All the world's a very narrow bridge:
The essential thing is not to be afraid.
-- Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (18th century)
With unemployment in the US at its worst in 30 years (and the EU sure to follow soon) I thought it might be an opportune time to gather together some of the past posts on job transition. Here are a few I've found via Super Search:
Thoughts on transitions - by choice and otherwise:
- New Languages to Learn - if my company is merging and I'm about to lose my job, what should I do? Learning new technical skills can help, but it is only a piece of the picture.
- Changing Jobs - Various thoughts and experiences related to changing jobs, sometimes by choice, sometimes not.
- Why do monks put up with it? - constructive ways to deal with jobs/technology you hate and why telling your fellow monks "I'd quit!" or "Put up or ship out" is not a good idea. - written in Sept, 2000 after the dot.com bust - a time that looks like a picnic today.
- (OT) Programmer Job Search How-to - a thread started by a parent looking for suggestions about how to help his son, a recent college graduate with a CS major, find a job. Contains a number of creative suggestions that might also apply to people looking for that next job.
- (OT) What should I do with my life (career advice sought)? - a thread targeted at those whose programming skills developed incidental to their "real" job - some thoughts on how to present a resume and look more like a software developer.
- Perl Jobs - suggestions if you are looking for entry level perl jobs
Making yourself more marketable/employable:
- Distant Job Search Challenges - brainstorming about how to get companies to really look at a resume from someone living in another town or city.
- [Slightly OT]: Is certification worth it? - discusses the pros and cons of supplementing your resume with certification tests.
- ACM, anyone? - advantages and disadvantages of membership in industry associations.
- College degrees, knowledge gained and reputations enhanced - should I go back to school? How much do degrees really matter?
- Formal Education Required? - another take on the degree vs. experience debate with a focus on how it affects salary levels as well as some thoughts about juggling work and school at the same time.
- Autodidact - is being an autodidact good or bad for the job search? For employers? Various myths of autodidacts discussed.
- Dispelling the Myth in The Outside World - suggestions for how to approach the job search if you are an autodidact.
- CPAN Authorhood - can CPAN authorship boost your hiring potential? If so,how?
- Is Perl a good career move? - discusses some fears and hopes related to developing Perl expertise. Among them: whether or not Perl skills are transferable to other languages and can help in getting even non-Perl jobs.
How we see ourselves influences the way we present ourselves and search for jobs. Here are some threads that may provide food for thought:
- Trained Perl professional or self-taught hack? - What defines us as professionals (or not)? By the way, merlyn considers himeself a "self-trained hack", but I doubt he's unemployable.
- What do you call yourself? - discussion of the meaning of job titles and how we use them to communicate.
Formal employment at a company may not be the only option. Here are some thoughts on alternatives to "yobs":
- Should a consultant incorporate (and how)? - Discussing consulting as alternative to unemployment - started by a Bear-Stearns(?) survivor.
- OT: Advice on escaping Corporate America / Starting own consultancy outfit? - More thoughts on consulting as an alternative
- With whom to collaborate - A very brief discussion on collaboration (join IP ownership? equity interest?) as a form of payment
Getting a perspective on where our industry is going may also help in the job search. Recessions often rearrange the job market causing old professions to die and new ones to rise up (see Job Losses Hnt at Vast Remaking of the Economy @NY Times for a recent essay on this topic). We can't predict the future, but we may be able to make some reasonable guesses by looking back at how others read the market 5, 10 years ago and what has changed since then. So...
- Easiest city to find Perl work: - although this was a poll (from 2006), it triggered some discussion about which cities likely have the greatest concentration of jobs. It is three years old so the list of cities might not be the same today, but the reasoning behind each person's opinion might inspire some ideas of where to look for the next hot market. One interesting factoid: the most popular answer "Where I live; I telecommute" clocked in at 38%
- (OT) Where is programming headed? - when does a programming language become obsolete? Who decides? This thread reflects the wars at the turn of the century between OOP, procedural and functional programming. But there will be new wars and the issues raised by this thread will shape the next language/skills/paradigm debate - whatever that is.
Whether you are looking for a job or consulting gig, here are some thoughts on handling interviews and negotiations:
- On Interviewing and Interview Questions - a frank discussion of interviewing techniques and questions. It is from the point of view of the potential employer, but knowing how "the other side" sees things can help a lot in making a good impression when you are the one being interviewed.
- Interview Counterattack: "Show me a project-plan" - the pros and cons of various questions you might want to ask about a potential employer when they say "Do you have any questions?".
- OT: compensation beyond salary - When you do find a job, some things to think about when discussing or considering non-monetary forms of compensation.
- Moral Dilemma - Does accepting a lowish salary just to get back to work give you long term compensation leprosy?
- Appraising your work: what's it worth? - various ideas on how to price your work if you decide to go the freelance route.
- Shortage ? Or Efficient Markets ? - Discusses various reasons for the discrepency posed by the claim that Perl programmers are in short supply and the very low salary levels posted on job boards.
- Loyalty, Personal gain or Professional Integrity - When recommending alternate technologies to a client, is it OK to let your desire to learn something new factor into the recommendations?
- (OT) Professional Employees: who owns your thoughts? - What work do you own and what work counts as "work for hire?". It isn't always clear. Before you sign that contract make sure there is a common understanding of who owns what and get it in writing, if you care about those things. And a cautionary tale, from tilly: Professional Employees and Works for Hire.
Thoughts on keeping yourself busy between projects: Long job hiatuses can make one look rusty and out of date. One way to avoid this is to start a programming project of your own. Here are some threads that might help you:
- I need some motivation - various ideas for staying focused and completing your own programming projects.
And finally some thoughts about how to use PM during those down times:
- New levels and new habits - Not really about jobs - but does suggest that getting involved in asking and answering questions might be a good way to keep Perl skills fresh and networking alive while one is between projects or jobs.
- Serious & personal meditation - on the pros and cons of PM infatuation.
What are some of the best PM threads you remember on job hunting, dealing with job loss, retraining, career development and learning Perl? Are there some particularly astute non-PM posts on the topic that you would like to share?
Best, beth
Note: there are a lot of links here - please message me if you notice any broken ones, I'll try to fix it promptly. Thanks, in advance.