Voice of the DBA

Tag: career

  • The Talent Crunch

    IT Jobs are everywhere. Check out the listings on any of these sites.

    Is it a good time to be in the technology business? I think so, as the US unemployment rate stands at just above 9%, but the rate in IT is listed as about 4%. There might be some errors in how they are classifying and counting IT jobs, and the unemployment is not evenly distribute across the US, but that still seems like a significant difference. As a comparison, much of the medical profession is similarly employed, as are teachers (yeah!), but construction trades are showing  > 20% unemployment.

    Not only are there lots of jobs in the technology area, but overall technology pays a much higher salary (or wage) than many other industries. Whether you think you are paid well or not, peruse some other professions on Dice, Monster, or another job board and compare salaries. Keep in mind the US median income is $48k, meaning half the people make more and half make less. I suspect most IT workers are in the “more” side of that range.

    I think it’s also likely that the unemployment rate in technology could decline further. There’s an interesting report from Dice (2MB PDF) that indicates we are in a talent crunch as well that could become more problematic in the future. More than a few places predict that we will have a shortage of skilled technology workers in the future. Some of those predictions are based on enrollment in college math and science programs, which can be faulty. IT work doesn’t require a college degree, and perhaps shouldn’t.

    However it does seem that we have an ever increasing need for people to work in technology. I’ve had friend worry that our own efforts to improve and automate things would result in fewer jobs, but it seems that’s not the case. The gains in individual productivity in both the development and administrative areas are easily outstripped by the huge growth in the numbers of applications and servers to manage.

    Hopefully you have a good career in IT, and will have one for as long as you want one. I’d caution you to think carefully about the title of this piece. There’s a crunch for talented people, not just people. You need to work on your technical skills, and your soft skills, regularly if you want to be in demand in the future.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • Benefits

    Still a 1/2 gallon

    One of the ways in which some companies have tried to keep the prices of their products down is by changing the packaging. It used to be that you would buy a half gallon of ice cream or laundry detergent, but now you’ll find that often you are getting slightly less for the same price you used to pay. For the former that might be a nice way of lowering your portions but for the latter that’s just annoying. I find that to be a subtle point of deception by some companies, and it likely will continue into future.

    For those of us that work for a company, we might find a similar erosion in an area that we have come to expect a certain level of benefit. A recent survey from the Society for Human Resource Management found that many companies were lowering the level of benefits that they offer to workers. The costs of those benefits have been rising, and as companies try to keep a certain level of profitability, it seems workers are feeling some of the effects.

    I think most of us expect that our health benefits will cost more in the future, at least under the current state of healthcare in the US. Many of us are also sure that the days of regular bonuses are gone for now, but there are some other subtle benefits that you might not realize are disappearing. Tuition reimbursement is going away at many companies, perhaps with the idea that the education isn’t as valuable to companies as in the past. Charitable donations have declined, and it seems less companies are allowing casual dress or flexible work time. That might not impact the technology groups yet, but it’s a trend that concerns me, and perhaps should concern you. Benefits might become more of an issue in the future, especially as you change jobs.

    It’s not all bad. There are more companies offering gyms to workers, which I think is great, and more companies offer cell phones to employees. That last trend, however, seems to be leading more of a liability than a benefit.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • Keeping Your Soul

    Is your soul for sale?

    Last year I got into a debate, and an argument, with a friend over the growth of Google and their profits. I took the position that while Google has provided a good service to the world with their search engine and their founders have earned money, they will find it harder and harder to continue to follow the mantra of “do no evil” if they feel they need to continue to grow their profits. Given the recent shutdowns of some of the “good projects” they had embarked upon to make the world a better place, that prediction seems to be coming true.

     

    Building a business is hard, and as shown in the numbers, most don’t succeed. Many do, however, and the vast majority of businesses out in the world today are small ones, with less than a 100 people. However those small businesses don’t account for most of the revenue in the US.  Large businesses do, which isn’t all the unexpected since those large companies do business in areas that are important to most people (energy, oil, banking, etc.).

     

    In the technology world, it seems that we often hear about “the next big thing” disrupting the way the world works and making people rich. The people in these companies are just like you and me; they built a product , caught the eyes of millions, and became a success. That dream has driven so many technology workers to come up with their own idea or go to work on someone else’s idea in a startup.

     

    However the chances of hitting it big are like the chances of hitting the lottery. Those chances are small, though I wouldn’t discourage anyone from pursuing that dream. What I do think, however, is that it’s not worth losing your soul over the chance to make money. I truly believe you can succeed, and make money, while making ethical and moral decisions that respect your customers. You might sacrifice some profit to do so, but in the end, I think that’s a good trade. I would certainly rather make a million dollars ethically than a billion dollars compromising my values.

     

    Steve Jones

     

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • Tricky Questions

    What tricky questions have you been asked?

    I suspect that most of us have been on many interviews in our career. Unfortunately today’s technology business doesn’t seem driven towards having decades of employment for individuals at one job, so most of us will have more interviews sometime in the next five to ten years.

    I’ve had many interviews in my career, of all types with many different formats. I’ve had technical interviews with multiple people, tests to take, and interviews by managers that didn’t include a single T-SQL question. I’ve had a lot of success, and much of what has worked for me is a part of my presentation on branding, which you can see at the PASS Summit in 2011.

    With that in mind, I thought this Friday poll might be a good place to help you get prepared for your next interview by asking about the questions that others have been asked. The question this week is:

    What’s an interview question that has thrown you for a loop?

    It’s rare that I’ve actually been surprised by interview questions. I typically prepare for interviews, using a process that has worked for me since I was in college. I research the company, trying to understand what the business is, and if possible, the person that might interview me. I look for blogs or other information written by employees, and any information I can get to prepare for questions about the business or technology used in the company.

    There have been a few times I’ve been thrown by a specific technology question, usually asking for some switch, definition, or other detail that is easily gleaned from some documentation. For those questions, I practice making sure I know where to get the information and use to show that I understand what needs to be done and where to get the answer.

    Let us know today if you have any great questions you get asked, especially if you’ve been asked any of them more than once.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts