Career

Job Skills For The Future: Vendor Management

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

In a recent meeting, a manager much higher than I said something that blew me away: Vendor Management is a job skill of the future.

First, because I realized she was right and I hadn’t thought of it.

Secondly because I realized that’s an issue I’ve not covered here, and if I’m going to be the geek job guru I need to cover skills we progeeks need for the future. So welcome to my latest series – Job Skills For The Future.

I can’t claim it’s the most original title. But anyway, let’s talk Vendor Management, because we should.

Vendor Management – You’re Going To Need It

What do I mean by Vendor Management? Pretty simple – Vendor Management is working with a company outside of your own to get goods and services.

OK, it’s not simple because it involves negotiation, contracts, communication, money, and of course inevitable complex legal agreements. I’ve been on both sides of the equation and trust me, Vendor Management is a complete skillset of its own. There are people that specialize in it as part of their other job functions, and for some it’s most of their job function.

(which is also a way of saying if you can do it and have done it, put it on your resume, people probably need it.)

But why is this a job skill that’s important for the future? It’s pretty important now, what’s the deal?

It’s important for your future: As you move up in your career, it’s more and more likely that you’ll have to interact with vendors. So for your own sake, look for opportunities to learn it.

People are outsourcing more than ever: Ever feel like a lot of your company’s functions are outsourced? That’s because they are – its’ easier to do than ever and in a complex, more necessary to do (because of the need for specialists). In the future there will be more outsourcing – I used to joke I could make a triple A game with a five person staff by outsourcing, and its not as funny as it was.

By the way outsourcing isn’t just contractors. It’s software or it’s meal services or whatever.

You’re inevitably getting something from a vendor: You company or yourself as a freelancer is going to inevitable interact with a vendor. Sure, it may not be many, but vendors interact with other vendors and so on. You might as well get those vendor management skills together because like it or not, even a few vendor relationships probably spiderweb into fr more tan you realize.0

Vendors change: Right now how many people get important software services on the web via subscription? I recall a time when that seemed odd or impossible. That outsourcing/insoucring strategy that seems good today will change in a few years. Vendor relations and needs and services change – so getting good at Vendor Management gets you ready for transformations.  Even if it’s not your job now . . .

It’s only going to get more complicated from here.

So How Do I Get Good At It?

So how do you get good at Vendor Management? Well most of my experience was a mix of accident and “call Steve he likes to talk to people.” But here’s what I found and what I’ve seen.

  • First, be aware of Vendor relations period. Don’t tune it out, or ignore it, or pray it goes away (not that I haven’t done those things). Listen and learn. As of late just paying attention helped me find out how some Vendors have changed (sadly, for the worst).
  • Second, find an edge for dealing with Vendors – are you good at talking, good at the law, good at analyzing proposals? Find where you’re good, because unless it’s a major part of your job, you should develop the part you need.  (My advantage is persistence and friendliness).
  • Third, go and try it out. One of my major realizations lately is that as my experience is piecemeal, I need more. The people really good at Vendor Management seem to dive into it and learn – so seek it out.
  • Fourth and finally, and though I say this often, pay attention to the news. Knowing what vendors are out there is helpeful. Many’s the time I’ve found some new service and wished I’d known more about it.

As I said, I could be a bit better at this – but I hope my advice helps you.  I’ll share any more insights I have.

If you’re a Freelancer? Then you’re gonna have to deal with a lot of Vendor Management, so get good at it now.

– Steve

Where The Jobs Are

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

So something strange has been happening to me and some friends in the job market. People are reaching out to us with great positions. In other states.

Now we’re in Silicon Valley, technical professionals. Sure Silicon Valley has its problems, but reaching out to us to see if, hey, y’now maybe you’d like to leave, seems weird. Like why do recruiters assume we might want to pick up and move cross country?

So I decided a little analysis is in order for you careerists as I’m betting you’re seeing this too.

The Valley Paradox

First up, there’s a bit of a paradox about Silicon Valley. It’s harder to get employed here if you live away, but much easier when you’re here. I know someone who looked for work for months in the Valley, but when they moved here they had a partial offer in two weeks, a contract in four weeks, and an offer at that same company two weeks later. When you’re in the Valley it’s a bit easier to stay in the valley job-wise.

So I’m not sure if anyone is up to leave because coming back would probably be a wee bit harder. Besides I get the impression if anyone is leaving, it’s permanent, and that means giving up a lot.

But people are certainly reaching the hell out to here, which makes sense. If you’ve got time at one of the big names, or experience in the right industries, you’re valuable. I mean who’s going to turn down hiring someone who was at Apple or Google – even as a contractor.

Which leads to one of my first realizations of these Valley Raiders:

A Silicon Valley Hire Is Valuable

For all those recruiters wondering if I’d like to swap Sunny California for, say, Colorado, what have they got to loose?

