What Is a Technical Resume Portfolio, and Why You Might Need One

Move Over Resume, Hello Portfolio

The resume isn't dead, but it is ailing. There are so many more tools at your disposal today, from project highlights options to innovation pages to enhanced LinkedIn profiles to online bios. But you don't need all of them; you just need to know which ones are best for you AND how best to present them. The following presentation provides an overview of this approach.

What Is a Technical Resume Portfolio...And Why You Need One from Stephen Van Vreede

Tech Career Protection Amidst the Corporate Goo

 

Don't Get Too Stuck in the Muck and Mire that Is Often Corporate...Even If You Kind of Like It...Sometimes...

There are two discussions that always seem to get me into trouble with my career services and HR pals. One is when I talk about workplace culture in any way that might be construed in the slightest as negative. For instance, when I say that corporate culture and cultural fit are sometimes used as strangleholds by leadership, more to serve corporate agenda than to actually enact effective change, it seems to really bug them.

And I get it...professionals say culture is #1 to them and that it's a big factor in hiring and retention; therefore, a lot of effort is being put into "branding" corporate culture by HR and company leadership, and the evangelists are true believers.

The other issue that gets me into trouble is when I talk about what I call the corporate "goo." The goo is all the stuff that my tech pros get sucked into on a daily basis in their corporate jobs...the stuff that keeps them from being vigilant in managing their careers and protecting what they've built so far. I would certainly say that culture initiatives and corporate politics and retention practices and leadership mandates all fall into this goo.  

The goo in and of itself isn't necessarily bad; but it is sticky, and it can prevent individuals from keeping their eyes on the bigger picture when it comes to their careers.

It's a bit like being part of a kids sports club these days. When I was in school, you pretty much played sports as part of your school with the exception of maybe Little League. And sports had a "season" where, you know, they ended for a while. Now, school sports have become secondary to club sports in many ways, and these clubs can really mean business. The competition is often tougher. The time commitment is often greater (more often than not, they go year-round). The core group of club members is often tightly linked, and switching clubs can be nothing less than be traumatic. In other words, it can be a bit intense...especially for the parents.

And before you know it, you're existence is sucked into this other world (for me, it's the world of competitive swimming) that has its own set of culture, politics, and drama (even if we don't like to admit it). As my wife and I have discovered, if you don't enforce breaks and come up for air every once in a while, and have your own strategy for your family, you begin to lose sight of what else is out there...the bigger picture. The world outside is shifting and evolving, and we are too busy obsessing over split times and qualifiers to notice or prepare for it.  

And if we don't get some perspective, it most likely will take some kind of jolt to get us back in line.

Now, maybe you're thinking, "OK. They sound like they're a bit nuts. They're one of THOSE parents." You're probably right. :-) But most likely you are a bit nuts too, especially if your current job is sucking you in much like our child's swim club has sucked us in.

Livelihoods matter. Protecting careers protects families.

Now, I know you probably have perfected the art of work-life balance, and corporate self-interest and politics just rolls off your shoulder, right? You do such a good job of it that you are able to stay on top of your career goals, keeping your eye on the prize and maintaining your resume, LI profile, recruiter pipeline, network associations, and "personal brand" all while managing to not get stuck in the day-to-day goo that is often corporate life, right? You've always landed on your feet, and you're pretty sure you always will, right?

For most of us, crazy swim parents and all, we have this tendency to get sucked into whatever it is that we are doing, our work, our hobbies, our children's lives. And although we want to keep our focus on the bigger picture, it's a lot harder than we like to admit because what we do matters. Our work in particular matters. We have a lot tied into it that goes beyond just our ambition.  

But the goo gets us off track and makes us focus on the wrong things.

Much like my sad, but true, swimming analogy, once we get stuck in it, we end up more in survival mode than in strategic mode. We're just trying to stay afloat and make it through (and keep up!). And truthfully, sometimes it is just comfortable and not all that unpleasant (after all, gooey things tend to be warm, like hot chocolate chip cookies...who can resist that?). So we don't always mind fighting for that survival because it has become such a big part of our little world. And, hey, like I said before, we usually land on our feet.  

That is, until the jolt comes.

