Archive for the ‘career’ Category

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Should An IT Leader Follow His/Her Dream Career?

Thursday, June 11th, 2009
IT Leaders Need To Determine If Another Career Would Make Them Happier

IT Leaders Need To Determine If Another Career Would Make Them Happier

I bumped into one of my longtime friends last week, Mark, and he told me how unhappy he was at his IT job. He was feeling a great deal of guilt over this because his firm had just had yet another round of layoffs and he had been spared. He still had his job, but he hated it. What’s an IT Leader to do in this situation?

The Grass Always Seems To Be Greener…

What caught my attention about Mark’s situation (hating your IT job is not really that novel) was that he knew exactly what he’d prefer to be doing. Mark plays jazz guitar on the side and he’s actually quite good at it. He’d love to do it full time, but he’s afraid to take the leap.

In the current hard economic times, many IT professionals are having the whole “afraid to leap” thing solved for them by getting laid off. If you happen to lose your job, it may cause a deep seated burst of career change desire to well up in you.

Been There, Done That, Now What?

If you find yourself in a situation where you start to long to take up that “other” career that you have always longed to pursue, there is some hard thinking that you are going to have to do. We’ve all heard stories of IT professionals who have walked away from it all to setup restaurants, bakeries, dry cleaning stores, etc. only to seem them fail in a spectacular fashion.

The big question is what separates the crazy second career ideas that we all have from the ones that just might work? Business coach Pamela Slim believes that it’s not the idea, not the career that you are interested in, or even the market that you want to enter. Rather she believes that your success or failure in a second career really depends on you.

Second Career Success Secrets

Slim believes that you can separate your deeply held career urges from those that you pick up from watching an episode of “Dirty Jobs” one night by one simple fact: real second career desires don’t go away over time, they just get stronger. In fact, we can’t ignore them – they are always there.

Hey IT leader should you make the jump? Here’s the question that you have to ask yourself: no matter what job you have, your future will be filled with uncertainty, doubts, and you are  going to find yourself working very hard to keep your head above water. When you reach the end of the race, how much is it going to matter to you if you gave the second career a go or if you let it just remain a passing thought? Answer this question and you’ll know what your next steps need to be as you work to transform yourself from an IT manager into a true leader.

Oh, by the way, my friend Mark is still slaving away at his IT job. He continues to dream about a music career, but he loves his regular paycheck more.

Questions For You

If money wasn’t an issue, what job would you be doing today? What makes that job more attractive to you than your current job? Have you ever taken steps to experience what it would be like to work at that other job full-time? What would it take financially for you to switch over to that job? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

Would you be showing up in shorts and flip-flops? How about jeans and a T-shirt? Well why don’t you? The answer to this question is something that we normally don’t spend a lot of time thinking about, but because it can have a big impact on our careers, perhaps we should…

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IT Leaders Want To Know About : Non-compete Clauses

Thursday, June 4th, 2009
Noncompete Clauses Can Be A Hassle For IT Leaders

Non-compete Clauses Can Be A Hassle For IT Leaders

(Hopefully it goes without saying that I’m not a lawyer and this blog posting is in no way to be considered legal advice. If you’ve got further questions, go get yourself the best lawyer your money can buy…)

Did you even know that something called an “Non-compete Clause” existed? It turns out that you may have signed one when you started your current job (it differs from company to company). This piece of paper basically spells out the legal agreement between you and the company – they want you to stay and they want to scare you into not leaving.

What Is In A Non-Compete Clause?

Willie Jones over at the IEEE’s Spectrum magazine has been doing some digging on just what non-compete clauses mean. Non-clauses were invented in order to protect a company’s intellectual property. Basically they don’t want employees leaving and divulging trade secrets to their competition.

Once again, this is going to differ from company to company. A non-compete clause generally has 3 basic types of limitations built into it: geographical, time, or line of business.

How Do Courts Feel About Non-compete Clauses?

