Those of us in technology, that survived the last two recessions, can see the pending spike for niche IT Resources. In the last two recessions we experienced massive layoffs to cut costs in this recession; most companies cutting deeper then I have ever seen before. The second phase is employment depression, and low employee moral. This leads to most people staying in their current job, or situation, because of fear and security. Once the dust settles companies reassess their business goals, and leverage technology to increase their value proposition thereby increasing their competitive advantage.

Corporations have now shifted away from rapid growth strategies to focusing on sustainable growth. As a result, the strategic initiatives start rolling in to cut costs, improve profitability, and agility in order to win business. These initiatives will be the catalyst, or should I say domino affect, that will impact your ITSec Initiatives.  If you lose a critical-to–success ITSec Resource in a live project, are you prepared?

This is where we are at right now. People are trying to predict growth in the economy by days, months and years. We will still see more peaks & valleys. In my experience, I have realized that this is something that I can not control. I tend to focus on what I can control, and limit the number of surprises to stay ahead of my competition.

Because of the layoffs, salary cuts/freezes, sky rocketing benefit costs, and cuts in 401K the working population is depressed.  (I will not be addressing the unemployed; that will have to be for another time.) In fact, there were two major surveys that came out in September 09. One survey was done by Adecco, and the other by a talent visionary, Lou Adler. Both employment surveys share some eye opening information about our employees and resources.

75% of the employment population would consider a new opportunity if they were called. (“How to Get Ready for a Surge in Replacement Hiring’” by Lou Adler Sep 4, 2009, 5:46 am ET)

Why are so many people unsatisfied with their current companies?

• 66% are not satisfied with their current compensation
• 78% are not satisfied with the company's overall retention efforts
• 76% are not satisfied with career growth opportunities at the company

(Source: Adecco Group North America On Wednesday September 2, 2009, 9:30 am EDT)

Now, if you are a hiring manager and decision maker pause for a second. Think about your own ITSec Staff. You already have to do more with less budget dollars, and less resources. You start looking at your team: Who can I live with? Who can I live with out? What happens if I lose Steve during the most critical part of a highly visible, or dollar value initiatives? Who will that effect? What is the risk versus reward? What is your plan? 

The Domino Effect:

How is this going to play out when companies open their hiring facet a little bit? What I am about to share with you is not revolutionary, and a lot of the industry experts have been discussing this for months now. But, what I want to be able to do is make it relate to your business. As an ITSec decision maker, being prepared comes with the job. But, it is important to be prepared, and not blindsided by a critical talent gap during a live project. The current surplus of niche ITSec talent is going to dry up fast.  Once the faucet opens, the first group to move for opportunities will be the “dissatisfied’. Those vacancies will create movement throughout the companies. The second group or “Satisfied” employees will gain the confidence to go for a job that will help them achieve their personal and professional goals. And so on …

Do a Proactive Assessment:

The successful ITSec Departments I worked with in the past did a proactive assessment to asses their risk in order to put a plan in place. What did their plans look like? First they took stock in what they can control, have influence over, and what they could not control.

First, they focused on what they had control over:

• Understand intimately their Company’s business objectives.
• Evaluated their existing staff’s technical skills, technologies, and capabilities.
• Identified talent, or technology strengths, and weaknesses.
• Prioritized their risk areas: critical-to-success skills, or technology for the most crucial or high dollar projects.

Result: Those groups developed a talent contingency plan in order to minimize their risk, and reduce the time to acquire that coveted talent during live projects.

Secondly, and probably the most crucial step to their success, was that they understood how they procured their ITSec talent by determining what they have influence over, and what they have no control over. This assessment provided critical information on the strengths and weakness of their existing staffing programs. This allowed the managers to set expectation to all parties on how long it will take to fill their critical need, cost implications, and go or no go dates. This information is essential for planning, and setting expectations to leverage for change if you are not getting your needs met. Without setting expectations with your staffing partners, vendors, and integrator partners, you are at the mercy of what comes in for you to interview.  This can waste precious time we all do not have.