In today's job market, particularly in tech, you need to be careful not to get too stuck in the goo...because it is probably temporary. While you're busy trying to hold together all the pieces of your current engagement, the job market is ever shifting and evolving. Technologies are changing, corporate demands are tightening, and sectors are becoming more and more global. And statistically speaking, job changes, be it internal or external, are occurring every 3 to 4 years if not sooner.

I've watched many a technical professional get jolted into this reality because he or she was lost in the perception that the day-to-day goo was what really mattered. But you don't have to just fight to survive; you can understand where the market is headed, and you can keep yourself prepared to face it, which is why I get into trouble when I discuss this with my HR friends. They want you to be lulled into the goo because the more focused you are on that the less focused you are on protecting the career you've worked so hard to build. They need you to need them much like you need them to need you. Unfortunately, though, this mutual "need" doesn't always last or work out so well because other forces are also at play.  

It's time to move from survival mode to strategic mode.

It's unrealistic to think that any of us can totally avoid getting stuck in the goo that surrounds us, whether that be corporate or, in my case, our children's activities. But much like we enlist retirement and financial advisors to help guide us through while we fight the daily battles, we can do the same when it comes to our tech careers. They don't have to be a solo effort predicated only on how well you've networked and earned credentials.

A new market requires a new strategy. So let's move from survival of the fittest into bigger picture thinking. Today's boss will be a distant memory one day, and this company could be replaced by something else, but you're career is yours to nurture and protect.

Senior IT Infrastructure Manager (NL, Canada) Candidate Profile

IT Director with 14 years of developing advanced solutions and providing exemplary service delivery and support:

• Development of global ICT framework, building an entire IT infrastructure to reflect new corporate identity as a result of merger
• Well versed in aligning ICT strategies with corporate goals, managing the IT procurement and allocation process
• Coordination of multiple office expansions, identifying infrastructure needs, and supervising teams to ensure on-time implementation of systems, hardware, and resources
• MBA with Graduate Diploma in Management
• ITIL and Novell Administrator certifications
• Toastmaster International Advanced Leader Bronze

 

Want to know more?

For the full resume or in an introduction to the client highlighted here, contact Stephen at Stephen@ittechexec.com directly.

Planning Your Visit to the Tech Job Market Zoo

 

The Resume Is Only Part of the Admission Fee

The resume is no longer king of the technical job search jungle.

Let's face it. That's how it used to be. You put a basic 1-page resume together, worked a few connections or answered a few job ads, and felt pretty certain the right opportunity would come along. Then if you worked hard and didn't burn too many bridges, you most likely had a pretty secure career path ahead of you perhaps even with the same company.  

Portfolios are becoming the latest main attraction for technical leadership.

With professionals changing jobs every 3 to 4 years, consulting on the rise, and fierce competition for promotions, portfolios can help build in flexibility and prepare you to face different hiring scenarios. You still need a solid chronological resume (no matter what you may hear) geared toward a very specific audience, but when done properly, having addenda to go along with the resume can be much more effective, not to mention the significance of the LinkedIn profile, which will continue to grow over the next few years.  

Survival begins with preparation...even at the zoo.

But you need to know which tools are best for your situation. Although there is a lot out there you can do (or buy), you don't need to do everything (that's the good news). So whether you are an external job seeker looking for a new full-time role, a consultant going for the next contract, or an internal leader seeking promotion or just retention (such as during an acquisition), it's important to know which tools are right for you. No one can predict for certain what the market will do, but you can make sure that you are properly prepared for whatever comes.  

So let's avoid the #1 pitfall pros make in the tech job market zoo...

Internet Everywhere: What Does It Mean for the Marketplace?

A few weeks ago, I published a guest post called “The Rise of the Machine and How It Is Going to Change the World” by Fasih Sandhu, which provided us with an overview of the Industrial Internet. As a top consultant in today’s technology field, Fasih writes extensively on the Industrial Internet as well as on the Internet of Everything (you can check out his blogs at http://www.gghc.ca/). Therefore, I asked Fasih if he would provide my tech readership with a second post, this time giving us an overview of the current state of the Internet of Everything.  

