Changes in Quality

After seventeen plus years in the tech business I've learned that if you're not adapting to change you're going to be left behind. I can recall no other time in my time recruiting career where this is true then the shift from manual to automated testing.

The speed at which development leaders have moved quality control strategy was staggering. Demand for manual QA dropped to nearly zero while countless "Software Engineer Development in Test" (SDET) jobs are going unfilled.

The catalyst for this change is clear - manual testing was slowing the process down. As engineers are prone to do, someone in a development shop somewhere wrote a program to perform QA functions. Then someone else made that program better. Before you know it Selenium, Cucumber, JMeter, and a slew of other Quality / DevOps tools were born.

If you like be involved in the entire lifecycle, working with business and technical teams to automate processes that facilitate speed in software delivery there is plenty of opportunity in the marketplace.

If your career has largely revolved around manually testing software, take heart. The skills & passion you have translate to other roles within the development lifecycle such as Business Analysis, Project Management, Product Ownership, and Customer Support & Training.

Technology moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while you're going to miss it. -Ferris Bueller

NINJA'S NEEDED!! (cue eye roll)

Attention Employers! It's a buyers market. Over the course of the last 18-24 months software engineer Supply / Demand reports are showing approximately three open positions for every one qualified job seeker.

If I told you we were hiring JavaScript Ninjas would you think any less of me? Don't answer that. See, I'm not looking for "Rock Stars," "Warlocks" or a "Code Monkey" either.

Attracting top talent takes more than posting an extensive laundry list of required skills or using clever words and phrases to appear "hip."

What if I told you I simply need a solid client-side developer who can come up with elegant front-end solutions? You'll be given autonomy to make decisions, work with some reasonably talented and friendly human beings, and be treated & compensated fairly. Sound reasonable?

The methods recruiters (both corporate and agency) are using to engage with technical professionals need to change. Job descriptions should be descriptive of the job not a generic list of skills that you won't find combined in one person.

Here's what top talent wants to see in a job description:

• A decent picture of the day-to-day roles and responsibilities. They understand they'll be slinging code and running unit tests. They also understand there likely will be some production babysitting. They're looking for the FUN stuff like researching and deploying new technology along with being an integrated member of the solution development & delivery team. Coding existing technical requirements is part of every software engineer's job, but if that's all they're going to do reference "code monkey" and make sure your day-to-day picture looks like that. (Note: this will likely negatively impact the number of applicants.)
• What kind of people will they be working with on a regular basis? What's the team make-up? Who inside and outside the organization will be influencing and impacting their work on a daily basis? Is there a mentor? Is there someone there TO mentor?
• What the company offers in terms of culture, benefits, and opportunities for growth. Ultimately they want to know why it's a great place to work and what might set you apart from the other two employers who are competing for their services.
• How much money the employer expects to pay for the right person. They'd also like to know the non-monetary reasons to consider the job if the money is on the low side of the scale.
• Some core technical expectations without running down the litany of every piece of technology and third party vendor currently residing in your data center.

What top talent doesn't want to see is qualifications listing "a minimum of five years experience in XYZ" or a demand for "excellent organization, communication, and/or people skills."

They also don't want to see jobs that don't pay a fair market wage. A recent senior .NET developer posting in Kansas City touted "TOP PAY $" yet listed pay range is $25,000less than average compensation level and $35,000 less than what empirical data from a number of reliable sources indicates.

The data tells me the senior .NET developer you are so desperately trying to attract to your team is currently making anywhere from $90k - $120k annually. An advertised $65 - $85k range represents a significant cut in pay which will only attract unqualified applicants or no applicants at all.

PS: I didn't run the numbers on a ninja, but I'm certain that will be higher.

Software professionals are smart buyers so talent acquisition professionals need to be savvy marketers.

PPS: I seriously am hiring a couple solid client-side developers to build elegant front-end solutions who will be given autonomy to make decisions, work with some reasonably talented and friendly human beings, and be treated & compensated fairly.

Recruiter Do's and Dont's

As a technical recruiter / recruiting manager with over a decade of experience I know having a good recruiter in their corner is important for IT Professionals. The IT market is Red Hot right now which means weekly calls from recruiters. I've seen a lot of mistakes made by candidates over the years so I wanted to share my Do's and Dont's for building a good working relationship & optimizing the time you spend with an agency.

DO consider recruiters as a partner. They should be asking questions about your expectations beyond how the buzzwords on your resume align with their client's job spec. The more they get to know you; your goals, aspirations, interests, style, and "hot buttons," the better they will be able to serve you.

DON'T be afraid to engage with a recruiter, even if you're not actively looking. You never know when the next layoff is coming or your great boss is about to be replaced by the office politician. Having the relationship in place before you need their services will make the process a lot easier when you do.

DO ask about their client base. A recruiter needs to tell you about their clients. Knowing who the agency covers lets you determine what other agencies should be in your portfolio. If their clients aren't of interest to you, you're wasting your time. You can also strengthen the relationship by providing insight you might have about their clients.

DON'T work with every recruiter that says they have a job for you. Get to know 3-4 recruiters local to your targeted area and let them go to work for you. If you know their client base, have a great relationship, and have an open and regular line of communication you'll be able to cover all your targets without getting 10 agencies involved in your search. Good recruiters generally will shy away from candidates who aren't selective - they're usually either desperate or simply don't appreciate the value a recruiter brings to the table.