Getting someone from Silicon Valley is pure gold for a recruiter. Who’s going to turn them down? Who’s going to say no? Who’s not going to offer them a lot of money? Not only is it assumed such a hire is good, much like hiring someone with a useful certification, hiring someone from Silicon Valley insulates a recruiter from blame because everyone assumes that hire was probably a good idea.

(Or in short, if the Silicon Valley hire fails, no one blames the HR person).

So it’s probably worth spamming people with leads.

Next, are people trying to leave the Valley? Apparently, yes.

Yeah, Some Of Us Are Trying To Go

Silicon Valley has its problems. I won’t lie, I’ve written about the paradoxes before. Its crowded, its pricey, and if you’re not up to ply the career game here it’s not for you.  You have to have a plan to live here.

So it won’t surprise people that Silicon Valley is showing more “outbound” job searches lately.  More people here are at least exploring options, so if you’re a recruiter, why wouldn’t you take a few seconds to send a Valley candidate something else?  You might hit gold – and that gold is looking to mine itself.

OK, that metaphor sucked, so let’s distract from that by looking where recruiters are trying to send we Valley folk.

Where The Leads Are

Here’s the states I and my friend keep getting opportunities in – and why.

New Jersey

Yeah, I’m not exactly up for moving to New Jersey, but it’s a pretty decent place and it doesn’t deserve a lot of the jokes aimed at it. It has bad areas but also great ones, is conveniently located, and produced John Stewart. It’ll be better when they get rid of Chris CHristie, though he’s working hard to get rid of himself.

The unemployment rate is about 4.8%,kind of middling. (thanks BLS – http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm). I can see that putting a bit of pressure on recruiting, because . . .

It’s the 8th largest state economy in the US. Yes, little New Jersey has a GDP the size of Sweden. Suddenyl not a state to laugh at anymore is it? (Thanks Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_GDP)

I also noticed that the pay rates I get offered are competitive with Silicon Valley.  Yeah people are willing to pay Silicon Valley rates in New Jersey.

So short form here, I think recruiters trying to staff in NJ are smart hitting up the Valley. There’s probably a need for talent, its got a big economy, and some smart people are willing to toss around a lot of cash to make it work.

(That also means that NJ might be a good target if, say, you want to move and find work but Silicon Valley and other spots aren’t your bag)

Colorado

Colorado isn’t exactly a state I’ve considered moving to. I mean I’m sure it’s nice and all, but it’s not my thing. But I and friends keep hearing from them, and when you look at the numbers it makes sense.

First, Colorado has a 3.5 unemployment rate. That’s tight, they need people.

Second, it’s the 18th largest economy of the states. Not huge, but hey it’s Algeria.

Third, it’s a nice state in general. There’s cities like Denver, lovely areas, natural resources.  Colorado’s advantages remind me of some pitches I heard from Scottish recruiting companies – you get lovely land and great urban areas.  I can see the appeal.

Fourth, it sounds like it’s economy has gotten diversified and is expanding its footprint.  Colorado had its technical players once, and it sounds like they want to do it again.

When you analyze it Colorado is probably a pretty nice place to go if you want nature, a good economy, and tech and culture without the crowding.

I’m starting to notice.

Texas

Well when you get leads from Texas that’s pretty damned obvious. Texas is working to grow it’s tech sector, has decent employment, is the second largest economy after California, and you don’t get snow. Plenty of companies have offices or are starting them there, a few companies are moving there.

Now I’m not one that buys the Texas economic miracle – from infrastructure issues to dependency on fossil fuels, I’ll stick with California, thanks. I don’t trust the politics nor the long-term potential.  But I get why people think I may want to move there – growth, space, and of course a hell of a lot cheaper.

It’s also got medium-level unemployment, and the second largest economy in the US – roughly equal to one Canada.  I suspect Texas politicians may know the fossil fuel industry has problems and want to diversify.

So yeah, I think we have a picture of the recruiters bugging me and my friends.

Why People Are Targeting Silicon Valley Recruits

What did I find just traipsing through these offers? That some of these recruiters know what they’re doing. They’re figuring “why not” and targeting jobs with areas that have appeal – the pay and opportunities of NJ, the many options of Colorado, the growth in Texas. When I started this analysis I sort of wondered – now I don’t.

As you can see, some of these folks aren’t random – they know what they’re appealing to. It doesn’t hurt to wing off a few options to Silicon Valley people in case

But this also means something more for you, my geeky job seeker.

A lot of us love the Valley. A lot of us are’t leaving – though that’s not a mindset everyone shares. But if any of these places appeal to you, if some of the other geek areas aren’t your bag, go take a look.

Ask your friends what recruiters are approaching them, draw up a picture – like the one above – and see if anything comes out. You might just find your next job and a great new place to live.

And you can always sell the recruiter on the fact that hey, you’re willing to move.

