How to Survive in a Turbulent Job Market
Last updated Feb 15, 2008.
While the United States may not technically be in a recession, it is in at least a strong correction. The stock market is down, and has been since the beginning of 2008, and corporate acquisitions are on the rise. Already this year Oracle has acquired BEA, Sun has acquired MySQL, and as of this writing, Microsoft is attempting to acquire Yahoo. While many people will survive these acquisitions, some certainly will not. Regardless of the industry that you're in and regardless of how secure your job is, it is in your best interest to be aware of the technologies that companies are looking for in the eventuality that you need to find a new job. So while I typically spend my weekends writing articles that describe new Java technologies that can make you more effective at your job, this week I decided to survey the current job market and identify the most marketable Java technologies.
Before I begin, here is my disclaimer: my research was not scientific, I did not survey all available jobs, and I did not contact any recruiters to find out what technologies are most in demand. Instead I reviewed Dice and Monster for keywords and recorded the number of hits that I found. Most of my results came from Dice because I did not find the search interface at Monster as revealing as Dice (Dice was nice enough to include a "skill" parameter that helped categorize the results.) But with the 8000+ Java jobs that I found on Dice, I would argue that my results are representative of the current Java market. And, depending on where you live, your results may vary.
I have categorized all of my results into eight tables: Core Technologies, Application Servers, Web Client Technologies, Web Frameworks, Persistence Technologies, Application Frameworks, Scalability and Caching Technologies, and other related technologies, all shown below.
Table 1. Core Technologies
Keyword/Skill
Hits
J2EE
7520
Java
6389
JSP
2228
Java/J2EE
1733
EJB
1271
JDBC
1079
JMS
926
Servlet
409
J2ME
146
Between Java and J2EE there are undoubtedly overlapping jobs, but from the numbers I think we are safe (and conservative) to say that our sample set contains at least 8000 jobs, which we'll base the relevance of the coming technologies against.
If you're looking at broad categories of Java programming, enterprise Java and Web technologies hold the most jobs. JMS was a listed in 10-15% of the job descriptions and J2ME only accounted for about 2% of the jobs.
Table 2. Application Servers
Keyword/Skill
Hits
WebSphere
2155
WebLogic
1561 + 624 (BEA)
Tomcat
1587
JBoss
882
Jetty
22
Glassfish
17
The application server job market is not very surprising considering that the market share breaks down similarly. WebSphere is in the lead with over 25%, followed closely by WebLogic with a little less than 25% (accounting for duplicate jobs between the search terms "WebLogic" and "BEA"), and then Tomcat with 20%, and JBoss with 11%.
NOTE
I was unable to search for Oracle Application Server because "Oracle Application Server" included Oracle DBA jobs, which returned almost 6000 jobs (and I was not about to go through each one to distinguish between them.) I did search on "OAS", which returned 62 results, but because it is so inconclusive I did not feel it was appropriate to include in the results.
Probably the most interesting thing to me is that almost 20% of the Java jobs on Dice included Tomcat in their descriptions. This may reveal that many companies are bypassing the Java EE stack in favor of either a standard web technology (Servlets/JSP/JSF) or an alternate framework like Spring (see table 4.)
Table 3. Web Client Technologies
Keyword/Skill
Hits
AJAX (Java)
1780
Google Web Toolkit
23 + 54 (GWT)
ICEfaces
11
Echo
9
JavaServer Faces (JSF)
657 + 688 (JSF)
Portal
974
Portlet: Java
126
Portlet: WebSphere
99
Portlet: J2EE
89
Portlet: BEA
40
Portlet: JSP
40
Portlet: Struts
33
JSTL
190
NOTE
Results that have two numbers show the results of multiple searches. For example, the search for "Google Web Toolkit" yielded 23 results and the search for "GWT" yielded 54 results. Rather than add the two numbers, which undoubtedly have overlap, I presented the results as I found them so that you can draw your own conclusions.
From the Dice search, AJAX technologies are dominating the Java web client market. The real question here is whether companies care about specific AJAX technologies or if they really understand what AJAX is. I sampled a few of the results and most simply stated "AJAX and JavaScript", not specifying a framework.
The results for JavaServer Faces (JSF) were strong with a conservative estimate that 10% of all Java jobs required JSF. Portals and Portlets made a good showing, but the framework of choice is split pretty well between the different vendors. And about 2% of jobs listed JSTL in their descriptions.
Table 4. Web Frameworks
Keyword/Skill
Hits
Struts
1745
Spring MVC
290
Velocity (and Java)
133
Tapestry
85
WebWork
31
Grails (Groovy)
18
Wicket
14
Stripes (+ J2EE)
8
Cocoon
3
Turbine (and Java)
0
RIFE
0
The topic of the best Web frameworks is probably the most heavily debated topic in the Java community: it is like talking about politics or religion. But the numbers do not lie: as much as you read that Struts is dead, it is not. Almost 22% of all Java jobs on Dice list Struts in their descriptions, which is six times its closest competitor. If you are a Java web developer and you want the highest degree of marketability, you’d better know Struts, even if there are other technologies that are superior or have a more elegant solution to your problem.
Table 5. Persistence Technologies
Keyword/Skill
Hits
Hibernate
1750
iBatis
99
Toplink
80
EJB3
37
It should come as no surprise to those that use it, Hibernate is the king of persistence with almost 22% of all Java jobs on Dice listing Hibernate in their descriptions — none of its competitors are even close. It is worth noting that core technologies listed 1271 jobs with EJB in their descriptions, which may include EJB3, but only 37 job descriptions explicitly listed EJB3.
Table 6. Application Frameworks
Keyword/Skill
Hits
Spring
2138
Seam
46
Prior to the release of Spring, enterprise applications either used homegrown application frameworks or embraced J2EE. And the vast majority of those companies that embraced J2EE only used Stateless Session Beans. EJB3 was supposed to simplify enterprise application development, but I am seeing more and more companies bypass EJB, and Java EE in general, in favor of Spring.
The most significant takeaway from this search is that over 25% of all Java jobs on Dice list Spring in their description. If you have been intimidated by Spring and have held off learning it, now is the time. If you have Spring experience on your resume, you are much more marketable than if you do not.
Table 7. Scalability and Caching Technologies
Keyword/Skill
Hits
Coherence
47
GigaSpaces
13
Terracotta
4
At JavaOne 2006 I had the opportunity to interview three thought leaders in the Java industry: Tangosol's (now Oracle's) Cameron Purdy, GigaSpace's Nati Shalom, and Terracotta's Ari Zilka. Each of their companies improves the performance and scalability of enterprise applications in a different way: Coherence does it through caching, GigaSpaces does it through JavaSpaces, and Terracotta does it through JVM clustering. These are great technologies that I really believe that every enterprise Java developer should be familiar with. But with that said, if you want to be marketable in today's Java industry, your time is better spent learning one of the technologies in higher demand, such as Spring and Hibernate.
Table 8. Other Related Technologies
Keyword/Skill
Hits
Adobe Flex
197
Groovy
21
While these are not Java technologies, I thought it would be interesting to review the job market for Adobe Flex and Groovy. Flex provides an alternative to AJAX in the Rich Internet Application (RIA) space in which applications are built on top of the Flex framework and then deployed to Adobe's Flash Player. The benefits to using Flex are: (1) the user interfaces you build are far more responsive than AJAX applications, (2) user interfaces can be built to very closely resemble desktop applications, and (3) Flash Player has a far reach so you can build these rich applications knowing that most of your users will already have support for them. Flex has great potential to shape Web 2.0, but looking at the numbers, it is simply not in the same demand as AJAX or Web 1.0 technologies like Struts.