You would think that once you have signed one of these things, that’s it, right? Well, not really. Courts take a hard look at such contracts. In each case when there is an issue, the courts try to balance the issue of trade secrets being divulged to a competitor against an employee’s basic right to work. Courts try to make sure that a non-compete clause does not place an unreasonable restriction on a worker’s ability to earn a living.

If a court does find that you signed a non-compete clause that was too restrictive, then they can void the clause – you are free! Note that where the case is being heard is important – in California, courts often refuse to enforce such agreements.

What This All Means To You

If you decide to leave your IT job and you’ve signed a non-compete clause you need to be aware of what the ramifications may be. If you go work for a firm that is competing with your current employer and you are going to be doing the same sort of job, then there is a good chance your old employer will go to court to stop you from working for the new company.

How successful they will be is unclear before the trial. A lot depends on what state this is taking place in and just how restrictive the non-complete clause that you signed was. Once final point to consider is that when push comes to shove, your old employer may not want to risk having its trade secrets come out during a lengthy trial. These are all things to consider carefully as you work to transform yourself from an IT manager into a true leader.

Questions For You

Do you know if you signed a non-compete clause when you started your current job? How restrictive is it? What does your company do when someone leaves to go work for the competition? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

Click here to get automatic updates when
The Accidental IT Leader Blog is updated.

What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

I bumped into one of my longtime friends last week, Mark, and he told me how unhappy he was at his IT job. He was feeling a great deal of guilt over this because his firm had just had yet another round of layoffs and he had been spared. He still had his job, but he hated it. What’s an IT Leader to do in this situation?

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Networking 101 For IT Leaders

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Even IT Leaders Need To Work At Developing Their Professional Networks

Even IT Leaders Need To Work At Developing Their Professional Networks

I don’t care if you’re the best IT Leader this world has ever known, you may still find yourself without a job sometime – especially in this economy. It’s at this point that you will want to rely on the contacts which you have made during your current employment.

However, despite the fact that most of us have access to reliable broadband from sites like http://www.o2.co.uk/broadband/, along with smartphone technology – which should make networking easier than ever – many of us have become complacent about doing so. It always seems to be something that we’re just too busy to do.

Yeah, yeah we all know that we should have been networking like crazy all along; however, the sad truth is that all too often we neglect this career responsibility until it’s too late and we’re out on the street. What’s an IT leader to do then?

I’m sure that even the worst networkers among you have a stack of other people’s business cards somewhere. The sad truth is that every day our networks get just a bit more out of date. If you were to go through your current list of contacts, how many of those do you think would have moved on to new jobs and phone numbers / email addresses?

The reality of modern IT Leader life is that you always have to be ready to move on. You may not see the end of your current job coming; however, when it comes you need to make sure that it is no surprise to you. The new career rule is that you always have to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.

So how do you jump start a professional network that you’ve allowed to grow old? The first step is to find the people who WERE in your network. There are many different ways to do this:

  • Email them (often there may be an auto reply with their new email address)
  • Use the Internet to search for them – this is when it’s great to have contacts with unusually spelled names!
  • Ask coworkers to reconnect you to people that they’ve stayed in touch with better than you.

Need I mention online professional social networks like LinkedIn and Plaxo? These days everyone seems to be using these and one of the nice benefits is that once you connect to them, you’ll be able to reach them even if they change jobs.

There’s more, but we’ll talk about that next time…

Is your professional network up-to-date? How much time do you spend working on it each week? Have you ever had to use it? Did it work out for you? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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Whoops – You’ve Been Reorganized IT Leader!

Thursday, May 7th, 2009
IT Leaders Need To Take Action When A Reorganization Occurs

IT Leaders Need To Take Action When A Reorganization Occurs

So there you are, doing a great job of being the best IT Leader that you can be and all of a sudden, everything changes around you. You’ve been reorganized!

In a recession (like we are in now), reorganizations are common either before or after a layoff. Just when you though that you knew what you were supposed to be doing and what everyone else was supposed to be doing, the music plays and everything is different.

