Technology Project #fail

Yesterday the Kansas City Star published an AP story called "Builders of Obama's Website Saw Red Flags." This week Obama admitted there's some "kinks in the system" and apparently "no one is madder" than him. I don't think he's right on either point. Everything I've read regarding the technical structure of the system leads me to believe it's more poor design than "kinks." I'd also argue there's plenty of "mad" to go around with regards this debacle.

Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't healthcare.gov essentially a portal to Healthcare Exchanges that insurance companies & the government have been furiously building since ACA was passed in 2010? Sign yourself up, answer a few questions, and the data interface magic should do the job.Unfortunately it appears that those in charge of the interface magic apparently weren't thinking. This article by Will Oremus over at the Slate gives you a glipse of how poorly the project was executed. 500 million lines of code is likely to lead to a lot of dead ends and broken links.

There's plenty of good reading on this subject regarding its cost and what they're doing to fix it. Even NSA leaker and current Russian exile Edward Snowden made an offer to fix it in exchange for immunity.

As a guy who spends a lot of time the technoloyg space I find this whole situation as facsinating as troubling. The "kinks" in the system have nothing to do with the law itself. It's simply an example of an incredible failure on the part of nearly everyone involved in building an enterprise system.

I think healthcare.gov will be an example of how not to handle a major technical project for years to come. Lets just hope they can get it figured out, and soon.

Would love to hear your thoughts on what went wrong.

Permanent Positions

Few things in our lives upset the apple cart as much as an unexpected job change. I've had the experience of going into work in the morning and walking out with my things in a box before lunch. It's not fun. If you're currently on furlough from the government you know the bills don't stop. Most people don't like change so we all seek stability in our lives. Which from a career perspective means a permanent position to many people.

But what is a permanent position? Most people would define it as a job where an employer hires you directly to their payroll. In my business that's called a "direct hire" which is far from a permanent position. My father got his MBA from the University of Iowa and started working for the state of Iowa in 1962. He retired in 1997 and still spends several hours a week consulting to the state writing grants. That's a permanent job. Unfortunately in today's marketplace its unheard of that someone works at the same company for 40+ years, even if it's the government.

We all know someone that took a job directly with an employer and was looking again within months - some within days or weeks. Conversely, I know people who have been with their employer for over a decade after getting their start as a temporary resource (aka contractor). Whether it's direct to the employer payroll through internal or agency recruiters, or working as a contractor, the mechanism employers use to fill positions in their organization is not always related to the long-term viability of the position.

Permanent positions are a myth in today's market. In the 1960's when our parents went to work, career stability came from their employer and it's pension program. Today career stability comes from your ability to port your talents, ability, and background from one employer to the next. In that sense a consulting career is a great training ground to go in, get the job done, and move on.

I'm not saying ditch all direct to employer opportunities and become a contractor. If you haven't already, start developing relationships with several recruiters that work in your "space" and listen to what they have to offer from time to time. Not considering contract / contract to hire work means you miss out on pportunities that can build your abilities and increase your future marketability.

The question you ask yourself when a recruiter calls should not be "is this a permanent position?" The question you need to ask is "will this help me grow and position me to get where I want to go?" The best way to answer that question is through the discovery process with the recruiter and their client.

Difficult Interviews

Earlier this summer Glassdoor.com came out with their annual list of the Top 25 Most Difficult Companies to Interview in 2013. Microsoft, Citrix, Google, and Facebook all made the list. So did Rolls Royce. I did a bit of research and uncovered some interesting information as I dug around the Top Five.

One thing I thought was revealing was that a majority of the people who interviewed at all five had a positive experience, the winner being Bain & Company with 70% having a positive experience. So while the process may be difficult it seems people understand and appreciate the depth of the screening. This trend was surprising considering the number of people that did not get an offer far outweighed the number who accepted an offer.

The "time to hire" range was all over the place, but the more "advanced" the role was the longer the interview process. Not surprising on the surface, but I was shocked that some of the hiring took well over a month - in some cases 2 months or more. The shortest time to hire I saw was 5 days, but that seemed to be an exception to the rule.

In the Top 5 an average of 38% of the interviews were initiated through an online application. I found this interesting because I talk to so many people who never get any kind of response to a job application. What was more surprising was that only 11% were initiated through an employee referral. The rest of the results were spread between college recruiting, using a staffing agency or recruiter, and simply walking in and filling out an application.

It seems as though developers are being asked to perform technical tasks on some level, whether they be working through problems or being given specific coding tasks to accomplish. Many people were given logic / problem solving tasks (such as the Wonderlic).

