Seth's got a great post up today about the Sunscreen industry.
Within it, the great line "...ethical marketers".
In the context of technology firms, and technology startups, there aren't too many who haven't shaved off something here or there to the detriment of the Customer and to the benefit of the business. For example, how many computers or devices do you own which are secure from data theft? Or, how much time has everyone in the world spent trying to fix a PC which has done the BSOD one too many times? Or, why is it that we have to throw away our iPhones & Smart Phones when they brick, sending all those rare-earth metals, lead and other heavy metals to landfill where they leach into our drinking water?
I would love to be recruiting for a role where a Product Manager or Marcomm Leader said they quit a job because the firm they were working for asked them to lie. And for the story to be true.
There's a point when playing the game where you start thinking real hard about what the other side is up to. What is your counterpart, your competition, thinking? What strategies and tactics will they employ? How can you get ahead of them, anticipate their moves, take advantage of what they will do next?
For some on both sides of the recruiting equation, that's where their heads are at. How do I get this candidate? Where does he go after work for a beer? Conversely, what tools do these recruiters use, how can I attract their attention?
And so, I was highly intrigued by this article on Fistful of Talent. Great title, catchy, makes you think, "Ah, this is how I can beat those silly recruiters!"
But then they lay it on the line and walk you through how to really get noticed. Without search strings.
If you're looking for a job, check it out. And while you're at it, read through Fistful of Talent, just to get a bead on those folks who may, or may not, be looking for someone just like you!
One of the recent start-up memes has been the Seattle v. Silicon Valley so-called battle. All sorts of reasons have been put forth about why one spot is better than the other. And, to one degree or the other, they are all true. Sort-of depends on one's world-view.
But, if you are really concerned about building a long-term company, as opposed to a startup with a high potential of a 10x return to the investors, maybe any city in California is a bad place to be (and Washington is not so good, either). How about Austin or Salt Lake City?
I've written more than a few posts about resume writing, with one clear point being to think about what the Hiring Manager wants in the ideal candidate, and then write to that audience.
Today, FTE 1.0, one of the funniest HR Blogs (or is it HR Art?) out there had a post which made me think twice about this point of view regarding resumes. My take is that it makes your resume creation choices that much more important - which boss do you want to work for?
And for you bosses out there, it should help you improve what you ask your staff to do in any given role.
There are plenty of ways to mess up as a leader. But there's really only one way to fix that, and that's admit it, move on, and learn from it.
Dan McCarthy has an insightful post on mistakes leaders make. I mean, hey, they're all true.
In the technology biz, there is one other I'd add to the list: Decide to take your IP to China to have a company there produce the product. Just don't do it.
From time to time, someone asks me for career advice. Then, I cringe. Why? Because on a very fundamental basis, I do not know what you want or what motivates you.
But, I will tell you that the one role I know of which is only increasing in demand, stature, and compensation is Software Engineer. (Note that I did not say Project Manager or Program Manager, or QA Engineer, or Technical Support, or Product Management, or Technical Account Management. These are all fine things to do, but they do not hold a candle to Software Engineer for overall job creating and market demand).
It's not so hard to figure out why.
First, just about everything we create has a chip in it, and usually more than one. Just about everything we do is dependent on a CPU doing its job, running the software. No software, no computer doing things for us. And, the technology is not static, and so when a new chip comes out, a new operating system with new features to exploit, more software is needed.
Second, becoming a Software Engineer is hard work. There is math involved, but most of it is new to you. Lots of typing. A lot of failure - until you figure it out. Constantly iterating, learning how to do new stuff. Then, once you've mastered one technology, one language, you gotta go do it again. So, you take all those algorithms you learned in VB, C++, Java or Python, and then go try them out in Ruby. Or, you jump to a new Operating System and work on figuring out how to do multi-threaded programming, or how to create in a very constricted memory space. Whatever.
But remember what I said about the hard work.
The U.S. is in the midst of the Great Recession, and there has been some signs of renewed growth, but it sure as heck ain't that vigorous.
We also have a bunch of folks who like TEA a lot, and they seem to think that reducing government spending, and bringing the U.S. debt down is the way out. The idea being that if taxes come down, business investment will increase.
Based in this post, they seem to be saying that business leaders are somehow different than they were in the 20th Century. Put another way, business investment tracks VERY closely to unemployment. Get people more jobs and business investment will increase.
My guess: Since our Federal Government seems likely to either not change or reduce spending, that is, they sure as heck aren't going to be adding jobs, nor are they going to be doing much to increase hiring. In other words, neither the Leadership of the Federal Government, nor of Big Business is going to lead us out of the Great Recession. So, with the exception of Software Developers, the market for talent favors the buyer, and salary increases will be modest at best.
Over the course of the last six months or so, I've become reacquainted with covetousness or envy through my work. Specifically, people ignoring their gifts, their capabilities, and thus, completely missing the market's view of those gifts.
There are plenty of ways to mess up your career, and envy is one of the saddest. It's like eating food that's bad for you (say, sugar) because it's doubly bad since you're replacing food that moves you in a positive direction with food that moves you in the opposite way!
How do you identify if you are falling victim to envy? These thoughts might be a marker:
If you have these thoughts, how can you be focusing on the work you need to do, or on improving yourself? Or servicing your customers? You can't because these negative thoughts consume your mental cycles. Drop the thoughts, move on. You'll be better off if you step away from negative thoughts and move on to thinking about how to achieve your goals, your dreams.
