NZ Recruiter

Discover Your Dream Job - Senior Business Analyst, Auckland

Have you outgrown your current job?
What excuses have you been making to yourself about staying there?

How would you like:

1. a stable company that is growing steadily internationally.
2. lots of opportunities to grow personally.
3. close interaction with customers.
4. products that have social value and benefit everyday people, not just businesses.
5. international travel.
6. the opportunity to part of an amazing team changing the world from New Zealand

Our client is only growing bigger and better - join them on the way up and get your chance to dig deep in a broad range of technology with an incredible amount of space for career development and growth. If you have at least 6 years commercial data analysis experience with the following

• Excel
• VBA
• possibly MySQL, R, SAS. 

as well as the following characteristics

• attention to detail
• ability and comfort in communicating and working with others towards common goals
• the ability to do some international travel 

then email me NOW!

Don't miss out on this opportunity. It won't last. Give us a call on 09 306 8950 or send in your CV to steven@searchniche.com, or get in touch on twitter @stevenkempton

Also, if you think I'm some faceless Recruiter who will ignore your application check out some of the quotes from candidates about me:

“I used Steven as my agent to help me find new employment. From the very beginning to the very end I really appreciated Steven's integrity as a recruiter. He really wanted the very best for me. When I am next looking for work I will definitely be speaking with Steven again.”

“Highly recommend Steven as a recruitment agent. Has a much more hands on approached compared to the standard recruitment agent. Can count on him to be there with you each step of the way as a friend and advisor. Very personable, approachable, very honest and forth coming.”

"Steven is a pleasure to deal with and is always ready to listen. If he is unable to help, he will tell you straight up and will endeavour to provide some direction.”

Job hunting doesn't have to be sly - positioning is key

Link: Job hunting on the sly

Interesting opinion on how to sneak in job hunting while you're working. The key though, I think, is that if you really are focused on growing your career, then you can't just "hunt" for a job. It can be time consuming and incredibly difficult  when you're trying to do your real job. Most importantly - it's all about timing - what you want may not necessarily be what the job market has in the timeframe you're looking. So here's what I suggest: Keep an open mind and really position yourself for opportunities. . . continuously. Not just when you get that sinking feeling that you don't want to be at your current job or company anymore.

This isn't traditional active job hunting, but it'll bring you to what's really important - and that's being exposed to opportunities that may or may not be the right ones for you. It's best to have that option to decide and accept or decline, right? So what can you do?

• Be aware and open minded. Listen to what colleagues or business contacts are talking about and who or what they may know. 
• Be accessible. Make yourself easy to be found by people who have opportunities. Be accessible online in some social media or community groups or professional associations
• Let people know that you're open minded to opportunities perhaps not in your company, but outside of your professional circle - in your community, sports clubs, children's school, etc. Contacts are everywhere.
• Help others. If you hear of opportunities that could be useful to someone you know, get them connected. You never know when the favor is returned.
• Keep your CV current... just in case something comes up quickly. It's also a good way to track your achievements and newly developed skills with good detail - often something that's hard to do if you've been somewhere for several years and haven't reflected on what you've accomplished.

Test Lead Opportunity - Contract or Perm - Auckland

Are you an experienced test analyst ready to move to the next challenge? Here's a fantastic opportunity for a TEST LEAD role with an international consultancy that is globally recognized and highly ranked in its industry. Employer is flexible - this can be either a contract or permanent role.

Some requirements:

• Minimum 5 years commercial experience testing covering all areas of the testing lifecycle
• Ability to lead and collaborate with team members
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills 

To find out more about this opportunity, email me along with your CV.

If you're interested in other opportunities, you can also sign up for our newsletter.

 

How to Build a Better Boss according to Google

Link: New York Time's: Google's Quest to Build a Better Boss

What's the new next thing in leadership?  Leave it to Google to mine through tens of thousands of their own HR data - employee feedback, surveys, performance reviews, promotion nominations, etc. to come up with a succinct 8-Point Plan. Their findings (from Project Oxygen) in a nutshell: deeper technical expertise is not as important as it was thought. Being a good coach, empowering and stretching your employees and showing genuine interest in them as people makes a team that is happier and performs consistently better. 

