SMEO Blog

What is a Professional?

Some say it's the way you carry yourself throughout the day; a snap in your walk, firm handshake, or an expensive tie.  Others believe professionalism is a job title - the higher up the corporate ladder you are the more professional you are.

What is professional and how often do you cross paths with a true professional in life?

Early Memories of Professionalism
When the span of my life could be measured by counting all fingers on both hands (I have 10-digits by the way), our elementary school class went on a field trip.  The trip entailed taking a school bus ride to the big city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to visit the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium (http://www.lasm.org/planetarium/about.shtml).  It was the first time I'd ever visited a planetarium and being a science buff I was very excited.

Inside I could barely make out a dark domed ceiling and a center platform where the instrument projected the stars onto the ceiling.  The astronomer, whose name I have long forgotten, gave a 30 minute presentation that sent me out of this world and into another strange but very excited place.  I can still remember this event because, although the visual display was out of this world, it was the astronomer who left a deep and lasting impression upon my young mind. 

Composure
"Starman" as I've now come to know the astronomer, was a very composed professional who introduced himself and provided a short bio and what could now be called, "an elevator" speech.  He pulled in the audience with a short story of who he was and what he had to present.  He was compelling because I could tell that this professional loved his job and it was clearly self-evident in his choice of words (articulate, passionate, and delivered with much conviction).

Appearance
Starman was sharply dressed and it seemed as though his accouterment somehow matched the command of knowledge he had for his profession.  The clothes seemed to promote his image as a professional and carried forward the message, "I'm confident in who I am.  Listen to me."

Articulation
His voice commanded attention.  You could not but help to listen to his words;  they were engaging and full of meaning and possessed a richness that painted underlying tones of meaning and thought provoking facts.

Knowledge
Starman knew his field and engaged the student body by having an open question-and-answer session after the presentation.  Again, his display of mastery over his field of study was very impressive and matched his projected image:  information of facts and their relationships were representative of a competent performance and performer.

Knowledge, in and of itself, is a boat without a sail.  Extraction of knowledge into a team/group environment is how a true professional leverages knowledge.

 Starman used his knowledge to lead the "team" throughout the presentation and every member (student) walked away with a greater understanding of themselves and the world around and above them. 

The professional is so much more than what's been written within this article.  A true account would take volumes.   Other traits include responsibility, honor, reputation and trustworthiness.   As a student back in the late 1970s I was afforded the opportunity to know if Starman had these qualities but they were self-evident in that short-lived encounter I and the rest of the student body had with him in that planetarium with an entire universe as his background and shooting stars flying over his head.

Professionalism is just that and so much more.

 

 

It has been several years since the more astute professional has seen gathering storm clouds across the horizon.

And, there are a multitude of reasons why not just the U.S., but the entire world, is facing extremely troubling times ahead.  There's even talk that what lies ahead will be even more challenging than what our grandparents (and great-grandparents) faced during the 1920s.

Now is not the time for a weak heart or complacency.  The mother of trouble is bred through complacency and ignoring external challenges.

A realignment of resources and strategy is in order and now is the time to formulate your strategy!

We, as a global industrial society, haven ended a growth cycle.  In no uncertain terms, the growth cycle is over.

Crisis Cycle
We can now say hello to what can accurately be termed a crisis cycle.

Our collective ability to sustain economic success has failed and realignment is now in motion.  This motion can be seen in both the media and all around you.  You may know someone who is been directly affected by this realignment - lost of jobs - or maybe a restructuring of business units which results in a re-titling of a job position and less pay.  Banks are failing and global investors are buying our debit - some companies are so bad off that no one wants to touch them.  If the realignment fails (and it does not look good at the moment) there will be even more bank failures and greater lost of business. 

The crisis cycle will deepen.

New challenges will appear in some areas most of us have yet to fathom.  Yet, beneath all the gloom and doom there is a silver lining.

Recruitment will continue to be a necessity amid all the turmoil but at a greatly reduced volume. 

