soft skills

Thinking About Presentation Skills in IT

On Wednesday, I posted a mini-review of Alan Carroll’s book The Broadband Connection, which aims to help IT professionals prepare, deliver, and manage more effective and compelling presentations to audiences of all kinds. In some back-and-forth about that review with the publisher’s rep, I got to thinking about my own experience in presenting to audiences of various types and sizes, and how I myself came around to developing a set of creditable presentation skills.

For many newbie presenters, their focus is entirely on the material. Do they know their stuff? Are they familiar enough with what’s on the slides that they can talk about them fluidly and accurately? Have they prepared for questions? Practiced their delivery? and so forth…

What’s missing from this focus, and what Carroll spends much of the coverage in his book on adding to the picture, is the audience to whom the presentation is to be delivered. Although he wraps up his advice and behavior coaching in transpersonal psychology language, his most important points can be summarized as follows:

• Make eye contact with the audience. People need to feel like you’re interested in and talking to them, not to an empty room.
• Don’t talk all the time, with no breaks. People need time to digest what you’re telling them, and to think about what you’re trying to convey.
• Check the audience members’ facial expressions and body language to see how you’re doing: are they bored? confused? Do they “get” what you’re talking about? Do you see signs of interest?
• Interact with the audience: Get to know peoples’ names, then use them. Ask questions. Solicit input. Provoke opinions and information sharing from the audience, particularly if they’ve either failed or succeeded in trying to address issues, develop solutions, or implement systems that you are trying to explore and explain.

I could go on and on, and if you find this stuff interesting, you should definitely check out this book, too. But the key is to understand ultimately that it’s not what you know, or how much ground you can cover, that really counts when you give a technical (or other) presentation. What really counts is what you can give to your attendees, and what they can take away with them when the presentation is over. If you remember that basic principle, and increase your efforts to get your messages across, you will improve your presentation skills immediately.

Whole lotta nothin’ goin’ on…

My last blog (”It’s COLD Out There/Here“) not only elicited a couple of comments on the boards, it also stimulated numerous e-mails from other readers who pick the blog up via newsfeeds (for example on LinkedIn or FaceBook). If you like universal consensus, you should be happy because that’s what I got from everybody —namely, that now is not a good time to go looking for a new job unless you have absolutely no choice in the matter at all.

It’s one thing to read that the job market is tough, and that people are having difficulty finding work, even in IT. It’s another thing altogether to experience this first-hand for yourself, as I have in the past three weeks or so. It’s even more of a wake-up call to hear these same experiences and sentiments echoed by a great many people you know, and whose opinions and perspectives you trust, as well as from acquaintances who chime in to validate this outlook.

Batten down the hatches, and be prepared to stay put wherever you might be right now, if you’ve got any kind of job. As I said in my reply to the previous blog’s commenters “What’s the point in going out looking, when the only thing you’re certain to find is trouble?” And while jobs may be scarce, or even non-existent, in some situations, trouble is one thing that never experiences shortages. With an ample supply already available to you in your current situation and life, why add to that stock right now?

I’m going to keep poking and prodding myself, because getting into trouble lets me learn about it, document it, understand it, and hopefully grope toward solutions that can inform if not actually benefit all of us. I’m going to keep pushing the envelope, and see what’s in there! Stay tuned…

In Today’s Job Market, Prospective Employers Want It All

I was just musing on the state of the current job market, where it’s not unfair to say that there are a lot more people chasing jobs than there are jobs chasing people. Once again, I find myself pondering the “Big Three’ ingredients that all employers consider when selecting among multiple applicants for any IT position, as must surely be the case with so many IT professionals pursuing (or trying to remain in) a shrinking pool of jobs:

