Tech Job Seeking in the Post-Apocalyptic Economy

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Tech Job-Seeking in the Post-Apocalyptic

Economy



Aim- Offer some insight into the state of the tech jobs market (primarily focussing on on-line job-seeking)

- Identify the core challenges facing job-seekers

- Explore how you can overcome these challenges

- Offer some ideas into marketing your skills and attracting attention



The Market: The Golden YearsA few things have changed in the job market!2003-2008 were “The Golden Years”, characterised by:

- High Growth

- Relatively few job losses

- Lots of vacancies

- Limited (relatively) competition

- “War for talent” – “candidate-led”

Challenges for the job-seeker included:

- Fending off interest from recruiters and hirers

- Being efficient in your job-search

- Avoiding time-wasters

- Keeping skills marketable

- Negotiating salaries



2008 / 2009 – Post-ApocalyptiaThe tech jobs market is very different now, characterized by:- Much lower volumes of growth and hiring

- Redundancies and job losses

- Low graduate recruitment activity

- Increase in offshoring

- Fewer/smaller projects starting

The net result of this is more people chasing fewer jobs – job-seeker challenges now include:

- Finding out where the jobs are and attracting attention of recruiters and hirers

- “Getting in the door”

- Making an impression in competitive interview processes



Now The Good News-There is still a fundamental lack of supply of tech talent in the UK

- The tech sector is doing better than many others in pure volume terms

- The situation is easing (that’s why it’s post-apocalyptic)

- Job-seeking has changed, but hasn’t become impossible!



Facts and Figures – Jan 2009 – Oct 2009

27%

41%

18%

14%

Advertising

DB

Social Networks

Networking

-A multi-faceted approach is vital

- Focussing your efforts in multiple areas is key to success



A Broad Approach

Effective job/opportunity lead generation- hunting down adverts and application best practice- using your network and cold marketing to uncover “hidden” vacancies- making friends with recruiters

Personal Marketing- CVs- Social Networking- “Making a noise” using jobsites and the wider web

Effective Interviewing- effective preparation

Splitting your efforts between these areas is vital to success



“Getting in the door” – The Importance of Personal MarketingEver hear the one about the two biologists…?Two biologists are in the field following the tracks of a radio-collared grizzly bear. All of a sudden, the bear crashes out of the brush and heads right for them. They scramble up the nearest tree, but the bear starts climbing up the tree after them. The first biologist starts taking off his heavy leather hiking boots and pulls a pair of sleek running shoes from his back-pack. The second biologist gives him a puzzled look and says, "What in the world are you doing?“ He replies, "I figure when the bear gets close to us, we'll jump down and make a run for it."

The second guy says, "Are you crazy? We both know you can't outrun a full-grown grizzly bear."

The first guy says, "I don't have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you!“

You’re not competing with the market, you’re competing with each other!

Marketing = Collateral + NOISE (distribution of collateral)



CVs & Profiles: Marketing your (Technical) SkillsProfile = Your primary impression-making weapon: description of your skills, achievements and background. A profile is normally generic.

CV = Profile in document form. Can be generic, but should be specific to a job as often as possible.

Both need to be well-produced, specific to your audience and EASILY FOUND!



ProfilesYour Profile should be your job-seeking home on the web – replicated on Social Networks, Personal Web-Pages, Jobsite databases

Your profile should:

- Give an overview of your experience and credentials

- Tell us where you’ve worked, what you did, what you achieved and how that benefited your employers

- Explain your current situation and tell us how best to contact you

- SEO: include the relevant buzzwords and search terms to help recruiters find you!

- Be prominent!

CVs- CVs should be tailored to a specific position as often as possible

- Re-writing from scratch is more effective than tailoring!



CVs & Profiles – Whistle-stop tour- Re-write (or at least tailor) your CV for each live vacancy

- Talk about achievements and benefits, not features

- Try to keep adjectives and fluffy language to a minimum

- Be careful with formatting – avoid pictures, tables, headers and footers

- Check, check and check again!

Dealing with Technical skillsTell us not just what you did, tell us what you’ve done.

PHP superstar? Tell us about the sites/apps you’ve made in PHP in your current/previous role(s). Where are they? What do they do? Which modules did you write? What value did your work have on the overall product or bottom line?

Software Tester? What have you tested? How did you test it? What tools did you use?



Social NetworkingSocial Networking is a vital tool in your job-search in the post-apocalyptic economy. Some of the techniques we’ll discuss later rely on Social Networking

- We don’t have time for a full discussion of Social Networking and job-seeking today

-We recommend you build a profile and network on LinkedIn, and that you investigate the use of Twitter

- For more information on these topics, get in touch with us directly, or browse our blog



Make a NOISE!Once you’ve developed a winning Profile and a system for making great new CVs, you need to make a NOISE!

Being easier to find than your competition is a significant advantage

- Any Marketing is ineffective if no-one can find it

- Create a positive internet “footprint”*

- Use the CV databases on the jobsites – upload at will!

- Consider your own personal webspace, blog, etc

- Be noisy on Social Networks

- Get in touch with recruiters directly (more to follow)

- Work your personal network as hard as possible*Be wary of a negative footprint – Google yourself regularly!



Jobsites and CV DatabasesCV Databases are more productive for recruiters than advertising (41% vs 25%)

It’s well worth your time creating a profile/uploading generic CVs – and updating regularly

They offer unique benefits to recruiters

Some databases include:

But go and find the ones that work for you!