What to do?

You must achieve alignment and there is no more effective way than focused strategy.

Focus on Strategy
By focusing on how you are to survive in this crisis cycle you must realize there may be a need to realign your business strategy with new (or a subset of) skills in your possession.  This means finding secondary or entirely new venues of employment opportunity.  As the recruitment industry becomes more anemic you may not find success in just restructuring your way out of this crisis cycle.

In clearer terms, trying to find innovative methods to pull recruiting out of thin air may amount to straightening the deck chairs on the Titanic.  Your computer is on, the browser and email client open, but no one is calling... 

Renew Strategy

• Assess how well you are positioned with respect to the changed and challenging environment. 
• Do your priorities need reevaluating?
• Think through your revised strategy before initiating it.

Support Structure

• Do your existing support structure, systems and skills support the changes in your strategy?  If you find that one or more of them are ill-suited to the revised strategy you envision, you will need to acquire the capabilities you need.

Timing and Method of Deploying the Strategy

• Having acquired any lacking skills/capabilities, indentify the path for making the change.

Customers

• Which ones will you continue to serve and what markets?  What new markets will you enter?

Capital

• When considering which new markets to enter which ones will you invest in and more importantly where and how will you get the required capital?

Skills

• If recruiting runs dry, what other skills do you have?  What else are you good at? 

Recovery Cycle
Eventually the recovery cycle will surface and the industrial machinery will start to churn once again.  This will spur a renewed growth cycle.

Throughout history the cyclical nature of crisis has violently changed the face of the world.  Those extreme economic stressors have tested the mettle of both the strong and the weak, the youthful and the old, and people from all economic background.   And, in the end, it is this unasked for challenge that eventually shows each of us just how malleable and enduring we are as people.

Recruiting the right person for the right job is definitely a needed talent in the world of tomorrow.

In the end, it is the unity of the people who help each other through thick and thin.

[About the Author:  Phil Robles is an IT professional with over 15 years experience working numerous IT roles within 5 major industries.  He is also a business owner (DaVinciworks™ & SMEOracle™).  Phil is an Air Force veteran, has a B.S. Social Psychology degree from Park University, a Master, Information Systems degree from University of Phoenix, AZ, and is currently working on his Doctorate in Management and Organizational Leadership with a specialty in IT Services, University of Phoenix, AZ.]

Every successful professional can recall the exact moment when the "seed" to succeed was planted by their mentor. 

In most cases it was that moment you and someone kind enough to help your career forged a bond in mentorship.  That one person you fondly remember as your first (and maybe only) mentor was the catalyst that woke you up to the potential that lay within your mind and soul. Your mentor was the person who showed you what you could become with effort and attentive skills to listen and apply those golden nuggets of advice and wisdom.

Now it is your turn to, "pay it forward" as they say.   Where to begin?  That eager and youthful face is staring at you with an eagerness that beckons you to help a young and inexperienced soul learn the ropes of the employment market.

Take a deep breath and set your jaw squarely!

Identify and Establish Communication Needs

Tip #1:  Always actively listen! 

Tip #2:  Always be authentic in sharing your thoughts and feelings

Tip #3:  Instill accountability and follow up regularly.

Tip #4:  Focus on mentee's learning goals and learning needs

Establish, Address and Foster Social and Professional Needs

Tip #5:  Invest and exert effort in establishing a healthy climate for learning.

Tip# 6:  Ascertain and exercise multiple methods of communication.

Tip #7:  Set aside important one-on-one time with the mentee.

Tip #8:  Validate that communication effort is resulting in effective and meaningful learning.

Tip #9:  Provide hands-on training and all of the resources available at your  disposal.

Tip #10:  Remove Power & Command to foster the learning environment.  The   mentee must feel he or she can take risks without fear of reprisal.  By removing this obstacle (yes, it's an obstacle within the mentor/mentee learning enviornment) you remove anxiousness and foster a sense of safety and acceptance.

