Here is your next Senior Software Engineer/Architect

A friend who had just found a nice IT contract has learned the funds are running out prematurely, so he is job hunting.

He has most often worked as a Senior Software Engineer, Architect, Supervisor, and Tester, but is willing to consider other possibilities. You can catch his current and active profiles on LinkedIn, Dice, Monster, CareerBuilder, or FreeLancers.  If you have leads, contacts, a job opening, or the kindness to wish to distribute his resume, please contact him on one of those social networks. He is a Canadian citizen with permanent residency status in the US and currently applying for US citizenship.  He remains open to relocation elsewhere in the US, Canada or overseas.

Forecasts high on cloud computing; tech certs, not so much

Toni Bowers at Tech Republic reports on a couple of 2010 IT forecasts. One makes a few commenters throw their pen protectors across the room. The other is slightly more optimistic.

IT career: What's hot (cloud computing) and what's not (tech certs)

Europeans have mixed employment expectations

Here is futurist Joyce Gioia's take on the transatlantic view of the next decade.

Expectations are often self-fulfilling. That is why when a recently released Financial Times/Harris Poll compared next decade expectations for the five largest European countries and the United States, we decided to share the results. (Two weeks ago, we actually devoted an entire Herman Trend Alert to US expectations. http://www.hermangroup.com/alert/archive_1-06-2009.html)


Not surprisingly, the French and the British were the most pessimistic (44 and 36 percent respectively), while Americans (43 percent) and Spaniards (41 percent) were more optimistic about what the new decade will hold for them financially. Over 40 percent of Italians polled were on the fence (neither optimistic nor pessimistic; we wonder how their recent unrest among migrant farm workers might affect this poll, if taken today).

You may remember that all of these European countries have struggled with lowered birthrates and increasing in-migration of workers to fill the open jobs local employers could not fill with nationals.

Looking ahead, 10 years into what people think their standard of living will be, it is not just the French who are pessimistic. Over half of French adults (56 percent) say their standard of living will be worse as do many Germans (42 percent), Italians (41 percent), and Brits (38 percent). Spaniards are split as 35 percent each say their standard of living will be better and worse.

When it comes to spending money, most report they are spending more money than they did 10 years ago; Spain (61 percent), Italy (58 percent), France (57 percent), Great Britain (51 percent) and Germany (51 percent).

Global increases in terrorism may explain why very few people feel safer. Most people also believe that the US and its allies are unlikely to win the war on terror.

Most Europeans agree (between 54 percent and 75 percent) that over the next 10 years the government will do less for them and their families financially than it has in the past decade. Also, the current economic uncertainty is hitting home with citizens of these six countries, especially the French, and many people are taking a wait and see approach to what this new decade will bring. This attitude will negatively affect the recovery.


From January 20, 2010, 'The Herman Trend Alert,' by Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurist. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group of Companies, Inc.

Try meetup.com for networking

ne place to find like-minded people is www.meetup.com. It's like Facebook for groups. You wander through a world-sized party and overhear conversations. Some are about business; some are about families, some are about food or bird watching or food and bird watching. You stay longer when they sound interesting and move on when they don't. What makes the difference is that these people intend to get together in the real world.

Their motto is "Do something. Learn something. Share something. Change something." So, whether you're looking for a group to join or looking to start a group and want to find other people interested in the same thing, here's a good place to start.

Futurists: Consumers expect better times, more jobs

usiness futurists Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia of The Herman Trend Alert reported last week that most people in the United States are looking up, according to recently released surveys from The Conference Board and the Pew Research Center.

As Herman and Gioia have reported in the past, consumer confidence plays an important role in forecasting the future. Consumers' optimistic expectations have a positive effect on many aspects of the economy.

According to the Pew survey, while only 27 percent of Americans had a positive feeling about the 2000s, most (59 percent) think the coming decade will be better than the last for the country as a whole, a view held across most political and demographic.

At the same time, a significant minority - 32 percent - believes that things will be worse in the 2010s than in the 2000s. Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats (42 percent versus 20 percent) to offer a pessimistic assessment of the next decade. Only a third (34 percent) of independents holds a gloomy expectation.

The outlook for the labor market was also more upbeat. The percentage of consumers expecting more jobs to become available in the months ahead increased to 16.2 percent from 15.8 percent, while those expecting fewer jobs decreased to 20.7 percent from 23.1 percent.

These positive expectations will support higher levels of consumer spending and therefore, drive retail sales as well as the labor market. Expect the labor market to tighten even more for in-demand skill sets.