• Education: In today’s market a bachelor’s is no longer a “nice-to-have” credential. As a gifted but undegreed colleague and occasional co-worker of mine has learned several times to his loss in the last 6 months, a degree of some kind is often required just to be considered for any kind of IT position nowadays. Add points for an MA, more points for an MBA, Masters in Science and Engineering, and still more for any kind of PhD. Going back to school, and adding degrees nearly always results in a payoff, says everybody from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to compensation specialists like David Foote of Foote and Associates.
• Technical qualifications/Certifications: Though not all technical qualifications result in certification, certs are probably the best-recognized example of this type of “tangible technical training and achievement” category. But in this case, perceived (high) value and distinctness are also important. An MCP, CCNA, any CompTIA cert, and other entry level credentials have become must-have checkbox items for many IT positions. It’s the harder-to-earn and scarcer credentials like CCIE, CISSP, and SAP certs that open eyes–and doors to new positions. Increasingly this means earning entry level certs aggressively, and treating them like the stepping stones they’ve become, then stepping up to higher rungs in cert ladders to earn recognition, increased opportunities, and better pay.
• Experience: This is still the king of the IT job qualification hill. Direct, documented, and substantial experience with the tools and technologies that companies use, need, or wish to invest in still trumps the other two items when employers look for differentiation among otherwise similar candidates.

But the problem with a buyer’s market is that an abundance of candidates to choose from means that employers can become extremely selective about whom they’ll bring on board to fill open positions. Hence my point for this blog (and its title): given the situation, employers want real stars who’ve got depth in all three areas. That means advanced degrees, serious certifications, and lots of direct relevant experience are what it takes to get through the door and on board these days. That means we all have to be looking for ways to address these concerns and to convince prospective employers we’ve got the chops to do the job, whether or not we can claim to max out in all three categories!

When Job Fairs Aren’t Completely Fair Affairs

I heard a very interesting news story on NPR this morning about job fairs in the Midwest. As you might expect, attendance at such soirees among employers is down for the time being, while attendance among those seeking work is way up, especially for unemployed people. Check out the story by Adam Hochberg online: it’s entitled “Job Seekers Find Long Lines, Little Payoff At Fairs“

What suprised me was hearing that many companies currently attending job fairs may actually not have any positions open. Here’s the quote that caught me off-guard lifted straight from the tail-end of the aforementioned story:

And some of the firms accepting applications didn’t really have any openings. Rather, they were trying to improve the quality of their work force — by searching for people who might do a better job than the employees they already have.

Wow! Talk about a chilling signal of a buyer’s market for employment. Presumably this means that if some candidate were to present him- or herself at a job fair, and be significantly better qualified than a person currently occupying some particular position, then the current job-holder might be laid off or let go to create a space for that person to fill. The very notion sends chills racing up and down my spine.

I got one of my best-ever corporate jobs at a job fair, working for a company called Excelan as a networking consultant from 1987 to 1989, at which time the outfit was acquired by Novell, for whom I continued to work until 1994. I’m pretty sure that nobody was let go to make room for me during that downturn in the economy (we were coming out of a recession back then), but you never know. Kind of makes me rethink the whole politics of attending such events, but then, those who do attend them usually do so because they feel they must, rather than really wanting to go.

A Small Silver Lining?

Although I enjoy writing these blogs, I sometimes find myself wondering if they have any real impact. In the case of my Friday the 13th blog “How Can You Get a Job that Requires IT Experience, When You Have None?” I got a very nice email back from the person whose original correspondence with me served as its impetus. I reproduce most of it next, then follow up with some comments and observations:

Thank you for blogging about my experience. Before I made the decision to go down the IT path, I found a job for a PC-Tech-like job. A company needed an individual to handle PC/laptop upgrades. They stated A+ preferred but not required. I applied for the position and in my cover letter I listed out the same experience as in my email to you. Needless to say I got no response from the company but that is when I finally decided to get A+ certified. Being 38 years old and going back to school to start over was very difficult, at first. I knew that I could do it but was it where I should go career-wise? In other words without technically being in the field, should I try it?

Years back when I first started college, I took a career profile test to see what suited my personality. The results came back auto technician or detective. I am a car guy for sure and like guns too but, I have this thing about being shot at. So, for years I did car stereo, body shop and auto parts work until I finished college( Associates in Marketing). I spent 11 years at BMW (11 years at one car dealership is pretty much unheard of, tremendous turnover), then 11 months at a Porsche dealership as a service advisor, which felt like 11 years.