DO meet with recruiters. There's nothing that can replace the value of a face-to-face meeting to get a comfort level with one another. Recruiting is a numbers game, and some recruiters like to shortcut the relationship to get the numbers. There's recruiters out there just trying to serve their needs by hitting their daily quota rather than engage on a deep level to serve your needs. Agreeing to be represented after a 5 minute phone call increases the chances of things going south dramatically.

DON'T mislead a recruiter. There's nothing that will kill a relationship quicker than being dishonest. Good recruiters are your agent - they need to know the good, bad, and ugly in order to best serve you.

DO seek out recruiters that live and work in the area you're targeting. Local recruiters will be better connected and have a much better handle on the local job market. Agencies hit their numbers using regional recruiting call centers that "smile and dial" through resumes they find online and in their database. These recruiters generally have minimal experience and nearly no understanding of the local market. Some of the national agencies have outsourced these call centers to India.

DO disclose companies where you've applied and agencies that have already submitted you to their clients. Keeping this information to yourself makes both the agency and you look bad if your resume ends up on someone's desk from two sources. In some cases it will automatically disqualify you from consideration.

DO expect an ongoing line of communication. Good recruiters are proactive about keeping you in the loop on immediate and ongoing opportunities. You should expect to hear from them at least every week or two if there's a job cooking. If you have to initiate all the contact and they're slow to return calls (or completely unresponsive) find another agency that will interact with you without feeling like you're pulling teeth.

DON'T be afraid to say no to an opportunity. Recruiters wanting to hit their numbers might use strong arm tactics to get you to say yes - don't let them. Good recruiters understand if it's not right, it's not right. They'll reset and hopefully find something that will work for you.

With that said....

DON'T be afraid to explore something if you're on the fence. Agreeing to be represented or interview is simply one step in the process. If you're curious about something that may have potential but aren't certain it's okay to do some exploration. Just be sure to discuss your concerns with the recruiter before you agree to be submitted so they aren't blindsided if you say no.

DO fully understand all the aspects of their client's offer before saying yes. If you think your company might counter when you turn in notice talk to the recruiter about what they could do to keep you. If you still aren't sure about the offer clarify EVERYTHING before saying yes. One of the biggest things you can do to erode the trust of a recruiter is to say you're going to start with their client and then back out (especially if you back out the night before via email and yes, that has happened).

Working with an agency will uncover some great opportunities that might not have been available otherwise. It also gives you an advocate in the hiring process as well as during employment that can help you sort through critical decisions.

DON'T be afraid to engage with a good recruiter - they can be a great asset for your career.

Yet another .NET Developer needed.....

If you are a good .NET developer I suspect your inbox and voice mail have been blowing up for weeks (if not months). It seems like every Microsoft shop in the city needs a developer. And while employers are certainly feeling the pain of a drained resource market, it also seems there's finally people out there ready (or close to ready) to make a change.

I read an article this week at Network World that projects 54% of 'disgruntled' IT workers will seek new employment. It didn't say what made them 'disgruntled', but it goes on to say that 41% of IT employees feel they have been left behind in their jobs because of the poor economy.

Market demand for software engineers in general has been increasing since Q3 of 2010 and certainly all indications are it will continue to grow in 2012.  Currently unemployment in the IT sector is 2.7% according to Network World (a full 3% points below what's considered "full employment").  The question is if we still have 9% unemployment why is the IT sector so robust?

In my opinion this supply/demand imbalance is a combination of factors related to how business operates and how people make decisions.  It started in late 2008 / 2009 when the job market crashed.  Companies are in business to make profit.  The single biggest cost to a business is their employees, so when profits start to wane employers reduce their workforce.  For the first time in their history, some companies that had prided themselves on providing a stable employment platform suddenly had to swallow that pride in the name of survival.  The press hit the panic button, unemployment soared to nearly double-digits and all of a sudden there was a tempest in the employment teapot.  The days of working for a single employer for 25 years and retiring with a nice pension were over. 

When it became obvious the economy was not going to recover quickly a new term arrived that the New York Times called "The New Normal".  Their story from the summer of 2010 references the Great Depression.  Employers either by choice or necessity, simply had to do more with less.  That means new initiatives were put on hold and the people left in the organization were 'taxed to the max' (you Tower of Power fans will get that reference).  Real or not, the perception was the employer was taking advantage of the economic situation and the employee's only alternative was to join the ranks of job seekers who were taking an average of 250+ days to secure employment.  Not exactly the type of "low risk" environment that is conducive to considering a change of employers.  So here we are in 2012 where overall unemployment still hovers around 9%.  There's still a perception that making the wrong move could result in a prolonged period of unemployment.

Reality (at least in the IT world) is there are more opportunities than people looking.  Which is why I think Ms Marsan at Network World is spot-on.  I've been optimistic about the market for well over a year and a half.  Organizations that generally do not use agencies are calling us for help.  A skilled software developer is like the hot Christmas gift that is sold the minute it hits the shelf.  There's a hoard of HR and recruiters at the front of "Engineers are Us" waiting for the Black Friday sale to start.

Companies can see blue sky through the clouds.  Banks are loaning money again.  Software has a shelf-life, you can't run your .NET 2.0 applications forever.  They're ready to replace the COTS system that is 7 versions old running on green screens (which still exist).  Projects that have been on hold for months (or even years) need to get done.  Now.  That means hiring analysts, managers, engineers, testers, and anyone else necessary to deliver and support these systems.

So take heart IT professionals.  Demand is high.  Employers are getting very creative to attract and retain top talent.  There's even a small company in South Carolina that will give you a $50,000 cash bonus on your five year anniversary.   The market needs you when you're ready.