Encourage Mentee to Establish a Record of Experience

Tip #11:  by having the mentee keep a journal of his or her mentoring experi1nce they, too, will one day have a record in which to draw upon to "pay it forward."

Tip #12:  Encourage the mentee to express, both verbally and in written form (remember, they have a journal of their experience, right?), their experiences in learning and how they can apply their learning to the work environment and in their personal lives.

Mentoring has been an ongoing practice throughout history and people continue to realize the importance and gratification that comes with investing in others.  The intelligent manager will realize that by investing in mentoring those around them they also invest within the organization they all work within.  Effective mentoring is a powerful leverage between product and services and human capital -- taking care of one serves to support the other two areas that are critical for business prosperity.

And finally, why should you place a high premium on mentoring?

• Mentoring provides you with a link to the younger generation and what changes are happening within the industry and business sector.
• Continued rapport with your mentee facilitates a renewal/sharpening of your communicative skills.
• Mentoring is an excellent vehicle in which to transfer corporate knowledge.
• Leverage your knowledge and experience to better prepare the organization for the future.
• You can tailor the transfer of information and knowledge to the most pressing issues and needs of the organization.

And, it feels really wonderful to help another soul.

Try it sometime!

Backlink:  http://www.smeoracle.com/smeo-blog/2008/09/why-mentoring-should-be-higher.html

[About the Author:  Phil Robles is an IT professional with over 15 years experience working numerous IT roles within 5 major industries.  He is also a business owner (DaVinciworks™ & SMEOracle™).  Phil is an Air Force veteran, has a B.S. Social Psychology degree from Park University, a Master, Information Systems degree from University of Phoenix, AZ, and is currently working on his Doctorate in Management and Organizational Leadership with a specialty in IT Services, University of Phoenix, AZ.]

Every successful IT manager has asked the following questions:

• "What conditions are conducive for an IT manager's success?

• "What tasks must IT managers perform very well in order to succeed?"

Today's IT market is extremely turbulent and will continue to remain demanding for the foreseeable future.  This assumption is based on both market stressors coupled with the need of corporations to do much more with less.  In order for IT managers to be successful there must be a corporate environment that has realistic expectations (promoted by both IT managers and executive-level stakeholders).  Both IT managers and executive leaders must formulate tactical and strategic moves that foster as much stability as possible while addressing business management issues and strategic and competitive issues.  The below chart expresses these concepts:
Expectations of Managers

The expectations of IT Managers will continue to increase as will managerial challenges.

• Technology is volatile
• Technology's impact on the structure and finances of today's businesses
• Challenges spawn even more challenges
  

It is the IT Manager's role to anticipate those challenges and create meaningful and viable plans to tackle business issues as they emerge.

Leadership Role

• Managers must formulate and shape issues as they appear

• Develop and foster insight and vision of future technology

• Managers must also foster executive-level buy-in to develop strategies for the business to facilitate competitive advantage within their market niche.

Technology Vision = Realistic | Practical | Innovative

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

Here is a high-level view of senior-executive expectations:

IT Managers (garden variety)
- Have a general management view of business
- Output:  receive satisfactory appraisa

IT Managers (Superior)
- Understands importance of expectations
- More proactive in effective management of expectations

The below roadmap of critical success factors spells out the importance of the IT manager role within organizations.  There is no doubt that information technology is an integral ingredient in the strategies of all organizations today.

IT managers will only find repeated success if they endeavor to practice their craft with a proven road map -- it is too dangerous to drive the "global highway" without one during these unprecedented times.


Phil Robles is an IT professional with over 15 years experience working numerous IT roles within 5 major industries.  He is also a business owner (DaVinciworks™ & SMEOracle™).  Phil is an Air Force veteran, has a B.S. Social Psychology degree from Park University, a Master, Information Systems degree from University of Phoenix, AZ, and is currently working on his Doctorate in Management and Organizational Leadership with a specialty in IT Services, University of Phoenix, AZ.

This almost sounds like the title for an article in some romance magazine and in a way, one could say the concept of romance does come into play with what the article is all about.

In our case, we, as IT professionals, have two choices to make about our future:

 1.  We can find a wonderful company to work for and hunker down for the long-term (i.e. retirement).

 2.  We can continue to sharpen our skills and choose an area of IT that has a deep need for new talent/specialty and then develop that expertise.

The end result of either option are vastly different and affect your professional career in many different ways.

Some choose option 1 and to them I say, good going.  Others choose option 2 and that is where I usually find very interesting and very competitive people who are not only rofessionals (such as those who choose option 1) but have that extra spring in their walk and fire behind the eyes.  The movers.  The shakers.  The make-it-happen-kind-of-people. 

It really is no secret, those who thrive and survive within the environment of option 2 are the hot professionals of the IT industry. 

"But wait." you say.  Years ago you jumped head-first into a new set of skills and worked through the midnight oil to hone those skills and became one of those sought-after gurus of a new skillset.  The doors were being knocked down to reach you, clients were promising big bucks and recruiters were practically fall over each other to win you over. 

The love affair was heady and so very sweet to your wallet and ego.  Others had the same idea and then they too went through the entire courtship and found great salaries and benefits. 

Then the years just seemed to slip by and all of a sudden you wake up and realize the IT industry has become oversupplied by your type with the same set of skills.  Jumping from employer to employer has become harder and winning and retaining new jobs much harder.

That is the cycle of an IT professional:

--> Learn skill set --> Courtship --> Corporate Marriage -->

Deliver baby --> 7 Year Itch --> Irrelevance --> Divorce

Now, complete this cycle, EVERY 12 - 18 MONTHS and you get the picture of what an IT professional endures if they wish to stay ahead of the game and employe new skills into an existing enterprise (if they are lucky to be a part of an innovative division, company). 

Those that choose option 1 above will find that they cannot endure another cycle of IT Courtship and eventually ignore the reality of the situation and continue to live within the confins of their fantasy world.  There are many (very many) who will hunker down and build a deeper expertise in existing skill set.  Those that choose option 2 will look for newer and greener pastures and will find top-dollar and great companies that want to hire them.

If you haven't noticed, the world has changed in profound ways during the last decade.  Money is tight and there are fresh faces in the crowd and all of them are by-products of a hi-tech society.  You must differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd if you wish to find yourself in that dizzying courtship that some professionals end up in...but how?  The awful truth is that garnering new skills will not cut it in this day and age...I'll let you in on a secret.

Build your personal brand.

The world of business is build on the concept of branding.  When you visit a grocery store you are bombarded by a myraid of brands, some new and some very well established within the market.  When it comes down to choosing your choice of drink, are you going to go with something you associate with greater value or a no-name brand?  See the picture? 

Developing and building on your personal brand comes with great benefits; implied assurance, lower cost to "make the sale", and higher value. 

Your success within your field has helped you to lay the ground work for establishing assurance that you provide customer satisfaction -- you get the job done!  You also have developed a level of trust with past clients that you can deliver and this translates into implied assurance when you go to make your next "sale" (job searching). 

Personal branding is not a fad and not something you can achieve within 6 months or even a year.  Personal branding is a mind-set that accompanies you along your career journey.  This journey takes continuing exposure to experience, strategic posturing, passion, thought leadership, and a desire to be recognized as a true industry leader within your market niche. 

Experience:  its not the number of years within your profession but what you have accomplished within those years.  Focus is on accomplishment...let me repeat, focus is on accomplishment...not years. 

Thought-Leadership:  in other areanas it can be called, "creativity."  Have you spawn new ideas within your job?  How has it impacted the client?  The customers? 

Passion:  it's not a job, its a way of life.  You LOVE what you do and that is part of what makes you HOt in IT!

