice. Take a few minutes to investigate and evaluate the reasons why someone is willing to give up the “glamorous life” of consulting. I suspect you will increase your choices.

Jeff Altman
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com
© 2005 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

additional job hunting or hiring tips, go to http://www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.com/If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).