Agile Elephant

SOA and Going Green

In honor of Earth Day, here's an old post for you...

Being Part of the IT Labor Solution

I just received my latest copy of InformationWeek and enjoyed Rob Preston's article "Are You A Complainer Or Part Of The Solution?"  His summation is spot on:

In the broad scheme of things, if you're a tech employer having trouble finding good people, ask yourself these questions before you point fingers at others: Are you training and cultivating the technology professionals you now have?  Are you providing them with a clear career path?  Are your recruiters IT savvy - do they know where to look and have the chops to evaluate talent?  Are you reaching out to professional associations and schools?  Are you truly committed to IT as a competitive advantage?

If you're a tech employee having trouble advancing your career, you're not off the hook either.  Are you keeping current on technologies and best practices?  Do you understand - really understand - what matters to a business and approach your technical work with a business mind-set?  Do you work on your communication skills?  Do you network like mad?

It's too easy to point fingers in the war for talent.  The challenge is in the solution.

The Scramble for IT Talent - Where is the Disconnect?

I'm a pretty avid reader of newspaper and magazine articles related to the search for IT talent and if I ever miss out on something, I can always rely on the blogosphere to identify the things I miss.  And even though James McGovern alerted me to this article about lack of available talent in Massachusetts, I can't help but think that this is just more of the same.

I have read more articles than I can count about the lack of IT talent, the impending retirement of the Baby Boomers and the low percentage of tech grads coming out of college.  We can certainly set up programs to meet these challenges and, according to the article, the Bay State appears to be doing so.  But all of that is for naught is companies don't make the investment in hiring these individuals and training them to grow with their company.

Too many times corporations make hiring decisions based on their most immediate project needs or, in the case of the executive offices, what will best placate their shareholders.  The companies that I enjoy having as clients are the ones that have the vision to hire for the long term and look beyond their quarterly numbers.

Having 'heavy hitters' who can come in and solve the most immediate problems is important, don't get me wrong.  But that hiring strategy must be tempered with individuals who can grow with a firm and provide long term benefits.  Maybe interview processes need to be altered to identify those candidates that can provide that potential.

What makes the New York Yankees so good?  They spend the money on 'heavy hitters' but they also have one of the best farm systems in baseball.

Nurturing talent is the key to success.

The Power of Relationships

Mark Cummuta has been chronicling his job search on the CIO eZine for quite some time and I have enjoyed most of his posts.  One of his most recent really got me to thinking about my business, the importance of relationships and how many people take this for granted.

I have been blessed with the opportunity to develop many good personal and professional relationships as a Recruiter.   These have been honed over time and have helped me to be successful.  When I started recruiting in the early '90's, all of my contacts were in a rolodex and resumes were stored in file cabinets.  When working on searches for clients, I would attack my rolodex of contacts and network, network, network.  The phone and the fax were my main tools of the trade.  Even email was not as widely utilized.

Now we're in the era of social networking and relationships are measured by the number of connections you have on LinkedIn.  There are a lot of people who are 'connection aggregators'.  But I never really understood what this achieved, unless you are able to take advantage of the opportunity and build real relationships with the people you connect with.

Building strong relationships is one of the real keys to success, professionally and personally.  If everyone had the ability to build and maintain these strong ties then I, and many other people in my profession, would be out of a job.

Quality, not quantity people.  And if you're really interested in building better relationships, read this book. 

Greg is Getting Good Press

I must have missed this from a few weeks ago, even though I'm an avid WSJ online reader.  Tibco's viral marketing campaign with Greg the Architect is getting some attention.  I think I will still be forced to explain what SOA is to my friends at dinner parties (I know....boring dinner parties), but I think it's interesting that the more mainstream press is reporting on this subject.

SOA & Wall Street Move to Midtown

I will be at Web Services/SOA on Wall Street Conference this Monday, February 11th in NYC.  Please contact me if you would like get together to talk about career options.  Needless to say, the job market for qualified Enterprise Architects with strong knowledge of SOA principles is very hot!

Agile Thoughts For the Day

You Say EA, I Say SOA: Let's Call The Whole Thing Off:  Joe McKendrick points out that these two terms may be converging.  Until the skills gap is closed, however, and more Enterprise Architects better understand SOA, then it will be hard to use these terms interchangably.