A majority of the jobs that I see now want years of experience with the certifications. I know that I have a good bit but not wanting to sell myself short, not enough PC and networking yet to be on my own. That is why I am looking for job environment that has some supervision. Like a large company that does PC and laptop exchanges, were I would transfer files, set permissions, network settings….etc. I did create a profile on ADP’s web site since they support car dealerships like Reynolds&Reynolds and also on RIM’s (Blackberry) site. I know that with some good mentoring, I will excel very quickly. When I started at BMW, I had to learn a lot on my own which taught me so much. I was skipped over several times for training yet I was still able to figure out and diagnose the cars. I have found a few possibilities on Dice, which does seem like the best tech job web site out of all the ones I have been on. I will keep you posted.

I see some emerging glimmers of hope in this reply and some good positive attempts to find work as well. I also continue to see more evidence of highly relevant experience that he’s still hesitant to claim. I’d urge him to make as much of that experience as possible, to stress his abilities to learn, solve problems, and deal with complex systems even in the absence of formal training to learn them.

I’d also urge him to look beyond Dice and other job sites, to ply his own personal network to look for opportunities. I’d also urge him to look for forums and message boards online where others are asking questions about tools and technologies he knows, and posting helpful information to answer those questions. This not only gives him a chance to flex some intellectual and problem-solving muscles, it will also give him something to point to in a job interview or cover letter as evidence of technical skills and a willingness to help and work with others (key ingredients for IT personnel of all stripes). I also recommended that he research PC repair depot operations in his local metro area, because such operations always have need of qualified repair technicians. So do big technology outlets such as Fry’s, Best Buy, Office Depot, and so forth. My final word to him: leave no stone unturned in your search for work. One job will surely lead to another thereafter.

Reader’s Digest Gets Into the Job-Loss Act

I was sitting in the living room last night flipping through magazines while the boy was watching Spongebob Squarepants. For some reason, I just can’t get into watching the same episode repeatedly, but Gregory has no trouble with that at all. One rag under scrutiny last night included the latest issue of Reader’s Digest (March 2009). Though I don’t often think of this publication as a source for high-tech information or advice, there’s an article in this issue that bears reading for those who might be looking for work right now, and for those who might be worried about losing their jobs.

The story is entitled “What To Do When You Lose Your Job” and is available online so you needn’t run out and buy a copy of the magazine just to access this lone item. You’ll find an interesting catalog of euphemisms for pending or actual layoffs and a discussion of the types of jobs most likely to disappear when layoffs actually hit.

The story goes on to tout the benefits of working with a career coach to get back into the workforce, and to make sure you, your resume, and cover letter make the best possible impression when you put yourself back out there to pursue a new position. There’s also some useful  discussion of the time it takes to get back on the job (the old “one month for each $10,000 of salary” has apparently been revised to “one to two months for each $10,000 of salary” in another telling sign of the state of this economy), along with use of e-resumes, use of personal Web presences, and resume tune-ups.

Be sure to check out this links on this page to other related stories as well, including:

• Negative cover letter and resume examples (what NOT to do).
• How to Find a New Job
• 9 Recession-Proof Careers
• Career Experts Offer Advice to 6 People Out of Work

It’s a truism that by the time news hits Reader’s Digest it’s attained the status of “something everybody knows.” For this kind of news to hit its pages, therefore, may very well be a sign that that bottom of this trough is now in sight. Here’s hoping so, anyway!

Gearing Up for Annual Reviews

While not all companies’ review cycles follow the calendar closely, there’s something about saying goodbye to an old year, while getting ready for a new one that leads people to think about where they’ve been and what they’ve done on the job, as well as where they’re going (or would like to go) and what kinds of work lies ahead (or they would like to see in their futures). Whether sooner or later, if you work for a company of any size, there’s probably an annual review on your calendar some time in 2009. Here are some tips to help you get ready for that often angst-inducing periodic ritual:

1. Think carefully about your last review, then answer these questions.

• How does your recent performance compare to the period before that encounter?
• What kinds of objectives were set for the current review cycle? How have you done in meeting or exceeding them?
• What about stretch objectives? Have you made any progress there?
• What kinds of learning experiences, problem-solving adventures, or professional development have you been through since your last review that may not fit into your goals or objectives? How can you speak to these in your next review?
• What about remedial goals or objectives? If you were given areas or tasks in need of improvement, how can you demonstrate progress or more positive results, attitudes, and so forth?

2. Think about your company’s or organization’s review process, then answer these questions:

• Have you received any accolades or recognition from your manager or others within your company or organization since that last review?
• Any significant accomplishments or completions to report?
• What have you done to add, enhance, or create value for your employer?

