Short-term goals

For those who need to work solely for the money, without any concern of career, this choice can fulfill this desire in the short term.  For example, if you’re planning to relocate out of the area or switch careers, this can be a perfect arrangement.   You can keep your job in information security or in computer programming or in system administration, without giving your company a long term commitment.  This can work well for both parties.

Unemployed? Refill the tank

Unemployed people choose consulting if they need a stopgap to return to work and they cannot find a desirable, permanent career choice, or if they just need the cash flow.  Technology consulting as a freelancer or contractor will make your resume look better.  It will fill in some of the time gaps in your resume as well as keep your technical chops warm.  And being a tech consultant can also lead to a full time role when things turn around. Some of these  contractor positions are called “right to hire,” which means they start out as a contract role, but with the opportunity to turn into a full  time position.

Visa considerations

For technology professionals who need to work in the US but do not have the visa requirements necessary for a permanent job with a US firm, signing on as a contractor with a consulting company can offer them the needed work experience, and get their career off to a running start here as they establish proper residency.

Self-employed tax consequences

Working as an independent contractor allows some people to declare a number of deductions for running an independent business that, based on your particular financial situation, might be advantageous to you.  If this is a major reason why a person might choose this alternative, it is best they check with a qualified tax adviser before making this decision.

Guaranteed income

As a contractor, what you are being paid is what you are being paid—that’s it.  There is no ambiguity as to a bonus or raise so you can easily predict what you will be making at the end of the project, allowing you to better plan your budget.

Keep the meter running!

If you are being paid hourly as opposed to a daily rate and there is no limit to the hours you can work, you have the option to put in as many hours as you want. The amount of money you can earn is unlimited.  The only question is how much you value your sleep and home life.

So what do you think?  Do you think being a technology contractor is better than being a full time tech worker?  What’s been your experience? If you’d like to learn more about what it takes to work in tech, please visit our technology job placement section of the site, or read our post Three Ways to Wow a Tech Interviewer.  Coming up in our next blog post, I will discuss the potential disadvantages of becoming a contractor. Stay tuned!

How do I handle the interview question, “Why are you looking for a new job?” Can I say the real reason, that I am looking for more money, or will they think I am a greedy selfish person who does not care about the job?

Throughout the interview process with a potential employer, communicating your motivations for pursuing a new opportunity can determine your future candidacy with them. To avoid the possibility of giving the wrong impression, focus on reasons that are not about money, but more on the role they are offering as it relates to your career goals.

To some degree it is understood that most people looking for new opportunities would like an increase in their compensation. However, it is important to convey a more compelling reason why you are looking for a new position. Speaking negatively regarding your current employer is surely not an option for obvious reasons. Focus on the opportunities available with the new position and how there is no room for growth with your current position. With this approach, you will appear driven and motivated versus selfish or greedy. Most employers are looking for employees that are not just motivated by compensation but motivated by the impact their work will have on the overall goals of the organization.

If you are fortunate enough to receive an offer, your tech recruiter will begin negotiating your compensation with the company. Companies may not be able to offer you a significant increase in your base salary, but employee benefits, bonuses and incentives can alter your total compensation package. For example, companies that pay for a good portion of your health and 401K benefits are investing in their employees while allowing them to keep a better portion of their salary. Other companies may require you to pay part or all of the cost of benefits. These factors should be weighed when viewing an opportunity for potential gain in overall compensation.
If you really need short term cash, and you are not concerned with working towards your long-term career goals, you should consider working as a Contractor. Please look for a future blog article on the benefits of being a Contractor.

As you perform well, your recruiter will be more inclined to send you on more interviews.  Hopefully the more interviews you get to go on, the better your chances of finding an information technology position that is a match.