The following text is what he submitted to me:

The Internet of Everything (IoE) is a term that was coined by Cisco Systems (NYSE: CSCO). IoE is defined as the networked connection of people, processes, data, and things that makes it more valuable and more relevant, turning information into outcomes that matter to customers and shareholders. IoE includes three types of connections: 1) People-to-People (P2P), 2) People-to-Machine (P2M), and 3) Machine-to-Machine (M2M), and as such, it allows convergence, orchestration, and insights across the previously stand-alone and disparate systems. Data-driven business agility is at the heart of the IoE economy, facilitating decision making for new kinds of innovations, business architectures, and operating models.
   

Watch the Keynote Speech of John Chambers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cisco, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held January 6–7, 2014, in Las Vegas, Nevada, in which he along with Toni Vives, Deputy Mayor for Urban Habitat, Barcelona City Council, Spain; Ralph de la Vega, President and CRO, AT&T Mobility; and Rick Smolan, CEO, Against All Odds Productions (The Human Face of Big Data), shared how the IoE creates new capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented economic opportunities for countries, enterprises, and individuals.  

Cisco and Partners to Build World's Largest Global Intercloud, Key Enabler of "Internet of Everything"

On March 24, 2014, Cisco made an announcement to invest $1 Billion over the next two years to build Cloud Services to harness the potential of IoE. The Cisco global Intercloud is being architected for IoE, with a distributed network and security architecture designed for high-value application workloads, real-time analytics, “near infinite” scalability, and full compliance with local data sovereignty laws. The first-of-its-kind open Intercloud, which will feature APIs for rapid application development, will deliver a new enterprise-class portfolio of cloud IT services for businesses, service providers, and resellers.

Cisco plans to deliver Global Cloud Services with and through Cisco partners such as Telstra, Allstream, Canopy, Ingram Micro; Logicalis Group, MicroStrategy, OnX Managed Services, SunGard Availability Services, and Wipro Ltd. It expects to expand the addressable cloud market from $22B to $88B between 2013 and 2017. Cisco also claims that its cloud services will be the world’s first truly open, hybrid cloud and will leverage OpenStack for its open standards-based global infrastructure. Cisco's plan is to support any workload, on any hypervisor, and interoperate with any cloud.  

Additional Resources:

• Cisco’s Robert Lloyd Platform blog on Cisco Intercloud
• Cisco Cloud Services opens New Opportunities for Partners by Bob Gault, VP Cloud and Managed Services Partner Organization

• The Rise of the Intercloud by Fabio Gori, Director Worldwide Cloud Marketing Cisco
• Cloud Services to Move the Internet of Everything -- and the SP Business -- Forward, Faster by Doug Webster, VP Global Marketing and Corporate Communication Service Providers Cisco
• http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/innov/IoE.html
• http://internetofeverything.cisco.com/

Big Data and the Internet of Everything (IoE)

Cisco has estimated that 25 billion devices will permanently connect to the Internet by 2015, rising to 50 billion devices by 2020. At that rate, there will be nearly 7 times more devices permanently connected to the Internet than people in the world!

Gartner estimates that there will be more than 200 billion devices that intermittently connect to the Internet by 2020.

According to the IDC, the installed base for the Internet of Things will grow to approximately 212 billion devices by 2020, a number that includes 30 billion connected devices.

As a result, all of these connected devices around the world will generate a tremendous amount of data that needs to be stored in databases and made available for operational and maintenance reporting and predictive analytics. Hence, vendors such as AT&T, Cisco, HP, IBM, and SAP could facilitate and/or could foster partnerships with the municipal, provincial, and federal governments to digitize their service offerings and have a real-time insight into demand and supply. The leading players in the Internet World will play a pivotal role in developing and implementing use cases for applications in the Utilities, Transportation, Healthcare, Education, and other sectors.  

Investments into the Big Data Startups

Big Data startups such as Cloudera and Platfora are attracting tech giants and venture capitalists to make investments into the space. On March 18, 2014, Cloudera raised $160 million from T. Rowe Price, Google Ventures, MSD Capital, and several other top-tier institutional investors.To date, Cloudera has raised $300M in venture funding. Previous investors include Accel Partners, Greylock Partners, and Ignition Partners. Currently, Cloudera is one of six distributors of Hadoop, which is open source at its core, and the market is expected to consolidate. Two versions are from other venture-backed companies, MapR Technologies Inc. and HortonWorks Inc., both of which have talked about going public. The other three are from Intel Corp., International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), and Pivotal, which is a joint venture of EMC Corp. and VMware Inc.

