The Unprofessionals

The last few months I have been interviewing with firms for the top IT spot. It has been difficult. I have come across several organizations with an interview process that is very unprofessional. I am not sure that this happens to other C level executives or just to CIOs. I would be interested in hearing how other executives are interviewed.

1. A small non-profit educational firm that specializes in charter schools wanted a VP of technology. There top spot, which is a new role as are other roles in the organization. They put the req online and I answer with my cover letter and resume. I get a first phone screen followed by a request to develop a one-year project plan with associated budgets and milestones. This was an odd request since I had very little insight into the process or applications. I requested an application list to begin research and got a fragmented list of software.

Not being one to let things go I spend several days researching what I could and developing a project plan. A plan I was proud of based on what little information I had. I had a follow-up phone interview to present my plan and answer questions. To my surprise I was able to answer questions and make it to another phone interview.

During this interview they gave me a hypothetical scenario. It felt like the Kobayashi Maru scenario. I was successful in swaging my way through. Next came 6 other interviews to discuss my background further. At this stage I was becoming pretty tired. This was followed by more phone interviews with junior IT staff and a technology consultant. I personally don’t like firms that have junior staff interview senior staff. Does this happen to the CEO or CFO? I doubt it.

Long story short. After running the gambit of multiple interviews and face-to-face meetings, with project plans and the Kobayashi Maru addressed I was eliminated because “I was unable to make a decision.” Talk about IRONY!!! I fell on the floor with this response. As a professional I thank them and wished them best on their search. Part of me was thankful I was eliminated. How would I be able to move forward in an organization that was required to have total consensus to have progress?

2. A small security firm in New Mexico gives me the call because they wanted a new CIO to help take the organization in new directions. Again I go through multiple phone interviews. Nothing was discussed about compensation, which I thought was strange after the third phone interview. Next came the call to fly to New Mexico for face-to-face. Shortly thereafter I get an email that the CEO will not be interviewing with me-Red flag #2. I get to New Mexico and arrive at a dusty little compound filled with trailers that they called their global corporate office. I sit through 4 hours of meetings discussing my background and why I want the job. At this stage I didn’t want the role due to the environment I would be working in. Let’s just say it was rural and unsophisticated. I started to ask questions from those interviewing about the mission, vision, brand and direction the company was moving in. The response I got was “it is still being developed”- Red Flag #3. I started to dig deeper about metrics and processes and got the same answer. So this was a firm that wanted a CIO but did not have a foundation to build off. I also discovered that they were loosing contract work due to the lack of technology experience. I walked out of the location quickly and jumped on the plane, thankfully to never see that company again.

3. A small nonprofit in Connecticut wanted a new Director. There old director was not cutting it and moved on. So they thought this was a good time to bring in a new person with new ideas. I go through the standard phone screen and found the role to be interesting. I go through other phone screens and eventually go for a face-to-face. The role was interesting even though it was less salary. But it seemed challenging and I was interested in pursuing. I had a great phone conversation with the senior director about the future of the organization. I saw the future and she was able to articulate the need for technology. I sent my thank you followup up email, followed by a phone call. No response to either. I sent a followed up email again. Again radio silence. I don’t mind if they reject me, just have the professionalism to say so. Considering I made the effort to travel and interview.

I am disappointed in organizations that treat potential candidates in such a way. Then they wonder why they are not attracting “great people”. Do other executives have similar experiences?

The Questions That Get Interesting Looks

I have been actively interviewing.  While it has been an interesting time to look for a senior level role I have been cautious about the organizations I have been interviewing with. I have come to realize that some organizations still do not see IT has a strategic tool but purely at a utility with no real long-term value. It is these organizations that I try to stay away from and recently have passed on further interviewing.

I use the initial interview to really get a sense of the organization. And if there are any red flags politely decline further interviews. Here are some of the questions I have asked during the interview:

• Is technology a component of the business plan?
• How do executives obtain information?
• What goals and values define the current technology organization?
• Are technology best practices and standards followed?
• How does the enterprise select and acquire technology?
• How effectively does the current portfolio of application support members?
• How does the enterprise implement technology?
• How does the enterprise manage and maintain technology assets?
• How does the enterprise manage security, privacy, integrity, and compliance?
• How does the enterprise measure performance?
• Is there a willingness of staff to embrace openness and change?
• Is there a willingness of senior executives to serve as stewards of IT and ensure IT supports the mission?
• Is there a willingness to keep things that work and get rid of those that don’t ‐ whether it is a legacy software application, broken business process or failing project ‐ reallocating resources to better investments?
• Is there sufficient resources to support initiatives with skilled personnel, funding, and time?
• Is there active and visible senior management support?
• Is there a well‐defined and disciplined processes for information capture, stewardship, and quality and accuracy assurance of information?

I have been amazed about some of the responses I have received. But it is better to find out now then 6 months into your tenure where you might be struggling.