Why is a recruiter writing about this? Because when I work with clients, I need to be confident that they are, indeed, a good company people like working for: a company with happy employees that perform well. That's my leverage in getting the best people for that company. Highly-sought-after people join companies most often because of the leadership, company culture and the opportunities there to grow. If the leadership isn't there, then there's problems.   People  leave their jobs for three most common reasons: 1) they don't feel a connection to their company or their own purpose and value 2) they don't like their colleagues, and 3) they have a bad manager.  According to Google's Project Oxygen, this third reason - how employees viewed their manager, had the most impact on employee happiness and performance.

Happy employees are the biggest recruiting tool a company could ever use. If you want to hire the best, make sure your current employees have a great manager or team leader. See  Google's Rules on Eight Good Behaviors for Managers.  

 

 

Going forward in your career in the IT Market - Podcast with Illegal Argument

I had a good chat with the guys at Illegal Argument , a discussion group on anything Java/JVM with an Auckland/NZ focus.

Are you truly going forward in your career? Thinking of contracting versus perm? Product dev versus services? For some candid insight into the New Zealand IT market and career development from experienced senior IT perspectives along with a recruitment perspective - listen here at Illegal Argument Podcast 59. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you a software developer in Auckland open to opportunities? Click here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Roll up your sleeves: Auckland Startup Weekend - April 1st - 3rd !

Been walking around with that lightbulb above your head, thinking to yourself, "What if?" "How could I?" "Where do I even begin?" Save those questions in your back pocket and gear up for the Auckland Startup Weekend coming up on April 1st - 3rd!  What is this? From Startupweekend.org: 

 54-hour events where developers, coders, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and create startups!

. . . weekend-long, hands-on experiments where entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs can find out if startup ideas are viable.  Most events have about 75 attendees, half of which have technical backgrounds and the other half have business backgrounds.

With access to mentors and collaborators to really give life to your ideas, or for you to be a part of an incredible startup project, this is worth a try. After all,  the winner of last month's LA StartupWeekend raised $1M in three weeks! Perhaps Rod Drury of Xero was right in saying in Computerworld that Silicon Valley careers can be had here in New Zealand.

Keep updated on Twitter and follow @AKLSW and organiser @JasonArmishaw. 

Contracting vs Permanent Roles - What to do?

There's never an easy answer when it comes to deciding which path to pursue. But at least many highly skilled and experienced professionals have this option - especially in this year. Here's a basic rundown of what to consider. It's all up to your comfort levels in terms of what you define as "security" and how you feel about taking risks.

Permanent Jobs:

Most people, when asked to describe the benefits of a permanent job, would say "secure" or "stable". They see it as a guaranteed paycheck every fortnight or at the end of the month. I'm surprised if people still think this way in this day and age of recessions and live and let die. No job or company is completely 100% secure. Performance is still a condition, and of course the profitability of the company and market climate. But aside from that, sure it's relatively stable compared to contracting.

PROS of Perm Roles:

1. Relatively secure and stable - you can expect a certain amount of pay on a regular basis. Can budget your personal finances much easier. Ease of mind.

2. Depending on the company, certain employee perks and benefits - perhaps in-house training and other employee seminars or programs to take advantage of, health and fitness perks, etc.

3. Paid sick days and paid holidays

4. Kiwi saver or employer pension plan

5. You don't have to deal with tax administration, you receive your wages and your employer reports and deducts taxes for you

6. A sense of belonging to a collective group - camraderie 

 CONS of Perm Roles:

1. Lower pay. You receive significantly less than contracting in terms of hourly wage. As a salaried employee, most often you do overtime which is unpaid and often expected.

2. There is not much room for negotiation in salary once you've taken the job. All you have is your annual appraisal and that is regulated by a certain small percentage.

3. No flexibility in time. You need to also be present during the set work hours, regardless of the situation/workload. No opportunity to take an extended period of time off if needed.

4. You are not completely in control of your own time and efforts.

 

Contracting

The overall advantage of contracting is your independence and higher pay. You are your own boss and can decide where you want to work and command how much. The downside of it is that you are taking on more risks by constantly having to find a role to keep you going, and to be more financially responsible in your own taxation.

PROS of Contracting

1. Independence and flexibility - you can choose projects/contract jobs/companies you want to work for and when (that is, if there is a contract role available). You can make yourself available to all kinds of opportunities since you're not tied down.

2. Higher pay - contractors command a higher per hour wage, and with long projects, this can translate to a high "annual salary".

3. As a contractor, you are your own business. You have tax-deductible advantages and thus, have the ability to use pre-tax dollars to invest in your career/business.

4. Because you're more aware of your financial situation, you can be more savvy in your own financial planning.

5. Because you are more likely very experienced in your area (since you're hired strictly for that expertise), you are more marketable in that industry, anywhere.

 

CONS of Contracting

1. You need to sell yourself in gaining continuous contract roles. You have to be comfortable in networking and applying for new roles more frequently.

2. You have to feel comfortable in not having consistent income in between contracts, and IF that stretches out actually earning LESS MONEY not more.

3. To maintain/upgrade your marketability, you need to invest in your own training in different technologies (rather than having an employer pay for it or provide it)

4. As a business (either as a Sole Trader or Limited Company), you now have tax responsibilities in filing GST returns, provisional taxes and your own end-of-year taxes. 

5. May not get that "sense of belonging " if doing a lot of short-term contracts.

I'm sure there a several more reasons to place on either side of the equation, pro or con, but it boils down to what you value most (security vs. more money/independence), your personal situation (singleton? providing for a family of 5? rent? mortgage? ) and how you feel about your own skills and abilities. If you're thinking about contracting, see here how 2011 will be a bumper year for contractors. And if you're open to opportunities, link with me at LinkedIn.

Will You Be Changing Jobs in 2010?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you a software developer in Auckland who wants to be happier at work? Click here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seems 2010 is going to be a massive year of career shift for many people. Surveys in most developed markets point to massive numbers of skilled candidates intending to change jobs this year. Some of the results include:

• 60% of US Workers intend to leave their jobs in 2010 (link).
• 25% of employees believe organization morale is low (link).
• 20% of workers plan to switch careers and/or industries within two years (link).
• Only 45% of US employers are satisfied with their jobs in 2009 down from 61% in 1987 (link).
• Only 53% of Singapore financial workers are satisfied with their jobs (link).

It makes you wonder what really happened with all these people, what is it that causes them to have so much suffering at work? I talk with a lot of people in regards to their situation at work, most will admit to wanting more of something. Sometimes when we flesh it out their needs are quite realistic. Other times they are looking for an easier path to a better reward, which unfortunately, rarely exists. Meshing reality with what the person wants is often the biggest part of understanding whether someone really needs to make a job change in order to improve their satisfaction.

This can be really difficult to do alone, even for the most experienced candidates. After all, if you're good at your job you are busy doing that, not analyzing the marketplace and/or your skills and abilities to see whether you are ready for a big move. In order to make the decision on whether the time is right I recommend answering a few of the following questions. Be honest with yourself, anything else is pointless.

• What are my biggest achievements in my current position?
• How have I grown in the last 2 years?
• Am I giving 100% of my effort to the work I'm doing?
• If not, why am I holding back?
• If yes, then is the work satisfying me?
• If it's not satisfying me despite my effort, what are the areas that are holding me back?
• Can I improve on those areas in my current position?
• If I made a job change what are all the areas I need fulfilled to make me happy in a new position. 
• Being that nowhere is perfect. What would I be willing to give up/take on to make that move anyway?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you a software developer in Auckland, want to be happier at work? Click here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you part of a MicroTrend?

