IT skills development

GDP Up, But Employment Keeps Dropping

If I understand things correctly a recession is considered to be over when a quarterly GDP report returns to positive terrritory. With a forecast return for this quarter to a positive growth rate, by some metrics that means the recession is over. But that probably explains why About.com includes these paragraphs in its discussion of recessions and depressions:

The standard newspaper definition of a recession is a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters.

This definition is unpopular with most economists for two main reasons. First, this definition does not take into consideration changes in other variables. For example this definition ignores any changes in the unemployment rate or consumer confidence. Second, by using quarterly data this definition makes it difficult to pinpoint when a recession begins or ends. This means that a recession that lasts ten months or less may go undetected.

By the other metrics tagged in the quote’s second paragraph — namely, unemployment rate and consumer confidence — this recession is most emphaticallyl NOT over. Consumer confidence dipped in September and October, and unemployment rates have continued to climb by fits and starts all year long with decreases for both August and September as well. Many economists and even President Obama continue to predict that unemployment rates will top 10 percent by the end of the year or in the first quarter of next year (of course, with the current rate at 9.8%, that’s no huge jump in rates either).

What does this mean for IT workers? Repeat my mantras from earlier postings on this very same topic. For those currently employed in IT that goes something like this: ”Be cool. Stay put. Hone your skills. Wait for things to improve.” For those who want to work in IT, either on a first job or to get themselves back to work, it sounds like “Be cool. Look harder. Hone your skills (and consider some training or back to school). Wait for things to improve.” Given that the employment market is normally quiescent between Thanksgiving and New Years (except for part-time seasonal employment) that definitely means that “hunker down” remains the watchword of the day.

Please join me in wishing for improvement and real growth in IT jobs for 2010.

Microsoft Scores Again with “Elevate America”

With somewhat unusual timing, Microsoft announced on Sunday, February 22, a new job training program called “Elevate America” that aims to proffer technical skills training to lots of Americans (as many as two million according to an annoucement-day news posting on CNET) over the next three years. Readers curious about the program can check it out at www.microsoft.com/elevateamerica (the actual URL is linked to this abbreviated “pseudo-URL” here).

The primary components of this program may be described as follows:

• a phased roll-out, starting in Microsoft’s home base in Washington state, that includes free certification and training, with an emphasis on the unemployed, underemployed, and high-school and college level student populations. According to the CNET story, “Microsoft is working with state and local governments and hopes to offer 1 million vouchers for e-learning and certification classes.”
• An online Website that describes basic skills related to crafting a resume, sending e-mail, and computer literacy training of all kinds. Microsoft will offer this material primarily through local partnerships with non-profits and government agencies at all levels, though some free training is also available online as well (for example Computer Basics, a listing of all basic courses is available on the Course Topics page, and instructor manuals and materials are also available).

What’s not yet clear is how much material will be available online and how much will require interaction with the “Unlimited Potential Community Technology Centers” (CTCs) that Microsoft plans to designate as its local training delivery partners all over the country. Of course, the program is one day old as I write this blog, so there are lots of things left that need to be worked and spelled out in more detail. It’s an interesting and promising start for a program that shows uncommon sensitivity to the current economic situation here in the US, even if it is backed up by a shrewd appreciation that training in specific tools is likely to spur their continued use in the workplace thereafter.

“Elevate America” should be an interesting program to watch, though–and watch it I will!

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.

Don’t forget “other sources” when funding IT training

As veteran blogger and commenter Suzanne Wheeler (she writes “Views from the PIT-People in IT” blog here) noticed about my previous blog, it’s important to factor other sources of financing into the equation when job loss, underemployment, or other circumstances lead people to ponder the suitability of and financing for continuing adult education. Thus, I am very nicely reminded to point out the following potential sources of funding for those in need of additional support for a training, skills development, or “back to school” adventure:

• Federal Student Loans, about which information is available on the Web at http://studentaid.ed.gov/. See also this nice third-party overview of available programs at SallieMae’s CollegeAnswer.com.
• State employment or unemployment programs (use the search engine on your state’s Website, or Google something like “Oklahoma education assistance” or “Oklahoma employment assistance” for more information). See also the State Unemployment Insurance Benefits page from the US Department of Labor.
• Be sure to ask at local employment or workforce centers about available training benefits, vouchers, or programs as you apply for benefits, or otherwise interact with such offices.
• Check with local community colleges to see if they have any free or discounted training offerings for unemployed or underemployed workers: many do. Community College Week Magazine sponsors an active an informative Website that you can use to find such resources in your geographical area.

If you can’t come up with the money for continuing education, IT certificaiton, or skills and knowledge development entirely on your own, please don’t be bashful about looking for–and, more important, asking about–other sources of help and funding. This is a case where some persistence and lots of knocking on doors can really make a big difference.

Dancing About Software Architecture

Every now and then a book comes along that reshapes how people look at the world in which they live and work. Surprisingly to many, a work of traditional architecture by Christopher Alexander called A Pattern Language, ultimately led to the seminal software architecture book by Erich Gamma, et al called, Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. This latter book has spawned countless imitators in many different areas of the software development world from business software to database to programming languages galore. Interestingly, this is more than just a “me-too” phenomenon: Alexander’s original insight that certain elements of design repeat in many different places and ways (which defines what he calls a “pattern”) actually works as well, or better, for software where pattern is rampant and visible almost anywhere someone with an analytical bent might care to look.

The latest entrant in the Design Patterns parade comes from Microsoft, in the form of a free e-book. It’s called patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0. It does for .NET Framework based applications what the other books do for different niches: explain how to identify, codify, and use recurring patterns in an interesting and productive way when it comes to creating software architecture, designing applications or services, or building such things (for .NET-based code, this usually means working in Visual Studio with a suitable programming language and add-ins galore to help speed and manage the development process).

If you want to get a deep insightful look into the notion of pattern and how it shaped a genre of software books, read Alexander in the original. If you want to understand why it had such an impact on the software biz, check out the Gamma Design Patterns book. If you want to put this metaphor and method to work with .NET grab the patterns & practices e-book: unlike the other two titles, it won’t cost you anything, either. Whoda thunk you could say something like that about Microsoft?