On March 19, 2014, Platfora also raised $38 million. The investment was led by Tenaya Capital, which brings Platfora's total financing to $65M. Also participating in this round are Citi Ventures, Cisco, and Allegis Capital, as well as prior investors Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, and In-Q-Tel.

On March 15, 2013, EMC's Chairman and CEO, Joe Tucci, announced the division of EMC into three groups: EMC Information Infrastructure (EMC II), EMC VMware, and EMC Pivotal. Later on, EMC Pivotal, a company at the intersection of big data, PaaS, and agile development, was officially founded on April 1, 2013 and headed by the former CEO of VMware, Paul Maritz. On April 24, 2013, General Electric (NYSE: GE) announced an investment of $105 million in Pivotal that gave it a 10% stake in Pivotal, valuing it at $1 billion. In 2013, GE also opened its Global Software Center in San Ramon, California.

 SAP HANA is eyeing to be the solution of choice for different industries for the real-time, next-generation database deployed on an in-memory computing platform from IBM, HP, Fujitsu, Cisco, Dell, and Hitachi to deliver the Predictive Analytics solutions.  

Big Data Use Cases in the IoE World

Healthcare | SmartGrid | Retail | Service Provider | IBM's Big Data  

What About “Security,” “Privacy,” “Data Integrity,” and “Liability” in the Internet of Everything (IoE) World?

One of the biggest challenges with the early adoption and proliferation of the Internet of Everything (IoE), Internet of Things (IoT), and the Industrial Internet concerns information management and legal aspects that surround the storage, distribution, and sharing of the information. Due to its sensitivity and the impact on the governments and people, the National and Internet Regulators (Aviation, Railways, Shipping, Transportation, Utilities, Healthcare, Telecom, etc.) have to work in tandem with the National Security and Intelligence Agencies to develop policies, standards, guidelines, and best practices and to enforce compliance through some kind of rating system as that of Financial Markets.  

What Does It Mean for You?

In my opinion, the success of businesses and professionals in the Big Data Age will depend on their capability to constantly learn, unlearn, and relearn the emerging and cutting-edge technologies with solid skills in leadership and diversity as the world will become a true global village with the mobility of people and businesses. As a result, new business models will emerge! Technical and functional skills in cloud computing, converged platforms, big data, information management, and information security will be in demand and open source solutions backed up by tech giants such as IBM, HP, Cisco, and GE will become more prevalent in the world dominated by the IoE.  

Author Bio

Fasih Sandhu is the Director of Greater Golden Horseshoe Consultants in Ontario, Canada, currently residing in the Greater New York Metropolitan Area. He specializes in optimizing IT and telecom ecosystems to extend business capabilities, cut costs, and drive ROI. His background as an advisor, management consultant, project manager, and ICT leader has provided him with a unique look at how improved workflow, technology, robust project delivery, and optimized organizational structures can impact business growth, innovation, and productivity. Fasih holds the PMP certification and is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC). He also has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer and Information Systems and is a senior member of the IEEE.

Fasih can be reached via info@gghc.ca or www.gghc.ca.

Technical Careers Can Be Protected

I spend a lot of time speaking with technical professionals, both my direct clients through ITtechExec and NoddlePlace and my connections across social media, on LinkedIn and Twitter in particular. When we talk about their careers, especially when I talk with tech leadership and more experienced professionals, here are the most common phrases that I hear:

• "I'm just trying to hold out with my current company a little longer even though there's little room for growth. Eventually, I know I need to make a move. I'm not sure when is the right time."
• "Companies don't want to hire me because I'm older. I'm planning to hold out where I am until retirement, if I can."
• "Recruiters keep trying to fit me into jobs I'm overqualified for. It's irritating. I'm waiting for the right one to come along."
• "When I'm ready to start my job search, then I'll get my resume together. I don't want to do anything until I'm ready."
• "I've talked with a few people who have some possible opportunities for me. I'm going to hold off on doing anything more with my job search until I hear back from them."

Perhaps some of these phrases sound familiar to you too. Perhaps you've said them yourself or some variation of them.

In my mind, they all have one common message:  

I'm waiting.

And they all share one common emotion:  

Hope.

