Lotus Guru - Comments

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Ruth Saba — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:16:39 +0000

Hi Kevin,

I'm new to document locking. I have an app that seems to generate emails with the subject "Changes made to database - database name- have NOT been incorporated into the database. There was a conflict detected. Your changes may be found in body of this message. A document link to the original document is attached to the e. . ." This email seems to be generated every time a user accesses a doc, even if no one else is in it. Is there a way to disable the notification?

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Sam Carberry — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:29:26 +0000

Great advice and very timely.

I really so hate having to marketing wizard for a few months though.

Oh well, wish me luck.

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Daniel Schiavone — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:16:30 +0000

I like the idea of lobbying a company you might admire. It can't hurt and you may be able to nuture relationships.

That said no one mentioned craigslist. I've found some decent programmers there, having shunned head hunters of late. Also, look into coworking groups like www.bhivebmore.com and tech councils like www.GBTC.org

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Kevin Pettitt — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:28:32 +0000

In case you missed it I updated the link above to the newer, 8.5 edition of Jess Stratton's Lotusphere 2009 BP202 - Administration for the Developer: Build and Secure Your Own IBM Lotus Domino Server Playground in an Hour! presentation { Link }

Very handy if you need to learn the new dev stuff and don't happen to know any admin.

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Jim Casale — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:06:00 +0000

These are all great tips - all the more timely since my position will be offshored at the end of August. Since I have the advantage of advanced notice I have been actively looking and agree there is not much out there.

A couple of thoughts…

If you are looking for dev if you are primarily an admin (and vice versa) then it will certainly be an uphill battle. Any dev positions out there will most likely go to "experienced" dev's unless someone gives you a break. You can go for training and get certified but if you don't have that real world experience then your chances are slim. And as for dev work Matt White is correct - you can't just know @formula or Lotusscript.

My second thought is to have a positive outlook on my situation. Yes, I am losing my position in a couple of months but there are people out there who have it worse. Part of my new job (which is looking for a new job) is to get out and see if I can help others who have it worse then I do - volunteer my services to people who can use them. Life works in mysterious ways sometimes - if you help others then one day someone might just help you in return

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Jim Knight — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:25:08 +0000

When I was looking for people in the past, I thought it would be nice if they had a website or some form of demos of their previous work. Basically a "show me why you are good". Even if it was LotusScript only (maybe they did a cool OO library). If they did a cool UI somewhere, show it. Kevin, when we worked together in the past, I knew you "knew something" by looking at your openntf efforts and code. There should be more of that.
Having said all of that, I would hate to be looking for a Lotus Notes job right now. If you don't already know people, it's tough out there.

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Curt Stone — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:55:31 +0000

Great post Kevin.
The traditional job boards have been thin lately. Then again, I'd rather have an inside connection than a job board. My latest gig came from a recommendation from a friend and I basically just had a quick interview and get started. It was funny because she worked with me as a consultant and then we switched roles in the new company. Lesson reinforced: always treat people with respect.
I like the PlanetLotus job list too.
Take care!

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Kevin Pettitt — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:27:08 +0000

@All - Thanks for the additional suggestions and feedback - keep it coming.

@5 - Yes Julian, "owning" your name certainly has its pluses, though those ( @6) with more common names can do ok with obscure George Lucas movie references .

And speaking of @6 Matt, yes, having up-to-date skills can come in quite handy. On the flip side, if you have really let your skills languish because your old employer never migrated off R5 or something, there is always the option of a career change.

Of course, if you're only a dev and don't know how to set up a sandbox environment of your own, *getting* those skills while unemployed can be challenging. Jess Stratton did a Lotusphere 2009 session on exactly that, the slides for which can be found here: { Link }