The best way to get a positive review is to prepare for that encounter as often and as obviously as you can in the review cycle interval that precedes it. Particularly when you have areas in need of improvement or remediation, you should speak regularly with your manager about such things on your own initiative, if your manager doesn’t do so with you. Even if you don’t have problems in need of fixing, or areas where improvement is required or desirable, regular contact and conversation about review related goals, objectives, progress and accomplish is a really smart way to gear up. You should also document such encounters via e-mail, and save them in a folder, so when your review comes you can print them out and bring them with you to the review situation. It’s also a good idea to document any kinds of recognition you get for your work, and to follow up with emails on those as well (same reason: creates a compact, portable record you can use during the review process to add substance to your side of the story).

In general, preparation will really help you get more comfortable with the review process. It will also give you a better sense of how you’re doing on the job, and help you identify areas where improvement will help you and those you work with. Also, if you can show substantial signs of development, progress, and a growing skills and knowledge base, if only to yourself, you’ll have a much better indicator of when it’s time to think about moving on when you fail to get the recognition or raises you deserve.

–Ed–

PS: Having exceeded my monthly blog quota with this item (the thirteenth for December) I’m going on hiatus until after New Year’s. Happy holidays to all, and my best wishes for a safe and prosperous 2009.

And now, a word from/for my sponsors…

It’s too easy to get caught up in the working side of life, and to let it overpower other equally important parts. Perhaps because I have tendencies in that direction, I often find myself thinking about how all the different parts of life fit together, particularly work and family life, as the holidays are upon us. That’s why today’s blog is a rumination on the virtues of balance and perspective where people strive to better themselves by seeking the former, and trying to maintain the latter where the former is concerned!

At any rate, as I found myself assembling various more-or-less-challenging children’s toys yesterday in the wake of a frenzied gift exchange and marathon unwrapping session, I also found myself pondering the work/life balance. I have a nearly-five-year-old son, who “needed” his slot car race set, a couple of cool but poorly documented Hot Wheels stunt sets, a modular set of marble raceway blocks, and a 125-piece parking garage set-up put together yesterday. Some of these tasks were pretty straightforward and just required mechanical assembly; others required visual analysis of operation, so that vital adjustments could be applied (one of his Hot Wheels stunts involved a battery powered race cage, triggered by a car arriving from a another stunt; it took me about half an hour to figure out that rocking the car launch forward in its mounts was the only way for the car release trigger to work properly).

As I chugged through these exercises, sometimes solo, and sometimes with the welcome participation of my sharper-eyed wife, Dina, I couldn’t help but think about this kind of work (the kind that helps families bond, creates good memories, and turns boxes of parts into precious playthings) versus the other kind of work I’d probably have been doing on just about any other Wednesday during the year (the kind that pays the bills, requires thinking about career and personal/professional development, and planning for continued employability and viability).

My ruminations led me to some interesting realizations:

• It’s far too easy to devote too much time, energy, and effort to working life, without always recognizing that “the other life” (family, leisure, personal and spiritual growth, or whathaveyou) has to suffer in that exchange.
• It’s also far too easy to believe that effort on “work work,” especially for those who work very hard and seek to better themselves, their families, and their life circumstances, provides some kind of exemption for the “life work” side of the equation. Alas, it doesn’t, and far too often getting ahead professionally or materially also means falling behind in other areas.
• Building and improving quality of life involves much more than what we do for a living. Stressing work over the other parts is sometimes inevitable, but can’t become an exclusive focus or even a partial obsession.

As we plan and plot out our working lives, and seek to climb the next rung, master new subject matters, and better ourselves and our situations, it’s important to remember this means expending thought, energy, and effort outside the work domain as well as inside its boundaries. Today, I’m thankful for my family, for the crazy and energetic paroxysms of competing goals and objectives, and for the love that suffuses the interactions and play that family life with small kids involves. Going forward, I want to protect and nurture those things as much as I want to keep the work and cash flowing into the working part of my life. That’s what represents balance to me: I hope you’ll think about what it represents to you, and seek to strike a better equilibrium in the year ahead.