Finally, I am sure that you have read somewhere on the Web that Java is dead and will be replaced by Groovy. If that is true then they sure have a long way to go: over 8000 Java jobs compared to 21 Groovy jobs? It must be a slow death.
Conclusion
Java is alive and well in the job market. In this article I reviewed the results of my informal and unscientific research into the Java job market: I searched Dice with specific keywords and captured the number of search results they generated. As you want to increase your marketability in a turbulent market, the results are clear.
When you develop your enterprise applications, you should become familiar with how to deploy and manage them in WebSphere, WebLogic, JBoss, and Tomcat. You can download all of these application servers at no cost (the commercial products have development licenses so that you can use them for your learning.) Do not assume because you can write enterprise applications that all application servers are the same. You do not want to claim that you are familiar with an application server that you are not and then struggle through it on the job. Take the time to learn it now.
As far as technologies, your time is best spent learning Struts, Spring, Hibernate, an AJAX framework, and JavaServer Faces. It is not trivial to learn each of these technologies, but develop a schedule, pick out a few good books, and build a sample application in each. In short, if you can add each of these technologies to your resume, you should have no problem finding a job.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Part III
In this second question in his Career Changers’ Checklist, Warren Wyrostek helps you probe what you are passionate about and what pleases you as he asks the question: What do you like to do? It is critical to come to terms with what you want to do AND what you like to do. Be ready for one of those aha! moments when considering this important diagnostic question as you move toward your ideal IT career choice.
Welcome to the second question in the Career Changer's Checklist series. So far we have discussed why this series is being written in Genesis, and the first of 12–13 diagnostic questions in What Do You Want to Do? (Goals!)
To briefly recap (in case you have not read one or both of the first two articles), the purpose of this series of articles is to help you through a series of diagnostic questions that identify career options you might not have thought of and hopefully move you in a direction that will open career doors for you.
Because it is presented through an IT outlet, the main audience and focus for this series are those folks interested in IT careers. But these articles are just as relevant to all the current market sectors.
Next we looked at the first question (what do you want to do?) and took a hard look at life and job goals—and how defining those goals might help you determine what you want to do.
In this article, I want to go a step further and ask the following:
* What do you like to do?
* What gives you pleasure?
* What are you passionate about?
What Do You Like to Do?
There can definitely be a difference between wanting to do XYZ and liking to do XYZ. That might seem odd or contradictory, but think about it. You might want to build a deck for your home, but do you necessarily like to build decks out in the elements? Or is building decks just something you want to do?
And to take the question a bit farther, does doing XYZ give you pleasure and are you passionate about it?
When students have come to me over the years looking for career advice, I always tell them the same thing, which has not changed in 30 years: Find something you love to do that will also allow you to make the income you need to live the life you want. This advice is based on the following concepts:
* You can be happy and financially struggling
* You can be miserable and financially struggling
* You can be miserable and financially comfortable
* You can be happy and financially comfortable
Which option would you choose? Obviously you want to be happy and financially comfortable. So you need to choose a career option that you want, but also one that gives you pleasure and the necessary financial resources. If you don't love your career choice, no matter if you want to do it, you might see it through for awhile, but odds are you will drop it along the way. You have to love what you're doing.
That being said, what do you like to do generically, for recreation, for a career? Is there really a difference? NO!!!! You have to laundry list what you like to do. You may be surprised what you write down.
Just take a look at how many folks have established billion-dollar enterprises because of something they simply liked to do. Not just wanted to do, but loved to do. Does the name Bill Gates ring any bells? What about Michael Dell? Be like Julie Andrews, who in the Sound of Music sang the song My Favorite Things. What are your favorite things? Write them down.
Wanting to do something often comes after you have identified what you like to do. In the first diagnostic question in this series, you identified what you want to do. This might seem that I am presenting these two questions out of order. What you like to do comes second in this series because this is the process that many in the current market use.
We don't first identify what we like; instead we identify what we want. This can be both good and bad. So to keep with the current market concepts, I asked you to first identify what you want and now to identify what you like.
But as you consider what you like to do, you have to also ask yourself why you like it.
Why Do You Like It?
The question WHY is critical to making the right career choice. You have to know why you like to do something. I like to do XYZ because… Then you have to seriously consider your motivation? If you are not motivated or if you have the wrong motivation, the results can be awful. Also consider the feedback or payback that you will receive.
The question WHY became crystal clear to me several years ago when I posed the following question to a class of high school students:
* Do you prefer working with other students/people or with machines/computers and why?
I was absolutely floored by the responses. An inordinately high percentage of the students preferred to work with machines/computers as opposed to working with other students/people. In other words they liked computer work over people-to-people work. The reasons they gave (the WHY) were amazing and included the following:
* There is an impersonal relationship
* They could be a loner and yet be productive
* It was a nonthreatening relationship
* It was a nonjudgmental relationship
* The student was in control when working with a computer
* The student had a good deal of independence and freedom when working with a computer
A very low percentage of these same students liked (preferred) to work with other students and people. The reasons included the following:
* They liked teamwork
* They liked collaboration
* They liked groups
* They didn't like to work alone
So knowing what you like to do is important, but so is why you like to do it. And because we are talking about why you might like a career in IT, think of why you would want to go into IT. Is it one of the reasons my students gave? Or do you have a different reason?
Many go looking for a job in IT for all the wrong reasons. If you decide to pursue a career in IT, please go into it because you have found something you like to do.
Do not go into IT for the following reasons:
* Simply because you want a job in IT
* Simply because of what you have heard about IT
* Simply because of the money
If you do, it will be just a job. Where is the pleasure in that? If you have identified something you like to do in IT, by all means go for it!
There are many options in IT and other sectors. For example there are options
* For working alone
* For working in teams
* For collaboration
* For making a lot of money
* For creating something unique
* For contributing to a large-scale environment
Every sector has these options—not just IT. So if you are interested in another sector, that's great.
List why you like to do XYZ. For example if you are interested in medicine, why do you like to work with patients? Or if you don't like to work with patients, maybe you like to do medical research. Why? Think about it and write it down.
So you not only have to identify what you like to do, but why you like to do it.
When Do You Like to Do Something?
One other question related to why you like to do something is this: When do you like to do XYZ? Do you like to do XYZ only at a given time of the year or only for a given audience? Is what you like to do simply a flavor of the month or does it have some real promise for long-term satisfaction? To return to an earlier example, you can like to build decks in the early spring, but do you like to build them in the dead of winter in the upper Midwest?
As an IT instructor, I know there are times of the year when there are no classes to teach. For example from the second week of December until the third week of January, it is virtually impossible to get a class to teach in the United States. Another time that is almost always dead for classes is around the fiscal year turnover (usually from mid-June to early August). Money becomes tight and no one goes to class.
So if I love to teach IT classes, which I do, and I am planning a career, I need to take into consideration that there will be times, when I will be working and down times when I will not. When you like to do something is often controlled by external forces, but if you are aware of them, they can be managed.
So you have to identify what you like to do, why you like to do it, and when you like to do it. WOW!
Now here are some examples from my own career path.
Examples
To help you make your list, allow me to offer some examples of what I like to do:
* I love to drive because I am not restricted by the airlines. I am free on the road. When I was growing up I dreamed of being a truck driver, which made my parents bless themselves. But I grew out of that for a profession—but not as something I love to do.
* I love to write and compose. I love to write articles, books, and music. They are difficult tasks for me, but I love the process. I love what they bring to others. They are a mode of communication for me.
* I love to do public speaking and performing. The opportunity to communicate with a group of people and have those aha! moments is a real kick for me In the same way, I love to tell stories.