There's a general sense behind the words that we are all waiting and hoping for something to happen, for things to get better at work or for the market to improve or for opportunities to arise...some type of intervention.

Now, don't get me wrong. Sometimes any one or all of those things do happen. But more often than not, especially in today's market, they don't.  

Either way, though, waiting and hoping do very little to protect the tech career you've worked so hard to build. Instead you're just kind of out there...

It's a bit like the old dilemma of being stranded on the deserted island. Are you going to wait and hope for rescue (doing your best to stay alive until then), do whatever it takes to build a boat and get off the island (you'll get off or die trying), or hunker down and start a new life on the island (you might as well make the best of it)?

With each option, it's a question of survival. How do you plan to make it through? And inherent in that is the issue of protection.  

Maybe you can't control the storms that come your way, anymore than you can control job markets that have gone a bit insane or discriminatory hiring practices, but you can decide how you are going to fight for your survival and what you are going to do to at least try and protect yourself from the next storm when it comes.

Now let's say you aren't alone on this island. Loved ones are there with you. Some might be injured; others might be children. Either way they are dependent on you to do something. How does that change your outlook?  

Protecting careers protects those who depend on you. And when you put it into perspective, the "waiting and hoping" tactic is the most risky.

Listen. In today's uncertain job market, you really can't afford to wait, unfortunately even when you're happy with where you are. The landscape keeps changing too much to think this job or the next will be there until you decide you no longer need it.

Therefore, you need an "ever ready" attitude, and that requires preparation. At ITtechExec, we have a saying:

Protection begins with preparation and continues with maintenance.

It means that as exhausting as it might seem to be in constant career management mode, it is worse to be caught off guard and unprotected. Starting a job search from scratch is not like it used to be. It requires more than just tossing together a basic resume and calling a few network connections. It's more than just answering a few job postings.

That might have worked before, but it isn't likely to work the next time at least not in the time frame you would like it to.

Really, you need to be nurturing and updating your materials, cultivating leads and opportunities, watching the market, and building networks. Or, even better, you need to build a team to help you do all that.

It's funny. We'll invest in that for other things, like our retirement, investments, or even our fitness training, but when it comes to our careers, we act like they are a solo effort. Maybe that's why we're stuck waiting and hoping.

If we dig our heads in the sand long enough, maybe it really will all just get better.  

Too bad hope is not a strategy, my friends!

Is Tech Getting Too Soft?

In my last couple of posts, I have been discussing the results of a survey conducted by the LMA Consulting Group and APICS Inland Empire, in which they surveyed employers in the manufacturing and logistics arenas. First I looked at the rise in employee retention efforts due to a skills gap shortage. Then I discussed the professional/technical skills that are reported as most lacking by these employers.

Now, I'd like to look at the soft skills these companies want from their talent.

Tech and soft skills is another topic I have been visiting (and revisiting) over the last several months as I read career trend after career trend that state that soft skills combined with tech skills is in high demand by today's employers. (For some of my posts, check out "The Softer Side of Tech" and "The Road to Promotion: Culture, Culture, Culture".)

Here are the soft skills listed in highest demand:

• Presentation and Communication Skills
• Writing Skills (check out an earlier post on this subject: "Why Our Writing Skills Need an Upgrade")
• Problem-Solving
• Collaboration & Teamwork
• Management Skills

When you combine this list with the professional/technical skills list, you realize it's a pretty tall order.  

They're looking for an extroverted introvert who thinks like a strategic business partner while architecting the latest systems solution in the latest technologies.

 [And, oh, it would be nice if you didn't care about money too much...they'd prefer you to be more concerned with "culture," please.]

Hmm. No wonder there's a talent shortage...they're looking for 1 in a billion! :-)

 It does make you wonder whether tech hasn't gone a little too soft.

Somewhere along the way we've romanticized the idea of the global workplace filled with TV commercial-like versions of "IBMers" all brilliant, all innovative, all articulate, all enthralled with brand building, all trying to save the planet.

And now companies are frustrated that this image isn't reality. So they are going to do more molding (aka "mentoring") and image building (aka "employees as brand ambassadors") and cultural awareness training (aka "onboarding") all while continuing to pay low, missing the boat on retention, and producing odd mantras about culture and leadership. None of which, mind you, gets you any closer to fulfilling your skills shortage gap...