Making the right hire is critical to a company as well as the employee. Taking some time to make candidates jump through a few hoops is in the best interests of everyone. I take anything on Glassdoor with a grain of salt - much like Yelp you're only seeing a slice of the overall picture. However, I think the information found is useful and can give you a glimpse into how an organization identifies talent and why it's important to take some time to find a match.

Free Beer

According to the Department of Labor we are in a decade where demand for software developers is expected to grow at twice the rate of other occupations. The so-called "War for Talent" is in full swing with companies offering perks from free beer & hair cuts to bringing your dog to work and "unlimited" vacation days.

The interesting thing about these perks is often they don't align with what software professionals actually want. What good is free beer if you are too busy to enjoy it?  Why bring your dog to work when your boss is a jerk? Sure, some of these perks can be fun, but most professionals would rather work with smart people in a nurturing environment and be compensated fairly based on their abilities. 

This recent article from ERE makes many good points about what makes a developer happy and engages them at work.  It asks pointed questions such as:

• Are you excited about what you're building?
• Does the company share your goals and values?
• Do you like hanging out with your coworkers?
• Is the work interesting and challenging?
• Where is the office located and what is the culture?
• How much "voice" do you have in your work?

Asking these questions will get you a lot farther in determining a fit than asking what kind of beer they have on tap or if the bowling alley rents shoes. Perks should be the icing on the cake. When considering your current or future employer the answers to those questions will be a lot more important than half day Fridays.

Missouri Innovations Campus

President Obama made his way to Warrensburg this summer to highlight the Missouri Innovation Campus, a great program made possible by UCM, Lees Summit R-7, and a number of area employers.  As a parent of an R-7 student in his sophomore year we are going to give this program some serious consideration.

College students take on enormous debt to complete a degree and it’s refreshing to see creative alternatives being promoted to help our students become high achievers in the STEM disciplines.  I’d much rather see our government promote programs like this rather than quibble about the amount of interest to charge a 23 year old General Studies graduate on a $70k loan.

This program is a good experiment to solve a long term issue.  Still the overall employment debate continues as many technical people fear their job being sent overseas. The jury is still out on what impact off-shoring jobs will have in the long term, but some pundits believe there’s going to be a shortage of “homegrown” STEM graduates which is one of the reasons I’m very excited about the Missouri Innovation Campus.

While long term issues are being discussed, it does not address the near term talent shortage.  Many developers with a background on legacy platforms (Mainframe, FoxPro, Delphi, AS400/iSeries, etc..) hear about a high demand for developers, yet they get the cold shoulder from potential employers.  These are highly skilled and trained professionals who are more than capable of re-tooling to a current platform. 

I sincerely believe this is a heavily under-utilized talent pool.  With organizations focused on attracting and retaining "market ready" talent there are many who have been in the trenches for years that could easily be productive employees within a relatively short period of ramp up time.

Unfortunately time and money are the two biggest hurdles a job seeker with an out of date skill set faces.  I think many organizations are in a Catch 22 situation - they have been cutting budgets and resources forcing them to do more with less.  The systems they used to have in place to bring someone up to speed have broken down.  There are others who have urgent needs and don't have the time to ramp someone up. 

However, I think we are getting to a tipping point.  Here at RiverPoint we’ve seen a tremendous uptick in inbound activity.  Companies are calling us because they haven’t been able to fill full time jobs.  People who have been chipping away at the stone are finding opportunities.

I think that is a good sign for the coming months.  Demand for technology jobs is not going away anytime soon and I believe the pool of talent will continue to shrink creating opportunities to re-enter the technology field.

Strengths

At some point in any interview there will be a line of questioning that is designed to elicit your strengths.  The question will come in many forms, but it all boils down to a discussion about your capabilities.
The “question” I use most often to uncover strengths is “Tell me what you bring to the table”.   I’ve asked the question hundreds (if not thousands) of times.  99% of the time I get short answers with absolute no substance.  It’s gotten to a point that it’s so predictable it’s comical.

“I love to interact with / am good with people.”

“I’m very organized / detail oriented.”

“I’m driven / will go above and beyond.”

“I’m a problem solver.”

“I’m a good listener / have great communication skills.”

“I’m a good team player.”

Those answers tell me nothing about your strengths.  Using a generic answer that nearly 100% of the population would reach for when asked the same question is not going to impress anyone. As a matter of fact, if your answer consists of nothing but a recitation of a combination of the above statements you’re not going to make many short lists.

Employers definitely need you to be good with people.  That means you need to be thoughtful when dealing with their employees and customers, including the interviewer.   Perhaps you should give them a thoughtful answer.  Here’s an example of how I could answer a question about my strengths.