When a reorganization occurs, the worst thing that you can do is nothing. You’ve got to realize that it’s almost like starting to play a game all over again. You’re going to have to quickly adapt to this new world and as you’re doing this you are going to have to take a long hard look at the future of your job.

Eileen Gunn over at the Wall Street Journal has taken a look at what we’re supposed to do when a reorganization happens to us. She’s got some tips that just might help us out:

  • First Meetings Count: Just like a first impression, your first meeting after a reorganization can be critical. This is a time for you to be bold – ask the questions that everyone else is thinking. However be careful, your new management may not have all the answers. Don’t drill them too hard if they start grasping for answers.
  • Look Inside: This is probably the best time ever for you to sit down with yourself and do an inventory of what you bring to the new world order. You need to make sure that your skills match what your boss is looking for – if they don’t, then you are going to have to change.
  • Meet The Big Guy / Gal: If the reorganization has resulted in you having a new boss, then  you’re going to want to have some one-on-one face time with them as quickly as possible. Basically, you’re going to have to interview for your job even if they don’t ask you to do so. You need to show them what you can bring to the table so that they will know what you are capable of.
  • Deal With It: You may not be happy with the new world order that has resulted after a reorganization; however, you don’t run the world (yet). The quicker you get over feeling this way and become a valued contributor once again, the more secure your job and career will be.

Reorganizations happen for a variety of reasons and they always seem to come at the worst time – just when we almost had everything figured out. They are a part of life and these suggestions can give us the tools that we need to turn these changes from pitfalls into opportunities.

Have you been through a reorganization lately? How did you feel about where you ended up after the dust had settled? Did you change your behavior starting with the first meeting? Have you met with your new boss yet? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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How Should IT Leaders Use Outplacement Services?

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Outplacement Services Can Help The Laid Off IT Leader

Outplacement Services Can Help The Laid Off IT Leader

Dang it, you’ve been let go. It really doesn’t matter the reason why – just the fact that your (former) employer decided that they could get along without your services can really sting. However, before the door swings close behind you for the last time, the ball is in still in your court and you need to know what to do with it.

As IT Leaders, we are a pretty arrogant bunch.  A recent survey by the global outsourcing firm Right Management found that seven out of 10 job seekers thought that they knew exactly what they needed to do in order to land their next job. However, once they went through the outplacement service, that number dropped down to two.

At most firms, when a layoff sweeps through and you get caught up in it, you will be offered the services of an outplacement firm. Many of us poo-poo this because for one reason or another we think that it won’t be of any help to us. That’s where you’d be wrong.

If you find yourself in this position, here’s what you need to do in order to make the most of the outplacement service that has been offered to you:

  • Don’t Drag Your Feet: You’ve been let go, get over it and don’t delay starting to use your outplacement service. The longer you wait, the more competition you will face.
  • Pick Your Consultant Carefully: You can always ask to meet with a different consultant so make sure that the one that you’ve got is the right one for you. Consider things like track record, background, experience in your industry, and of course their current workload.
  • Do Your Homework: You’ll probably be asked to complete personality tests and career assignments. Do them! This is the time for you to make sure that the next job that you get is really the right one for you.
  • Stuff Yourself: The outplacement firm probably offers many different types of classes, workshops, seminars, and networking events. This is your best chance to find out if things have changed and if your type of job is now located in different parts of other firms.
  • Don’t Work Remotely: Although in this day and age it is possible to work with your counselor online, try not to. Instead go into the office and meet with them face-to-face. This will help to build a stronger relationship with them and who knows what other professionals you’ll meet there.

Nothing can make the initial pain of being let go from your IT job hurt less. However, as with so many things in life, the pain fades over time. You need to make sure that you get moving right off the bat so that by the time your pain has faded, you are already in your next job.

Have you ever used outplacement services that were offered by your former employer? Did you have a good counselor? Did you choose to meet with them face-to-face or did you do most of it online? How did it all turn out for you? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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