But I digress...

The bottom line is that for the professional who can succeed in presenting just enough tech skills combined with the right soft skills, opportunity is certainly there.

Are You Lacking These Tech Skills?

According to a recent survey by the LMA Consulting Group and APICS Inland Empire, in which they surveyed employers in the manufacturing and logistics arenas, the following professional/tech skills were reported to be the most lacking:

• Capacity Planning
• Operations Management
• Manufacturing Operations Technical Skills (CNC, etc.)
• IT/ERP
• Demand Planning/Forecasting
• Lean/Six Sigma Process Improvement
• Inventory Management
• Project Management

These same respondents believe that these skills will be the most needed in the upcoming market with communication and presentation skills a close second. A total of 77% of employers surveyed reported having trouble finding talent that meets these skill demands, and most attributed the cause to a disconnect between college education and the skills needed. It is interesting to note, however, that despite the difficulty in finding properly trained talent that companies have been (1) slow to build effective retention programs for talent they already have and (2) slow to implement comprehensive training programs to develop the talent they want.

Employer Retention Will Be on the Rise: Will You Be Prepared?

In a recent survey conducted by the LMA Consulting Group and APICS Inland Empire on the manufacturing and logistics arenas, 87% of employers in these fields reported experiencing a serious skills gap in the quality of new talent they are attracting. As a result, these employers are beginning (finally) to take retention of existing talent more seriously.  

They can't afford to lose the good talent they already have, and they know it...or at least they say they do.

If you are currently employed (particularly in the manufacturing and logistics sectors), this could be really good news! BUT just because companies are talking "retention" doesn't mean they are just going to give away bonuses and salary bumps. More than likely as Baby Boomers continue to retire and other talent leaves for another opportunity, these companies are still going to do what most companies do...make you compete for the openings left behind.

Let's face it. Most organizations, especially the larger ones, do a pretty poor job of spotting their own talent. So even when it comes to promotion or retention, and even when they should be the ones doing the "wooing," more often than not, they still treat internal moves much like they treat external ones. And they want you, that top talent they desperately need to retain but don't know how to do it well, to "show" them the way.

In other words, even with this push for retention, if you want to stay, you're still going to be asked to work for it.

Starting last year, we began discussing the coming rise in promotions and we have been talking pretty much nonstop ever since about the necessity of being prepared...even for internal shifts and restructuring. Many professionals think the ball is in their court, and they can just sit back and let their results at the company speak for themselves, but it doesn't always work out so well...companies are forgetful, they're bureaucratic and political, they like to see competition for positions (it makes them feel like they have really "vetted" talent).

In my opinion as a career advancement strategist, when you are going for an internal promotion or move, that is when you should be most prepared! Everyone puts a lot of stress behind the external job search, and certainly that is understandable. BUT the internal move can be a key opportunity in the progression of your career, and it is a mistake to think that it is going to just fall in your lap because you "deserve" it.

Here are some key things you can do to prepare for this move:

• The Road to Promotion: Building an Innovation Page
• The Road to Promotion: A Job Search Is a Job Search Is a,
• The Road to Promotion: Culture, Culture, Culture

Does Your Personal Brand Come with a Guarantee?

Back when I first started my career, I used to work for a boss who was repulsed by the idea of guarantees. [And of course, I like guarantees. :-)]

So when he would put forth some requirement or program that we were to pass on to our staff or our customers, I would ask him, "is that a guarantee" or "what is the guarantee" that goes along with this new thing?

Now, I know what you might be thinking, but honestly I didn't "just" do it to bug him (which of course it did). I asked because those of us who had to communicate with the staff or customers were going to be asked that. People want to know what you are committing to, especially when you are rolling out something to them. In other words, what's your end of the deal? Can they rely on you and for what?

But nonetheless, whenever I asked this type of question, for whatever reason, it bugged him. I suspect it was because he didn't want to be held responsible for making one, or for making one he couldn't keep, but he would always respond with:

"In life, there are no guarantees."

Umm, no, I'm pretty sure there are. But apparently no one had ever told him that!

A lot of people are like my old boss....afraid to make guarantees. This is especially true when it comes to their approach to career management and ultimately advancement.