Most staffing programs are geared to volume hiring. They are based off spend to reduce costs, leveraging purchasing power, and tracking who is walking in and out of their company.  Sometimes they are not set up for niche needs. If your program is not set up to support your need effectively work with Recruitment & Procurement to develop a fair solution to your unique skills and technology. Do not forget you do have a lot of  influencing because you are keeping the corporation safe. I am seeing most staffing programs adding niche programs to partner, and help achieve all parties’ goals. This is great because the programs of the past were extremely ridged.

Now that you have a proactive talent strategy, know your strengths and weakness, and understand what your current staffing program can and can not do. You are set, right? No, as the leader you need to network with potential talent brokers who fit your niche, and other ITSec decision makers to see what their plans are. For your staff, now is the time to make sure they are happy and then encourage them to network with top ITSec talent so you can draft the right talent to your company when the time is right. 

Here is some information on hot skills right now that I thought would be beneficial for you. This recently came from an article from the Gov Info Security (September 16, 2009 - Upasana Gupta, Contributing Editor)  

The Most Demanded Skills
The security skills and aptitudes that attract the most interest from employers, according to Foote, are the more "hands-on" and technical ones, such as:

• Forensic Analysis
• Incident Handling & Analysis
• Security Architecture
• Ethical Hacking
• Network Security
• Security Management

The Most Demanded Competencies
Hand-in-hand with the most demanded skills comes the top competencies needed on the job. These include:

• Forensics
• Identity and Access Management
• Intrusion Detection and Prevention
• Penetration Testing
• Threat/ vulnerability Assessment Management
• Litigation Support (e-discovery)
• Disk and File Level Encryption Solutions
• Data Leak Prevention
• Application Security
• Governance, Compliance & Audit

In conclusion, those ITSec departments who understand the dynamics or trends of employment during a recession will have a greater competitive advantage to capture and retain their coveted ITSec talent. Having a proactive plan, and understanding the current advantages or limitations with their company’s staffing program will allow those hiring mangers the ability to control and influence the talent procurement process. This understanding will allow effective recruiting, and the ability to draft more talent then those companies who are like deer caught in the headlights when the ITSec talent pools start to shrink.

Thank you very much for your time, and for reading this article. I hope this information is useful for you, and that your proactive plan is a success. If you need any help, have questions, or would like to discuss this further please feel free to reach out to me. Joela@wisechoiceit.com.

Sincerely

Joel Abraham

Vice President

WiseChoice IT

Office 414-773-0679

www.wisechoiceit.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/talentmining

In a recent article, I examined common mistakes that become additional barrier to opportunity. If you did not read it, I would recommend giving it a read to fully understand the nature of this follow up article.

(http://www.prlog.org/10208073-critical-job-seeking-mistakes-tips-that-will-differentiate-you-from-your-competition.html)

What I want to address today is the depression of job searching, and how to adjust your mindset to achieve your goal. One of the biggest job searching challenges that you are going to face is keeping your emotions in balance, and the second biggest being the time it takes for you to find your job.

You are going to be dealing with Hiring Managers, HR, Recruiters and even procurement agents.  These will be the ones that are going to qualify you for their position. All of a sudden you will get a lot of activity with companies you would be excited to work for. You are sure that they need your skill and want to hire you because you are high impact talent. Furthermore, all of your accomplishments made a difference to the return on investment (ROI) for your past employer/s. Now you have three to four quality opportunities in your hopper. Things are great! You tell you significant other, your friends, or even past associates that you made it through the first screen. You may make it to a second or third interview, all signs are a go and new job is on the horizon.

A few days pass and you have nothing, you do not hear a thing. No one gets back to you. No one has the stones to tell you why you were not given the opportunity you felt you were a fit for. No one tells you why you did not even get a shot at any opportunity within that company. All you remember is that you were told, “I like your style”, or “Your accomplishments would fit right into what we need here at ABC Company.”

You are going to be frustrated and you have to let these emotions go. I talk to many people who are frustrated and it comes across on the phone. I am able to draw it out, and get past it, but most people are going to just turn off.  They will feel it is a red flag on your attitude. Clear your mind before every call or e-mail. If someone calls you about an opportunity tell them you need to call them back in five minutes to get to a better location. Clear your mind, think of something that makes you happy. Smile and call them back with a genuine smile on your face. It truly is effective.

All you are left with are questions like: what is wrong with me? Could I have done anything different? What am I going to say to my family or friends that keep asking me how my search is going? Why does this happen to me? How am I going to take care of my responsibilities?

