| Topic Name: |
Stuck with my career..any advice?? |
| Message Name: |
Request for advice... |
| Date Posted: |
09/23/2003 |
| Message: |
Hello folks
I'm a very experienced IT consultant (more than 15 years of experience in the field) and i recently moved to seattle for family reason.
Previously I was working for one of the big 5 in the system integration group in canada and I was let go last year, despite excellent performance reviews (the consulting arm has been spun off and then acquired by an other company).
I was in a point in my career where I was "wearing both shoes" that means handling both the technical and business aspects of the
relationship with the client (my last assignments were as system architect and handling the relationship between the vendor and the
client).
I thought that should be an advantage when you can offer both technical expertise and business acumen.
Well I really enjoy consulting but I admit that I'm stuck with my career right now.
I don't know many people here in seattle (having business contacts in this business, as you know, is fundamental) and the market is extremely tight.
I joined several professional organization and I'm trying to "network" (as the common wisdom command) but I experienced there is not much to network when you do not have nothing to offer, unfortunately is a brutal matter of fact.
I'm lucky if i can get informational interview over the phone, everybody lament the terrible market situation but at the same time everybody claim to be so "busy" that they cannot find few minutes for a face to face meeting.
I'm even trying to enter the non-profit/volunteer world in an activity where i can use my skills and showcase my abilities in order to be noticed but even opportunities like that are hard to come by.
Any advice?? what I should do?? basically offer my serivces for free to a little consulting outfit (i.e. trying to build business for that company, at least i would have a name in my busines card) with good potential and try to prove myself waiting for better times to come by??
I always believed that the best performers and hard workers are never hit by the recession but this time it looks really different.
I do not wanna sound bitter but it hurts seeing ex co-worker that saved their butts when they literally cannot distinguish the left hand from the right hand (I think this is one of the problems in organizations too big)
To be clear i'm not starving, thanks God I do not need to find a work at home depot or safeway but I don't know at this point if I should leave the industry altogether, and if i do is not clear to me what kind of career I can enter where I can leverage at least
some of my experience (someone suggested finance, leveragign my customer relationship skills).
My academic background is a technical degree in software
engineering (so no MBA to be clear)
On a last note, I was very disappointed in discovering that in US the classical "piece of paper" is even more regarded than Europe.
Over there we still have some sort of "idealistic" vision of the labour market in America where you can go forward if you have the abilities no matter your formal qualifications, but gosh..here the title sometimes come even before the name!
I would really like to share some experience with someone
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