Tech Careers: 3 Simple Effective Branding Methods

I’ve talked quite a bit lately about the importance of personal branding and leveraging social media in a technical career.  Today, I want to cover 3 simple things that techies can do to improve on their career branding message. (And these are not just for active job seekers, but for happily-at-the-moment-employed techies as well.)

Get a technical resume makeover (and keep it updated)  

I know what you’re thinking…the resume is dead, right? For some social media fanatics, perhaps. They would like to think that social media has replaced any and all traditional methods. But to hiring managers and recruiters, resumes are still a must. TechRepublic, a highly respected news source for IT/technical info, issues a technical resume makeover pretty regularly that you can follow for tips. Of course, we have tons of tips here as well (Technical Resume Keywords and ATS Systems, IT Resume and Personal Brand Strategy, and Executive IT Resumes: How Far Back Do You Go?).

Take a chance with your LinkedIn profile

Once you’ve read one LI profile, you’ve read them all. Now, I am not suggesting that you go off the deep end; after all, LI is a stuffier place than Twitter or Facebook, but just because the air might be thicker there doesn’t mean it all has to be the same. It’s a common mistake people make with their resumes, and now I see it with LI profiles as well. Having a solid branding message will help with that, though, because if done right, you are going to be focusing on the unique skill sets that you have and presenting yourself in that light.

Join a Twitter Chat

If you’ve followed my blog at all, you know I keep harping on this…and for good reason. If you’re not going to do anything else on Twitter (and we can certainly debate the merits of that), you should at least jump in and participate in a chat or two on a somewhat regular basis. The key is showing up at the most effective chats. I’ve highlighted the following chats before, and I will list them again (you can usually find me at one or both of them):

• #ITchat (Tues., 1pm, Eastern): Each week this chat covers a different topic related to IT.

• #TCFchat (Wed., 3pm, Eastern): Hosted by the Tech Career Forum, this chat covers issues related to career and job search, from resume to personal branding to the state of the IT job market. You can learn more about the Tech Career Forum and #TCFchat on LinkedIn. You can also find out about the latest questions/topics for the upcoming Wednesday chat.

Don’t Get Twitter? Start Chatting & You Will

For social media junkies, it is sometimes hard to believe that not everyone is in love with #SoMe like we are. Yet every week our firm, ITtechExec, speaks with high-level technical clients who barely have a LinkedIn profile (considered the very rudimentary of social media existence) and are not especially keen on “wasting” time on Twitter.

Although those of us who have had great success with social meda may disagree, we do have to admit that a person can waste time on Twitter. But just because you can doesn’t mean you will if you know what you’re doing.

In my mind, one of the best innovations to happen to Twitter is the formation of chats. These are typically weekly, biweekly, monthly topical discussions that take place at a set day/time and are hosted by fellow Tweeps. By simply following a specific hashtag at that day and time, you can follow the discussion and join in (as long as you add that hashtag to the end of your tweet).
With more than 600 chats happening across Twitter each week, it was surprising to me that none of them catered to IT and technical career issues, especially as the war for talent in the technical arena is heating up. Well, now we have one. Hosted by the Technical Career Forum, #TCFchat is held each Wednesday at 3pm Eastern.
Topics covered during #TCFchat include:

• Job Market Trends
• Technical Resume Strategies
• Personal/Professional Branding
• Job Search Strategies
• IT/Technical Recruiting
• Networking Strategies

For a sample of a past discussion, check out [View the story "Tech Career Forum Branding, Resume ATS & Job Search" on Storify] from 5/9/2012.
Now, last week, I wrote about how important it is for techies to become more “engaged” in social media and to start becoming more proactive in career planning. Here is a great opportunity to do just that.

And even more, it is an opportunity to use Twitter without “wasting” precious time. You can speak with purpose to others interested in the same topics as you and you can  network with industry and career leaders.