* I love to take care of people (do patient care). I get a real thrill making things better for someone else.
* Early in my career, I found I liked organizing spaces. One of my early jobs was at a major medical college in NYC, and one of my jobs was organizing the spaces to house all the volatile chemicals according to city, state, and federal standards. I really liked making sense out of nonsense.
* In IT, I love working on directories and directory services, as well as troubleshooting them. Why? Because when a directory works, the users are happy, and the admins are happy.
* In life in general, I like to have balance between working with others and working independently. I can't have one without the other. I used to think I could, but I have recently learned that I can't. I can't stand to work alone 100 percent of the time, nor can I stand to work in a nonstop, don't-think environment in which everyone talks and no one listens.
So how could I use what I like to do to make a living, to establish a career? To land a job in IT? What does this list tell me about career options?
For everyone the responses will be different. For me, up to this point in my life what I like to do has allowed me to work as an independent IT instructor and consultant, as well as a writer and editor. I can work with others, yet work independently. I can have those aha! moments and still make a living.
What Don't You Like to Do?
Just as important as identifying what you like to do is identifying what you don't like to do. How many folks do you know who are working in jobs that they hate? I know a bunch. Some who are in IT jobs with good employers. But they are doing something they hate to do.
So remember that you want to be happy, doing what you like while making a good living. You need to list what you don't like to do as well as what you like to do to get a complete picture and potentially not fall into a pothole.
Here are some examples from my career search of what I don't like to do:
* I don't like to engage in office politics. It is too egocentric and a waste of time.
* I don't like to compete in the workplace for attention because it distracts what I perceive that I am there for. I am not looking to earn points by making nice with a boss.
* I do not like programming or learning foreign languages from a book. I don't know why, I just don't
* I don't like to talk down to others or in a condescending tone or be talked down to or spoken to in a condescending tone. This by itself in many employment environments makes me a lousy boss.
* I can't take a job where there is an inordinate amount of travel by plane or I will be miserable. I hate to fly.
Now it is your turn. Make a laundry list of what you don't like to do. And then compare what you like to do with what you don't like to do.
Any hints? Don't ignore this process. You will learn a lot by writing it down.
Conclusion
You should now be able to come up with a short list of what you like to do. You should also be able to point to why you like to do these tasks/jobs and when you like to do them. Also you should be able to point to what you DON'T like to do.
What do you like to do? This is the second question. Now when you look at your responses to the first question and this second question, what are your career directions? Do you see something developing that you did not see before?
Remember that whatever you say now is simply a more refined hypothesis as we diagnose your career options in the coming weeks. My list is also simply a hypothesis. There are more questions that will direct you to the proper treatment.
I hope many of you will continue to read along and share your thoughts and ideas with me through email at wyrostekw@msn.com and also through the comments sections provided by InformIT at the end of each article. I will gladly respond.
Come back next time and let's look at the third question: What can you do? (Restrictions! What's stopping you?)
Welcome to the second question in the Career Changer's Checklist series. So far we have discussed why this series is being written in Genesis, and the first of 12–13 diagnostic questions in What Do You Want to Do? (Goals!)
To briefly recap (in case you have not read one or both of the first two articles), the purpose of this series of articles is to help you through a series of diagnostic questions that identify career options you might not have thought of and hopefully move you in a direction that will open career doors for you.
Because it is presented through an IT outlet, the main audience and focus for this series are those folks interested in IT careers. But these articles are just as relevant to all the current market sectors.
Next we looked at the first question (what do you want to do?) and took a hard look at life and job goals—and how defining those goals might help you determine what you want to do.
In this article, I want to go a step further and ask the following:
* What do you like to do?
* What gives you pleasure?
* What are you passionate about?
What Do You Like to Do?
There can definitely be a difference between wanting to do XYZ and liking to do XYZ. That might seem odd or contradictory, but think about it. You might want to build a deck for your home, but do you necessarily like to build decks out in the elements? Or is building decks just something you want to do?
And to take the question a bit farther, does doing XYZ give you pleasure and are you passionate about it?
When students have come to me over the years looking for career advice, I always tell them the same thing, which has not changed in 30 years: Find something you love to do that will also allow you to make the income you need to live the life you want. This advice is based on the following concepts:
* You can be happy and financially struggling
* You can be miserable and financially struggling
* You can be miserable and financially comfortable
* You can be happy and financially comfortable
Which option would you choose? Obviously you want to be happy and financially comfortable. So you need to choose a career option that you want, but also one that gives you pleasure and the necessary financial resources. If you don't love your career choice, no matter if you want to do it, you might see it through for awhile, but odds are you will drop it along the way. You have to love what you're doing.
That being said, what do you like to do generically, for recreation, for a career? Is there really a difference? NO!!!! You have to laundry list what you like to do. You may be surprised what you write down.
Just take a look at how many folks have established billion-dollar enterprises because of something they simply liked to do. Not just wanted to do, but loved to do. Does the name Bill Gates ring any bells? What about Michael Dell? Be like Julie Andrews, who in the Sound of Music sang the song My Favorite Things. What are your favorite things? Write them down.
Wanting to do something often comes after you have identified what you like to do. In the first diagnostic question in this series, you identified what you want to do. This might seem that I am presenting these two questions out of order. What you like to do comes second in this series because this is the process that many in the current market use.
We don't first identify what we like; instead we identify what we want. This can be both good and bad. So to keep with the current market concepts, I asked you to first identify what you want and now to identify what you like.
But as you consider what you like to do, you have to also ask yourself why you like it.
Why Do You Like It?
The question WHY is critical to making the right career choice. You have to know why you like to do something. I like to do XYZ because… Then you have to seriously consider your motivation? If you are not motivated or if you have the wrong motivation, the results can be awful. Also consider the feedback or payback that you will receive.
The question WHY became crystal clear to me several years ago when I posed the following question to a class of high school students:
* Do you prefer working with other students/people or with machines/computers and why?
I was absolutely floored by the responses. An inordinately high percentage of the students preferred to work with machines/computers as opposed to working with other students/people. In other words they liked computer work over people-to-people work. The reasons they gave (the WHY) were amazing and included the following:
* There is an impersonal relationship
* They could be a loner and yet be productive
* It was a nonthreatening relationship
* It was a nonjudgmental relationship
* The student was in control when working with a computer
* The student had a good deal of independence and freedom when working with a computer
A very low percentage of these same students liked (preferred) to work with other students and people. The reasons included the following:
* They liked teamwork
* They liked collaboration
* They liked groups
* They didn't like to work alone
So knowing what you like to do is important, but so is why you like to do it. And because we are talking about why you might like a career in IT, think of why you would want to go into IT. Is it one of the reasons my students gave? Or do you have a different reason?
Many go looking for a job in IT for all the wrong reasons. If you decide to pursue a career in IT, please go into it because you have found something you like to do.
Do not go into IT for the following reasons:
* Simply because you want a job in IT
* Simply because of what you have heard about IT
* Simply because of the money
If you do, it will be just a job. Where is the pleasure in that? If you have identified something you like to do in IT, by all means go for it!
There are many options in IT and other sectors. For example there are options
* For working alone
* For working in teams
* For collaboration
* For making a lot of money
* For creating something unique
* For contributing to a large-scale environment
Every sector has these options—not just IT. So if you are interested in another sector, that's great.
List why you like to do XYZ. For example if you are interested in medicine, why do you like to work with patients? Or if you don't like to work with patients, maybe you like to do medical research. Why? Think about it and write it down.
So you not only have to identify what you like to do, but why you like to do it.
When Do You Like to Do Something?