Grown Men Can Cry: The human aspects of technology and the efforts we all put forth for others are really what makes everything worthwhile.  Maybe our personal/charitable interests should be higher up on the resume for employers to see...But would they care?  I think Jim McGovern would.

Go Big Blue!: Now I'm a Dallas Cowboy fan trapped in NY Giant country, but how lucky is this guy.... You know, I think that's actually Mike Kavis.

The SOA Skills Gap

A recent interview with Sandy Carter, IBM's VP SOA & Websphere Strategy, covers a topic that many of us in the blogosphere have been discussing for quite some time: that SOA projects will begin to stall due to the extreme shortage of Enterprise Architects with SOA knowledge and skills.

This topic is really nothing new and I hope that IBM's attention to the matter helps to alleviate the problem.  Only time will tell; however IBM's renowned ability to provide training in these situations will hopefully shine through.

Job Interviews Move to 'Pay for Play'

There has been a lot of buzz recently about NotchUp, the new "social-networking" site that offers a financial reward for simply attending interviews.  In theory, it is a great idea.  I rant often about companies needing to differentiate themselves in the competitive war for talent.

But there are numerous issues that need to be considered if you are to either utilize this service as an employer or interviewee.

I have received a number of emails from my trusted connections on LinkedIn to participate in the site, but have been hesitant to do so.  Based on what I have read about the NotchUp Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, I would suggest that you be careful as well.  How often do we all just click on that button just to move on?

NotchUp basically uploads your LinkedIn profile and prospective employers get the opportunity to log on, view your confidential profile and offer you a chance to interview with their company.  You would then be compensated for your time at the interview by the employer.  Up to thousands of dollars!  Sounds great, right?

Well my dad always told me that you never get something for nothing.  And NotchUp makes no guarantee that you will be paid.  That is between you and the employer.  I would also be very aware of the Terms of Use policy I mentioned above.  It is very different from LinkedIn's and, while I am not an attorney, it appears as though you are leaving yourself wide open to spam attacks.

But one of my biggest arguments with the service is with its self-proclaimed 'value-add' that you can save money in the long run by not having to use recruiters to locate talent.  In other words, the cost of paying for a few interviews is much less than what you would have to pay an Executive Search firm for the same service.  And while that is certainly possible, that presupposes that all we do as professional recruiters is email resumes to our candidates.  I'm not going to go into a long explanation (Executive Search 101) of what my value-add is for my clients and candidates, but it certainly extends far beyond resume shuffling.

So while I certainly applaud the concept of driving qualified candidates to great companies like Google and Yahoo as advertised on NotchUp's website, I would be very wary of this service until it is fully vetted.  And, in the meantime, consider the value-add of an experienced Executive Search firm when trying to locate exceptional talent.

The War for Talent is Over...

...and the talent has won.  The problem remains, however, that most corporations do not realize that they have lost.  I can't help but notice a seemingly unending persistence to hire the 'perfect' candidate instead of promoting and growing internal talent or hiring professionals that can grow into their respective roles and provide a long-term benefit to the firm.

James McGovern points out that some enterprises 'suck' at finding top talent.  Unfortunately, he is spot on.  He is also correct in that it is much more than just 'finding' the talent.  In my opinion, most of these firms don't even know what talent is.

In the world of technology, many open positions get relegated to the Human Resources Department to be filled.  Now unlike many Executive Recruiters, I have no problem dealing with HR representatives that understand their role and how they can best serve their company.  I work with many companies where the HR staff works as a true support structure, as opposed to a barrier to entry.  Much like a bouncer at a posh NYC club, if you are not wearing the right outfit and saying the right things, then just turn around and go home.  I often have to deal with individuals who are merely looking to match words from the manager's job description to the resume in their hand.  If it doesn't match, then it doesn't get moved forward.

Now I realize that the only real way to manage requirements is to deal directly with the hiring manager.  That is the ideal scenario and, in today's marketplace, we cannot be bothered to waste our time with any barriers as described above.  But wouldn't it be nice if these companies realized that their most vital commodity is either not getting in the door or, even worse, leaving because there is no ladder for growth?

This short-sightedness damages the organization in more ways than one.  The companies who will succeed are the ones who have raised the proverbial white flag and surrendered to the need for top talent for their organization.