Here are the top 10 tips to get your recruiter to think well of you and keep them sending your resume out:

1. Be prepared: partner with your recruiter by helping them market you. You have so much more to your background than your resume can represent. Highlight additional experience or special skills that are not covered on your resume.  You never know what additional information about you might help your recruiter land an interview for you. For example, your fencing hobby or addiction to Big Bang Theory might be a favorite of the recruiter’s client. It is sometimes the little things that close deals.
2. Invest the time: go over each opportunity with your recruiter, and develop a strategy to get the most out of each opportunity. Review the history of the firm and background of the interviewer(s) you will be meeting so you can be ready to field any and all questions.  Ask your recruiter for any additional tips they can give you that you can use to prepare for the interview.  They might be able to provide information on why past candidates were passed up.
3. Do not become a repeat offender: create a review list of questions to study that were asked on past interviews that you didn’t know or felt rusty on. Many interview questions are standard even when testing your technical acumen. Make sure you do not fall in the same trap a second time. Each interview takes a lot of time for your recruiter to market you and set up the interview. Do not waste them by being a repeat offender. Your recruiter will appreciate your hard work.
4. Salary expectations: discuss with your recruiter so you are both on the same page. Your recruiter should be able to give you an idea of the current market rates matched for your level of skill and experience. You don’t want to price yourself out of an opportunity.
5. In any good team, communication is essential: keep your recruiter posted on all resume submissions and interviews that you may have set up on your own. Why have your recruiter duplicate efforts?  This also helps with time management especially if hiring managers have to move quickly to compete with other potential offers.
6. Compensation accuracy: it is equally important to be forthright regarding compensation. It is common practice for firms to request W-2 documentation. If you do not give your recruiter accurate information and it is found out later, you can bet that your recruiter will not be pleased when the client makes him aware of a mistake that should have verified.
7. Do not cancel your scheduled interview: there are very few reasons extreme enough to warrant cancelling an interview. Surely, do not cancel an hour before the scheduled time.  If you are really sick or your boss has scheduled a meeting that you cannot get out of, then try to give your recruiter as much notice as possible since he will have to cancel the interview with a client and keep them interested enough to reschedule for another time.
8. Check in: when you have completed your interview contact your recruiter and give him an idea how you think it went, any questions you might have flubbed and your interest level. Sometimes if they are very interested in you, companies will contact your recruiter right away to find out what you thought.  Don’t make your recruiter try and track you down.  Also, this is the time if you really screwed up a question, you can let your recruiter know so he can contact them to try and limit the damage, before they decide you are a pass.
9. Refer others: if you like the work your recruiter has done for you then reward them with referrals. There is no better way to say thank you.
10. Thank your recruiter: it is very important to consistently thank your recruiter for their efforts. Everyone likes to be made to feel like his or her efforts are recognized.

In most cases the best approach is to tactfully deflect the compensation expectation question and put the focus back on the position that you are interviewing for. For example, “ I am very interested in this position and I think that I can make an immediate impact. I am sure that we can reach a mutually agreeable arrangement that is fair.” Diplomatic answers like these allow you to answer the salary question without committing yourself to a number or range so low that it undervalues you or so high that it could put your opportunity in jeopardy.

Using a recruiter you trust

Ideally, you are interviewing for your dream job through a recruiter you trust to handle the salary discussions on your behalf.  In this case your answer is a very easy one; answer any direct questions regarding your current or most recent compensation and let the interviewer know that you prefer your recruiter to speak on your behalf when it comes down to the details of an offer.  A recruiter is also in the best position to negotiate an offer for you, since they know what the market price is for a person with your background and understand their client’s limitations.  In most cases, recruiters are paid based on the offer they get for you.  It is not in their interest to negotiate an offer that comes in lower than the market rate based on the skills you have to offer.

Give accurate compensation history

When you are answering questions regarding your current or most recent compensation, it is important that you are accurate and forthcoming. There should be no deflection or vagueness here. These days many companies administer in-depth background and compensation checks so accuracy on these figures is of the utmost importance.  Compensation discussions often occur when you are at the goal line of the interview process and now is not the time to fumble your opportunity by not being honest about your salary history.

Getting an offer

If you have reached the point in your interview process where you are discussing possible compensation, chances are you have impressed the infantry of interviewers that have been marched in front of you and shown them that you are the person for the job.  If you employed a trusted recruiter, were accurate and forthcoming regarding current compensation, and were able to tactfully answer compensation expectation questions, you should be well on your way to receiving an attractive offer and depositing your first paycheck.