CIO.com – How to Ace a CIO Job Interview

Have you ever wanted to know what a CIO’s interview is like? Meridith Levinson wrote a great article on CIO.com on how to ace a CIO job interview. This is a must read for CIOs or aspiring CIOs.

http://www.cio.com/article/679013/How_to_Ace_a_CIO_Job_Interview?page=1&taxonomyId=3123

Back on the Line

I have hit my 6 month anniversary of being back at work. I feel like the last year and half is a distant memory. I look back on my time out of work as a time of inner reflection about who I am and what I want from my career and life. While I don’t have all the answers I know a little more about myself – as corny as that may sound.

The good news is some of my friends that have been out of work have landed. The bad news is others are still in the search. Some have even recently lost their jobs. The economy is still not back to normal – whatever normal means today. Firms are still cautious about recruiting especially senior executives.

My advice to those still searching–keep a positive attitude. Don’t lose hope! Use your time to indulge in the things you wanted to try but never could. Most of all enjoy the time with your family.

To those that have recently lost your job -the road will be difficult. There will be times when you will feel depressed. You will be rejected over and over again in your search. Understand it is not you but the job market. Talk to family and peers about how you are feeling. Have a routine in your job search but do not let it consume your entire day. Stay positive and keep networking.

Brothers and Sisters: When Our Peers Need Help

There is no doubt that this last year has been hard on us all. Unemployment is still at an all time high. Companies are still in a “wait-n-see” mode. The future still looks bleak.

Over the course of writing this blog, I have been in contact with at least 25 IT people who have been out of work. Some have been out work for 3 or more months while others, like myself, have been out of work for a year. Some were former CIOs, CTOs, MDs, SVPs, managers, and administrators. All lost their jobs through downsizing and cost cutting.

I had a recent conversation with a manager who was let go 6 months ago and was struggling to pay his bills and support his family. I wish I were in a position to offer him a job. Instead, I offered him access to my network on LinkedIn and other peer networking groups I am affiliated with. I hope things work out for him.

As IT professionals it is our responsibility and duty to look after each other. If you are in a position to help others please do so. Your kindness will go a long way in helping others.

Qualify Your Professional Network

There was a recent discussion on LinkedIn regarding tight versus broad networks (LinkedIn Strategies – Tight vs Broad Network). Is it more effective in a  job search to build a network of close connections or instead, build a network with a broad reach, but weak connections?

This is an interesting discussion. Recently I have been trying to qualify my network. I have been building my network for a little over a year now. At first, I thought it should be a numbers game. How many people can I connect with? I immediately saw diminishing returns.

To put things in perspective, I currently have:

• 277 contacts on LinkedIn.
• 180 following/156 followers on Twitter.
• 20 people actively following my blog daily and commenting
• 150 non-family contacts in my contact database

Of all the above contacts I consider maybe 10 contacts can help me find a new position or are people that remain in touch with me. What does this mean? Have I failed in networking? Should I have a tighter network or a better network? These are questions I ask myself everyday.

Here is what I do know.

• Maintaining a network takes time and effort on your part.
• If you are seeing no responses from your network then you should not put the effort in networking with that person. I know this seems harsh. But lets face facts, if you email and call someone and they do not respond then it is clear they are not interested in maintaining a link with you.
• Move on and find others that will return your emails and telephone calls. Even if they do not have a position, they are just checking in with you to maintain a link.
• Maintain a network that brings value to you.

I have started to be more discriminating in whom I add to LinkedIn and follow on Twitter. I want to have contacts that I can help and that can help me both in the short and long-term. It is not a numbers game anymore for me. It is about quality relationships with people.

What do you think about maintaining a network? What are your thoughts on how to maintain a network?

Only Apply If You Are Employed?

There was an interesting article in the WSJ, Only the Employed Need Apply, by Dana Mattioli. In this article Dana writes that some companies are bypassing unemployed workers and trying to hire only employed workers. “If they’re employed in today’s economy, they have to be first string” says Ryan Ross, a partner with Kaye/Bassman International Corp., an executive recruiting firm in Dallas

These are unusual times. The unemployment rate is at 9.4% and ticking up every month. Firms are still cutting staff. It is unfair for firms to think that just because a person is unemployed, they are not as good as those who are employed. The fact of the matter is there are good and bad people who are unemployed. In today’s economy there are probably a higher percentage of good out-of-work people who got laid off. I know several people (me being one) who got laid off through no fault of our own. These people were former traders, salespeople, recruiters, COOs, and IT executives who were good in their jobs. Their departments or divisions were eliminated. Being unemployed does not make them or me bad people. It just makes us available to take on new challenges and bring our experience and expertise to a company that understands our value.

Are Financial IT Executives Being Blacklisted?

Interesting phenomena I am seeing more of these days on job postings – requirements state very clearly that no one with financial services experience will be considered. Why is that? I felt compelled to ask the poster as to why would IT executives with financial experience be excluded from applying to that position?

If anything, I would think that a recruiter would want someone with that level of experience. We have been charged with protecting massive amounts of financial data, supported demanding executives, kept trading floors online, built robust data centers with N+1 redundancy, figured out how to set up market data architecture, prepared for disaster recovery and business continuity, dealt with armies of auditors and ever changing regulations, supported front and backoffice systems, and designed architecture with redundancy to prevent outages.

