Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms

A Better Helpdesk Wed 19 Aug 09

Emphasize the customer's needs--not IT's--when you design technical support systems.

I've always believed that the quality of helpdesks and support technicians are the most important factors in shaping user perceptions of IT. Not the big application that you just rolled out saving the company big bucks, not the amount of money you've saved by consolidating your data centers and certainly not all of your promises of new systems and hardware yet to come.

Your helpdesk and support technicians truly are your Directors of First Impression by which people judge your entire organization. If you can't fix my PC quickly or are rude and provide no status information on my problem, why should I think you can deliver on the expensive new application project?

And yet so often we set up our helpdesk and support technicians for failure. As Jessica Rabbit said, "I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way." Likewise, our helpdesk and support technicians are not incompetent or uncaring, but the process we so often make them work with just makes them appear that way.

Highly Effective Networking Wed 08 Apr 09

Pierson's Guide to Meeting the Right People and Getting a Great Job

A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Orville Pierson during my job search.  He came to talk at Between Jobs Ministry and help us get our job search work teams off the ground.  These teams were based upon Orville's book The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search which shows us how to conduct a job search as a project.  I know it certainly helped me in successfully completing my job search.

Since that time I've kept in touch with Orville and consider him a good friend.  That's why I was pleased to learn of his timely new book Highly Effective Networking: Meet the Right People and Get a Great Job. In this book Orville gives us an excellent structured approach to networking.  As Vice President and Corporate Director of Program Design and Service Delivery for Lee Hecht Harrison he knows a lot about this and we're fortunate to have him share his expertise with us.

Career Management With The Help of Technology: Nurturing Your Network Wed 25 Feb 09

This is the fourth in a series of four posts regarding managing your career with the help of technology.  I've chosen the title words very carefully as I wanted to talk about the life-long process of career management not to be confused with the job search process.  Oh for sure, the job search process is a part of this but the management of your career should not start and stop with each job search you go through.  I am eager to learn what has worked well for you.  Please leave your comments and suggestions. 

Okay, you've told people who you are, branded yourself and have established your network, time to kick back and relax, right?  Not exactly.  Your network is really about relationships.  It needs care and attentive nurturing.  Would you be inclined to help out a former network who only calls every few years when they need something from you?  Of course not.

Career Management With The Help of Technology: Branding & Marketing Yourself Wed 11 Feb 09

This is the third in a series of four posts regarding managing your career with the help of technology.  I've chosen the title words very carefully as I wanted to talk about the life-long process of career management not to be confused with the job search process.  Oh for sure, the job search process is a part of this but the management of your career should not start and stop with each job search you go through.  I am eager to learn what has worked well for you.  Please leave your comments and suggestions. 

In the first post in this series I talked about "Who You Are" which on the surface sounds like it is about your "brand", but it is different.  Think about Chevrolet and Ferrari.  Who are they?  Well they are both car companies.  What's their brand?  Ah, big difference!  Your brand is what distinguishes you from all the other people in the same role.  Think about the group of programmers or analysts you work with.  Through their actions they've established a brand as "the go-to guy in an emergency", "the plodder", the "yeh, I can make that work", or the "that can't be done" person.

Between Jobs Ministry Wed 04 Feb 09

A Great Resource For Houston Job Seekers

My old friend Gerry Fusco who runs the Senior Manager Group at Between Jobs Ministry asked me to stop by and talk with the group about my experiences in job hunting and what I see employers are looking for today.  It was a great experience.  BJM is doing lots of good things helping people find jobs at all levels from entry-level to C-level.

If you are in a job search and are in the Houston area you definitely need to go to BJM.  It is the best networking and job search resource in town.  I think it is probably one of the best in the country. 

Career Management With The Help of Technology: Networking Wed 28 Jan 09

This is the second in a series of four posts regarding managing your career with the help of technology.  I've chosen the title words very carefully as I wanted to talk about the life-long process of career management not to be confused with the job search process.  Oh for sure, the job search process is a part of this but the management of your career should not start and stop with each job search you go through.  I am eager to learn what has worked well for you.  Please leave your comments and suggestions. 

We've all learned that the 3 major keys to successful career management are networking, networking and networking.  The good news is that technology can help in this.  Technology can't replace personal face-to-face networking on a big scale but it can supplement it.

If you ask an arborist when the best time to plant a tree the stock answer is "10 years ago".  Okay, so what's the second best time? - "Today".  The same holds true for networking which is why it is so important to think of it as part of your on-going career management rather than the short period of a particular job search.  And just like a tree growing your network takes time and you have to cultivate it and nurture it for it to prosper.  I'll discuss in this and future posts how technology can help in this.

The first and most obvious technologies are the networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook.  These are designed for the purpose of making network connections.  They allow you to keep track of our friends and associates and they also provide a way to connect with their friends and associates.