One other question related to why you like to do something is this: When do you like to do XYZ? Do you like to do XYZ only at a given time of the year or only for a given audience? Is what you like to do simply a flavor of the month or does it have some real promise for long-term satisfaction? To return to an earlier example, you can like to build decks in the early spring, but do you like to build them in the dead of winter in the upper Midwest?
As an IT instructor, I know there are times of the year when there are no classes to teach. For example from the second week of December until the third week of January, it is virtually impossible to get a class to teach in the United States. Another time that is almost always dead for classes is around the fiscal year turnover (usually from mid-June to early August). Money becomes tight and no one goes to class.
So if I love to teach IT classes, which I do, and I am planning a career, I need to take into consideration that there will be times, when I will be working and down times when I will not. When you like to do something is often controlled by external forces, but if you are aware of them, they can be managed.
So you have to identify what you like to do, why you like to do it, and when you like to do it. WOW!
Now here are some examples from my own career path.
Examples
To help you make your list, allow me to offer some examples of what I like to do:
* I love to drive because I am not restricted by the airlines. I am free on the road. When I was growing up I dreamed of being a truck driver, which made my parents bless themselves. But I grew out of that for a profession—but not as something I love to do.
* I love to write and compose. I love to write articles, books, and music. They are difficult tasks for me, but I love the process. I love what they bring to others. They are a mode of communication for me.
* I love to do public speaking and performing. The opportunity to communicate with a group of people and have those aha! moments is a real kick for me In the same way, I love to tell stories.
* I love to take care of people (do patient care). I get a real thrill making things better for someone else.
* Early in my career, I found I liked organizing spaces. One of my early jobs was at a major medical college in NYC, and one of my jobs was organizing the spaces to house all the volatile chemicals according to city, state, and federal standards. I really liked making sense out of nonsense.
* In IT, I love working on directories and directory services, as well as troubleshooting them. Why? Because when a directory works, the users are happy, and the admins are happy.
* In life in general, I like to have balance between working with others and working independently. I can't have one without the other. I used to think I could, but I have recently learned that I can't. I can't stand to work alone 100 percent of the time, nor can I stand to work in a nonstop, don't-think environment in which everyone talks and no one listens.
So how could I use what I like to do to make a living, to establish a career? To land a job in IT? What does this list tell me about career options?
For everyone the responses will be different. For me, up to this point in my life what I like to do has allowed me to work as an independent IT instructor and consultant, as well as a writer and editor. I can work with others, yet work independently. I can have those aha! moments and still make a living.
What Don't You Like to Do?
Just as important as identifying what you like to do is identifying what you don't like to do. How many folks do you know who are working in jobs that they hate? I know a bunch. Some who are in IT jobs with good employers. But they are doing something they hate to do.
So remember that you want to be happy, doing what you like while making a good living. You need to list what you don't like to do as well as what you like to do to get a complete picture and potentially not fall into a pothole.
Here are some examples from my career search of what I don't like to do:
* I don't like to engage in office politics. It is too egocentric and a waste of time.
* I don't like to compete in the workplace for attention because it distracts what I perceive that I am there for. I am not looking to earn points by making nice with a boss.
* I do not like programming or learning foreign languages from a book. I don't know why, I just don't
* I don't like to talk down to others or in a condescending tone or be talked down to or spoken to in a condescending tone. This by itself in many employment environments makes me a lousy boss.
* I can't take a job where there is an inordinate amount of travel by plane or I will be miserable. I hate to fly.
Now it is your turn. Make a laundry list of what you don't like to do. And then compare what you like to do with what you don't like to do.
Any hints? Don't ignore this process. You will learn a lot by writing it down.
Conclusion
You should now be able to come up with a short list of what you like to do. You should also be able to point to why you like to do these tasks/jobs and when you like to do them. Also you should be able to point to what you DON'T like to do.
What do you like to do? This is the second question. Now when you look at your responses to the first question and this second question, what are your career directions? Do you see something developing that you did not see before?
Remember that whatever you say now is simply a more refined hypothesis as we diagnose your career options in the coming weeks. My list is also simply a hypothesis. There are more questions that will direct you to the proper treatment.
I hope many of you will continue to read along and share your thoughts and ideas with me through email at wyrostekw@msn.com and also through the comments sections provided by InformIT at the end of each article. I will gladly respond.
Come back next time and let's look at the third question: What can you do? (Restrictions! What's stopping you?)
PII Continued
n this first question in his Career Changers’ Checklist, Warren Wyrostek helps you discover what your life and job goals are as he asks this question: What do you want to do? Put on your thinking cap and sharpen your pencil; you will be surprised by your answers!
Questions to Ponder
Now that you have a list of potential responses to the what-do-you-want-to-do question, you have to ponder a few other questions that this question generates. They are a bit tougher and don’t require an immediate response. But they are worth thinking about. Think of these as EXTRA CREDIT questions.
These followup questions include the following:
* How long do you want to do what you want to do? Short term or long term? Are you looking for a short-term solution to a situation or a long-term solution providing stability?
I am strictly looking for long-term solutions.
* Why do you want to do this job? What is your reason for wanting to do what you want to do? Does it provide you with a better life circumstance? Does it give you pleasure? Do you like the type of work that is involved in this career choice? Do you like to work with your hands, your head, or both? Do you like to lead others or follow others? Has there been some teacher or role model who has inspired you to follow in his or her footsteps? Do you want to work with people or machines?
I have had many role models who have made me love to teach, speak in public, and write. Others have taught me to love working with my hands and troubleshooting problems. In that regard my role model was my dad, who was the best mechanic I have ever met. And I have to thank him for the love of working in the trades (for me, IT is a trade). To love to work the way my dad loved to work is a goal of mine.
* What will you do if you can’t do what you want?
This is one of the toughest questions of all to answer. When I made career changes in the past, I always knew what I was going to do. But sometimes circumstances dictate that you cannot do what you want. I am not a chaplain today because of ecclesiastical issues that were dominant at the time and completely out of my control. And I really wanted to be a chaplain to geriatric and terminal patients. But I couldn’t. So I had to find an area in which I could use my skills and talents and interests to make a living. IT was one solution and when further refined, an IT trainer was the option I chose—and it has lasted for 12 years.
As I write this I am doing what I am asking you to do: re-evaluating what I want to do and asking myself what to do if I can’t. My response has to develop as we move on with this series. I have some ideas, but I don’t really know. The point is to be honest. You might not have all of the answers to the questions as I ask them.
* What would you do with your career (life) if you could do anything you wanted and there were no obstacles?
This is the big question. This is the toughest for me. This is the question every child is asked and the one that I started this article off with. I have just asked it in a different way. As adults, we’re experts at compiling all the reasons why we cannot do something we want.
What if we ignored all those obstacles and nothing was in the way? What would you want to do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Now that is something to think about.
Write your thoughts down in your Word doc. You don’t have to come up with an answer right now. But think about it. Sleep on it. You might be surprised to see what you are really thinking and feeling. Someone who is reading this is saying s/he wants to become the next Bill Gates. Well? Go for it. Who said you can’t? Bill Gates did not know he was going to be such a brand until he tried and decided what he wanted to do, without fear of failure.
From this list and from my responses to the questions I have provided for you, you should at this point be able to come up with a short list of what you want to do.
What are your goals? Remember that this is just the first question. So whatever you say now is simply a hypothesis as we diagnose your career options in the coming weeks. My list is also simply a hypothesis. There are more questions that will direct us to the proper treatment.
Next Stop
I hope many of you will not only read along but also share your thoughts and ideas with me through email at wyrostekw@msn.com and also through the comments sections provided by InformIT at the end of each article. I will gladly respond.