Do not fall victim to this negative mindset you are naturally going to have. You will have great new connections to talk about.

You are not alone this happens to all of us. The “why” is due to most companies recruiting for what their needs are NOW, not recruiting for what their needs could be in the FUTURE. That is why as soon as that company, or agency, gets their needs met everything drops. You are not a priority any more. Right or wrong that’s how things work. As a manager, think back on how relieved you were when you had a critical opening or need that was filled. When was the last time you thought of the 2nd or 3rd place candidate? What was communicated to them? Companies, I feel, are not trying to be mean spirited, hurtful or even malicious. However, they could be short sited.  Either way it can not be taken personally. You do not have anything wrong with you!

Having a positive attitude is quintessential. Once your accomplishments, experiences and skills are identified you can now focus, with confidence, on identifying your targeted opportunities. You have awoken your network. Know who within your social network can help you create action or new contacts. Network entirely new industries where your skills and positive attitude could flourish.

Now comes the hard part. You need to be disciplined and most likely out of your comfort zone to build relationships live/online. You need to make a commitment to yourself to proactively uncover your next opportunity. If you break that commitment to yourself you have let your self down. It is a common thing to say what ever, maybe, tomorrow blah. Blah. Blah… Stop and remember you have already done all of the hard work. Now it is the fun part finding out more about how you want to live your life. If you give a 100% to your family, self, community and career you will have everything you need to fulfill your life. Sure there will be curve balls, like your lay off/fired. But remember it was just a job no go out and find one that you have always wanted. They say the average collage kid is going to have 10 plus careers in his or her life time. Geeze I have that now and I am almost 40. I have progressed helped a lot of people along the way and love what I do. You can do the same thing by eliminating excuses, complaining, and have a positive attitude.

[Important Tip: in dealing with headhunters and recruiting companies. It is the candidates that call and stay in communication who get the first jobs. Etiquette of staying in touch with a Recruiter, or Resource Manager, is to ask. For myself, I am busy during the day cold calling clients and recruiting for candidates to fill those jobs. So unless we are working on a deal, or you need immediate communication, I asked to be called after 3:00PM. This is the time I can pay full attention to the candidate. This is important to me, and should be to every recruiter. Finally, if you are currently waiting for a recruiter or headhunter to call you back, the next call you will get is when they have a job for you 6-9 months down the road. You will have only yourself to blame.]

Here are some simple tips that can help you everyday. Some may be corny but they have helped me.  

• Rules of Job Search Sanity:

1.      Keep your emotions in check and if people ask how the job search is going just smile and say “in progress”. I want to address time in this section. It can be a killer on moral, confidence, and finances. It can be a cause of negative pressures on your person and evoke a feeling of self worthlessness. These are normal feelings, but if  you are proactive in networking, you will you reduce the time it takes to land your next job, and  you can meet some great people which will have a profound effect on your life. ***Remember you need to like yourself, and be confident in your plan. It is a map and will take you to your objective in a shorter time vs. people who are like deer in the headlights.***

2.      You are looking for the right opportunity, as well as companies are looking for the right employee. The interview, or screen, needs to go two ways. I am a firm believer that what separates us from others is our ability to ask intelligent questions. So know your story. Know where you came from, and where you want to go, so you can listen to what is being asked. Answer concisely and quickly. Know the company and/or environment so you can ask intelligent questions to see if this is the right company for you. I believe that there are critical questions that need be thought of before you interview. First, Relational: If a competitor were to call you, what would be the reason why you would stay at ABC Company? WOW: How does ABD Company differentiate itself from their competitors to attract the top 20% clients or employees? Business/Responsibility: Describe for me how you define success for the person who is in the job. What are your expectations?

3.      For every $10K you want to add 1 month to your search. Prepare yourself mentally that this could take a long time for you to find the right opportunity. Are mentally prepared for this? If you were a Director or VP, there are not a lot of positions floating around, and most likely you were making more then $40K a year. So be patient! If you need cash, talk to a contract, or temporary help agency, to do some work to bring home the bacon in the mean time. This is where you need to look at your finances. Knowing how much money you have correlates to your sense of urgency. Do not be desperate, but tell the recruiters you are immediately available. If you need to take any job to pay the bills, do it. Right now it is understandable, and you should not be ashamed. If a company does not understand that, they you do not want you to work there!