Career Management With The Help of Technology: Who Are You? Wed 14 Jan 09

This is the first in a series of four posts regarding managing your career with the help of technology.  I've chosen the title words very carefully as I wanted to talk about the life-long process of career management not to be confused with the job search process.  Oh for sure, the job search process is a part of this but the management of your career should not start and stop with each job search you go through.  I am eager to learn what has worked well for you.  Please leave your comments and suggestions. 

Let's start with who you are.  A resume is the classic way of communicating this but it has 2 drawbacks.  First, it overtly screams "I'm looking for a job" which may not be true at this time and is probably not something you want to let your current employer know.  Career management is more about letting people know who you are and what you can do than it is about the occasional "hire me" sales effort. 

Second, a resume doesn't say enough about the intangibles.  One of the most important aspects that someone will consider about offering you a new job or new role is "Will he or she fit with the culture of the organization?"  Your resume says very little about you as a person.  What you're like, how you think, what's your passion, what you think about the critical issues in your field -- all important factors in how you'll be evaluated and all are something a traditional resume doesn't address.

I'm On Twitter! Tue 30 Dec 08

It's official, I'm now on Twitter (MikeSchaffner)!  I've been thinking about doing it for some time but to be honest I've been holding back because a lot of it seemed to put it simply, inane.  I really don't care what TV show someone is watching nor can I figure out why someone would care what show I'm watching or even what would ever make me think that someone might care.

However, things have come together to change my view due to two good friends, Jason Alba and Kent Blumberg.  Jason runs JibberJobber, a Career Management 2.0 tool and blogs regularly about career management.  A few days ago he wrote "Okay, I’m Sold On Twitter" explaining why he thought Twitter was a great tool in your career management.  Then today he had announced his December Personal Branding Winner of the Month - Warren Sukernek which included some pretty compelling reasons on why it makes sense to use Twitter.

To top it all off I had a phone conversation with Kent Blumberg today.  I met Kent during my job search and he is the one that introduced me to Jason.  Kent is a fantastic executive coach so if you in need of a coach for your career (note I said career and not just job search) give Kent a call.  Kent is also the one that got me started on blogging so I alternate between loving him and damning him depending on how the blog writing is going.  During our conversation he reiterated the benefits and explained that it if someone is blathering you can simply stop following them and that I can Tweet as much or as little as I care to.  He closed the deal, I'm in!

So from this point I'll start using Twitter.   When I signed up I got set up to follow both Jason and Kent who quickly reciprocated and I also put Twitter in my sidebar.  Interestingly enough within in a few minutes I had my first follower that I didn't even know.  Amazing!  I promise to keep to try to be interesting and keep the inane out of it.  But if you don't like it blame Jason and Kent - I will (just kidding).  If you're so inclined I be pleased to have you follow me on Twitter (MikeSchaffner)

Job Search Tips: Business Cards,a Free Book and Holiday Networking Wed 17 Dec 08

Last week I was working at the Houston Growing Globally conference put on by the Houston Strategic Forum.  It was a great conference providing a lot of insight from Houston business, medical and educational leaders.

Helping out at the conference were some MBA candidates from the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University (what a great networking opportunity for them).  I was talking with one of these volunteers and at the end of our conversation he asked for my business card (as a good networker should) and then offered me one of his.

Wait a minute!  A student with a business card?  Yep, the business school apparently provides the students with business cards as part of the career search process.  It was complete with the school logo and title of "MBA Candidate, Class of 2010".  What a great idea.  Smart guys those Rice profs.

What else stood out about this is that I've talked with and helped a number of people in career "transition" and have been shocked to see the number that don't have cards or perhaps just as bad use their old ones and pencil in the updated contact information. 

Business cards make it easy for me to contact you - isn't that what you want and a professional looking card says something about your professionalism.  And yet for some strange reason they are not willing to invest the $20 bucks to do it right.

Take a tip from the Rice guys and get some business cards.

The second job search related occurrence was that I was just contacted by David Perry co-author of  "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters: 400 Unconventional Tips Tricks and Tactics to Land Your Dream Job [John
Wiley and Sons ]" with some holiday networking tips and a free e-book offer.

CIO Rockstars – Twila Day and Paul Yust Tue 09 Dec 08

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Houston CIO Leadership Dinner.  This was an event put on by Techxans (Technology Executives Network).  Tony Huang and Pam Terry put on this event to honor Twila Day, CIO of Sysco Foods and Paul Yust of BJ Services for their work in encouraging high school students to look at IT careers.  Matt Miller of Compuware graciously underwrote this event.

In a recent post I suggested that President-Elect Obama’s new CTO look at the issue of technology workers specifically in the area of “what can we do to "grow our own" technology workforce by encouraging people to study IT in college and to come enter the technology field when they graduate?”

Government policy is important in stimulating people to go into IT careers.  However, what is especially great about what Twila and Paul have done is that they’ve demonstrated the leadership and commitment to address this issue without waiting for the government.  There is a lot that can be done within the IT community.  Government has a role to play, but so do we.  Let’s not wait!

Thank you to Tony, Pam and Matt for putting on this event and a special thank you to Twila and Paul for leading the way in getting young people to look at IT careers.