First I scold you, then I offer you advice.
The reason the economy is all messed up is
because most people live paycheck to
paycheck and purchase things they can not
afford, stop doing that, live within your means,
save enough to weather out tough times like
these. Forgive me if you do not fit in that group
of people.
Fortunately, assuming that you are a worthy
developer, finding a new job as a developer
will be much easier for you because I.T.
(Information Technology) and related jobs are
about the only thing companies are hiring for
today. If you were in construction or
production industry, I would tell you to
consider jumping off a bridge. It is also
worth mentioning that the US department of
labor says that Computer Science Degrees are
down 50% over the last 5 years. This means a
serious shortage of new talent for hiring
companies, and most of those guys would have
been developers. Good for you, bad for the hiring
companies.
Okay, here's how you find a new job. I'll save
the best for last.
Keep applying for jobs in the usual places, but
don't spend too much time there, as these area's
seldom have the best jobs.
You have a networking problem, you want to work,
and someone wants to hire you. Think of everyone
you know personally, and ask them who you could
ask. Being introduced by someone that works at
that company, is a seriously powerful thing, and
could easily get you an interview. You should draw
a flow chart of all the people that you know, and
then branch out from there. You are only asking
them for information, not the job. People like to
help with this kind of thing. They will give you
names of people that might be hiring, names of
companies that might be hiring, and so on. The
best part of this strategy is that once you get an
interview, you will be the only one who applies.
Hiring people is really hard, and so they will be
glad to interview you, dress sharp.
The best place to look for a job is by applying at
places that are not advertising for a position.
Developers are in short supply , and I.T. is
always needed. Once again, if you are a developer,
you need to use your development skills to help
yourself. Start by asking the question, what
industries are doing well. Build a flow chart and
see what you can do, try to get another person to
help you brain storm the flowchart, and follow
through with the information that you get from
that.
Example:
The Oil Industry is making so much money today, I
would put that one at the top of your flow chart.
Now start finding the companies in your area, that
are in the Oil Industry, also consider the
connected industries to Oil, and so forth. Doesn't
this feel like developing to you? Another,
industry that you should look at is the "Software
Companies" small and big. Find those companies, do
some research and get the name of the I.T. Admin
or I.T. Director, or just the owner of the company
if it is small. Don't ask for H.R. department,
those people aren't on your side. When you make
your first contact with that person, tell them
that "John Doe" gave you his name and number and
you hope that she/he doesn't get in trouble for
doing so. Then once again, don't ask if they are
hiring, don't ask them directly for a job, ask for
information about who might need a C# / SQL
developer in that company, trust me if he needs a
developer, you won't have to ask. The great thing
here, is that you and he are not in an awkward
position, because you are simply asking for
information.
If you brain isn't cooking by now, you aren't a
developer.
Stop reading about all the bad news websites, and
focus your energy on the information that you
need, reading the headline news does not pay your
bills.
And in closing.
It's all well and good to know *how* to find a
job, but then that doesn't get you the job does
it, don't care how smart/dumb you are, if you
don't execute you won't get what you want. All the
theory, (including mine), will not get you that
job.
You have to Execute. Good luck.
Russell Mangel
Las Vegas, NV
