Thinking Outside of the Box

It was announced today that IBM won the bid. This is exciting news, but to be clear, I was not aware of who was going to win this bid. And since I haven’t decided whether I prefer moving on or wait to find out what will happen next, I figured I’d start talking about my approach towards finding my next job. I now find it interesting pondering on what could be next and what I may be able to do with my future.

I’m taking a deep look into who I am and who I want to be. Over the past decade I’ve generally allowed my career to drive my future. Whether or not it was for the best, it’s time I take back the controls and drive my career where I want it to go. My career has predominantly focused on Microsoft, but in 2008 I completed my Masters in Systems Programming and Design, which involved mostly non-Microsoft specific technologies. To expand on these skills I clearly need to incorporate more of them into my job. Sure, IBM could help me out with that and my job application was a smart move. But I still need to identify a lot more opportunities in order to safeguard against finding myself laid off with no where to go. Still important, though, I must not forget my roots and I should find new ways to expand upon my knowledge of Microsoft technologies.

The next thing I want to look at is whether or not I can break away from business applications and expand into different styles of development. I looked at jobs posted by non-business specific companies, like NASA, and they are mostly looking for true Computer Science experts. I do have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science; however, my business background makes it a tough sell for those focusing on non-business problems. But I’m not going to decide what I can’t do and over the next few weeks I’ll see if I can identify a few of these positions in which I feel qualified. I'll then test the waters to see if I can spark some interest in this arena.

Lastly, I’m also going to investigate how I can break into the mobile technology industry. Over the past decade, and in particular the past five years, there has been an explosion in mobile device development. I will clearly have difficulty getting into this area, but having a strong background in application development I’m sure I could get a job by using a little elbow grease to develop a demonstration application I would use to show my abilities. Mobile web development would be interesting to me as well, which might serve as a launching pad into device development.

Overall, this is going to get interesting…and quickly.

Discovering the Silver Lining

As previously blogged, my organization is in the process of deciding on an outsourcing provider in which to transition much of its IT function. Although there still exists a fair possibility I will remain employed with the organization, or directly acquired by the outsourcer due to my experience and intricate knowledge of this organization, I have decided to use this opportunity to investigate new job possibilities. I figure now is the time to try and determine if job opportunities exist that will help build upon my career.

IBM is among the considerations for outsourcing vendors. Outside of this situation I would still be interested in working for them for various reasons. On reason in particular is while working on my Masters degree I completed classes in UML design and Java programming, which was a nice break from my Microsoft centralized background, and was something I truly enjoyed. Since my organization hasn’t adopted UML or Java, and IBM is heavily vested in these methods and technologies, I decided to apply for various positions within the organization. Although some applications were quickly declined because of a lack of fit, one position has remained in review for a few weeks now. If nothing else, this has become a motivator for me because it demonstrates I am marketable and I may be attractive to an organization I admire. Regardless of whether or not I get this position, I have discovered this small glimmer of hope has motivated me to worry less about the future and to focus more on creating my future. I’m surprised to have found this silver lining so soon. I hope I can remain focused on this positive and avoid allowing the worry and stress to once again settle in.

The Approach of the Outsourcers

From my understanding of regulations regarding layoffs which may affect a large number of employees, an organization must announce their intent to execute the layoffs no later (ie no fewer) than 60 days before-hand. Recently my organization, a large corporation in the Philadelphia area, announced such plans. The company is pursuing outsourcing of most of the IT functions wthin the business from one of two vendors. Considering they have announced to all employees the two vendors under consideration are Accenture and IBM, it’s probably safe for me to speak of it in this blog.

I’ve decided to blog about my experience with this outsourcing decision for multiple reasons. First, the outsourcing will certainly affect me. I may be among the select few who are not outsourced, because of my intricate knowledge of many of the critical applications which support the business; however, my assumption is that I will not be selected to remain, but instead selected to “re-badge” with the chosen vendor. Of course, I may also be among those or are simply asked to leave. Second, this situation is naturally causing a wide range of emotions and stress in my life and blogging about it is a safer outlet than wearing my heart on my sleeve at work.

As frustrating as it is to have my job hung over my head once again (we went through layoffs just a year ago), I’m actually grateful to my organization for being upfront and honest about the situation. Beyond making an obligatory announcement of the pending layoffs, they have chosen to remain as upfront as possible by allowing lower level management to speak openly about the information they know. Of course there is confidential information that I won’t hear, but at least I am hearing regular updates regarding where management is in their decision process, and will soon hear about their intended schedule to transition responsibilities to the new vendor. This benefits me and the organization as well. For myself, I have been given ample notice to begin a selective job search for my next job, ideally finding the perfect job I frequently wish I’d try to find. For the organization, it opens the possibility that I’ll leave before they have to offer me a severance package (severance is still not promised but there are indications they are creating a fair severance package).

To keep this positive, I’ll say that I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my career, but I am also struggling with fighting off the desire to go into “survival mode” and simply take the first job I can get in order to assure my mortgage will continue to be paid. I’ll blog more about the search for my next job, but I leave with the remark that I am curious to find out who the selected vendor will be. They are both promising organizations and I have to say I might actually be excited about the possibility of being re-badged into IBM. Having twenty years experience in application development, I would welcome the opportunity of working in a technically progressive organization where I can move around. I might even find a position where I can use my PhD researching skills. It could be an interesting twist of fate.