4.      Run your job search like your own business. You will need to manage your contacts, interviews, thank you letters, and resume submittals like you are in sales. You will have to identify which contacts and companies you want to keep in touch with, and which websites you will choose to look at for opportunities. I would not rely on the company, or recruiter, to remember you for all of their opportunities. The people who stay top of mind get the first opportunities. You do not want to be a stalker though. You will need to find out how they prefer to be contacted. “This is the fun part; now you pound the flesh, meet people and find out what they love about their jobs. You also will find jobs that you do not want to do. Remember an attitude of gratitude will open doors you never thought could be open for you.”

5.      Networking is like cash, it is KING... Keep networking even after you land your job. In a current market like this you could potentially be laid off more then once. Also, you should want to pay-forward the kindness you received from other people that helped you out. “This is your golden ticket. Your network will help generate additional buzz, or personal branding. You need to find other avenues for jobs out side the job boards, recruitment sites and staffing.”

It is with immense gratitude that I can share this information. I have seen this information help hundreds of people empower and liberate themselves from the negatives of waiting for something to happen. These real life tactics, or nuggets of knowledge, I have seen implemented first hand by job seekers today. Although I can not guarantee you a job, what I can guarantee is immediate results from these proven tips and techniques. Remember you made a commitment to yourself. Those commitments cannot be broken.

[Final Tip: The #1 question I get: How do I not lose the farm and be considered regarding my compensation. Repeat after me, “There are two reasons why I am here today; First money is important, but secondly, and more important, is opportunity. I see a lot of opportunity here at ABC Company, and because of that I do not want to price my self out of it. I would entertain your strongest number. I am currently making X, Bonus X, Healthcare cost X. Now be quiet and let them respond. Do not say anything!!!!]

Good luck, your networking will find opportunities for yourself. Have a positive attitude, and ask for what you want. Be realistic, fair-minded and understand your finances. My philosophy has always been that fifty percent of the jobs have not yet been created. So take some risks. Use your street smarts, and always pay-it-forward.

Joel Abraham

Jabraham1822ATcharter.net

I have been headhunting for over 16 years and this is my 3^rd recession in the employment industry. There have been a few things that have concerned me most; the volume of layoffs, duration of the layoffs and how unprepared most of the job seekers are. Everyday I talk to dozens of Technical Job seekers, and one truth has become evident. Most seekers have no job hunting plan, don’t know how to create a sustainable job hunting plan, and thus are suffering because of it.

It is my goal with this article to help anyone who needs to find a job, or is concerned about lousing their job, to proactively build a Career Plan that is sustainable for their future. This plan is no different than the preparation’s you take for investing in your retirement. It takes thought, planning, networking and understanding your positioning in the employment market.  The current employment rate is 8.1% across the US; add the disenfranchisement or population who has given up looking for work, and we are probably closer to 20% unemployment. This mass flood of talent to the market place is causing frustration and competition we have not seen since the Great Depression. In order to separate yourself from the rest of the job seekers, here are some tips to ensure you differentiate yourself from the employment pack.

The Resume:

Tips: Everyone has resume tips; I am not going to comment on presentation and style is your choice. However, I will give some tips on structure of your resume to avoid unnecessary pitfalls.

• Remember not to put your contact information in Headers or Footers. I can not tell you the hundreds of resumes I have received throughout the past five years that have made this simple mistake.

KEY: Most applicant tracking systems that import your resume have challenges striping the data out the headers/footers.  The result is a resume with no contact information.

• Technology: Most recruitment technology and methodology is based off of key words and formulas. When a recruiter searches to find the top 30% or 100 resumes to recruit they use a ranking system of how many key words are found in the resume. Same holds true for the job boards, social networks and search engines.

KEY: Make sure you add a technology section at the bottom of your resume that has all of the technology you are functional in. Even Word, Excel, etc… Do not assume that everyone knows that software.

• Accomplishments: When I look at peoples resumes I see bullet points, or simple sentences like: “I saved the company $500 or increased sales by 38%”. An applicant may think that this is a great accomplishment, and it could be. But, from an outsider’s perspective, we do not have the reference to know if that $500 is a minor or major impact to that company’s bottom line. Lots of questions and assumptions are left up to whoever is reading your resume, and more importantly the whole story was not told.