My entire career has been spent convincing people to take action.  I’ve built enough trust in the first exchange with people to persuade them to purchase products that cost tens of thousands of dollars.  I am sincere about working with others to uncover what they’re seeking and help them find it.  I can sympathize with people who might be agitated and will do my best to work with them to resolve the issue.  Throughout my career I’ve been given leadership opportunities and have built and developed successful teams of salespeople and recruiters.  Frankly, one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of my career has been working with people, and I’m very good at it.

A thoughtful answer defines characteristics an employer seeks and demonstrates those attributes.  Make sure you understand how your talent aligns with what the employer needs and articulate that alignment in the interview when asked about your strengths.

You may note the above answer doesn’t follow the “Situation / Action / Result” formula.  The reason I would not go too deep into a specific “story” is if you take much more than 30-45 seconds to answer the question you’re going to start losing them.  In my example they may want to dig deeper so I certainly would be ready to talk about specific situations where I closed a five figure deal in one-call or built and managed a team.

Starting your answer with the generic “I’m good with people” is what everyone else is doing.  Take a half a minute or so to unpack the reasoning and finish with the strength.  The likely follow up question will be to speak to other strengths so be ready to follow the formula again.

What is going to give the employer a better understanding of your capabilities?  Taking 15 seconds to say “I’m detail oriented, good with people, uh… organized, and a hard worker” or 20 minute discussion on what you bring to the table?

With all this being said, there will be times where you get interviewers asking you what I consider to be “lazy” interview questions.  Hopefully you won’t be asked to “Describe Yourself in Four Words”, but that’s a strength question so have four words ready to unpack.

PS.  If I was a tree I would be the tree in my backyard so I could be close to my family.

Boom! Goes the Dynamite!

Is it just me, or is the IT job market back?  Throughout the first quarter of 2012 we've experienced a highly competitve market for talent within our client base and everything I've been reading leads me to believe that as far as technology related jobs go, the unemployment curve is firmly back in the candidates' camp.  There were hints of this in the latter half of 2011 as the software engineer supply / demand curve changed and as we get deeper into 2012 I'm seeing employers having difficulty filling other related roles (analysts, managers, QA, etc..). 

 

But with all that good news, the marketplace still seems a little unsettled.  I think there are a number of factors (both real and perceived) that are causing some of the turmoil for both employers and employees.  Here's my Top Five:

 

 

5: Perception     Employers think there's going to be plenty of candidates for every open job.  They put a laundry list of skills on a job description and expect each candidate to hit the mark exactly.  No question they could have a very narrow candidate target in a market rich with surplus talent.  Today that surplus is gone yet many organizations expect to find candidates that align with every bullet point on their list.

Reality                 Unemployment is still 8.3% nationally but unemployment in Kansas is a much more manageable 6.1%. When you consider 3% unemployment is considered full employment the picture in KS looks different.  Especially in technology jobs.  Technology professionals have more options and employers need to think about loosening up on requirements as jobs go unfilled.

4: Reality          Budgets are tight, employers are expected to do more with less and that means candidates need to be versatile. This is part of the 'new normal' and employers are learning to be more agile which is changing how they view roles within the organization.

3: Reality           Employers are being more aggressive about keeping their employees.  We've had more people say no to us in the first three months of this year after receiving a counter-offer than all of last year.

More Reality       A  six month to one year clock starts when a counter offer is accepted.  It doesn't solve the problems that caused someone to look.  Counter-offers are a panic move by the employer, the now know time is limited and begin to put a succession plan into place. If the person was really worth it, why didn't they make the offer before their resignation.  Acception a counter is never a long-term solution.  This article does a great job of outlining the pitfalls of accepting a counter.

2: Perception     Leaving a job today involves a higher risk than in the past.

Reality                Given the unemployment numbers and the extremes organizations go to in their attempt to retain employees there isn't any more or less risk associated with a move than there was 5 years ago.

1: Reality           Salaries haven't fully recovered which means the risk / reward paradigm that helped people move off one job for another has changed. 

More Reality       In the pre-recession days organizations flush with operating capital were able to spend more money on everything, including salaries.  Employers are going to have to find other 'hot buttons' to entice employees to make a move to their organization.  Telecommuting.  Flexible Schedules.  Ten Grand and Free Beer for a Year. 

 

So what does the rest of the year look like?  Only time will tell.  One thing to be sure - technical recruiters will continue to be aggressively pursuing candidates for their clients, and organizations will continue to have gaps on their IT staff.

 

If you would like to keep up to date on the happenings in the KC IT market, as well as what's going on with RiverPoint you should join our LinkedIn Group.  Just click here and you'll be magically transported to the join page.