In the end, when it comes to personal branding building you must consider these stages:

Discover:  who are you and what strengths can you leverage with results?

Design:  Who is your audience and have you picked the right ones to court and make a committment to?

Deploy:  once you have found your perfect "mate" you must deploy your skills in an effective manner and follow-up on your promises.

Deal:  complete your promises by delivering!

It doesn't matter where you are within your career:  it is never too late to start working on laying the foundation for personal branding!

 

[About the Author: Phil Robles is an IT professional with over 15 years experience working numerous IT roles within 5 major industries.  He is also a business owner (DaVinciWorks™ & SMEOracle™).  Phil is an Air Force veteran, has a B.S. Social Psychology degree from Park University, a Master, Information Systems degree from University of Phoenix, AZ, and is currently working on his Doctorate in Management and Organizational Leadership with a specialty in IT Services, University of Phoenix, AZ]

You have been job hunting for months and you are "THE GURU" in within your market niche, but no one is biting.

The savings account is shrinking (along with your ego) and the bills are starting to pile up on that corner of your desk you find increasingly hard to look at.

"What is wrong with me?!" you ask yourself. 

The truth is, nothing is wrong with you and the market is just not looking to hire someone with your skill set and experience.  You are now encroached within a very dangerous mindset:  "I will make them want to hire me! Just you wait and see!"  The honest facts are that you will be waiting on their terms and until the market is ready to start hiring people with your skill set and experience. 

The best thing you can do is to unhinge that bunkered down mentality and start becoming more creative in your approach to job hunting (disclaimer:  "creative" as it applies to this article does not endorse fabricating lies to boost your marketability!).

What kind of professional animal are you?

There are cheetahs (lots of them, just look around).  They think of themselves as fast (burners) and rule the land for as far as they can run.  True, some people are indeed cheetahs but most are only dressed as cheetahs, just look behind their head, at the nape of their neck - see the zipper?  There are also a lot of gazelles and they can spring over almost any obstacle that comes their way, just make sure the "rock" or "wall" isn't too high, lest they hit it.   Then, there are the turtles (we won't go into that subject for now, it is an entirely different article which we will explore down the road). 

Each of these professional "animals", yes, even the turtle, warrant great merit and provide dedicated service to our economy.  But, what you will notice (at least I do!) is that nowhere do you find the rarest of creature in a corporate environment:

The unique and wonderful platypus.

It is a remarkable animal and exudes features of many different kinds of animal without losing its own uniqueness.  THAT is exactly how a professional animal can survive in these volatile times - become a platypus! 

We're not really advocating that you turn yourself into a real platypus but in order to save your well-being, it is imperative that you look in the mirror (right now) and notice the different professional "features" (i.e. skills) you possess;  I call them "differentiating skills" and they lay diagonal to your primary skills:

     

As you can see, the "differentiation strategy" approach can support a myriad of combinations, try it and see if you can find your career differentiators.  

With your resume in front of you, extract all skills into primary and secondary skills.  Primary skills fit on the vertical axis and secondary skills fit on the diagonal axis.   Differentiating skills (skills between primary and secondary) fall on the diagonal axis.

The results should afford you with the opportunity to see alternative routes you can take in your job search.  Clarity is an eye-opener and coupled with necessity (i.e. salary) it becomes the "mother of invention" with 20/20 eyesite!

Your ability to kick-start your career with a new job in a field related to your primary skills can be very rewarding. 

To find out more about, "Differential Strategy" and how you can use this concept in your job hunting, please contact us at info@smeoracle.com.

[About the Author: Phil Robles is an IT professional with over 15 years experience working numerous IT roles within 5 major industries.  He is also a business owner (DaVinciWorks™ & SMEOracle™).  Phil is an Air Force veteran, has a B.S. Social Psychology degree from Park University, a Master, Information Systems degree from University of Phoenix, AZ, and is currently working on his Doctorate in Management and Organizational Leadership with a specialty in IT Services, University of Phoenix, AZ]

 Trackback:  http://www.smeoracle.com/smeo-blog/2008/09/what-is-differential-strategy.html

Whether you're facing military retirement or you're about to complete your contractual agreement in serving your country in the Armed Forces, you now face a tremendous opportunity to start using your skills in the civilian market.

