The Laid Off IT Guy!

I have benefitted my entire career from mentoring.  I have also helped young men and women looking to get started in the career of Information Technology by mentoring them.  When I have had the pleasure of that opportunity I like to explain that I believe that IT today is broken down into four categories.

I suppose that there are those that believe that they learned everything that they needed to know in life in high school or college.  I tend to think that you make yourself a more well-rounded individual by continually updating your professional education by attending seminars, reading books and taking classes.  One of my goals is to be a lifelong learner.

Throughout my article series I’ve shared the many benefits of using networking for a job search.  Most jobs aren’t found on job boards or the newspaper, but by meeting people. Today’s message is about keeping in touch with your network contacts.

A few weeks ago I shared a story about how I narrowly missed out on a great job opportunity, coming up just short of a final round interviewing process, which included three finalists. That position went to another candidate, who ultimately didn't work out, yet I wasn't reconsidered. That was heartbreaking. Today I’m sharing a story in which I was once again a finalist for a position, but this time I was one of two candidates.

The advice that I give to job seekers today is to keep your interviewing to yourself.  What I mean by that is not everybody needs to know your business.  Well meaning friends and family will ask, “How are you doing?”, meaning, “How is your job search going?”  You might say that you have an interview coming up tomorrow and then they’ll want to know who you are talking to.  You don’t need that pressure.

A little more than two months ago I wrote an article about whether or not you, as an IT person, identify yourself with being a specialist or being a generalist and pros and cons to those situations.  Today I learned about a specialist friend of mine getting a new job.  In addition, I’ve had two other friends that have ended their job hunt within the past two weeks.  I’ll share some of their stories, as well.

In the progression from second round interview, where you know you are among the finalists for the position that you have applied to, the ultimate conclusion from the interviewing process is that the employer will select you for the position and offer you the position!  Don’t accept or reject an offer on the spot.  Always take some time overnight to consider everything that you are being offered.  There are things you want to carefully consider.  You’ll never have this much bargaining power again.

Congratulations on getting invited back!  The second round interview is your golden opportunity to win the job. To have made it this far in the interview process you have likely survived a phone screen and maybe an initial face-to-face meeting. For the employer to ask you back for a second time, you’ve obviously impressed them with your abilities, and now they just need you to validate that you are the best person for the job.

While, in general, I’d prefer to interview face-to-face, the phone screen interview does have its place during the initial selection process.  Here is how to use the phone screen interview process to your advantage as the candidate.

You don’t normally have to go looking for recruiters.  They usually find you.  Just place your resume at some of the most popular job boards and it’s “open season” on recruiters seeking you out to fill their contract jobs.  When you are unemployed, that can certainly be a good thing.  I’ve found, however, that not all recruiters are created equally.  Some are not worth your time and are just not a good match to help you.

When I lost my job at the end of November, I knew that it couldn’t have come at a worse time.  There were those that told me that there would be few opportunities through the end of the year, and as hard as I worked to try to prove them wrong, they weren’t.

As part of my severance package for the job that I lost at the end of 2012 the company provided to me a company to help me through the job transition.  I call the person assigned to me my Career Coach.  Her name is Carla and she has been terrific to work with.  Not only does her company provide group training sessions on such topics as interviewing and networking, but they also provide 1:1 guidance sessions.