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Career
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On the Job Hunt is a web log for IT professionals looking for work. Our current job hunter is Chuck Drobny, an IT consultant seeking a new fulltime job. Two other people are contributing to On the Job Hunt, an executive recruiter and career coach and the owner of a consulting firm, who will provide advice from the perspective of a hiring manager. TechRepublic career editor Judy Mottl will also provide links to TechRepublic articles on job hunting. Get your free TechRepublic membership here. E-mail the web loggers here.
Note: Unless you specifically request otherwise, all e-mail received will be considered eligible for publication in all or part on the web blog.
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I'm in the eighth month of my job hunt. Last September I left the last company. We built enterprise wide management software, provided satellite communications and dispatched service technicians to a narrowly targeted segment of the transportation industry.
I was the COO and divided my time among three coasts and Canada. Even though I founded part of the company, when the new investors gained a majority share it was time for me to leave.
So I've been looking. With severance and savings I didn't look too hard at first. My wife and I traveled. We visited friends and family. We sold our home right away so it was easy to get away. It was our opportunity to return to a region we loved.
I've been in this situation before in my career but not for this long. I've changed direction several times moving among industries. Networking, resume writing and interviewing are all part of the challenge. Perhaps my past experience and success are a detriment. I think I know the answers. After all I've done it before with success.
This is however a wicked job market. It's not just the slow economy. It seems the pool of experienced, technically savvy and capable talent is exponentially larger than in the past. There are a lot of good people competing--more than I can ever remember.
The Internet facilitates my search and the PC expands my response capability but both make the job harder.
Recruiters and personnel managers must be buried in e-applications. In years past a custom letter and resume were a lot of work and one did not frivolously apply. Today they are a few clicks. The myriad of resume services and agencies promotion mass broadcasts further complicates things.
So I'm looking forward to receiving solid advice from the experts involved in this career blog. I've been through a host relevant experience in recent months and I'm not sure I handled myself well. In addition to advising on what I'm doing each week, I'd like to relate the recent past and hear opinion about how to handle like situations in the future.
Job hunting approaches:
I attended a job conference from my alma mater recently. Rather than pitch myself as a new hire, I pitched each recruiter a business idea with merit. That generated four positive responses.
I'm working those this week by email and sending hand written notes. I wonder when it's the right time to call.
Hurdles & issues:
When I left the company my severance negotiation included a draconian non-compete agreement. It was clearly unenforceable. Several attorneys agreed and I told them so. I though it unwise to hold up several months of pay and benefits--so I signed.
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