Questions to Ponder
Now that you have a list of potential responses to the what-do-you-want-to-do question, you have to ponder a few other questions that this question generates. They are a bit tougher and don’t require an immediate response. But they are worth thinking about. Think of these as EXTRA CREDIT questions.
These followup questions include the following:
* How long do you want to do what you want to do? Short term or long term? Are you looking for a short-term solution to a situation or a long-term solution providing stability?
I am strictly looking for long-term solutions.
* Why do you want to do this job? What is your reason for wanting to do what you want to do? Does it provide you with a better life circumstance? Does it give you pleasure? Do you like the type of work that is involved in this career choice? Do you like to work with your hands, your head, or both? Do you like to lead others or follow others? Has there been some teacher or role model who has inspired you to follow in his or her footsteps? Do you want to work with people or machines?
I have had many role models who have made me love to teach, speak in public, and write. Others have taught me to love working with my hands and troubleshooting problems. In that regard my role model was my dad, who was the best mechanic I have ever met. And I have to thank him for the love of working in the trades (for me, IT is a trade). To love to work the way my dad loved to work is a goal of mine.
* What will you do if you can’t do what you want?
This is one of the toughest questions of all to answer. When I made career changes in the past, I always knew what I was going to do. But sometimes circumstances dictate that you cannot do what you want. I am not a chaplain today because of ecclesiastical issues that were dominant at the time and completely out of my control. And I really wanted to be a chaplain to geriatric and terminal patients. But I couldn’t. So I had to find an area in which I could use my skills and talents and interests to make a living. IT was one solution and when further refined, an IT trainer was the option I chose—and it has lasted for 12 years.
As I write this I am doing what I am asking you to do: re-evaluating what I want to do and asking myself what to do if I can’t. My response has to develop as we move on with this series. I have some ideas, but I don’t really know. The point is to be honest. You might not have all of the answers to the questions as I ask them.
* What would you do with your career (life) if you could do anything you wanted and there were no obstacles?
This is the big question. This is the toughest for me. This is the question every child is asked and the one that I started this article off with. I have just asked it in a different way. As adults, we’re experts at compiling all the reasons why we cannot do something we want.
What if we ignored all those obstacles and nothing was in the way? What would you want to do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Now that is something to think about.
Write your thoughts down in your Word doc. You don’t have to come up with an answer right now. But think about it. Sleep on it. You might be surprised to see what you are really thinking and feeling. Someone who is reading this is saying s/he wants to become the next Bill Gates. Well? Go for it. Who said you can’t? Bill Gates did not know he was going to be such a brand until he tried and decided what he wanted to do, without fear of failure.
From this list and from my responses to the questions I have provided for you, you should at this point be able to come up with a short list of what you want to do.
What are your goals? Remember that this is just the first question. So whatever you say now is simply a hypothesis as we diagnose your career options in the coming weeks. My list is also simply a hypothesis. There are more questions that will direct us to the proper treatment.
Next Stop
I hope many of you will not only read along but also share your thoughts and ideas with me through email at wyrostekw@msn.com and also through the comments sections provided by InformIT at the end of each article. I will gladly respond.
What Do You Want to Do? (Goals!)
n this first question in his Career Changers’ Checklist, Warren Wyrostek helps you discover what your life and job goals are as he asks this question: What do you want to do? Put on your thinking cap and sharpen your pencil; you will be surprised by your answers!
If you have come to this article, I am sure you have read the first article in this series, Genesis, and you know the focus of this series.
So whether your career needs help or you are just curious—welcome to this diagnostic series. Whether you are from IT or from some other sector exploring IT—welcome. Even if you are just looking to start a new career—welcome. This series is for everyone. Here is a word that IT folks love to use—this is a generic series of questions to help you introspectively look at your career and help you analyze what you might want to do professionally.
I suggest that you use the following strategy as you read through these questions and those that will follow in the upcoming articles. Take notes! Record the following:
* Thoughts
* Feelings
* Actions or reactions to the statements and suggestions made (positive or negative)
* References you want to research
* Anything that comes to mind, no matter how insignificant it might seem
You might want to set up a Word doc with these notes, broken down by question, so that you can refer to them in the weeks to come. These notes do not have to make sense to anyone but you.
Based on these notes, when you finish this series (or maybe in the middle) a light may come on that spurs you toward your next career move.
These notes might also help you formulate your own set of questions that make sense to you. Or they might help you come up with a question that you want to pose on the InformIT comment portal or ask me by email.
Remember from the "Genesis" article that the articles in this series contain focused, probing, diagnostic questions that will help you look at your career choices and hopefully help you come up with a course of action to follow to improve your lot in life.
That being said, let’s get to question 1 and the followup questions it generates.
What Do You Want To Do? What Are Your Goals?
This is without question the most fundamental question you have to answer when you are making a career choice. You cannot answer any of the other that I will pose in the coming weeks if you don’t know what you want to do.
This question can be looked at from two points of view.
* Life goals. This is how folks who are in the real world market will respond when choosing to change careers.
* Job goals. This is how many in our sector (and many other sectors, for that matter) respond to this question.
Let’s take a look at these two viewpoints more closely.
Life Goals
When I was growing up, I was often asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" My answer was always the same: a doctor or a chaplain. That was it. I wanted to be able to serve people who were ill. The key to that response is that I wanted to serve.
That is an example of a life goal that is formed in childhood. That goal, despite what I do to make a living, has not changed over my 50+ years. Whatever I do career-wise has to satisfy that goal or I am completely dissatisfied.
Now that I have been in IT for over 15 years (12 years as an independent contractor), I come up with a laundry list of answers when I am asked what I want to do. Some of them I can share during an interview; others I don’t share because they are not relevant to the topic being discussed.
The key is to know what you want to do as a life goal. Here are some diagnostic questions that might help you figure out what you want to do as you make a career move:
* Do you want to make a lot of money? Is money a concern for you?
* Do you want to work in a single job that provides the needed income for you and your family to thrive, or do you care if you work two or more jobs simultaneously?
* Do you want to change jobs every 6 months to 2 years or are you looking for stability; that is, do you want to stay with an employer for 10–30 years?
* Do you want to work a fixed schedule, or are your hours flexible?
* Do you want to travel in your career? If so, how much? Do you want to be a road rat?
* Do you want to get off the road because you can’t stand hotels any more or because you don’t want to be away from your family for long periods of time?
* Do you want to relocate to another part of the country or to a new country because of the opportunities that await you? Or are you trying to get away from something or someone who is annoying you, or get closer to someone or something?
* Do you want to work for yourself and enjoy the opportunities that are available to the self-employed, including scheduling freedom?
* Do you want to start working for a small company, a mid-size firm, or a global enterprise?
* Do you want to stop working for yourself so that you can enjoy corporate benefits and stability?
* Do you want to work in management with a great deal of responsibility or do you want to work in support so that others bear the responsibility? How important is control to you—whether you control the flow of work or someone else is in control?
* Do you want to deal with the politics of a bureaucracy, or with a mom-and-pop business in which there is little in the way of politics?
* Do you want to be in a service industry or in a manufacturing industry?
* At the end of the day, the work week, the fiscal year, what is the most important thing you need to be able to say that you accomplished or did?
* What comes first for you: business, pleasure, family, or something else? And a related question: What do you want to do for yourself? For others? For your company? For your family? What is driving you to make this career choice?
When I reflect on these questions, it is clear why I have chosen to work for myself these last 12+ years. My family comes first when making career decisions. I have not wanted to travel for extended periods because I had to be away from my family, which I was not willing to do. I much prefer to be in a service industry in which I can provide some assistance to a population with a defined need, and I prefer to work in a small-scale operation with minimal politics. I have little patience for corporate politics.