Congratulations!

Despite that fact that we were all created equal, not everyone’s job search is exactly the same. If you are currently unemployed you better be looking for a job right away. If you are employed and unhappy with your current role, you should look for a job right away. If you are perfectly happy with your current role, you don’t have to actively look for a new role but you should still have your resume up to date and your eyes and ears open, in case a great opportunity is presented to you.

Some people feel that later in the year it is not wise to look at opportunities since more jobs open up in the new year. It is true that typically hiring is much more accelerated in the first few months of the year, but it’s also true that the market is flooded with more people looking because in some cases people have received bonuses and are now feeling free to explore. My feeling is, if a great opportunity is there for the taking and you have less competition to get it, why not take advantage of the timing?

As a recruiter, I can never understand how someone wouldn’t have an open mind to discuss new possibilities. It is very rare that someone can truly advance in their career without being exposed to different environments. In the IT field, successful people are looking for situations that will inspire them creatively and offer room for growth. The time of year should never impact someone’s decision if the opportunity is right. Understandably, there are many factors that go into changing jobs other than just finding the right role, such as benefits, compensation, work location, work hours, expectations and culture. The rule of thumb has to be, do what is right for you. If a tremendous job opportunity is right in front of your face and it’s the dead of winter or the dog days of summer it makes no difference, do what is best for you and your family.

If you are talented at what you do, you will be compensated. If that opportunity presents itself in December so be it. If that dream job comes along in August, ok. Is there a better time of year or season to look for a job? No, I do not believe so, not if you are smart and care about your career.

Unfortunately, New York technology job seekers can make similar career moves by selecting positions based solely on initial compensation and/or an impressive title. You don’t want to find yourself with a stack of really great movies on HD-DVD and no way to play them. Alarmingly worse, you don’t want to find yourself with a stack of really impressive business cards that fail to correspond to the reality of your life for 50+ hours per week.

How do I evaluate a job offer?

No one can honestly argue that compensation is unimportant. After all, isn’t this why we rise early in the morning and brave unforgiving commutes for the majority of our adult years? Certainly, compensation plays a crucial role in any career decision. However, perhaps it would be wiser to broaden the concept of compensation to encompass more than merely the base salary represented in an offer letter:

• Consider the new role’s proximity to the firm’s profit center.
• Consider how much of the business you stand to learn.
• Consider the performance of the company.
• Consider bonus potential/profit sharing, corporate growth, your professional growth, and benefits.

All of these factors will, in time, define your compensation.

Be careful in comparing your offer.

It is tempting to compare base salaries, even in much different environments, and to simply choose the job that offers the greatest figure (believe me, this line of logic has no bigger fan base than an IT recruiter!). This decision, driven primarily by the urges to satisfy a need for immediate gratification and to ostensibly secure one’s earnings, may not, in the end, be optimal criteria in one’s career management.
In evaluating an offer, it is important to identify appropriate comparisons.

For instance, the most self interested (read: unrealistic) comparison is to compare the offer with a third-hand account of what your neighbor’s kid, straight out of college was offered by a company, whose name ‘I just can’t seem to remember, but it just happens to be in the same industry you are targeting.’ Only slightly less helpful is to compare the offer with what you made in your best year (early or mid 2000′s for most of us).

Hopefully, you are looking for a job while you are still working, so the comparison can be more useful. [One potential pitfall there is to assume that ANY new employer is obligated to right years of unjustly low compensation and horrible benefits that you have been grudgingly accepting from your current employer. They are not and they will not.] If you are not currently working, compare your offer with zero, don’t linger in the past. Give yourself a chance to move on.

Titles are tricky

In some environments, they can be quite meaningful (titles can regulate benefits, vacation days, signing authority, etc.). They can be corporate (Associate, AVP, VP, ED, MD, etc.) or functional (Team Lead, Project Manager, Program Manager, etc). In other environments, they may just be placeholders for salary grades. Even more confusing, they can be fungible. A VP, Project Manager at one place, can be equal in compensation, benefits, seniority and everything else to a Director, Business Analyst at another.