–Ed–

The Perils, Pitfalls, and Pluses of Project Management

In previous blogs I’ve discussed the potential value of project management as a soft skill (particularly in Part 4 of my Soft Skills Survey sequence from September 08). I remain completely convinced that for most IT professionals, especially those who aspire to technical lead or IT management positions, there are few better ways to pursue such career goals than by going after training and certification in this area. The Project Management Institute rules in this arena, where its CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) and PMP (Project Management Professional) certifications stand out amidst a field of possible options (a nice survey appears in this About.com article “Project Management Certification“).

But I hasten to point out that acquiring project management certs is one thing, and rigorously practicing project management disciplines is entirely another. This is one of those areas, like so many others, where a little bit of knowledge can be more dangerous than complete ignorance. For example, Jadeep’s “Project Management - A Sad Story” blog posting tells a truly pathetic tale of “over-promising and under delivering” on client projects.

Just because you have a project manager appointed and responsible for projects doesn’t mean that the projects will actually be managed. There must be sufficient discipline and involvement from staff at all levels to make sure that reports coincide with reality, that milestones are being met, deliverables created and actually delivered, and so forth, for any kind of project to succeed. As Jadeep’s tangled mess so aptly illustrates, sometimes things get out of hand and must be rescued or reworked. When this happens, the first order of business is to determine what the real status is and when, if ever, anything can actually be built, delivered, implemented, or whatever the project plan calls for. After that it’s usually time to revise the requirements, revisit the deliverables, and rework the schedule.

Ignore this obvious advice at your own risk. Just as the eating provides the proof of the pudding, the outcomes and outputs from a project provide the proofs of success and failure, sometimes in astonishing mixtures!

–Ed–

Looking for IT Work Over the Holidays

Given the state of the economy and a rising unemployment level, I’m sure there are plenty of IT professionals out of work and looking, as well as those who are working and just thinking about making a change. I can’t do anything to address the urgency of the search for those currently unemployed, but to those folks and prospective job-seekers I have to observe that even in the best of economic times–which we are most assuredly not enjoying at the moment–the period from Thanksgiving through the first week of January is never a truly great time to look for IT work.

To a large extent,this phenomenon is a function of the way life’s focus tends to back off from work to other things during this time of year. To some extent, it reflects a disinterest in hiring new people and then having to give them several days of mandatory vacation time more or less right away. Then, too, many budget cycles end along with the calendar year, and IT departments have either used up their headcount or are saving it for next year’s budget. No matter how you decide to explain things to yourself, the odds of landing a good new job during this time of year are rather slimmer than usual.

For those who aren’t currently work but need some cash in hand, seasonal Christmas work may offer some temporary work and income. Although you may not relish the prospect of selling computer and electronics gear, a background in IT will make you better qualified to man a station at Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Depot, department stores, and so forth where they sell computers–and often, lots of them–over the holiday season. Though traditional IT jobs may not be jumping out of the woodwork, temporary IT jobs at companies that do lots of holiday business–such as ecommerce outfits, online retailers, seasonal food or drink providers, and so forth–can often provide work through the middle of January to those with both interest and the right qualifications. Try searching for “part-time IT” in your local job boards and newspapers (CraigsList can be a great source of information on such opportunities). With a little ingenuity, you can find something to do and keep the wolf from the door while whiling your way through the holiday season.

For all parties, working or not, I also recommend using this relative downtime to work your various social networks–friends, family, school chums, former and current job colleagues, professional groups and associations to which you belong, and so on–to get the word out. Let people know you’re looking, tell them what you’re looking for, and either give them or point them to a current resume and some kind of “statement of interest” and “statement of capabilities.” Let the former tell people what you’re interested in doing, and the latter tell them what you can do, what education and certifications you hold, and what kinds of professional accomplishments you can claim.

You can also use this time of year to search out companies and organizations for which you’d like to work. Spend some time on the Web and learn as much about them as you can, and try to get a sense of what kind of position(s) you might be ready, willing, and able to fill. The more you learn about your prospective targets, the better you’ll be able to present yourself when the time comes to make your pitch and apply for a position.

Don’t just sit around twiddling your thumbs, though. With a bit of down time at your disposal, the key is to use it to make yourself a better candidate when a valid opportunity does come along. Good luck, and happy holidays!

–Ed–