Where do you begin?

I would highly recommend you start by taking advantage of the available time to make an assessment on how marketable you are: skill sets, experience, both here in the States and abroad, and the coveted government security clearance. For most, especially those in IT, having experience working within a military environment and understanding the military culture goes a very long way in finding DOD contracting opportunities.

Here are some points to consider when facing post-military career opportunities:

· Take stock of existing skill sets

o What industries use your skills?

o Do you possess "hot" skills that companies are in dire need of hiring?

· Do you have "hidden" value?

o Do you possess peripheral skills that "bleed" into other areas diagonal to your existing skill set? For instance, you may have experience configuring and deploying SharePoint portals (SharePoint Architect). But, you quite possibly possess peripheral skills that would satisfy a job description for a SharePoint Administrator (get the picture?).

· Develop a Portfolio of Yourself

o Remember: you are marketing yourself!

o Develop an "Elevator Speech" that describes who you are as a professional and what accomplishments you have made to organizations you've worked for. How did this impact the overall mission of the organization? Dollars saved?

o Create an iron-clad resume for EACH career path (i.e. job position) that you are about to apply for.

§ Create a great cover letter

§ Be ready to network with people face-to-face. Remember the 6 degrees of separation concept and employ it within your working life

§ Develop your online marketing presence. There are many quality professional networks available.

· Be ready to Provide Samples of Your Work

o If you deal with deliverables, its not a bad idea to showcase them on a personal website. Be sure not to include any material that could violate federal, state or local laws and always remember to scrub all content to preclude sensitive content covered under the Privacy Act, 1974.

· Reacclimatize Your Mindset Toward a Civilian Environment

o Rank is not worn on the shoulders or sleeves

o Rank still exists but is more subtle (i.e. position title, etc).

o Remember, your industry usually dictates the type of environment you will be working within (i.e. financial sector is conservative, whereas a creative company (i.e. google, apple) tends to be more liberal.

· Find a Mentor

o There is not enough space on this article to state the importance of this recommendation. A great source for mentors is those that went before you. Locate a friend that recently retired and find out how they are fairing - find out what worked for them and see if you can apply the tactics to your situation (strategy).

§ Note: there was a point in my professional career where I wanted to boost my salary and therefore hired a professional career manager (a very expensive thing to do, silly me). I partook in the seminars and one-on-ones. There were many good nuggets of information but hindsight, I could have found that information through networking and saves many thousands of dollars. I did get the salary I wanted but could have done so without paying to know how to go about it.

· Go Back to School

o This is a favorite of mine and for good reason. Recruiters and clients love the idea that a potential candidate is always willing to learn new things and what better way to show them and prospective employers! I can tell you that after receiving my undergraduate degree (bachelors) my salary increased by 15K and after receiving my graduate degree (masters) it more than doubled! I also noticed that fortune 100 companies started calling on me! It is truly wonderful to get contacts from companies like Microsoft and IBM - it validates all the hard work, expense and personal sacrifice that goes into getting a higher education.

There is no easy formula to finding career success in a volatile market.

One helpful concept is to realize that the business world has and continues to be extremely competitive and a "differential strategy" is a sure fire way of separating you from the rest of the crowd so companies can see you.

What you are facing is nothing less than reinventing yourself which can be quite unnerving and stressful.

When you feel as though the world is being pulled from underneath your feet, remember the wise words of a great American and one of our Founding Fathers:

"When you find yourself at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."Ben Franklin

For more information on how you can market your skills, please contact us, boots2suits@smeoracle.com.

