[lopsa-discuss] Career planning

[Andrew Maddox]

On Tue, 6 Dec 2005, Stephen Potter wrote:

>
> Good recruiters are *generally* very localized.  I know some recruiters in
> Columbus who are excellent; but they don't really do anything more than
> twenty miles outside of Columbus.

That's for sure. I can't count how many calls I've gotten, for example, in 
the past 2 weeks, from bodyshops all over the US trying to hire me on as a 
no-benefits low hourly rate contractor for *the same job I left 4 years ago 
when the company was collapsing in layoff/benefit-cutting ruin before being 
sold by its parent megaCorp*! Sad.

Interesting, though - Brad mentioned Pencom and CT. Pencom is still 
generally OK, I think. one of my "good list" recruiters is from Pencom, and 
he works the DC market and Boston[0]

(Me)>>>  Do I need a specialty?  (this _was_ rhetorical, everyone 
realizes that? Just making sure.)
>>
BK>> 	Not necessarily.  I think a good generalist can be much more
BK>> widely useful than a good specialist, although it wouldn't hurt to be
BK>> able to fit into both kinds of roles.
>
> There are plenty of examples of people who have specialized and been very
> successful.  There are also just as many examples of generalists who have
> been very successful.  Defining how you want your career to look is a
> conscious decision that you have to make.

Yup. And I'm currently deciding where I want the rest of my career to go 
(at 41, I expect to have to keep it going for another 20 years or more, so 
it's got to be a careful decision)

>> 	Subjectively, I think you should ask yourself what kinds of
>> things do you find interesting?
>
> I completely agree here.  Figure out what you like and what you think is
> interesting and specialize on that.

There's my problem - I like technology. I like making different things work 
together, then moving on and learning the next new thing. So it's looking 
like I want to be a high-level generalist with a specialty in networking 
(and some security - an unsecure network is about a useful as a bucket with 
no bottom).

That's not a job description, though, so we're back to "how do you get the 
skills you want up to a high level and then convince employers that they 
need you?"[1]

>>>  Certifications - training
>>>  and studying for them, which are worthwhile?
>>
>> 	Very, very few.  Mostly so that you can get past the HR zombies
>> which scan your resume to see if you mention the right buzzwords.
>
> If you decide to specialize, get certification in
> your specialization.

Agree with both of these - I'm leaning toward beefing up my networking. For 
that, the CCIE is one of the certs I personally put some weight in, so I'm 
trying to train myself and look for a job that will help me move in that 
direction.

> You've got a good start just by asking the question.[2] Always expect
> that
> you will be laid off and that you will have to find a new job.  Keep
> networking constantly, keep reading, volunteer to take on new
> opportunities at work (to learn new skills).

These do seem to be the keys, going by what I can see of the consensus 
opinion here.

Bugger. Gotta go to work.

[0] Boston only because he's from there and has recruiter former colleagues 
there. Anyone have some good folks in the Portland, OR area?
[1] Again, rhetorical - keep building and working the networks, be 
persistent, be patient, and learn how to sell yourself.
[2] The question about "how do I make sure I'm ready for the next time the 
floor drops out from under me?"

Have fun at LISA for me!

afm

-- 
Andrew Maddox, madsox squiggle radix point net
Not in my name, you don't!