As far as income is concerned, I want to make enough money to not have to worry and to take care of my family’s needs. I don’t mind working multiple jobs at the same time as long as I manage my time well. So when I am making a career choice, these parameters dictate which choices I will make. You have to define your life goals when you are considering what you want to do; otherwise the answer you come up with will not be realistic for you. It will be sheer fantasy or simply make your life miserable.
And remember that these questions are just a sample of the questions you need to respond to when you want to learn what you want to do. These are the type of questions HR folks quietly ask during an interview. Your responses to these questions will help you articulate your job goals.
Now it is your turn. What are your life goals? Write them down in your Word doc.
Job Goals
Now that you are considering your life goals, you also have to begin considering your job goals. Depending on the sector you are considering, the opportunities are endless when you know which life goals are important.
In IT there is more and more a division of labor. No one can do it all. Twenty years ago, anyone running a network was supposed to be able to do it all. Everything, from programming to running cable, to deploying workstations, to administering a mainframe was in most job descriptions for IT people. That has changed a bit, but in some sectors not as much as is needed.
Realistically, today’s programmers, cable installers, network folks, and mainframe gurus all require unique skill sets, but each of these professionals must also interact with those having other talents.
When you consider what you want to do, what your jobs goals are in IT, you should consider the following:
* What type of environment you want to work in?
* Do you want to work in a big shop or a one-person shop?
* Do you want to work independently or as part of a team?
* What platform or subject has your attention?
* What are your strengths and weaknesses?
These five questions can give you a pretty good idea of what direction you should pursue.
When I look at my job goals, I can look at the IT sector and pick a job from a list, simply from the title, that might be of interest to me. Why? It will fall in line with my responses to these five questions that help define my job goals.
For example, because I enjoy working for myself, it is clear that I prefer working independently or as part of a small team.
I really like working in healthcare and education. Those have been real loves of mine since I was in high school. I am not at all attracted to the financial sector, the political arena, big business, and the like.
The subjects that have my attention are teaching, integrated networking, troubleshooting, writing, and course development.
My strengths are the following: good researcher, good troubleshooter, open to working with others and interacting with others, well-organized public speaker and teacher, have ability to simplify complex concepts so that others can understand the driving point, love of writing, and enjoyment of working.
My main weakness is I hate politics—office politics and bickering. I simply have no time for them. I have no tolerance for ego-driven individuals.
I also have little tolerance for vendors who believe that they own you when you purchase their product, making you in their eyes "vendor-dependent." More and more of the IT vendors are developing the mindset that they own you when you deploy their hardware or software solutions. That lack of tolerance alone makes me want to rethink whether I want to stay in IT.
From these two lists of questions—life goals and job goals—that help define what you want to do, you can begin to formulate an idea of what you might want to do if you are changing a career.
Some thoughts that have crossed my mind as I consider these issues are to continue teaching as an independent contractor; manage a training division; or leave IT altogether and pursue a doctorate in IT, where I can assure myself of employment stability by teaching at a university.
That’s how I would respond to those questions. Now it is your turn. What are your job goals? Write them down in your Word doc.
If you have come to this article, I am sure you have read the first article in this series, Genesis, and you know the focus of this series.
So whether your career needs help or you are just curious—welcome to this diagnostic series. Whether you are from IT or from some other sector exploring IT—welcome. Even if you are just looking to start a new career—welcome. This series is for everyone. Here is a word that IT folks love to use—this is a generic series of questions to help you introspectively look at your career and help you analyze what you might want to do professionally.
I suggest that you use the following strategy as you read through these questions and those that will follow in the upcoming articles. Take notes! Record the following:
* Thoughts
* Feelings
* Actions or reactions to the statements and suggestions made (positive or negative)
* References you want to research
* Anything that comes to mind, no matter how insignificant it might seem
You might want to set up a Word doc with these notes, broken down by question, so that you can refer to them in the weeks to come. These notes do not have to make sense to anyone but you.
Based on these notes, when you finish this series (or maybe in the middle) a light may come on that spurs you toward your next career move.
These notes might also help you formulate your own set of questions that make sense to you. Or they might help you come up with a question that you want to pose on the InformIT comment portal or ask me by email.
Remember from the "Genesis" article that the articles in this series contain focused, probing, diagnostic questions that will help you look at your career choices and hopefully help you come up with a course of action to follow to improve your lot in life.
That being said, let’s get to question 1 and the followup questions it generates.
What Do You Want To Do? What Are Your Goals?
This is without question the most fundamental question you have to answer when you are making a career choice. You cannot answer any of the other that I will pose in the coming weeks if you don’t know what you want to do.
This question can be looked at from two points of view.
* Life goals. This is how folks who are in the real world market will respond when choosing to change careers.
* Job goals. This is how many in our sector (and many other sectors, for that matter) respond to this question.
Let’s take a look at these two viewpoints more closely.
Life Goals
When I was growing up, I was often asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" My answer was always the same: a doctor or a chaplain. That was it. I wanted to be able to serve people who were ill. The key to that response is that I wanted to serve.
That is an example of a life goal that is formed in childhood. That goal, despite what I do to make a living, has not changed over my 50+ years. Whatever I do career-wise has to satisfy that goal or I am completely dissatisfied.
Now that I have been in IT for over 15 years (12 years as an independent contractor), I come up with a laundry list of answers when I am asked what I want to do. Some of them I can share during an interview; others I don’t share because they are not relevant to the topic being discussed.
The key is to know what you want to do as a life goal. Here are some diagnostic questions that might help you figure out what you want to do as you make a career move:
* Do you want to make a lot of money? Is money a concern for you?
* Do you want to work in a single job that provides the needed income for you and your family to thrive, or do you care if you work two or more jobs simultaneously?
* Do you want to change jobs every 6 months to 2 years or are you looking for stability; that is, do you want to stay with an employer for 10–30 years?
* Do you want to work a fixed schedule, or are your hours flexible?
* Do you want to travel in your career? If so, how much? Do you want to be a road rat?
* Do you want to get off the road because you can’t stand hotels any more or because you don’t want to be away from your family for long periods of time?
* Do you want to relocate to another part of the country or to a new country because of the opportunities that await you? Or are you trying to get away from something or someone who is annoying you, or get closer to someone or something?
* Do you want to work for yourself and enjoy the opportunities that are available to the self-employed, including scheduling freedom?
* Do you want to start working for a small company, a mid-size firm, or a global enterprise?
* Do you want to stop working for yourself so that you can enjoy corporate benefits and stability?
* Do you want to work in management with a great deal of responsibility or do you want to work in support so that others bear the responsibility? How important is control to you—whether you control the flow of work or someone else is in control?
* Do you want to deal with the politics of a bureaucracy, or with a mom-and-pop business in which there is little in the way of politics?
* Do you want to be in a service industry or in a manufacturing industry?
* At the end of the day, the work week, the fiscal year, what is the most important thing you need to be able to say that you accomplished or did?
* What comes first for you: business, pleasure, family, or something else? And a related question: What do you want to do for yourself? For others? For your company? For your family? What is driving you to make this career choice?
When I reflect on these questions, it is clear why I have chosen to work for myself these last 12+ years. My family comes first when making career decisions. I have not wanted to travel for extended periods because I had to be away from my family, which I was not willing to do. I much prefer to be in a service industry in which I can provide some assistance to a population with a defined need, and I prefer to work in a small-scale operation with minimal politics. I have little patience for corporate politics.
As far as income is concerned, I want to make enough money to not have to worry and to take care of my family’s needs. I don’t mind working multiple jobs at the same time as long as I manage my time well. So when I am making a career choice, these parameters dictate which choices I will make. You have to define your life goals when you are considering what you want to do; otherwise the answer you come up with will not be realistic for you. It will be sheer fantasy or simply make your life miserable.