To learn more about #TCFchat, touch base with Stephen, the @ITtechExec on Twitter, or join the LI group to stay posted on weekly topics/discussions. To find out about the 600 other Twitter chats, follow @chatschedule on Twitter or do a basic Google search on Twitter chat schedules. A whole list of options will come up to check out.

First steps in transitioning to Agile Methods from Traditional methods

First steps in transitioning to Agile Methods from Traditional methods




(Guest blog by Ram Ramanathan)

1. Study the culture of the team and strategize based on whether the team falls under the Innovator or Early adopter or Followers categories. 
2. Bring Agile Project management concepts step by step. All the Agile concepts can not be implemented in one day, it would only cause failure. 
3. Elucidate the benefits of Agile and how that could help win a customer or retain a customer. Here are some advantages of Agile Methodologies:

• Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software *Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)

• Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication

• Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers

• Working software is the principal measure of progress

• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design

• Simplicity

• Regular adaptation to changing circumstances

• Self-organizing teams

• Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted

• Even late changes in requirements are welcomed (this does not mean just more coding. Instead removing an existing feature or moving a deadline forward to accommodate late/unplanned feature requests.

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4. Tailor the Agile Methods or Scrum to fit the needs of your organization.
5. YAGNI – Remember the acronym YAGNI (You Aint Gonna Need It – Unless Business conditions require it). 
6. Trust your team members and empower them.
7. Agile may not work well if the majority of your team members are just beginning their career as it requires a high level of commitment from your team members.

Ram is a Senior Technical Program Manager that has led ASIC product development and engineering program management teams at Intel. Ram was able to successfully guide the adoption of Agile and Scrum methodologies within the Intel organization.


Connect with Ram via:
LinkedIn : http://www.linkedin.com/in/ramanathanram
Twitter : http://twitter.com/inceptionizer
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/inceptionizer
Blog : http://inceptionizer.wordpress.com

In IT, When You're Old, You're Old, Right?

Guest Post by Perry N.*

In IT, "old" is yesterday. So, let's just say, then, that I'm really "old". What I mean by that is that I've been around long enough to experience a few migrations, either in a hands-on role or in a management capacity....all things that I thought would make me more "experienced" and therefore more "valued".

However, as I sit here trying to decide whether (at 45....so old, I know) I should take the plunge and enter into this insane job market, I have been faced with the realization that not all employers might see my experience as cutting-edge enough, never mind that I have all the certs (updated and in good order) and degrees and other sorts of credentials that I would need for my background.

It makes me wonder how I ended up choosing a field where at 45, I would be an old-timer and where having too much experience might be considered a bad thing! 

At my current employer, I spend most of my time justifying my department's very existence (I'm the IT manager) and trying to fend off the notion that my people are merely "techie janitors" here to fix everyone's BYODs. It's not exactly what I had in mind 20 years ago when I started out in my first role, thinking I would never have to explain why an IT department exists and what we do.

After I worked up into an enterprise architect role with my last employer, I thought I was really set. After all, I had co-led the design and implementation of the backbone of our company! But, not so. So I ended up leaving that to move on to my current position with a smaller shop where I thought I could bridge the gap and migrate them into newer solutions.

Somehow along the way, however, either I really did get old, or there was a significant culture shift that I missed. Either way, it puts me right back to wondering just how 20 years of experience in IT equates in this market.

*As part of a new series of posts here at ITtechExec, we have asked some clients to share issues that they are facing as part of their technical job search or comments they have on emerging technology trends.*

Personal Branding in a Social Media World

Reblogged from ITtechExec WordPress Blog

Social Media Stats

A recent article by Talent HQ indicates the following social media statistics from Spring 2012:

Users

• Facebook – 850 million
• Twitter – 500 million
• LinkedIn – 161 million
• Google+ – 90 million
• Foursquare – 23 million
• Pinterest – 10.4 million

Daily Stats

• Facebook – 31% of users check-in daily for an average of 20 minutes
• Twitter – 175 million tweets per day
• LinkedIn – 11.5 million searches per day
• Google+ – 5 billion g+ buttons served each day (served, not clicked)
• YouTube – 4 billion video views per day

Personal Branding: Why These Stats Make It Relevant

“So what,” you say? “What do these social media statistics have to do with my personal brand, my IT resume or technical resume, and my job search?” It’s simple. Companies are going to expect to find you on one or more of these sites when considering you as a candidate for a job opening. As such, it opens the door for opportunity.

