Just a $1

Ten years ago, I got my first technical writing job: a paid internship with a software company. I was over the moon.

Last week I spoke to a company here in the US. The company in question submitted me at a major national bank for a rate that was my 5 year all-time low. But since I just want to get back to work (or, as I told one recruiter today, to "close the gap in my resume already"), I had no qualms about the rate.

Then this morning I heard from the company: my resume had been rejected because my rate was too high! The bank was only accepting resumes for a rate that equals $1 more an hour than I had made 10 years ago during my apprenticeship. I sucked it up and said submit me.

This afternoon I heard from a Canadian company. They wanted to schedule an interview with their client. I said "Great! Please send me the full job description.". That's when I discovered that:

1. The job was a contract, not a permanent job as had been indicated during our previous correspondence.
2. The "pay range" was $1 to $3 more an hour than my apprenticeship.

After a few emails wherein I asked about how flexible the terms of employment were, I declined to continue with my candidacy. After all, the position wasn't really something I would relocate for, if you will.

I certainly understand that companies want to cash in on the current economy by hiring people who are advanced in their career for peanuts. Still, the blatant highway robbery that both companies were performing was shocking to me. To be honest, I don't see the value of such tactics; Ultimately, the given hire would feel under appreciated, which in turn would hurt their job performance.

Here's hoping that companies start looking beyond the bottom line, and recognize that paying for talent means good performance long-term.

Happy job hunting!

Database Mayhem

I'm sure I've already mentioned the various "surprises" I encounter while using my laptop, Ol' Bessie. She is more than 5 years old, and while a nifty Toshiba Satellite, she's basically overdue for retirement.

Throughout my career, I've obtained work by having my resume posted on various job boards: Recruiters contact me for jobs that I'm a good fit for, which makes my getting the job that much easier. However, between my last job search and my current one, both Dice and Monster rolled out new platforms. And while my user name and password were in their database, I couldn't log into either site to update my profile. I tried deleted and re-accepting cookies, updating my javascript, being issued new passwords- all the usual suspects. Yet despite my numerous efforts, I remained locked out.

Then yesterday, I went to apply for a job that required me to log into Dice. I decided there wasn't any harm in trying to log in just one more time, And presto! Suddenly I logged in successfully! I subsequently spent the afternoon updating my profile. By this morning, I already had one inquiry for a permanent job, and by this afternoon, a phone interview lined up. Now I've just got to try the Monster and see if lightning will strike twice. I sure hope so!

Sure, it takes a good 30 minutes or so to create your profile on any of the main job boards (Monster, Careerbuilder, Dice, etc.). But in my humble opinion, the time is well-spent. Moreover, since patience and persistence are key to any job search, by taking a shortcut such as not posting your resume, you can end up losing out in the end. Let's face it: if you aren't working and have the free time, why not devote an hour or two to an endeavour that gets your foot in the door?

Happy job hunting!

On Working with Employment Agencies

There are advantages and disadvantages to working through temp/employment agencies.

On the plus side, they tend to have exclusive relationships with companies, thereby granting you access to positions that would otherwise be closed to you. Similarly, because the agency is your representative, you have someone negotiating for you throughout the interview process. More to the point, if you should ever encounter difficulties once placed, you can simply have the agency contact the company to resolve the issue. Finally, the agency can fight for a pay increase and other benefits for you when your contract comes up for renewal. All in all then, an agency offers a very valuable service. Sure, they take a nice cut from your pay cheque for that service, but that service is worth a fair chunk of change.

Why then might someone not want to deal with an agency? Obviously, that cut I just mentioned is a major negative for most people. Yet another is the paperwork.

When you apply for a job with an agency, often a number of steps are added to the hiring process. Specifically, they:

• Want to meet you in person prior to submitting your resume. (Beyond the ostensive relationship building, I have never quite figured out what the real purpose of that pre-submission meeting is. So if anyone can elucidate...).
• Have you fill out complete employment paperwork at their office. This step can occur either during the pre-submission meeting and/or once a job offer is extended. Yes, that is an and/or, since depending on the given agency, you may need to complete paperwork twice, once prior to interviewing and once when hired. FYI, while most agencies will tell you that it only takes 15-20 minutes to complete the paperwork, I can say that in my experience, it has taken well over half an hour.
• Facilitate various pre-employment testing, such as skills tests, health screenings, fingerprinting, drug testing, and so forth.