Necessarily, your frame of reference determines your reaction to each title. Just keep in mind that what a title represents is far more important than how the title sounds to you at first blush. After all, an impressive title on a business card doesn’t count for very much at the gas station. Find out what the title means and for goodness sake, don’t pass up interviews based upon a title that you have not fully researched. (Running theme: Don’t cheat yourself out of outstanding opportunities).

Look longer term

I feel that I have to be careful in presenting this idea, because analysis paralysis can be as damaging as an “impulse buy” in career management. Let’s assume that you find the opportunity in question; the team, the group’s place in the organization, the boss and the rest of the role appealing. Have you considered the growth prospects? By this I don’t mean that a company owes you a career roadmap, but rather, should you be expecting a “big company” 3% raise each year (whether it is great year or a poor one)? Should you expect to “pay your dues” to get ahead? Or, is this company more of a meritocracy where smart, hard working people can charge ahead demanding more responsibility, limited only by her/his own ability?

The latter scenario demands growth in all sorts of compensation (salary, bonuses, flexibility, titles, the works!) because it throws free market consequences into the mix. This meritocratic employer will find high demand for your services, driving up your value, because you are the unique supplier. This type of employer will become aware that losing you will cost more than a raise or bonus. The benefits of building this kind of long term equity, in your personal brand, far outweigh the opening salary figure and title presented and will pay dividends in your career growth and in subsequent offers down the road.

How do you approach comparing job offers? Leave your tips as a reply below!

1. Do your homework

If you are experienced and impressive enough on paper to land an interview, then you are also smart enough to spend some time researching your interviewer ahead of time. Asking questions and engaging with your interviewer is essential to becoming a memorable candidate. By learning more about the company culture and your interviewer’s background before interview day, you will be prepared to start a meaningful conversation that goes beyond typical small talk.

When given the opportunity, ask relevant questions about the role. Be enthusiastic about the opportunity and show the interviewer that you are impressed with their position in the firm and how they got there. The Internet provides numerous ways to get information about the company and the interviewer. When the interviewer sees that you are up on the latest company news, the technology platform they work on and have insights into the position they seek to fill, your candidacy will be treated more seriously.

Some questions that might catch an interviewer’s attention might include:

• What kind of project would I be involved in upon starting?
• What would be your first year goals or expectations for me in this role?
• What plans are in place to help this department grow or change over the next few years?

2. Be forthright

It is much easier for an  interviewer to justify hiring someone if they genuinely like the applicant. Being friendly and enthusiastic can do wonders in making up for any potential resume shortfalls. The idea behind an interview is for the interviewer to get a read on who you are, what you know, and what it would be like to work with you. If you did your homework you will be able to explain the parts of your experience and background that make you a good fit for the position. Do not give one-word answers. Most questions interviewers ask are meant to initiate a conversation where they can cull an understanding of how you approach your work, the methodologies you use and your general work ethic.

Let them know up front what technologies you have real experience with and what technologies they use that you do not know. Don’t try to cover up experience you do not have. Instead, explain that you are a fast learner, citing examples of similar situations in the past when you were quick to pick up a new methodology or technology. Be sure to tell the interviewer that if you were hired, you would do what you could to familiarize yourself with the technology stack before your start date, so you can shorten your learning curve once aboard.

3. Thank the interviewer

When the interview concludes and you are being led out, be sure to thank your interviewer for taking the time to interview you. If you are truly interested in working there, you should let him or her know that if you were to receive an offer from them, you would seriously consider it and could start quickly. Also, tell your interviewer to feel free to reach out to you or your agent if they have any additional questions about your background or experience.

When you get home, follow up with a brief thank you letter, outlining in a few lines, why you feel you can be an asset to them, and conclude letting them know that you are hopeful you will hear positive news from them soon. The thank you letter can also be an opportunity to mention or reemphasize things that you felt were not fully resolved in the interview. In just a few brief sentences, remind the interviewer why you are an ideal candidate and what unique qualities you can bring to the position.