KEY: Here is a simple formula for you to figure out what your accomplishments are.

Business Challenge + Your Solution = Accomplishments (never change)

                                                                        Make money

                                                                        Save money

                                                                        Reduce cost

                                                                        Improve customer service

                                                                        Improve moral etc…

The key to this formula is that accomplishments (results) never change! What changes are the business challenges you faced, what your recommended solutions were to that challenge, and the result of that solution. (Warning:  An accomplishment should be no longer than 3-4 sentences. You are not writing a dissertation!!)

Formulating your accomplishment like this will allow the employer to get an emotional connection to you and your resume. Most Companies share the same issues and business challenges, and solutions. At the same time your accomplishment will demonstrate your business understanding, and critical thinking skills.

EXAMPLE:

ABC’s recruitment process was incomplete. I proactively designed a phone screen, and in person interview process which led to a reduction of turnover by 50%. As a result of our new hires, we help our internal customer increase productivity and overall profitability by 5%.

Interviewing Mistakes

• Your Interview Pitch: Know your story, know your career progression, and know why. Know why you left your jobs, any gaps, or red flags in your resume. KEY: Know your pitch and practice it. You need to be able to quickly answer the questions asked about your history quickly and concisely. Ask questions about the opportunity. This is the only way you are going to create a dialog and learn more about this potential opportunity. Do not be the person six months down the road saying you did not know the job was going to be like this, or you never told me that. You did not ask, and therefore did not learn enough about the opportunity before you accepted it.
• Salary Confidentiality: Not sharing salary or compensation with the recruiter limits your candidacy.  Why? First, the company is not sure if they can afford you and will spend more time with candidates that fall into their rate range.  Secondly, it could be construed as difficult to work with, or that you have something to hide. When ultimately you are trying not to price yourself out of this opportunity, or leave money on the table. 

KEY: How not sell yourself short when it comes to compensation.

“There are two reasons why I am here today. First, money is important. The second and more important reason is opportunity. I see a lot of opportunity here at ABC Company, and I do not want to price myself out of it. Is that fair? My compensation is, or was X$$ with a bonus program of XX$”

What you did was tell the hiring manager that you are willing to take a short term loss for a long term gain. If you make it to the offer stage they know to make you the best offer they can. Then the ball is in your court!

• Watch Out For The Loaded Interview Question: Make sure when an interviewer prefaces a question by describing a program, or process challenge, that you ask who created the program or process, and why it was created. Ask for a description of the problem they are trying to resolve with this program or process. You want to know who created the program before you assassinate it. The interviewee might have thought it was a great idea, and if you slam it there goes your shot at that job!

Networking:

Controlling your future begins and ends with strategy of developing and building personal and professional networks. Many people give me the excuses, “I do not have time” or “I have too many family commitments”. My response: “You have to make time!” This is a commitment for your future, both personally and professionally. Unfortunately people are learning this lesson the hard way in today’s employment crisis. Now I am seeing people rush to catch up out of desperation, or survival instinct through online resources.  PAUSE-REEVALUATE YOUR PROCESS!!!!

KEY: Take an inventory of where you are at. Look at who you know, what social networking groups you belong to, or should, and what religious or charitable groups you are associated with.

1. Organize your contacts in order of importance to your career. Find those contacts of yours with the most influential network that can be strategically leveraged to your benefit.
2. Make a communication plan to help get the word out about your situation/need.

·         Who do I contact first if I lost my job or if I fear losing my job, second, third, etc...

·         How do I stay in touch (phone, e-mail, face-to-face etc...) with my contacts?

3. Prioritize who or what communication gets sent to your contacts:

·         Primary: Top Tier Business, Family & Social Networks (Linkedin.com, Facebook.com)

·         Secondary: Family & Friends, Other Business Contacts

·         Tertiary: Religious Institutions, Charities etc…

·         Undefined: Transactional Networking

Finally, you need to define the protocols of, who, what, when, where, why and how for each of these groups. Some contacts you can call directly and explain how they can help. Some contacts are needed simply to lend their name, and introduce you to their contacts.