Sometimes you just gotta realize you're in the undertow and it's time to start swimming parallel to the shoreline. Which just about sums up my recent several weeks.
The good news is that there's a lot to think about as you work your way back to shore, slowly, oh so slowly. And then there's the long walk back home...
Until those thoughts become posts, here's David Brin's latest, Interesting Times: Lessons to Learn from a Flood of Changes.
Which raises the following questions: Are you driving a car built in 1971 or earlier? Kinda needs maintenance, and certainly doesn't have all the great safety gear of a car built in 2011, right? So, why shouldn't we believe that a 40 yo nuclear reactor is maybe a bit past its prime?
I was reading this post by Seth Godin, and it occurred to me that as much as this is applicable to big stories, it's also applicable to your job hunt, your resume, and interviews to come.
Here's how this plays out.
First, your resume should have bullet points for each job that directly address how you helped improve revenue, reduced costs, or improved profit. For example:
So, this is interesting, but it's all evidence, with little story. To create the story, you need an amusing story for the interview that speaks to how you came to realize this feature was important, how you overcame institutional push-back, and how the sales people used the feature to win the contracts. It's even better if this story emphasizes the top aspects of your brand. To cap it all off, you also need references which speak to this win.
Yes, you need evidence of greatness. And yes, you need stories where the evidence can live.
I read through this post by Matt several times and thought it was a great point to begin thinking about one's future career possibilities.
This type of excercise can drive people a little nutty, and a recommendation if this is you. When asked about your Vision, Values & Passions, Strengths & Skills, the best place to turn is your past. Starting at about the age of 13 or so, look at each segment of your life and remember those times you enjoyed the most, those things you easily accomplished, stuff that others noted about you which resonnated fully with your being, as well as those things that are the opposite. Write them down, with one column being "This is Me", and the other being "Stuff that's not Me". Or maybe, "Things I love to do" and "Things I hate to do". Again, break them down by time segment, e.g. Jr. High, High School, College, 1st Job, 2nd Job, Grad School, etc.
The outcomes from this should help you to craft your story, and assist you in answering the tough questions that come up when people ask you about what you're doing, or what you've done, and what you want to do next.
Penelope posted a thought-provoking, and what will be a very controversial article about work, lifestyle, and men & women.
It's a great read.
I don't know the science behind all she has written about. What I like about her article is that it directly attacks some of the conventional wisdom regarding work that developed during the heyday of the feminist movement, and in making this attack, she gets under those concepts and helps you hold up the magnifying glass to your own work behaviors, and career choices - choices which may ultimately be holding you back.
It's not that I don't like what the feminist movement has achieved for our country, creating a shining example to other societies to enable EVERYONE. But, like unions, feminism is an old, tired concept that has outlived its usefulness. It's high time to move on to the next topic.
Which, I think, is going to be more and more about you, the individual. As we get better at understanding the details of our makeup (DNA, brain scans, etc), I predict that we'll come to a moment where we'll know much more about ourselves. My guess is that if we look closely at our performance at various things, and then layer over that a study about our DNA, or brain makeup or whatever else comes up, we may have a much better understanding about our poor performance regarding we've been attempting to delude ourselves about.
For example, you might have been really bad at running in PE while in school. Or maybe, you really liked solving math problems. Or, you were always the center of social attention. In looking closely at these tendencies, you'll likely see a path forward which is more in alignment with your talents, and finds you with a better fit in the marketplace.
Matt's post Career Poll: Biggest Silver Lining of Job Market? is a great read for anyone who is about to interview for a role.
Why?
Because you are undoubtedly going to have to answer all 5 of these questions, or variations, in any reasonably good interview process. And probably more than once.
Regardless of whether you love them or hate them, start prepping your answers now!
Two words for you: Size and Awards.
First, Size. Seth talks about the Atomic Theory of Business Size. The Organizational Behaviorist in me likes this theory, it explains a lot about why a business is the size it is, and helps leadership to plan for business growth (or resizing). It also helps candidates sort out where they ought to go next. For example, I'm not good in big companies, but I am good in smaller, rapidly growing firms. If you've had experience in both places, think hard about which size companies you've worked at and been the happiest and done your best. My guess is that one of the commonalities will be the size of the organization.
Second, Awards. Industry awards are actually a pretty good indicator of which companies are succeeding. The people who vote on these awards are either industry insiders or journalists with deep background covering the industry. They know the real thing when they see it.
Take a look at this list from last night's WTIA's Industry Achievement Awards:
All of these award winners have a great product. And, my guess is that they are all looking for people to join their teams, most certainly Software Engineers. At minimum, I can vouch for one on this list. Swype is looking for Mobile Software Engineers who are pretty darned good with C++.
But here's the thing, these companies are all in different stages of growth, different sizes. You might be great at a firm like Isilon that's around 400 FTE, but miserable at Swype, which is around 65. Or maybe the reverse is true!
Check for Size and Awards as you look for your new role. They'll help you make the right career step.
I'm a news junkie, and a history junkie, too. I also like doing a little forecasting here and there from time to time, and this is one of those times.
For all you startup people out there, Collaboration is the word.
There are several trends shaping up right now which will play out over the next several years in the U.S. which will alter how we work. They are:
As much as I think that everyone on a Dev team ought to be in the same room together working on their software, these trends will tend to push against this optimal solution. It's time to think hard about how to achieve those milestones, and drive the revenue those venture investors want, while not having your team all cramped into a small, cheap office.