They want the company and the recruiter and the network contact to take action...to be persuaded and convinced...but they don't want to back up all of their personal branding that they worked so hard to craft with any kind of guarantee.

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

We've all heard this old axiom over and over again, and it's true. It's not wise to promise something you can't deliver, but that in and of itself does not make promises something to avoid! (I'm pretty sure my spouse wants me to make and keep promises; it's called a commitment.)

I'm really convinced that one reason many professionals struggle in their career advancement is because of an unwillingness to make a guarantee. As a result, leadership isn't quite certain of them even when the work history is good and the results are there.

Let's face it...we all like some level of guarantee, and employers are no different.

Now, I'm not suggesting you "wed" yourself to the job or that you go overboard and promise the moon, but you should back up all your talk with both examples (work history) and integrity (what is your guarantee). After all, that really is what a guarantee is...integrity.

And integrity is more than just being nice and showing up for work with a good attitude. Oh, and not stealing things. :-) Integrity is a firm adherence to a moral code. In other words, we know what you stand for and when you say "yes" it means "yes".

Here's where it gets tricky. And you might be thinking it too...

Employers don't always make good on their promises....even when you make good on yours.

TRUE. Very true. But we're talking about YOUR career advancement, keeping that goal in mind, not about the unfair world we live in. If you stop being willing to offer up the integrity with the work history, you ultimately lose the most. Future employers aren't going to be understanding about your fear of commitment or unwillingness to guarantee your work.

They're going to want to be sure of you.

And this gets tougher as we get more experienced (aka older) because we've lived through all the false promises and broken guarantees. We are gun shy, and we'd like the company to be the one making the guarantees, not us. But if you think of your professional career as its own business with you as the product, then you realize that all businesses must stand by their integrity and back it up with some kind of guarantee. If they don't, even with the best product in the world, they struggle to make the sale. The trust factor isn't there, and all the data to back up their claims won't clinch it for them.

So what is your guarantee?

When you are putting together your elevator pitch or looking at your "personal brand," what are you willing to stake your reputation on? Will you put it in writing?

For me and my team, it is that we guarantee that we will make technical career advancement simple in a complicated job search world. From your tech resume to your promotion/consulting portfolio to your recruiter engagement to your ongoing career management, we make each complicated step simple and pain-free. Your Technical Career Advancement: Transformed.

What guarantee can you make?

If Work Culture Matters, Then Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

If you've been following my posts for any length of time, you have probably noticed that I have been approaching the subject of workplace culture from just about every side over the past several months. The main reason is because HR and career strategists have been touting it as the #1 issue or trend for 2014. It's all the buzz.

[Plus, every time I bring up workplace culture, I get in a bit of trouble for some reason. So, like the little kid that I still am, I keep doing it. :-)]

BUT there is a very good reason why I do: Client after client after client tells me the same thing. Culture matters, matters, matters to them, but the more companies keep talking about it and implementing "new" programs, the more unhappy they generally seem to be. They sometimes even like the new concepts...more flex time, open forums, brainstorming sessions, less silos, etc. But even with that, they still don't seem all that happy.

So, obviously, then, something isn't working.

I have two very unscientific theories for why I think this is, but they are based on lots of experience listening to working professionals and discussing career advancement with them:

1. Employees expect "good" culture to be given to them.

2. Companies think they can do what no other civilization has done before them: successfully define and enforce their idea of "good" culture in a way that doesn't ultimately lead to revolt.

Listen. It's wonderful that everyone wants a great working environment, a place where all are valued and respected. But that is where the consensus generally ends because everyone's perception of what that is and how that should realistically play out is shaped differently...and it is very difficult to bring that into one harmonious reality!

For most people, culture is external...something out there that they must interact in.

So they care about it. They want the atmosphere at work to be right. They want to like what they do and where they do it. Therefore, they pressure their companies to make the environment better. They see greener pastures all around. They're convinced if the company would just do something to get it right, they would be more productive and stay longer.

Generally speaking, I think we can all relate with this feeling. BUT at the same time, basically, we are saying that the conditions around us must be just right or we can't/won't perform to our best. Hmmm.

The trouble is, of course, that there are 50-100-500-1000 people around us in the office that all feel exactly the same way, but they don't agree on what those perfect conditions should be like. They just know it is someone else's responsibility to fix it....or....