Generationally, the most optimistic group is young people, ages 18 to 29, 65 percent of whom feel positively about the next decade. On the negative side, people between the ages of 50 and 64 are the most pessimistic about the 2010s---42 percent think things will be worse. This statistic compares with 30 percent of people under 50 and just 26 percent of those ages 65 and older.

In both November and December, The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, rose. The Index now stands at 52.9, up from 50.6 in November. The Expectations Index increased to 75.6 from 70.3 last month. Expectations for the short-term future increased to the highest level in two years (Index 75.8, Dec. 2007). A more optimistic outlook for business and labor market conditions was the driving force behind the increase in the Expectations Index.


Source: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc."

Who's hiring techs?

ho's Hiring Techs is drawn from a weekly survey by Phil Rosenberg of companies showing the highest hiring activity for the week of 1/4/10.

Total Job Openings
The business services and telecommunications verticals are among the top industries currently hiring based on a survey of active job advertisements from the nations’ top job boards. Overall advertised openings were down a bit this week due to the holiday.

Business Service firms IBM, Accenture, and SAIC continue to be in the top hiring firms. Telecommunications continued strong hiring, with AT&T and Verizon still strong on hiring. Defense companies remained top hiring firms with Raytheon making the list.

Based on surveys of US job advertisements in the top job board aggregators, the following companies added the most job openings:

Total Job Openings by direct advertisers (Recruiters and Staffing Companies not included):

1. IBM
2. AT&T
3. Raytheon
4. Booz Allen
5. Accenture
6. SAIC

Job Openings Added This Week
The Business Services and Telecommunications verticals are also among the top industries with new job ads based on a survey of recent advertisements from the nations’ top job boards added during the past seven days.

Business Services continued heavy hiring with IBM, SAIC, and Accenture in the top employers. Defense continued near the top with Raytheon included in the top 10 new employment advertisers this week.

Telecommunications remained strong for the past quarter with AT&T and Verizon continuing as top employment advertisers.

Job Openings added this week by direct advertisers (Recruiters and Staffing Companies not included):

1. IBM
2. AT&T
3. SAIC
4. Accenture
5. Raytheon
6. HP
7. Cisco

Source: Recareered

Do your homework before accepting resume help

was just talking with a client whose friend helped him update his resume recently. A couple of things happened that sent him to me.

Unfortunately, his friend suggested omitting his achievements in his current position because the document was getting too long.

Even that resume got him an interview, which was great! However, when he talked with the hiring manager, he learned that the resume had made them think he wanted a job in management, which he didn't. He is a tech, and he wants to stay a tech.

So, today's lessons are about resumes:

1. Always, always, every time choose achievements over tasks. If you're a tech whose skills match a job posting, chances are everyone else who responds is, too. Usually, to get the interview, and definitely to get the job, you must set yourself above the competition. That takes accomplishments.
2. Pay close attention to the focus of your resume. Make sure it's outlining your experience and accomplishments in the job you want. Omit or brief other experience as irrelevant. Hiring managers are no longer willing (if they ever were) to wade through  information about an insurance sales job you held for four years while you finished school or discovered your tech self. If it doesn't move your proposition forward, you don't need it. If you don't want a time gap, simply label it with the job title, business, location and dates with a one-line synopsis of your experience.
   

Make it a happier new year: Learn something

appy New Year! It will take a good amount of faith for job seekers to feel much elation, especially in the early part of 2010. Even optimistic forecasts of the job market have more later than sooner in them.

So, in between blog posts and applications, networking meetings and pep talks, what is the most valuable thing you can be doing?

Learning.

The instructor in my Investment class, Don Cote of the Center for Wealth Creation and Preservation, said earlier this week that there are only three ways to leverage income:

1. Income property in an appreciating area of the country.
2. Businesses that generate profit.
3. Education that will produce profit.

What type of education will add the most value to your profile?

Are there growth opportunities listed on your last performance review?

Have you been meaning to find a mentor but you've been too busy to look?

Perhaps there's been a program or process you want to teach yourself.

Take a look at your bookshelf. Is there a book that's even more pertinent now than when you bought (or borrowed) it?

If you've been learning right along but not documenting it, that's your final step. LinkedIn has a section about what you are reading or recommend reading.  Your resume has a Professional Development section (and if it doesn't, it should.) Use them.

Show your next employer -- or even your current one -- that you value learning. Your value may become more apparent and your year even happier.