Career Talk JDR

Archive for 2009

Many truly great Technology Leaders and Executives find themselves in the job market unexpectedly and sometimes, have not actively sought a position in a long time.  However, getting interviewed and hired is all about distinguishing oneself and engaging the audience.  If you become downsized and unexpectedly find yourself “in transition” and looking for a new opportunity, it is time to reverse the interview process and become an interviewee!

Most interviewers hiring for permanent positions have a series of questions designed to hear how you present yourself and how you would be perceived by executives and peers in their organization.  Here are some of the basic questions we see most often:

Give me a brief overview of yourself and why we should hire you and/or tell me about yourself:

How many voice messages have not been returned because you could not understand the message?  How many because they rambled on and on and on…?  Please think about what you are going to say before the beep. 

In today’s economy, it is more important than ever to have people return your calls.  If you want a call back, why would you speak like a snail trying to move through quicksand when leaving your name and then, speak like someone on the highway trying to break the sound barrier when leaving your telephone number? 

During tough economic times, obtaining a good job can be more difficult than ever.  There are more people than usual looking for work and there are fewer jobs.  So how do you ensure that you will make it through the tough times?  Here are some tips for finding a position and other things that you can do to help make it through and keep yourself marketable.

·         Drop any unnecessary expenses immediately.  You can probably survive without getting your nails done or going out to dinner every night of the week, and cutting down on these things will be a big help in getting by on less money until you have found a job. 

As this is a subject very near and dear to those of us here at JDR, we thought it should be mentioned here on our blog.  Jill’s talented son, Ian Herrin, is all grown up and about to go off to college! 

Being “downsized” and facing the prospect of unemployment can be both a personal and a professional strain. It is important to stay positive and focused.  Keep 9am-4pm hours on weekdays, working on structured tasks that are aimed toward getting a job.  Then, relax and have fun in the evenings and on weekends!

Do’s and Don’ts to finding a technical job:

Don’t spend time on job sites; it will only lead to frustration.  Today it’s highly unlikely that an employer will hire someone they don’t already know, or someone that is not represented by a reputable recruiting firm with existing relationships and success within their organization.

Growing up, you start forming ideas early on about the job that you want to have when you get older.  If you ask most children what they want to be “when they grow up,” they will likely rattle off a list of some of the more exciting and well known jobs…Police Officer, Fireman, Astronaut, etc.  Early on in my childhood, I thought that I wanted to be an Archaeologist!

We found this great article from www.thebusinessofit.com and wanted to share it with you!

The good folks over at the Gartner Group have revealed the top 10 technologies that they believe will change the world over the next four years:

1. Multicore and hybrid processors
2. Virtualization and fabric computing
3. Social networks and social software
4. Cloud computing and cloud/Web platforms
5. Web mashups
6. User Interface
7. Ubiquitous computing
8. Contextual computing
9. Augmented reality
10. Semantics

Top 10 Technical Resume Mistakes

This is a short post just to highlight the Top 10 on JDR’s list of resume mistakes.  The resume will not get you a job…however, it is a powerful tool that should be carefully put together

Top 10 Technical Resume mistakes:

1.     lacks clearly demonstrated experience with required skills

2.     objective does not match the position you apply for- better to leave it off if it doesn’t match

3.     complete dates and type of experience per position are not clearly defined- chronological is usually best & clearly show what you’ve done, where & when

CIO Perspective: Business Transformation, and the Role of Strategic CIO Leadership

Making Transformation Happen

Because we are in the business of providing products and services that make incredible service experiences happen, we are in a fortunate position to assist our forward-thinking customers in achieving their CIO-sponsored, IT-powered business and cultural transformations. Likewise, as with our customers, we leverage these same technologies to achieve our own transformational business goals and improve services to our employees, partners, and customers.