So off goes corporate...doing what corporate does...taking polls, implementing programs, forming committees, plastering mantras, conducting workshops, training evangelists...anything it can think of to create "good" culture...again, whatever that is exactly.

Back in my corporate leadership days, we were inundated with calls to improve our culture and respect our "brand," in particular, for recruiting purposes. And that was before social media!

I mean, you have to admit that companies have poured more energy and resources into defining culture and branding in the last several years than ever before...and yet the polls show more people are leaving jobs because of culture than ever before (of course, companies have laid more people off than perhaps ever before too).

In the technical world especially, the more companies try, the more techies run the other way. And everyone is left scratching their heads.  

Why can't we all just get along?

The truth is, well, we just can't. We try. We do our best. But we can't. Conflict happens. (Think about it, if we could, we'd have much better marriages and family relations...all things that matter more than work, right?)

And although we might follow the Golden Rule, not everyone else follows it in return. Or maybe they think they do even if we think they don't! It's a rabbit hole that can tie leadership up in never-ending circular arguments. (I remember a previous manager of mine who was sent off to "be nice" seminars for 2 weeks. She came back transformed in such an inauthentic way that we were literally begging for her to go back to her true not-so-nice self!)

Sure there are magical moments of collaboration, unity, respect...all great things...where we start to think we just might have landed some "good" culture...until the wind changes direction and people do what people do: change jobs.

Truthfully, the best innovations, as history bears out, usually come out of the harshest conditions...necessity and all. But we aren't really willing to endure that. Or we are as long as people aren't involved. :-)

Listen. Workplace culture matters...much in the same way it matters to us whether people like us.

We can say that we don't care about that, but of course we do. Life tends to be easier when people like us.

But not everyone does like us. And at some point, we have to accept it or at least figure out what we are willing to accept.

The last thing we would ever want, however, is for someone to "make" them like us or to "make" us like them. When that happens, you can be sure a revolution is just around the corner.

TECHIE Careers. Transformed.

 

I have to admit that it's pretty amazing to be in a business that gets to play a part in transformation.

Even more exciting is to get to do that with professionals who either work in technical fields as support or are techies supporting other operations because, essentially, transformation is the business they are in, creating/enhancing processes to improve functionality and efficiency. (In other words, nothing is ever the same after they get their hands on it!)

Career opportunities transform lives.

I was thinking about this other day when my client, John, called to tell me that he had taken a job offer for a Product Engineer position that was moving him and his family 600 miles from his current location. He was so excited, not just because the offer was a good one, but also because where they are moving, his kids are going to be in a better school district and closer to extended family, something they had wanted for a long time.

Another client, Sara, after going back for her MBA, finally realized her dream of making it to the CIO level at a midsize company she has had her eye on for a while.

It is calls like these that make me see just how impactful a career can be. But all too often, I hear people looking at the concept of a career as a burden.

In todays' market, well-meaning people love to talk about work-life balance, and in doing so, they often do their best to either downplay or demonize work as something trivial or anti-family. And certainly there is some basis for that. We all can most likely think of times when work has hindered or hurt our personal relationships or caused us too much stress.  

But to trivialize our careers ignores the transformative aspect of them...whether that is for good or for bad.

For just as our careers can be a hindrance to our personal lives, and attitudes, they also can be a major blessing to them. Stability, satisfaction, opportunity, self-fulfillment, monetary gain, influence...these can all result in a positive way from our careers and spill into our personal lives.

In other words, bad experiences don't make careers in and of themselves bad. Nor do they make ambition bad. They just make for, well, bad experiences.

After listening and interacting with technical professional after technical professional, there is no doubt in my mind that careers transform our outlook, our life path, our decisions. So they do matter...very much. And not just for sustenance and something to do.

Furthermore, in today's world, careers are even more valuable as job searches are tougher and more complex and the market is a global stage. Therefore, they should be something that is nurtured and taken care of, not something that is trivialized and downplayed or, perhaps even worse, ignored.

As my client Ahmed recently stated, "going through this process has made me realize that there are many more doors open than I realized. I thought I was destined to be lost out on the job search sea, just hoping for a rescue. Now I see that my career can be something I can manage and look forward to. It's made me a much happier person."  

Now, I'd say that's transformation!