[About the Author: Phil Robles is an IT professional with over 15 years experience working numerous IT roles within 5 major industries.  He is also a business owner (DaVinciWorks™ & SMEOracle™).  Phil is an Air Force veteran, has a B.S. Social Psychology degree from Park University, a Master, Information Systems degree from University of Phoenix, AZ, and is currently working on his Doctorate in Management and Organizational Leadership with a specialty in IT Services, University of Phoenix, AZ]

Trackback:  http://www.smeoracle.com/smeo-blog/2008/09/from-boots-to-suits.html

 

There are many reasons why you might not be getting paid the right salary at your current job.

Chances are that you might never guess the real reason some of you are not getting fair monetary compensation (i.e. pay) at your place of employment.

The answer is, in all honesty, that you may be the very source of this impedence.   

I recently had a chance to cross paths with a professional at a weekend social gathering.  It was one of those chance meetings where you learn a thing or two about the human condition (that we can be our own worst enemy).  One of the first things that we talked about was  salary.

She told me that she worked for a very successful medical supplies and services company and that she managed 30 offices nation-wide and handled sales in the millions.  She also told me that a co-worker of hers made twice as much money as she did but only worked a fraction as hard as she does.  This interested me to say the least.  I was compelled to start asking the pointed questions to pin down the reason for this apparent anomaly.  "Maybe your co-worker works twice as fast as you or knows certain tricks of the trade to make it appear he doesn't have to work as hard as you."  Her answer was lightening fast:  "No.  He comes in normally after I do and leaves earlier than I do."  There were many other similiar-related questions that I posed to her with very similiar answers.  After going back and forth like this for several minutes I asked her about her relationship with her team. 

"I'm very easy on my team.  If they need extra time to work on a project I allow them to take it home and get compensation for it."  Then she followed up with, "I KNOW that I shouldn't do that, and I ask myself why I do it but I don't have a good answer for it."

Bingo.

There was a very enlightening moment that ensued and I could see within her eyes the self-revelatory statement she had just made was starting to seep inside her very psyche.  Then, it was as if my role as "social event partier" had turned into that more akin to a priest taking confession:  "I know that I should not be so easy on my suborindates but I know what it's like to be lower on the ladder and what that entails on a daily basis at work."  Also, "I just know they must think I'm too easy on them and my superiors must also know this..."

Needless to say, the rest of our conversation immediately turned into a series of quick remedies to turn-around her image at the office -- I told her that the damage may already have been irrevocable at her current employment but that she should take note of what we talked about and make a list of "to-do's" and "not-to-do's" when she found employment elsewhere in the future.  Yes, I told her my professional opinion was that she would never get the amount of money she was worth at her current employment but that the lessons she had learned would probably be worth more to her in the long run.

In my next article I will discuss the lists of "to-do's" and "not-to-do's" that we came up with -- maybe they will come in handy for some of you who have found yourself in a similiar situation.

[About the Author: Phil Robles is an IT professional with over 15 years experience working numerous IT roles within 5 major industries.  He is also a business owner (DaVinciWorks™ & SMEOracle™).  Phil is an Air Force veteran, has a B.S. Social Psychology degree from Park University, a Master, Information Systems degree from University of Phoenix, AZ, and is currently working on his Doctorate in Management and Organizational Leadership with a specialty in IT Services, University of Phoenix, AZ]

Under-representation of cross-diversity in the IT Workforce
Keywords: IT workforce, IT professional skills gap, under-represented groups, virtual social networks.

There's something in the "air" in today's Information Technology (IT)employment environment. You can almost hear it; it's not unlike an ultra high pitch sound of air escaping from a microscopic fissure in an overblown balloon. This analogy of the sound of escaping "air" is nothing less than how IT employment growth is slowing down in these United States. It's a fact: today's IT employment environment has gotten tougher to compete in and harder to create a diversified ITworkforce. This employment situation is defined by two trends:

(1) A more selective behavior by hiring employees for IT candidates which creates more competition for the IT professional. (2) There's a downward spiral in the number of minorities and women in the IT workforce and efforts by IT employers to boost this number are not working.