Ready to schedule your next interview? Contact the IT staffing recruiters at Landover Associates today!

1. Sending a resume without a cover letter

A resume should not go anywhere without a chaperone, a covering letter or email addressing the specific company and job opening.  I have seen too many resumes that either come with no letter or email or come with a form letter that speaks in general terms about the person but does not address why they would be suitable for this specific position at this specific company.

In many cases, applicants list a different job title as a mistake.  As a recruiter or a potential employer this resume would not last a minute before being tossed in my circular file.  If the candidate did not consider it worth their time to send a cover letter or to properly mention the specific role they were interested in, then I do not need to waste my time reading it.

2. Tired, overused expressions

Right off the bat people make this mistake at the top of their resume in their summary or objective saying things like:

“Consistently tasked with completing critical tasks and projects, ensuring that deadlines are met and quality results are significant, blah, blah….”

This is not saying anything about you that would separate you from the next person who writes the same boring uninformative string of words.  It is a given that if you have a job you would be expected to deliver on time and provide good results.  Tell us something we don’t know about you or something that you have accomplished that truly is noteworthy or exceptional.

3. Writing in the third person

One of the most annoying types of resume to read is the one written as if the candidate’s resume is being written by a third person.  Example: “Mr. John Wu has a strong background in JavaScript and enjoys annoying people with his third person resume.”  Enough said.

4. Creating more questions than you answer

When employers or recruiters read a resume, most start by trying to understand the chronological ascent of the person’s career.  In doing so, if they see gaps between jobs of more than three months, six months or even a year it makes them suspect of the decisions a candidate has made or makes them wonder why other companies might have not shown an interest right away.  These gaps could also suggest the candidate’s inability to market themselves, which can be important if the candidate would have to perform in a marketing or sales capacity as part of their job responsibilities.

These gaps can either be explained in parentheses after the date as in:

“Jan, 2008-Nov, 2008 (relocated to NYC from Alaska after company imploded)”

Employment gaps can also be mentioned briefly in a cover letter or email that accompanies your resume.

5. One page limit

This is a mistake that many “resume experts “ still advocate across the board as gospel.  If you have a career that is at least 10 years long and the work you did at those positions are relevant to the next job you are seeking, it is fine to exceed one page to make sure those accomplishments are mentioned. Two pages at most should suffice. This is especially true for those with advanced degrees and special technical talents that need to be covered in addition to their work experiences.

These days all resumes are sent electronically, so it is not as hard for the employer to read that second page, although they do generally have less patience.  Just make sure the first page has enough relevant information and is a real “page turner.”

6. Grammar and spelling mistakes

Despite the availability of spell-check options in word processing programs, grammar and spelling mistakes appear in a large portion of resumes. Resumes or cover letters that have these kinds of errors are a real turn off for employers and recruiters. It shows that you are not detail oriented or careful.  Employers do not want to hire someone who does not take the time or care enough to properly check over a document that is supposed to be representative of their life’s work and educational accomplishments.

7. Everyone’s an expert

“Expert” is a very dangerous word and I see it used especially in technical resumes when the candidate wants to suggest that they have attained a significant level of experience in a certain technical subject matter or product.  In my experience, when an interviewer sees this word they view this person as an egocentric know it all, and their only interest is to challenge him or her and prove that they are not an expert.  The idea or possibility of even hiring you is lost in the desire to prove that you are no expert.

Instead of using the word expert it is better to say, “strong experience in” or “well versed in.”  Remember, there is always someone out there that knows more than you do.

8. Listing buzzwords as skills

We see many resumes where people list skills that they have had no experience with or give the impression that they had direct experience using this product when they did not.  An even bigger problem are resumes that list buzzwords solely to make them easier to find in a database.  If skills listed on a person’s resume are essential to the job, but the applicant is unable to answer relevant interview questions about the topic, the applicant will have only wasted the hiring manager’s time. Any chance they would have had with them now or in the future will be lost.