Oh, but you still want that insane pay rate.

  • Steve

 

Careers For Geeks: Advantages And Disadvantages

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I’m pretty much an unrepentant geek, which is sort of obvious by . . . well, everything.  As you may guess I consider it an advantage in my life and, obviously, my career.  It’s the career I’d like to talk about right now.

As I speak and write on geek careers, it’s also fairly obvious I consider being a geek to be an advantage in a career.  The enthusiasm, the passion, the engagement, the productivity are excellent tools for growth, improvement, and success.  There seems to be little downside, career-wise, for a geek.

Actually, there are some disadvantages to be faced.  So I’d like to do a quick tour of geek career advantages – and disadvantages.  The advantages may be familiar, but the disadvantages are sneaky buggers – and the differences are important.

The Geek Career Advantages

Being a Geek, which I define as an applied intellectual – we think and tinker – is a pretty much outright career advantage if your interests relate to your job.  If your interests are tangental to the job you often build skills and abilities and traits that are helpful. The positives are pretty positive.

The issue is leveraging them, because we take them for granted.

What are these advantages?  I explored them a lot before in Fan To Pro and my speeches, but here’s a good roundup:

  • Passion – Simply there are things you care about and you put time and energy to them.  That passion drives you and can carry you past adversity and challenges – even when the challenge is overcoming your own lack of knowledge.  It also shows when you communicate it.
  • Ideas – Geeks experiences give them many ideas.  Ideas for careers, ideas for networking, ideas for businesses.  With our fellow geeks we can always find some new idea of a job, a career, a skill, a project.
  • Explore Careers – Geeks are usually hands-on people, which also means that in our geekdom we can explore entire careers.  Try out public speaking at a convention.  Learn management running a game group.  Build a website.
  • Lean and gain skills – As part of the whole “explore career” option geekdom is also a giant place to learn.  From game mods to cosplay there’s always people, resources, and communities to help you grow.  You can build plenty of career-viable skillsets with the help with geeks.
  • Gain Knowledge – Geeks learn, and we’re often immersed in the minutiae of various industries from video games to comics to technology.  You learn a lot, often just by being there, and can use that in your careers.
  • Evidence – Geeks often make stuff.  That stuff is a great testimony to your skills in a job interview or talking to a client.  When you have a book, a website, a costume, a game mod it’s hard to say you’re unskilled.
  • Connect – Geekdom, with all its communities, lets us network and connect.
  • Resources – Geekdom, finally, gives us resources to call on, from code repositories to people who can help us move for the price of a pizza.

Geeks have a lot of advantages.  But there are geek career disadvantages, and they’re not what you may think.

The Geek Career Disadvantages

So what’s the downside of using your geekdom in your career?  The issues are often ones of perspective – which is a sneaky thing.

People may have a bad image of you – I accept that identifying as a geek doesn’t always go over well with people, and accept it – but I also live in a very geeky area.  You might not have that option and you need to be careful how you present your geekiness.  Sorry it’s not you, it’s them and it’s cultural – so build a bridge.

People may have too good an image of you – Not a problem?  Sometimes it is.  People can look at we geeks, with our drive and our projects and so on and assume we’re better than we are.  I’ve actually had this happen to me, and sometimes you have to explain what you don’t know to people.

People may not understand you – This happens to a lot of us anyway, but we’re so deep down our given areas of interest we don’t usually notice and some people just assume they won’t get us.  However, to be successful at work people do need to understand you and what you do – learnt o build bridges and communicate with them.

People may think they understand you – Doesn’t sound like a disadvantage?  It does when you meet people, well-meaning people, who think they get what you do as a hobby and a career because you’re “like this other person” – which you’re not and you have to do some explaining.  In fact they may be a fellow geek, but we all miss things . . .

You miss things – A sad side effect of our love of what we do is that we really do miss vital skills, knowledge, information, and understanding that’d help us in the career world.  We might not even know it as one job is very geeky but our next not so much.  No matter how much you leverage your loves in a career it’s still a career, so make sure you understand the skills and information you need to succeed.

A lot of the geek career disadvantages come from issues of communication and how people understand us.  Know what?  It’s the same for everyone.  We’re just more prominent all of a sudden, so there’s more misunderstandings, more need to communicate.  It’s up to us to do it right – we’re the ones looking for a job.

The Thing You Need

The first thing you need in navigating geek career advantages and disadvantages is a sense of humor about everything – including yourself.  Be able to laugh at your differences, laugh at the fun of sharing stuff, and lighten up.  By lightening up, you can rise above differences, misunderstanding, and even your ego (and that of others).

The second thing is communication.  We have to learn to listen to others and to communicate with them.  We’re people deep into our own work, we may not hear others, may not know how to reach them – or they may not know how to connect with us.

A good laugh and a good talk work wonders.

  • Steve