And remember that these questions are just a sample of the questions you need to respond to when you want to learn what you want to do. These are the type of questions HR folks quietly ask during an interview. Your responses to these questions will help you articulate your job goals.
Now it is your turn. What are your life goals? Write them down in your Word doc.
Job Goals
Now that you are considering your life goals, you also have to begin considering your job goals. Depending on the sector you are considering, the opportunities are endless when you know which life goals are important.
In IT there is more and more a division of labor. No one can do it all. Twenty years ago, anyone running a network was supposed to be able to do it all. Everything, from programming to running cable, to deploying workstations, to administering a mainframe was in most job descriptions for IT people. That has changed a bit, but in some sectors not as much as is needed.
Realistically, today’s programmers, cable installers, network folks, and mainframe gurus all require unique skill sets, but each of these professionals must also interact with those having other talents.
When you consider what you want to do, what your jobs goals are in IT, you should consider the following:
* What type of environment you want to work in?
* Do you want to work in a big shop or a one-person shop?
* Do you want to work independently or as part of a team?
* What platform or subject has your attention?
* What are your strengths and weaknesses?
These five questions can give you a pretty good idea of what direction you should pursue.
When I look at my job goals, I can look at the IT sector and pick a job from a list, simply from the title, that might be of interest to me. Why? It will fall in line with my responses to these five questions that help define my job goals.
For example, because I enjoy working for myself, it is clear that I prefer working independently or as part of a small team.
I really like working in healthcare and education. Those have been real loves of mine since I was in high school. I am not at all attracted to the financial sector, the political arena, big business, and the like.
The subjects that have my attention are teaching, integrated networking, troubleshooting, writing, and course development.
My strengths are the following: good researcher, good troubleshooter, open to working with others and interacting with others, well-organized public speaker and teacher, have ability to simplify complex concepts so that others can understand the driving point, love of writing, and enjoyment of working.
My main weakness is I hate politics—office politics and bickering. I simply have no time for them. I have no tolerance for ego-driven individuals.
I also have little tolerance for vendors who believe that they own you when you purchase their product, making you in their eyes "vendor-dependent." More and more of the IT vendors are developing the mindset that they own you when you deploy their hardware or software solutions. That lack of tolerance alone makes me want to rethink whether I want to stay in IT.
From these two lists of questions—life goals and job goals—that help define what you want to do, you can begin to formulate an idea of what you might want to do if you are changing a career.
Some thoughts that have crossed my mind as I consider these issues are to continue teaching as an independent contractor; manage a training division; or leave IT altogether and pursue a doctorate in IT, where I can assure myself of employment stability by teaching at a university.
That’s how I would respond to those questions. Now it is your turn. What are your job goals? Write them down in your Word doc.
Career Questions for IT
Folks in IT are struggling with these questions:
—How do I make a career change?
—What do I do for a career?
—How do I advance in IT?
With Warren Wyrostek’s guidance through a series of targeted questions, you get a chance to diagnose and treat your career, providing you with an excellent career prognosis. Are you ready to make a change?
In 2001 and 2004 I had the opportunity to write two articles for InformIT.com that focused on career changers in information technology. Since the response to those brief articles generated much discussion, I have played with the idea of expanding it to a series of articles that would ask those faced with a career change, or for that matter looking for a job, a series of focused, reflective questions illustrated with examples from my own experience.
The title for this series is A Career Changer's Checklist. The tone of this series of articles will be the same as it was in the first two InformIT articles — conversational and nonthreatening.
You InformIT readers are the intended audience. You are the folks in IT/IS who are struggling with these questions:
* How do I make a career change?
* What do I do for a career
* How do I advance in IT?
Those who are in IT/IS are facing this quagmire, but so are the folks just leaving college and high school, and those stuck in non-IT/IS jobs that they hate but are looking to our sector with hope. People re-entering IT will find this series helpful as well.
This series can be used by guidance offices in schools and colleges, and by employers in the corporate world trying to keep their employees from getting bored and leaving.
If the truth be told, this series is being written for InformIT readers and those in IT, but it could just as easily be written for any sector: those in healthcare, those in education, those in government, those in the trades, those in publishing, and so on.
So if you are coming to this series from a non-IT point of reference, welcome!
The premise of these articles is simple: You are being bombarded with reams and reams of data concerning what is hot and what is not, what jobs are paying a living wage and which are not, which technologies are dying and which are getting ready to launch. Between all the salary surveys, expert opinions, gurus, and talking heads predicting where the sector is going, trying to make a career decision in this sector is mind-numbing.
You and you alone are the person who has to make the decision. No one else can make it for you. No guru or expert knows what you know, has lived your history, or has your needs. Only you know that. You are the only one who can say what you want to do, what you like to do, and what you need to live.
But to make the right decision, you have to ask the right questions. We often are so emotionally embroiled in the struggle that we might overlook the obvious: the questions that will direct us in the correct path.
My hope for these articles is to help you the reader by asking 12-13 focused questions. I will give you some ideas based on my experiences and history and then let you make your own decision. These articles will not be an expert's perception of the IT landscape, encouraging you to do this or do that. Instead, I'll be the unbiased coach who hopefully will ask you the questions that will trigger something in you that will move you in the right direction.
Your job is simple. As you read these articles and reflect on the questions I ask and the experiences I share with you, listen to your heart and mind. Consider what you're feeling — positive or negative. Write down the ideas that come to you. And then at the end of the series, look back at what you have thought and felt and do the research that is needed to take the first step to your new career.
Use these questions as a checklist. When you finish reading this series you should have responses to these questions written down. Based on your responses to this checklist of questions, you might see a path or a career that you have not even considered. Maybe you have considered it, but dismissed it because of X or Y. Maybe you asked only one or two of the questions. In my experience, you have to ask all the questions to arrive at the answer that is right for you.
For those of you who are familiar with the diagnostic procedures used in healthcare, the only way to correctly diagnose an illness and prescribe a treatment is to subject the patient to a series of tests, which in essence provide data. When the diagnostician has all of the data, s/he can diagnose the malady.
What I'm doing through this series/checklist is subjecting you to a series of tests/questions. You'll compile the results and come up with a course of action to follow to improve your lot in life. And if you do it well, without bias and objectively, the prognosis for your career will be excellent.
For some of you this sounds like hogwash. For some of you, going to a physician is hogwash. But what does a physician do when you go in with some malady? S/he asks you a series of questions, which is called taking a patient history.
Then a series of tests is ordered. It is based on good science and good medicine. What I'm doing through this checklist is based on good science and good medicine. You want your career to get better. Instead of going to a doctor, you are reading a series of articles. I'll ask the questions, order the tests, and you'll interpret the results and prescribe treatment that is unique to your situation. If all goes well, you and your career will experience remarkable improvement.
The layout for the checklist is a series of articles in which the question is the title of the article, and the content shares the ideas that have to be pondered when considering this question. It is similar to the method I use with students when they are changing careers and ask me for advice.
I heavily illustrate my responses to their questions with experiences and stories from my past. My questions are the jumping off point, but you will be encouraged to use these questions for research and reflection to focus on how to make the career change.
Although the title of this series focuses on career changers, it could easily be retitled A Job Seeker's Checklist.
Here are the questions that I will ask over the course of this series. There is nothing like being prepared!
The Questions
* Article 1: Genesis
* Article 2: What Do You Want to Do? (Goals!)
* Article 3: What Do You Like to Do? (Pleasure and Passion!)
* Article 4: What Can You Do? (Restrictions!)