Think of it this way. The contacts closest to you are the most influential to directly helping your career path, and should be your top priority. Establishing a pattern of communication with them is critical. The farther out you go from your network the less you will want to contact. Remember the further from your primary contact list you go the more critical it is that you evaluate each contact, and try to set up some communication with them. You never know how they could help, or who could be the next primary network contact.

KEY: Network Health-now you are starting to feel good about creating a communication plan that will allow you to use your top critical contacts to get the word out for you. Now what you need to do is check the health of your network. It is important to reach out to your network to see how everyone is doing. You need to make a plan and decide who and what the frequency of your contacts will be. You do not want to be a pest, but at the same time you do not want your networks to think that you only call when you need something.

Your Mental State

One of the biggest job searching challenges that you are going to face is keeping your emotions in balance. You are going to be dealing with Hiring Managers, HR, Recruiters and even procurement agents who are going to qualify you for their position. All of a sudden you will get a lot of activity with companies you would be excited to work for. You are sure that they need your skill and want to hire you because you are high impact talent. Furthermore, all of your accomplishments made a difference to the return on investment (ROI) for your past employer/s. All of a sudden you have three to four opportunities in your hopper. Things are great, you tell you significant other; you tell friends or even past associates that you made it through the first screen, you may make it to second or third interview, and all signs are positive.

Then next day you do not hear a thing. No one gets back to you. No one has the stones to tell why you did not get that opportunity you were a fit for. No one tells you why you did not get even a shot at any opportunity within that company. All you remember is that you were told, “I like your style”, or “Your accomplishments would fit right into what we need here at ABC Company.”

All you are left with are questions like, what is wrong with me? Could I have done anything different? What am I going to say to my family or friends that keep asking me how my search is going? Why does this happen to me? How am I going to take care of my responsibilities (family, bills etc…)?

STOP!!!!!!!!

You are not alone this happens to all of us. The “why” is due to most companies recruiting for what their needs are NOW, not what their needs are in the FUTURE. That is why as soon as that company, or agency, gets their needs met everything drops. You are not a priority any more. Right or wrong that’s how things work. As a manager, think back on how relieved you were when you had a critical opening or need that was filled. When was the last time you thought of the 2nd or 3rd place candidate? What was communicated to them? Companies, I feel, are not trying to be mean spirited, hurtful or even malicious. However, they could be short sited.  Either way it can not be taken personally. You do not have anything wrong with you!

• Rules of Job Search Sanity:

1.      Keep your emotions in check, and if people ask how the job search is going, just smile and say “in progress”.

2.      You are looking for the right opportunity, as well as the companies are looking for the right employee. The interview or screen needs to go two ways. I am a firm believer that what separates us from others is our ability to ask intelligent questions. So know your story. Know where you came from, and where you want to go, so you can listen to what is being asked. Answer concisely and quickly. Know the company and/or environment so you can ask intelligent questions to see if this is the right company for you.

3.      For every $10K you want to add 1 month to your search. Prepare yourself mentally that this could take a long time for you to find the right opportunity. Are mentally prepared for this? If you were a Director or VP, there are not a lot of positions floating around, and most likely you were making more then $40K a year. So be patient! If you need cash, talk to a contract or temporary help agency to do some work to bring home the bacon in the mean time.

4.      Run your job search like your own business. You will need to manage your contacts, interviews, thank you letters, and resume submittals like you are in sales. You will have to identify which contacts and companies you want to keep in touch with, and which websites you will choose to look at for opportunities. I would not rely on the company, or recruiter, to remember you for all of their opportunities. The people who stay top of mind get the first opportunities. You do not want to be a stalker though.  You will need to find out how they prefer to be contacted.

5.      Networking is like cash, it is KING... Keep networking even after you land your job. In a current market like this you could potentially be laid off more then once. Also, you should want to pay-forward the kindness you received from other people that helped you out.

With gratitude I am happy to share these nuggets of knowledge that has translated to real life results. I have seen each of these tactics be implemented first hand by job seekers right now. All though I can not guarantee you a job what I can guarantee is immediate results from these proven tips and techniques.

Remember to know your pitch, prepare for your interview and constantly network you will not fail.

Joel Abraham

Division Director

WiseChoice IT

Work:  414.773.0679

JoelA@WiseChoiceIT.com

LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/talentmining