9. Too much information

A resume is meant to be a synopsis or outline of a person’s professional work experience to date.  It has succeeded if it leaves employers wanting to hear more and ask to set up a live, on-site interview.  Employers and recruiters don’t want to hear more on your resume.  This is why they originally wanted to limit all resumes to one page, so they do not have to subject themselves to a boring read and excessive coffee.  They want the broad strokes.  A candidate can add additional specifics that relate directly to their skills and the job that is being offered, in a covering email or letter, but again, always leave them wanting more.

10. References in the resume

A resume is not the place for references.  It makes the reader feel that your skills and experience cannot hold up on their own.  If the only way to convince a potential employer that you are worthy is to have someone else to say good things about you, your resume is not strong enough.  You have limited room for all of your experience and accomplishments, so don’t use up that valuable real estate listing references.  At the bottom of the resume it is acceptable to add that references are available upon request.

Recently, Blackrock’s Chairman Laurence Fink commented that we are experiencing a crisis of confidence not a liquidity crisis like we experienced in 2008.  I agree.  This lack of confidence is shared by both companies and consumers, and is a global problem.  The global nature of these economic woes make finding a solution that much harder.  There are so many moving parts and though technology has enabled us to do global business as if we were right next door, it also has the ability to speed up and magnify any negative news or events.

Making Cents

Currently, banks and other financial firms such as hedge funds are caught up trying to survive by shoring up their balance sheets, minimizing their exposure to Europe and complying with the new governmental directives on the kinds of markets they can play in.  This has not really allowed them to spend much time thinking about new products and businesses that could increase hiring.  This is true especially now in Q4, when most firms are winding down their 2011 budgets and are  mostly concerned with cutting costs to finish with more of a “P” then an “L”.

Tech jobs in this sector are still available, since vacancies occur for all sorts of reasons, but not at the levels we saw in the beginning of the year.  We still have openings for developers and quantitative people for the hedge funds and banks but a candidate’s experience and background really have to hit home, for them to make the decision to hire since company budgets are under much more scrutiny.

Wait and See

Companies not in the financial sector are not as hard hit, but also share a lack of confidence and are hesitant to hire or buy services despite being flush with cash. Right now, the strategy of, “lets wait and see where things fall” is the order of the day.  Hiring is going on, but mostly for replacement hires.

One area of positive news in the non-financial area is in the social media and technology space.  Tech hiring has continued here as they still have VC money to play with.  The volatility of the stock market has given many firms the impetus to put more of their investors’ money in promising start-ups.  It has also been a better environment for these start-ups to hire the programmers they need, since they are not competing with the banks and hedge funds who are not hiring now. They are mostly on the sidelines licking their wounds.  Many programmers that have worked long hours in finance and not reaped the rewards they expected, are now more willing to give a new industry a try.

How long this tech hiring will last is on the minds of many, since there is concern that when their last round of financing from VC’s burn down, they wonder if they will still be able to attract additional rounds of capital.  Many of their financing partners still have a good percentage of their money tied up in the volatile bonds & stock markets.  Depending on their year-end performance results, it could affect the VC’s ability to fund their hungry seedlings.  That being said, for right now, we are flush with job openings in front & back end development roles and other web related technical positions.

Stocking Up

We have seen another but small blip of positive news.  As we entered Q4, some companies have viewed this as an opportune time to use some of their war chests of cash to make acquisitions of companies they view as cheap.  This is positive news for the economy since investment activity is up and provides an impetus for some stocks in a similar sector to rise on speculation.  This activity is not without its downside though.  When companies acquire firms, they remove duplicate jobs or jobs that do not fit in to the new company’s post acquisition strategy.  This results in layoffs.

So, as we make our way though Q4 we still have not seen any real indicators that our economic woes will diminish anytime soon.  This is why the Occupy Wall Street protests around the country continue.  People and companies are frustrated alike. They are not spending because they do not see an end to the bad news and want to make sure they have the money for tomorrow.  People especially do not trust the upcoming elections will accomplish much either, as their lack of confidence extends to their political leaders and their ability to do anything but point fingers at each other.