* Article 5: What Can You Afford to Do? (Economic Reality! Ugh!!)
* Article 6: What do You Know How to Do? (Knowledge and Experience!)
* Article 7: Where do You Want to Do What You Want to Do? (Location, Location, Location!)
* Article 8: Who do You Want to Do This With? (Community?!)
* Article 9: What Is the Expected Life Cycle for What You Want to Do? (Time is Everything!)
* Article 10: What Do You Need to Get Started? (Laying a Foundation!)
* Article 11: How Willing Are You to Change? (Flexibility!)
* Article 12: What Is Your Chance of Fulfillment? (Not Success, but Fulfillment!)
* Article 13: What Are You Waiting For? What Is Stopping You? (Lift Off and Enjoy the Ride!)
* Conclusions: What Is Your Call? What Is Your Vocation? What Is Your Purpose? What Is Your Reason for Being?
Next Stop
So your career is the patient. I am the person taking the patient history through questions. You are the final diagnostician who will take the answers to the questions and come up with a course of action. The hope is that your careers' health will improve.
Well now that you know what is coming and what the questions are, it is time to dive in. The next stop will be Question 1: What do you want to do? (Goals!). So start thinking about it. What do you want to do? What are your goals? That is the subject that we will tackle next.
I hope many of you will not only read along but also share your thoughts and ideas with me through email at wyrostekw@msn.com and also through the comments sections provided by InformIT at the end of each article. I will gladly respond.
Now let's treat your career!
—How do I make a career change?
—What do I do for a career?
—How do I advance in IT?
With Warren Wyrostek’s guidance through a series of targeted questions, you get a chance to diagnose and treat your career, providing you with an excellent career prognosis. Are you ready to make a change?
In 2001 and 2004 I had the opportunity to write two articles for InformIT.com that focused on career changers in information technology. Since the response to those brief articles generated much discussion, I have played with the idea of expanding it to a series of articles that would ask those faced with a career change, or for that matter looking for a job, a series of focused, reflective questions illustrated with examples from my own experience.
The title for this series is A Career Changer's Checklist. The tone of this series of articles will be the same as it was in the first two InformIT articles — conversational and nonthreatening.
You InformIT readers are the intended audience. You are the folks in IT/IS who are struggling with these questions:
* How do I make a career change?
* What do I do for a career
* How do I advance in IT?
Those who are in IT/IS are facing this quagmire, but so are the folks just leaving college and high school, and those stuck in non-IT/IS jobs that they hate but are looking to our sector with hope. People re-entering IT will find this series helpful as well.
This series can be used by guidance offices in schools and colleges, and by employers in the corporate world trying to keep their employees from getting bored and leaving.
If the truth be told, this series is being written for InformIT readers and those in IT, but it could just as easily be written for any sector: those in healthcare, those in education, those in government, those in the trades, those in publishing, and so on.
So if you are coming to this series from a non-IT point of reference, welcome!
The premise of these articles is simple: You are being bombarded with reams and reams of data concerning what is hot and what is not, what jobs are paying a living wage and which are not, which technologies are dying and which are getting ready to launch. Between all the salary surveys, expert opinions, gurus, and talking heads predicting where the sector is going, trying to make a career decision in this sector is mind-numbing.
You and you alone are the person who has to make the decision. No one else can make it for you. No guru or expert knows what you know, has lived your history, or has your needs. Only you know that. You are the only one who can say what you want to do, what you like to do, and what you need to live.
But to make the right decision, you have to ask the right questions. We often are so emotionally embroiled in the struggle that we might overlook the obvious: the questions that will direct us in the correct path.
My hope for these articles is to help you the reader by asking 12-13 focused questions. I will give you some ideas based on my experiences and history and then let you make your own decision. These articles will not be an expert's perception of the IT landscape, encouraging you to do this or do that. Instead, I'll be the unbiased coach who hopefully will ask you the questions that will trigger something in you that will move you in the right direction.
Your job is simple. As you read these articles and reflect on the questions I ask and the experiences I share with you, listen to your heart and mind. Consider what you're feeling — positive or negative. Write down the ideas that come to you. And then at the end of the series, look back at what you have thought and felt and do the research that is needed to take the first step to your new career.
Use these questions as a checklist. When you finish reading this series you should have responses to these questions written down. Based on your responses to this checklist of questions, you might see a path or a career that you have not even considered. Maybe you have considered it, but dismissed it because of X or Y. Maybe you asked only one or two of the questions. In my experience, you have to ask all the questions to arrive at the answer that is right for you.
For those of you who are familiar with the diagnostic procedures used in healthcare, the only way to correctly diagnose an illness and prescribe a treatment is to subject the patient to a series of tests, which in essence provide data. When the diagnostician has all of the data, s/he can diagnose the malady.
What I'm doing through this series/checklist is subjecting you to a series of tests/questions. You'll compile the results and come up with a course of action to follow to improve your lot in life. And if you do it well, without bias and objectively, the prognosis for your career will be excellent.
For some of you this sounds like hogwash. For some of you, going to a physician is hogwash. But what does a physician do when you go in with some malady? S/he asks you a series of questions, which is called taking a patient history.
Then a series of tests is ordered. It is based on good science and good medicine. What I'm doing through this checklist is based on good science and good medicine. You want your career to get better. Instead of going to a doctor, you are reading a series of articles. I'll ask the questions, order the tests, and you'll interpret the results and prescribe treatment that is unique to your situation. If all goes well, you and your career will experience remarkable improvement.
The layout for the checklist is a series of articles in which the question is the title of the article, and the content shares the ideas that have to be pondered when considering this question. It is similar to the method I use with students when they are changing careers and ask me for advice.
I heavily illustrate my responses to their questions with experiences and stories from my past. My questions are the jumping off point, but you will be encouraged to use these questions for research and reflection to focus on how to make the career change.
Although the title of this series focuses on career changers, it could easily be retitled A Job Seeker's Checklist.
Here are the questions that I will ask over the course of this series. There is nothing like being prepared!
The Questions
* Article 1: Genesis
* Article 2: What Do You Want to Do? (Goals!)
* Article 3: What Do You Like to Do? (Pleasure and Passion!)
* Article 4: What Can You Do? (Restrictions!)
* Article 5: What Can You Afford to Do? (Economic Reality! Ugh!!)
* Article 6: What do You Know How to Do? (Knowledge and Experience!)
* Article 7: Where do You Want to Do What You Want to Do? (Location, Location, Location!)
* Article 8: Who do You Want to Do This With? (Community?!)
* Article 9: What Is the Expected Life Cycle for What You Want to Do? (Time is Everything!)
* Article 10: What Do You Need to Get Started? (Laying a Foundation!)
* Article 11: How Willing Are You to Change? (Flexibility!)
* Article 12: What Is Your Chance of Fulfillment? (Not Success, but Fulfillment!)
* Article 13: What Are You Waiting For? What Is Stopping You? (Lift Off and Enjoy the Ride!)
* Conclusions: What Is Your Call? What Is Your Vocation? What Is Your Purpose? What Is Your Reason for Being?
Next Stop
So your career is the patient. I am the person taking the patient history through questions. You are the final diagnostician who will take the answers to the questions and come up with a course of action. The hope is that your careers' health will improve.
Well now that you know what is coming and what the questions are, it is time to dive in. The next stop will be Question 1: What do you want to do? (Goals!). So start thinking about it. What do you want to do? What are your goals? That is the subject that we will tackle next.
I hope many of you will not only read along but also share your thoughts and ideas with me through email at wyrostekw@msn.com and also through the comments sections provided by InformIT at the end of each article. I will gladly respond.
Now let's treat your career!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)