In short, the road to employment can seem longer when using an agency. Yet throughout my career, I have found them to be a valuable resource, both prior to employment and afterwards. How many times, for example, have I had a question that I would be uncomfortable posing directly at the job site? Instead, I simply contacted my recruiter, who obtained the necessary information. I was consequently able to bypass a lot of politics and other nasties.

Ultimately, your unique circumstances will determine whether an agency is the right route for you. Maybe your tax situation is such that applying as an independent contractor or a direct hire better suits your needs. Since my experience with agencies has been overall quite positive, I would suggest you at least consider using them in your job search/career.

Froth Away!

One perk of working from home is that your favourite beverage is always at hand in the kitchen. :) While I stick mainly to tea and water, my morning ritual includes a cup of coffee.

My kitchen is well-stocked in terms of basic cookware/bake ware, including coffeemakers of various types (Automatic, French Press, Filter, etc.). However, the one gadget I have always wanted to buy was a milk frother. I sure would love to start the day with a real cafe au lait. Call me nostalgic for my youth back in Quebec.

Tonight I decided that in this day and age, I could probably learn how to properly froth milk myself, at home, with minimal equipment. So I set about googling, and let me tell you- the number of pages devoted to proper technique is astonishingly large. Granted, in this post-Starbucks world, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. It just goes to show that for everything there is a group of ardent die-hards who dedicate their lives to the given cause. In this case, the cause of Golden Grail is obtaining perfect foam.

So for any die-hard Starbucks fans, fear not! Even if you work from home (and consequently have been missing that pit stop at Starbucks that used to be part of your morning commute), you can still enjoy an excellent Triple Triple Double Double Whatever. And while you're job searching, you can save unnecessary hits to your bank account by occasionally making your favourite drinks at home!

Two pages worth mentioning:
http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-guide-frothing-milk.html
http://www.jlhufford.com/articles/frothingmilk.asp

Happy job hunting!

A Trip Down BA Lane

After recently conversing with my favourite recruiter and determining that I was suitably qualified/experienced to work as a Business Analyst, I set about tailoring my resume this week.

One key component to easily updating one's resume is understanding what details/skills are relevant. In short, what buzzwords are relevant and what experience should you keep versus toss? For my purposes, I needed to grasp the difference between tech writing and business analysis.

While most of you probably know the difference already, I was surprised to find that I hadn't really given much thought to what business analysis is. Here's what I discovered.

Like tech writing, business analysis involves the entire product lifecycle. However, whereas tech writing focuses on documenting the product from the perspective of how users will perform a given task, business analysis focuses on how the product's functionality fits into the company's business model. To put it differently, tech writing focuses on documenting how a user performs a process/task; it's user-centric. Business analysis, on the other hand, focuses on corporate strategy; it's all about helping the business determine the best strategy for addressing the given business need(s).

Both roles require similar skills: interviewing, documenting, liaising, etc. The end product and objective though are different.

In any event, I hope this little definition of mine helps some of you understand both roles better.

Happy job hunting!

October Then!

I must admit: September's "hiring binge" was on a starvation diet. Feeling nervous and contemplating whether to abandon ship and start looking for other types of work, I rang my Favourite Recruiter, aka Mark. Since he knows my skill set and background, I decided he was the best person to advise me about what other roles I could potentially seek out.

This morning, post-conversation, I woke up all bushy-tailed to start crafting a Business Analyst resume (I already composed several cover letters back in June- Business Analyst, e-Learning Specialist, Content Developer, Copywriter, etc.). So you can imagine my surprise when I found several new Technical Writing postings waiting in my Inbox. I consequently spent the morning submitting applications to almost a half dozen companies. I guess the September binge wound up sliding into October this year!

For now, this Tech Writer says "Thank Goodness"! Sure, I am still going to massage my resume into Business Analyst mode. But It just goes to show that you never know when that job you were waiting for is going to come along. Best to always be prepared- and never give up hope!

Happy job hunting!