I suppose you could try to be like everybody else out there is SoMe (social media) land. That’s easy enough. Just sign up for a few of these services and write the standard description of yourself that makes people reading it fall asleep within 3 seconds.

The alternative is to craft a strong, compelling personal brand statement that is real to who you are, what you do, and what you want to do. Then put some creative messaging in place to effectively communicate this brand across all of the social media forums you’re a part of. Just keep in mind that these forums are all different, and the demographics are distinct for each…so the style you use to communicate your brand message should correlate with the site you’re on.

The ITtechExec Way

To arm yourself with more tools in your technical job search arsenal, we offer a FREE Technical Jobs Report & Online Brand Assessment to our followers. We also offer a 10% discount to those that give us the full social media endorsement (FB, Twitter, Blog, Pinterest, LI). Take advantage of our offer just by signing up to follow this blog or go to our website ITtechExec (be sure to indicate in the “How did you hear about us?” box that you found us through our blog).

IT: 10 Reasons IT Gets a Bad Reputation

A May 5th article in TechRepublic.com (10 Reasons IT Pros Get a Bad Rap) provides a list of reasons why there is such a negative perception of the IT department in general and IT workers specifically.

Three of the ten reasons listed I don’t agree with whole-heartedly. #1 :”We’re considered too well-paid;” #8: “We suffer from the Golden Boy syndrome;” and #9: “We are indispensable” are not really true anymore…although they were about a decade ago.

With all of the IT outsourcing happening, IT is no longer the hot and happening place it used to be. It’s more of a commodity field now, and nearly any IT job is “dispensable”…meaning it can be outsourced.

The rest of the items on the list can be solved and remedied with the right touch. All it takes is a dedication and focus in one particular area to turn the tide. That area is “Engagement.” Of course, to make the transition complete, the IT group has to effectively execute on the promises it makes. But it all starts with engagement.

Last month, we posted a blog focused on the IT group and how they struggle effectively engaging the rest of the business. You can read that post here.

The ITtechExec Way

To arm yourself with more tools in your technical job search arsenal, we offer a free Technical Jobs report & Online Identity Assessment to our followers. We also offer a 10% discount to our followers. Take advantage of our offer just by signing up to follow this blog or go to our website ITtechExec (be sure to indicate in the “How did you hear about us?” box that you found us through our blog).

As a leader in the Tech Career Forum, ITtechExec will again be hosting the weekly Twitter Chat on Wednesday at 3pm Eastern for IT and tech pros to get great advice on resumes, personal branding, career management, and the job search process. Join and follow the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #TCFchat.

Tech Career Forum Group Launched

Stephen Van Vreede (http://www.ittechexec.com/) and Jennifer Hay (http://www.itresumeservice.com/) have joined forces to launch Tech Career Forum.

Tech Career Forum is designed to provide advice to IT and technical professionals in all career areas, particularly those related to personal branding, the technical resume, and the job search process. Tech Career Forum also assists resume writers and career services professionals in expanding their knowledge base to enhance their engagements with IT and technical clients.

Tech Career Forum has initiated a LinkedIn group (http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Tech-Career-Forum-4395590) with interactive discussions, which is available for all members. Tech Career Forum will be hosting live Twitter chats on Wednesdays at 3pm Eastern, with the first in the series beginning Wednesday 5/2. To view or join in the discussion, follow or post tweets at #TCFchat.