Aside from Randy's generous and accidentally forwarded advice.
On degrees: I would say that having a degree matters to some
employers, and doesn't to others. It's constructive to find out who
it matters to and either take a different approach with them, or just
cross them off your list and move on. I've actually found that most
employers don't really care about the Degree if you can focus on your
experience when talking to them.
On recruiters: I view using recruiters as a last resort. They are in
this to make money for themselves, and most of them are *NOT* in your
corner, they are either in it for their own good ($) or representing
the employer. Most recruiters are really just a human resume sorting
and shuttling service for companies. Again, not all are this way, but
the vast majority are.
On networking: Isaac, I know you are somewhat active in the
community. You've gone to conferences and participate on email lists.
That's a great start, but I would *ALWAYS* be looking for additional
ways to meet people and find good opportunities. Go to local CFUG
meetings, if there isn't a CFUG in your area, start one. Go to other
tech events, Java User Group meetings, .NET, whatever.
I know you know all this, but I am saying it just for some positive
re-enforcement. The key here is to do these activities while you have
a job and not just when you need a job. The objective is to meet
people and make them remember who you are, and not just to ask them
for a job. When a job comes open they will remember who you are and
may give you a call directly. You may find out about jobs before they
are posted. Someone you meet tomorrow may not offer you a job till 3
years from now, so the earlier and the more people you get to know the
better.
I know not all of us are social butterflies, and may not really enjoy
"networking". That doesn't really matter. You may not need to be
good at this if you are at least able to open your mouth and say
things that are technically correct and relevant to conversation at
these events.
I am not making any assumptions about anyone in particular, because I
don't think I have actually met you (Issac) in person. But generally
speaking, alot of people at these events are tech-heads without social
skills and no-one really has any reason to be uncomfortable at them
because everyone else there may feel the same way. But I digress...
Another strategy I've used in the past to find CF work is to do some
googling and try to find out who in my area is using CF. Look at
their websites, see what they do, give them a call. If you can,
google for a contact at the company and cold call them directly, use
LinkedIn to see if you have any connections there, anything you can do
to find an avenue into the company that circumvents HR is a good one,
because HR is just going to say "send your resume and I'll take a
look". Find someone specifically and call them, introduce yourself to
them. If they say "we aren't hiring", ask them to lunch, let them
know you aren't really looking for a job, that you just are interested
in knowing more about the company and meeting some developers. In the
future this connection could pay off - this is exactly the type of
scenario I used when I moved to San Diego.
Lastly, I wouldn't focus so much on the rate you are getting paid.
Particularly when speaking to recruiters. Let them know your skillset
and the type of position you are seeking first. Certain skill levels
and positions will dictate your salary level, not the other way
around. By focusing on your desired salary, you are driving them in
the wrong direction. Sell yourself first and then work the money out
later.
Of course, all of this stuff works sometimes, and sometimes it
doesn't. This is just the advice I give myself, and I thought I would
share it.
-Cameron
On 3/22/06, S. Isaac Dealey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Getting the same old tired degree argument... In spite of being a
> published author, a conference speaker, and having a track record of
> being a proven innovator (and yes, I know what Machiavelli says about
> innovation):
>
> Examples:
>
> StripTags(): The StripTags() function I submitted to cflib.org has
> become the de facto standard for performing the task for which it was
> written in spite of there having been several other functions for that
> task prior - Ben Doom mentioned it in an article he contributed to the
> ColdFusion Developer's journal, and people always get pointed to it
> when the subject of stripping tags is mentioned on the cf-talk list.
>
> DBVarname: The engineers at Macromedia removed the dbvarname attribute
> from the cfprocparam tag documentation for ColdFusion MX because they
> didn't think it was possible to implement with JDBC. Not only did I
> find a way to implement it, I improved on the cfstoredproc model in
> such a way that cfstoredproc can be as easy to implement as cfinsert
> or cfupdate -- it was a custom tag before, now it's datasource.getStor
> edProcedure().init("procname",parameterCollection).execute();
>
> SQL Abstraction: Sure there are ways I can improve the presentation I
> gave on this subject at cf.Objective, but as far as I know, I'm the
> only person who's implemented genuine language abstraction in
> ColdFusion, or from what I've read PHP (I haven't implemented it in
> PHP, but I've read that their "SQL Abstraction" layers only handle
> connecting to the database, not language abstraction). These tools
> also have powerful implications beyond platform agnostic coding like
> being able to provide consistent results from queries that need to get
> data from places other than the datasource (I have one that gets
> sortable localized language names from Java, or if I needed I could
> use the same technique to combine data from a separate datasource via
> Query of Query).
>
> Rule Managers: Another presentation I gave at cf.Objective -- and an
> article in CFDJ which one reader told me was the most helpful /
> informative CFDJ article he'd read in several years he'd been
> subscribed. How many thousands of degreed professionals work with
> ColdFusion? And of those thousands, how many of them published these
> concepts? Not one that I know of. I did. Little old degree-less me.
> --------
>
> This isn't even getting into a lot of the onTap framework tools for
> things like branding, form management, etc. because I know there
> aren't a lot of people using it, and in some cases the business case
> for the tool is debatable, complicated or obscure. So I don't even
> mention those, because I'm not a prima dona, I don't believe my tools
> are always the best (or the best they could be), I don't believe
> they're always well suited fore very task (I design them to solve
> specific problems), and I do believe that other people can provide me
> valuable insight in as well.
>
> So if people can look at my work and it's patently obvious that,
> beyond having 8 years experience I'm also just plain talented and
> knowledgeable and can answer questions about theory (what you learn in
> comp-sci classes), why can't they accept that the reason I don't have
> a degree is because I made stupid decisions when I was a kid 10 years
> ago? How many years of experience, and how much publicly proven
> problem solving ability is necessary before I can be accepted for my
> abilities instead of being rejected because I don't have a piece of
> paper? If I have to wait another 10 years it won't even matter!
> Because by then people will consider me to be on the trailing end of
> my career.
>
> ::sigh::
>
> And the only reason any of this even matters to me is because I've
> spent the last 5 years unable to make a dent in my child-support,
> chasing one job after another and barely if even making ends meet. I
> haven't seen my children in 2 years because the job I took 2 years ago
> promised me $70k and then I spent a year and a half only getting $50k
> until I wised up enough to leave, only to accept a job in VA that made
> my financial situation WORSE! And now I'm having conversations on the
> phone with recruiters, bringing me jobs for $40-45k and asking me what
> makes me think I deserve $70k!!! I'm not a selfish guy! I'm not trying
> to get myself into a Mazerati and a beach house! I'm trying to spend
> time with my children by getting paid what I'm worth! Less than what I
> know many of my friends with comparable experience are earning!
>
> Sorry for the rant, I just needed to vent...
>
>
> s. isaac dealey 434.293.6201
> new epoch : isn't it time for a change?
>
> add features without fixtures with
> the onTap open source framework
>
> http://www.fusiontap.com
> http://coldfusion.sys-con.com/author/4806Dealey.htm
>
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