Downward Market Trend Impacts Upward Mobility Goals of a Diverse Workforce
According to the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), executive searches in the technology sector, "were down more than any sector in the second quarter of 2007..." (McGee, M.K., 2007). The report states a 14 percent drop in executive searches compared to theprevious quarter. The picture being painted is one that finds both job seeker and recruiter faced with difficult times. The IT professional is confronted with a more difficult employment sector whereby her or she must compete with other highly qualified professionals and just as importantly, stand-out amongst this qualified population. This must be balanced with the fact that employers are also looking to diversify their work force. Employers are being hard-pressed to find a qualified AND diversified IT population in which to select appropriate candidates to fill much needed positions within their companies.

Untapped Market Does Exist
There exists a largely untapped and un-marketed population of highly educated and diverse IT resources and it is within the confines of campuses across the nation. The most recent findings report that a high percent of college students are studying in highly technical fields and many are not finding adequate resources to effectively promote their skills and knowledge base. Although there exist many online social and professional networks that provide "direct marketing" between
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/IT" rel="IT">IT professional</a> and corporation, effective marketing should begin while the student is in the final throes of completing their degree - many students may find this a daunting task but the earlier that one markets themselves the better they become as marketers of "self" and the more exposure they gain.

Hurdles Also Exist
One of the biggest obstacles that IT college students find is that they may not have the required experience to work a particular job. An effective way around this hurdle is to promote oneself as a member with team-based skills willing to work in demanding environments to identify and provide IT business solutions. In many situations both the company and the IT professional (recent grad) will find a viable partnership that promotes personal and professional growth for the individual and an excellent return on investment for the company. IT professionals must work toward further education both traditional and self-directed to gain/remain qualified in their respective fields and eventually branch out into new areas for a more diversified skill set. In this day and age of blogmania and online professional networking, it is imperative that soon-to-be and recent college graduates work toward building strong social networks, both online and in the real-world. Recruiters can provide much needed diversified IT professionals through continuing to build upon several mechanisms: building partnerships with academic institutions, internal hires, referrals, web-based hiring, and other recruiting firms.

Why Diversification?
In this time of recession it becomes even more imperative that organizations focus on building a diversified workplace as it improves organizational productivity, creativity, and the better its overall performance due to a more heterogeneous management team. It has also been suggested through studies that organizational problem solving improves among heterogeneous populations of employees. It will be interesting to find out what trend a global recession has on the flight of offshore jobs the U.S. has seen in recent years. The market demand, albeit more competitive, will see many of the reported 100,000 computer software and services jobs that have moved offshore since 2000 (Information Technology Association of America, 2004) returning to America. Out of these 100,000 jobs it is critical that employers attempt to identify and pull-in significantly higher numbers of underrepresented IT professionals. Data shows that a large proportion of the US IT workforce continues to reflect a low level of minorities and in some cases, such as with women it has declined by as much as 185% since 1996! (Information Technology Association of America, 2005).

Employers Are Selective Today
Due to the downturn of the economy many employers have become more selective in their search for IT candidates. There exists a industry recognized "matrix" of IT skills that employers recognize: Hardware/software, programming languages, e-commerce, technical support, website design, database, etc. Due to the competitive nature of today's job market the IT professional must develop skills that separates them from the rest of the IT pool. This can came in the shape of obtaining formal education (or completing that education you have already started), training and certifications.

Final Thoughts
The reality of the issues relating to IT diversification within industry show that in order for both company and individual to succeed there must be a symbiosis between these two entities: companies must continue to strive to identify and pull in a diverse cadre of IT professionals and IT professionals must continue to go that "extra mile" to improve their "hire-ability."

REFERENCES
1. McGee, M.K. Report: Executive IT Recruitment Is Slowing Down. 2007. Retrieved from: http://www.informationweek.com/news/management /showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201800366, July 5, 2008.

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