I agree Steve, things are not necessarily worse, I think they are just different. Just a few years ago, when there were so few knowledgeable people available and industry had not fully jumped on the Internet bandwagon, you could pretty much find work based on reputation alone... Now days, the shortage has gotten so bad with the renewed focus on security, that industry is reacting to the shortage in the only way they know how to. By turning recruiting firms and in house HR departments. No longer will the project manager have time to review all candidates. They are just too busy. Chances are the required skills are so specialized now that they don't have a clue any more either. Unfortunately, the security guru is now having to fall in line with all the other IT related applicants, and you have to adjust your job search tactics to meet the new challenge. Get used to hiring decisions being made based on buzzwords. When a typical HR department fields up to 200 to 300 resumes a day, you have to turn to automated means to review them all. So word searches prove the most effective way of doing that. If your resume' doesn't take that into consideration... you will get left in the cold. My issue with recruiters, is the rampant advertisement of vapor jobs, in order to compile a list of names to work with, and the way they never call you back. Nothing is more frustrating then to be abused by someone on the end of a phone. I think a bit of professionalism is needed. They expect us to be professional and posses the required skills, there is no reason we should not require the same from them. When you come across someone that does a good job for you, then sound off like you did below... let everyone know they did a good job. Maybe the others that don't live up to the same standards will get the message someday. Now as for your experience with big 5 firms... I think it is a question of location and when your contact took place. There was a time when several were giving the industry a black eye. Things may have changed since then, but the general feeling of distrust is going to take a long time to overcome. > -----Original Message----- > From: Steve [SMTP:steveat_private] > Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 7:38 PM > To: cdupuisat_private; securityjobsat_private > Cc: kenat_private > Subject: RE: Random Thoughts from the "Peanut Gallery" > > > >I think that it is not all that bad for everyone out there. Making bold > >general statements about recruiters and other consulting companies is > >presenting a picture that is not necessarily true. > > > Well, for the most part, I agree with Ken's statements about > recruiters. *MOST* of them do not actually care about their target, they > simply want to fill a position and collect their pay. The exception to > this from my experiences is the team at LJ Kushner and the guys at TeKData > > in Vancouver. > > >It is obvious from your message that you are bidder about your situation > but > >that does not mean other people are all in the same situation and that > all > >recruiters are twits. > > > It is very unfortunate, but there are more "twit" recruiters out there > than > good ones. > > > >Last but not least, I have seen big five consultants that are damn good, > >just like any other field out there, you have good and bad apples. > Making a > >general statement saying all big five consultants are useless or > comparing > >them to bad recruiters is not giving a real view of what is going on. I > >know some big five consultants that could most certainly teach you a few > >tricks. > > > I agree with you here. I have met and worked with some guys at E&Y who > are > very technical and very good at their jobs. But, on the other hand, I > have > met some others at another Big 5 (starts with a K) that did not have a > clue. So again your mileage will vary and when you are interviewing with > a > Big 5 -- be sure to talk to their delivery teams and technical people -- > when you are looking for work, it is your responsibility to interview the > company just as they interview you. > > >The best point in your posting is about Networking, you have to let you > >close friends know that you looking for employment, it is sometimes very > >strange how offers comes by. > > This works best. That is how I found my last two jobs. > > >In my view there is tons of jobs opportunities if you talk to the right > >people and have the right skills. > > I disagree -- things are not as good as they used to be. Regardless of > who > you know and what your skills are, if a company cannot afford to hire or > cannot justify it -- they won't if they do -- they are doing a disservice > to themselves and you. > > > >It is not as bad as you describe for everyone out there. > > But it is worse than it used to be and will probably continue to be for > another 6 months or so.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Jun 22 2001 - 15:16:50 PDT