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Tech Job Hunt Handbook: Career Management for Technical Professionals

Tech Job Hunt Handbook: Career Management for Technical Professionals

by Kevin W. Grossman
Publisher: Apress
Release Date: November 2012
ISBN: 9781430245483
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Book Description

Tech Job Hunt Handbook is a career management book—just for technology professionals—that reflects today's new economic realities. The world of work is constantly changing, and staying professionally relevant while competing for more specialized tech jobs in areas like cloud computing, mobile and social applications, and big data in a highly competitive global economy is critical. The world is churning out hungry programmers and developers in record numbers, making the global labor market highly competitive. It is now essential to plan a campaign to get a better job as well as your overall career. Retooling your skills and re-branding yourself is mandatory whether you're seeking a new job or intent on retaining current employment.

Readers of the Tech Job Hunt Handbook will find tools, practical guidance, and recommendations on how to find the best new tech jobs, how to get noticed, how to ace interviews and get hired, and how to keep those new jobs—until it's time for a better one. As you will learn, learning how to assess and then invest in career management skills leads to long-term competitive advantage and a happier working life.

Tech Job Hunt Handbook—for recent graduates, risk-taking innovators, and tech veterans alike—shows how to build a comprehensive online professional profile, identify the companies you're interested in and who you know at those companies, approach interviews with confidence, uncover opportunities in your current company, and understand the new emerging technology markets that could lead to a career rebirth. This book will help you:

  • Find a new or better tech job.

  • Stay relevant and employable despite constant new developments.

  • Manage your tech career for long-term success.

    • What you'll learn

  • Why it's essential to adapt quickly in today's job market.

  • Why pursuing degrees, certifications, and new skills are more important than ever.

  • How to create a comprehensive online profile, consistent across online networks, that shines a light on your skills and capabilities.

  • How to spot the best-run companies, identify who you know in them, and grow networks that lead to new and better jobs.

  • How to make the most of the latest technology--online assessments, interactive video interviews, etc.--to put your best foot forward at all times.

  • How to win hearts and minds during the hiring interview.

  • How to determine when it's time to consider a career change and how to go about it effectively.

  • How to find work in today's emerging tech disciplines: cloud, social technologies, mobile, big data, and analytics.

  • How to transform yourself into someone companies view as a great investment.

    • Who this book is for

    Tech Job Hunt Handbook is for the technology professional seeking new employment or retaining current employment in today's ever-changing, ever-more-competitive world of work. It's for those just graduating from college, risk-taking innovators, and project-hardened developers with decades of experience alike. Tech Job Hunt Handbook is the right choice for technology professionals ready to retool and re-brand their workplace persona and their skills, get a much better job, and stay employed in satisfying positions no matter how the economy or job market changes.

    Table of Contents

    1. Titlepage
    2. Dedication
    3. Contents
    4. About the Author
    5. Acknowledgments
    6. Introduction: Of Daddies, Downturns, and World of Work Dogma
    7. Part I: What You Know
      1. Chapter 1: Career Management Means You
      2. Chapter 2: Finish Your Education
        1. Today’s College Degree Reality
        2. The Other Side of College Degree Reality
        3. And for God’s Sake, Don’t Lie About It
        4. Think Two-Year, Technical, and Online
        5. Again, with the Book Learnin’
      3. Chapter 3: Learn New Specialized Skills
        1. Like Moore’s Law on Meth
        2. So It’s All About the Coding, Eh?
        3. Show Me, Don’t Tell Me
      4. Chapter 4: Find and Take the Contract Work
        1. So Where the Heck Do I Go?
        2. And What the Heck Do I Do When I Get the Work?
      5. Chapter 5: Cross-Training and Volunteering
        1. How Cross-Training Burns the Fat
        2. Laterals, Ladders, and Lattices—Oh, My
        3. So Much for the Job Have-Nots
        4. Volunteer
      6. Chapter 6: Background Screens and Assessments
        1. You Can’t Hide
        2. The Background on Background Checks
        3. The Social Media Window
        4. Games to Avoid
        5. And Another Thing…
        6. If Only We Could Send Everyone Back to Preschool
        7. Assessing the Assessments
      7. Chapter 7: Interviewing, Part 1
        1. Job Interviews of Yore
        2. Everybody’s Doing It. Right?
        3. Recorded Video Interviewing
        4. Live Virtual Interviewing
        5. Be Prepared; You’re Not That Cool
    8. Part II: Who You Know
      1. Chapter 8: Building an Online Profile
        1. What’s Wrong with Resumes?
        2. Look to LinkedIn
        3. Just the Facts, Jack. But First, the Story
        4. A Word About Branching Out
        5. Wait, What?
      2. Chapter 9: Researching Employers
        1. Stay Out of the Shadows
        2. Look for the Smudged Glass
        3. The Joys of Work–Life Window Shopping
        4. Press Your Face Against the Glass
        5. Your Career Search Yelps (and Gulps)
      3. Chapter 10: Leverage Your Network, and Their Networks
        1. First- and Second-Degree Burn Rates
        2. Working with Recruiters
        3. Get Out of the Office
        4. From Networks to Talent Communities
        5. To Learn, to Know, and to Do
      4. Chapter 11: Mentors and Professional Associations
        1. The Informal and the Formal
        2. Join the Professionals
      5. Chapter 12: Zero In on the Company
    9. Part III: Where to Go and What to Do
      1. Chapter 13: Cool Tools for Getting a Job
        1. Games That Lead to Jobs
        2. And Then There Are Waiting Rooms from Hell
      2. Chapter 14: From Best Practice to Business Case
        1. Be a Specialist
        2. Define It Specifically
        3. And Then Sell the Story
        4. Breaking Best Practice Down Further
      3. Chapter 15: Interviewing, Part 2
        1. Get to Know Me
        2. Twisted Logic
        3. Always Follow Up
        4. A Word about Salary
      4. Chapter 16: The Onboarding Battle and Beyond
        1. The Formal Yet Messy Process
        2. Who Are the Kingpins and Queenpins?
        3. And Why Should I Care?
        4. There Is Air-Conditioning, Right?
        5. Please Insert the Ruby on the Rails Here
        6. Work It with Cross-Training
        7. Me and My Shadow
        8. Reviewing Your Performance from Day One
      5. Chapter 17: Internal Mobility
        1. The Constant Need for Roster Changes
        2. Nation Ball Is the Real Work Game
        3. Rain or Shine
        4. Let’s Review All the Right Moves
        5. Referrals, Referrals, Referrals
      6. Chapter 18: Careers in Cloud Computing and Mobile Technology
        1. Into the Cloud
        2. And Then There’s Mobile . . .
        3. Lots of Cloud Computing
        4. The Right Cloud Computing Skills
        5. Mobile Rules the World
      7. Chapter 19: Careers in Big Data and Social Analytics
        1. Are You Ready to Pass Out?
        2. Rubber Chickens in Space
        3. Put a Lens on It, Baby
        4. The Biggest Data of All Is in the Works
        5. Social Insights Can Be Pinteresting
      8. Chapter 20: Traditional IT Careers Today
        1. Boys and Girls Can Play Nice
        2. No Matter What You Call It
        3. The New World of Ongoing Engagement
      9. Appendix
    10. Index