The holiday season will be tell tale as we see if consumers are willing to spend once again.  If that happens, maybe it will spur some activity on the corporate side to create new budgets for hiring in the first or second quarter of 2012.  I keep my fingers crossed that our global leaders and the frustrated consumers and companies will do what is necessary to raise our confidence level and get our economy moving again.

Our last tech bubble started in the mid to late 90’s and culminated in 2000 with a drastic dip in the value of stocks and companies and millions of dollars of both real and paper losses as many who had their hopes in these high flying companies had their dreams un-realized. According to Wikipedia, the environment in which a tech bubble came about in the 90’s was a result of “a combination of rapidly increasing stock prices, market confidence that the companies would turn future profits, individual speculation in stocks, and widely available venture capital created an environment in which many investors were willing to overlook traditional metrics such as P/E ratio in favor of confidence in technological advancements”.

During the dotcom boom of the 90’s I was shocked at the willingness of many, including the VC’s of the day, to fund companies that did not mention long-term growth in their mission statements. The VC’s readily admitted that they funded companies purely based on the “strength of the management team not profitability”. The dotcom employees touted a work environment of parties and ping-pong, and attracted employees with stock options that promised a future windfall. The hope was for a quick rise in value and a sale of the company to rake in enormous profits for everyone. Some companies were even sold before a product was released just based on pure hype. These were short-term plans where long-term growth or profitability were not considered. The term “stock options” eventually became as questionable and dirty as the word derivatives did in the late eighties. As people began to understand that these start-ups did not have real value, the market eventually tanked. The 9/11 attacks soon after had an additional impact on everyone’s negative psyche, resulting in an even longer recovery period.

Much of the growth in the tech space now is being fueled by two parallel competing hiring markets, financial and the social media space. Today’s market is different than 2000 despite some similarities such as rapidly increasing stock prices and available venture capital. The VC firms are more aware of and expect real profit targets from the companies that they fund and the speculation now has more to do with an increase in the value of human capital and not superficial over valued equity capital. Employees in these smaller VC backed firms are not playing ping-pong and talking up their stock options, they are working long hours building real products that the market is buying with real money.

These social media firms have found a very receptive audience from everyone that uses one hand to hold their phone or IPad and the other free hand to hold their café late. These budding tech companies are coming up with apps that are used for everything from helping companies position themselves on Facebook & Twitter to apps that help you get from one place to another, organize your busy day or give you the latest game to make sure your brain does not have a second of dead airtime. The programmers and quants of these firms are using data retrieving statistical methods and models, to build apps that are marketed to us through our mobile devices, accessing our eyeballs 24/7, no matter where we are in the world.

Surprisingly, the financial markets are competing for the same talent. The hiring of programmers and quants by the banks has surely returned as they are under the scrutiny by the government to implement new trading models and systems to abide by a new regulatory environment. Long term, the result will hopefully be a more favorable, less risky market that investors will be more comfortable to play in. Separately, the new regulations are spawning the architecture of new systems and models that the traders need to unearth the new strategies in the market to help them make up the profits they had to give up when proprietary trading was curtailed.

The impact of technology advancements in wireless and cloud computing have not only had an effect on the hiring in finance and social media, but also have had major implications and created new hiring in industries such as transportation, communication, medicine and energy. In the energy market specifically, the global acceleration of green initiatives cannot be ignored. Companies that have implemented these policies have already shown that, not only do they leave a smaller environmental footprint, but they have also increased their bottom line profitability, learning to work better with less.

In terms of the overall economic picture, excluding the rising price of oil, we have not turned the corner too quickly to create an inflationary environment. Most of the recent uptick in hiring and the trend towards future profitability are being balanced by the still slow progress in reducing unemployment and the slow increase in commercial and residential real estate values. As long as we continue to grow at a moderate pace, we might experience the occasional dip or correction in the market, but we will stave off a real bust and will continue to enjoy the advancements that technology has afforded us.

Today, we are also thankful that Bin Laden has been brought to justice as we approach the 10th anniversary of that terrible day and we are more hopeful that this event combined with the potential that some of the Middle East countries that have had recent uprisings, will choose to adopt more democratic principles, expanding our global economy for the better.