Our experience and knowledge is universal and should be sought after purely from the high demand/high pressure environments we worked in. Firms should strive to have people like us supporting their environments.

Today Was Not A Good Day – But It Is Friday

I am not sure if this is good or bad. But I do feel a bit disappointed today.

I got three phone calls from three different recruiters for three different positions.

The first was for a director of infrastructure. The position came to me through an IT organization I belong to. I was a little suspect of the recruiter but decided to send my resume in. To my surprise I got a phone call immediately there after. He wanted me to “tweak” my resume, send back to him and follow up. I did and the next day I followed up. I called and emailed but no response. I was able to get him on the phone. He did not remember me or the position. I spent a few minutes explaining everything again. He said he will send my resume in a follow up with me in a fee days. It has been a few days, I called and left messages and email but no response.

I got another call from a recruiter that I had linked with this week. He said he got a position that was right for me and sent me the job description. It was great. Everything I was looking for: good location, good salary, good description that fit my background. The recruiter will follow up with me the next day. I was a little weary based on my previous experience but I wanted to not come across desperate. So I waited and to my surprise I got a phone call the next day. The message was short but I felt something was wrong. So I called back. The firm wants a “hands on” person–very hands on; Cisco engineer, windows admin, dba, dmz, CIO experience — literally a jack of all trades. The job description and my research on the firm hinted that this was a large firm. Not a good idea to have one guy doing everything. I told the recruiter that I was hands on but with the sophistication of enterprise architecture, my skill set is not at that level anymore. I am more management with an understanding of how things work in an enterprise environment. The recruiter apologized for not having all the facts about the position. He will keep me in mind for other positions.

Last, I got another call for a VP of technology. The recruiter called me and asked how me how many people did I support in my last or any position. I told him the amount and said this position required someone who had supported 500+ users. It would have been easy for me to lie but my professionalism took over. Yet another position which I was not right for. I don’t understand if you support 50 or 5000 people it is the not quantity but the quality of the support you provide.

So I did not get an interview this week but I was called 3 times from recruiters. Are things picking up? If so great, I can wait for the right position to come along.

From Architect To CIO

I was born on March 31, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York. My father was an avionics engineer in the U.S. Army and my mother was a nurse. I grew up in a middle class family. Both parents were born in Trinidad. My grandparents were born in India. Where exactly has been lost. We were indentured servants brought to the Caribbean to harvest sugar cane and have been there since. We have no ties to India.

My father served in Vietnam; one of a handful of Hindus that served. He is American through and through. My mother was trained in England and is also an American. So I am first generation American along with my younger brother.

We moved from Brooklyn to upstate New York when I was 4. My father’s unit was transferred, so the whole moved for a better life. I started school and was one of a few minorities in elementary school.

In high school I discovered industrial drafting and fell in love with it. From there I started taking architectural drafting classes. When my senior year rolled around and the time came to figure out where and what I was going to study I knew I wanted to study architecture.

Architecture like any other sophisticated practice has many sub disciplines i.e. medicine or law. I decided I wanted to be a designer and focused my efforts on understanding the concepts of solid and void and circulation-all concepts which are important to a successful building. Along with this understanding, any design student must learn how to present, project management, engineering, interior design, and history. I graduated and started working immediately as a draftsman/designer.

Like any graduate, I had big dreams to one day design the next famous building. However, I quickly learned that one has to pay bills. I learned that architects do not make huge salaries and work on smaller scale projects. When I graduated there were very projects where there was mass building. Most of the buildings being built were going up in Asia.

I joined a small firm that was specializing in network implementations in architectural, engineering, and construction firms. They needed someone with an architectural background to help transition these firms to CAD and computer networks. This is how I got involved in computers, networks, and data management. It was great. I learned how to repair computers and printers, how to set up networks, how to transition a firm from paper base processing to electronic processing. I was able to leverage my education and make money doing it.

Then in 1997 I joined a financial firm on Park Avenue. Not knowing anything about banking or financial services. This firm was a subsidiary that specialized in middle/large ticket leasing and offered specialized finance to corporate customers. They wanted someone to come onboard and help manage and grow their technology and help move from a paper base process to electronic. So I joined. I was a one man show. I did it all: building servers, racking them, backups, antivirus, email, etc. I was all hands on. I had designed and built a stable network with capacity to grow as business grew. Management loved it. They had a stable infrastructure that allowed them do conduct business. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week I worked and I loved it.

Business started growing and there was a demand for more sophisticated systems: general ledger, accounting, market data, firewalls, disaster recovery sites. So I had to hire more staff to meet demand. Eleven plus years later, I had managed a successful IT operation that had weathered: Y2K, 9-11, blackouts, datacenter outages, upsizing and downsizing, a merger, branch office build out in London, increased regulatory process, and all the intricacies that come along with managing and IT department in a global organization.

So this is my story about how I went from building buildings to building networks.