So where are the jobs?Now we’ve discussed how to market yourselves, let’s look at part 2 of our approach: lead generation

Lead Generation = identifying vacancies or potential future employers

27%

41%

18%

14%

Advertising

DB

Social Networks

Networking

Remember the spread of sources!

Approach must incorporate advert-hunting, using your (social) networks and making new friends



AdvertsWhere to find adverts: Sites include:

Jobsite.co.ukMonster.co.ukTotaljobs.co.ukCWJobs.co.ukReed.co.ukCambridgenetwork.co.uk

There are loads more: some general, some specialist: so go and have a look!

Niche and emerging sites: Increasing numbers are having success using advertising on LinkedIn & Twitter

Aggregators: Some prefer to use search engines which aggregate content from the job boards – these dominate organic Google listings for specific searches.

You can set up e-mail alerts and RSS feeds on these to enable notifications and increase efficiency



Application Best PracticeDespite the tough market, too many people are putting in not enough effort into their applications. In a crowded market, follow best practice to stand out!

-Always write a covering letter unique to each role and make it relevant!- Consider re-writing your CV for each application (or AT LEAST “tailoring the CV”) - Follow-up by phone if you don’t get a response within 24 hours (for jobs posted by recruiters) or 2 weeks (jobs advertised directly)- Be patient when rejected but always ask for and action constructive feedback- Track your applications and progress, look for and monitor any trends you see



Using your (Social) Networks and Cold MarketingIt’s safe to assume that we are not unique in how we fill jobs

Therefore, most companies will not be relying on advertising and will fill a proportion of jobs through other means (recruiters, direct approaches, their own networks) – means which you need to exploit to gain competitive advantage

The next few slides will describe a technique which we think will add significant weight to your jobsearch – COLD MARKETING

Cold Marketing relies upon (Social) Networking – we can’t stress enough how powerful LinkedIn (and soon Twitter) will be in your jobsearch!

Only a small %age of job-seekers are doing this, so it’s a real competitive advantage



“Cold” MarketingThis is a really effective technique, comprised of three components:

1 – Identify potential future employers

2 – Identify relevant decision makers

3 – Make contact

Most companies will be happy to hear from you directly

You’ll get a strong insight into employment prospects at other companies.



Identifying Potential EmployersThere are several available tools, the best being LinkedIn. To do this on LinkedIn, just bring up an advanced search box and type in a few keywords (J2EE, C++, Product Management etc) and restrict search by location.

A list of PEOPLE will come up – people with similar skills or backgrounds to you.

Make a note of where each person in your results works at the moment (and where they worked previously)

You now have a list of companies who employ people with similar skills to you – i.e. potential employers!

Other ways of achieving this include using Google to search for CVs (speak to us and we’ll give you the magic search syntax / access to our custom search engine) or vacancies, speaking to friendly recruiters or personal contacts.



Identifying Decision MakersNow you have a list of potential employers, you can do one of two things.

You could visit each company’s website, find out the generic careers@ or jobs@ e-mail, write an excellent mail describing your skills, experience and achievements and explaning that you’re looking for work and attach your CV. This is an excellent idea and you’ll get a silver star for doing it.

You could however use the people search functionality on LinkedIn to identify your potential future manager at each of your target companies, figure out their e-mail address and then send your mail straight to the decision maker. This is an even better idea and you’ll get a gold star for doing it. (We can show you how to work out specific people’s e-mail addresses if you like….)

Another (more time-consuming) approach is to pick up the telephone and call the company/decision-maker in person. This is an even better strategy, and one we can advise you on seperately.



Making friends with RecruitersMaking friends with recruiters is an essential part of your jobsearch. Why?

- Recruiters have an in-depth knowledge of the market and can do a lot of the leg-work for you

- Recruiters often have access to vacancies you wouldn’t otherwise know about

- Recruiters can and should be able to offer further advice and assistance

Unfortunately, lots of Recruiters can be difficult to deal with, so it’s important to know how to deal with them effectively.

Recruiters lives have changed since the apocalypse. Now:

- They receive many more enquiries and requests than they can deal with

- They have far fewer vacancies to work on

- Focus is still on quality – easy-to-fill vacancies don’t get as far as recruiters!

- Spend time looking for specific people in amongst a lot of enquiries

- The chap on the left is not unique!

- Dealing with recruiters will be frustrating!



Simple Rules to FollowMake contact with as many recruiters as possible. Either contact individual recruiters directly, or register with agencies on-line.

HOWEVER:

- Don’t get frustrated if there’s no/slow response: you will be contacted when there’s “something to talk about”

- (Try to) be open and honest with recruiters, provided they are open and honest with you

- Be eager to deal with recruiters and welcome their approaches

- Make yourself memorable to good recruiters!



Effective InterviewingA whole different subject area that we won’t discuss today

Preparation is the key

Working with your recruiter (if there is one) is vital to success too

Get in touch for specific advice, we’ll be glad to assist.



A Successful Approach?

Effective job/opportunity lead generation- hunting down adverts and application best practice- using your network and cold marketing to uncover “hidden” vacancies- making friends with recruiters

Personal Marketing- CVs- Social Networking- “Making a noise” using jobsites and the wider web

Effective Interviewing- effective preparation

Create a winning profile and spread the word on-lineUse Social Networks!Be findable in CV Databases

Use best practice when applying to jobs – re-write CV and use covering letters!Make use of your networks and engage in Cold ApproachesMake contact with good recruiters, don’t expect too much and be eager to hear from them

Prepare, prepare, prepare!

Tech Job Seeking in the Post-Apocalyptic Economy

Career

Transcript of Tech Job Seeking in the Post-Apocalyptic Economy