We're always looking out for new upcoming trends. Magazines publish Top Ten lists of trends of the past and upcoming year, the decade, the millenium. I'd go so far as to say trendspotting is a trend -- take a look at Forbes which has a whole section on Trendsurfing.

We love numbers too. They validate why we do things, why we should do things or which course of action to take. And so armed with numbers, Mark J. Penn's Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Today's Big Changes identifies some pretty interesting and diverse "microtrends" -- groups that are emerging in all areas of life. Heard of "Extreme Commuters" (people clocking in more than 90 min. each way - even one who does 372-miles round-trip every day!!!), "New Luddites" (young, urban & employed who refuse to use computers, cellphones, etc.), "Neglected Dads", "Archery Moms" (rise in interest and participation in niche sports and decline in the big sports: baseball, basketball, hockey) and "Cougars" (older women dating/marrying men at least a decade younger)?

A polling analyst and strategist for over 30 years, Penn's been consulting with politicians and corporations, specializing in discovering and targeting niche groups (think "Soccer Moms" during the Bill Clinton era). In MicroTrends, he identifies 75 groups who, although relatively small in number (say 1% of a population), will have a large impact on society as a whole (when you consider the US population to be 300 million, that 1% is pretty big). A common trait these groups share is that they are under the radar at the moment and are being under-served in terms of policies, services or products. And while they're mostly in the U.S., there are lots of microtrends emerging in other countries such as Vietnamese entrepreneurs, Chinese artists and the rise of Indian women in politics and business.

These microtrends are somewhat similar to  Chris Anderson's The Long Tail, where there are all these niche market segments of people who have interests that may seem bizarre or so completely off the beaten track. We should all take note of these important untapped markets, especially entrepreneurs, corporate managers, and policy makers.

It's an interesting read - a neat insight into how things will change and kind of a "heads up" for those in the position to take the opportunity to serve these niche groups.

And as many people do at the beginning of the new year, they take stock of where they are in their career and gauge how far they've progressed towards their goals or whether they want to change their direction. By keeping an open mind to opportunities opened up by these microtrends, you could find yourself in a new and exciting position, company, or career that you hadn't planned on.

Getting ready for the talent wars in 2008

The demand for IT talent has made employers up the ante in recruiting and especially retaining the exceptionally talented, creative and productive. ITworld.com lists 8 new weapons to fight the talent wars in '08. Here's a quick recap of their big 8 recruiting tools and strategies in getting the best and brightest:

1. Using social networks.
2. Using wikis, blogs, and forums.
3. Trying before buying, ie. right-to-hire agreements, contractors, temps
4. Global thinking - outsourcing abroad, specifically India, Russia, China
5. The anywhere workplace - providing for telecommuting and flexible work hours
6. Business vision - hiring more for than just strong technical skills; looking for people who are business savvy and have strong people skills to complement their technical strengths, no matter how hot the skill is (such as .net, PHP, J2EE expertise)
7. Pumped up paychecks (no explanation or comment required here!)
8. Imagination and creativity in compensation and perks - see examples of Great Work Perks, like on-site amenities, exotic research trips, gourmet cafes, countless bonus vacation time/sabbaticals, etc.

Now while these tactics are for employers and recruiters to use, potential candidates out there - take note of these "new weapons" and use some of them to your advantage in finding the best opportunity for you.

First in the list is social networks. If you've been keeping current with your online life (as you should be), you'd be strategic (and professional) in all your profiles and links with network sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Xing. According to surveys, more recruiters are using these online networks to filter in quality candidates because they can interact and get to know possible candidates better. Make sure you're easy to find and by the right people.

Second is Wikis, Blogs and Forums. The trend is for companies to "brand" themselves online through company blogs or employee blogs to attract potential talent. As such, online activity and your online personal '"branding" is important too. Work on your personal branding through your own blog and your contributions to forums. Again, elevate your profile for the right things (like expertise) and the right people.

Trying before Buying. If you're thinking of making a move to a new company or industry, it's probably a good idea for you to try it out as well. Consider a temporary assignment or contracting, although - contracting may be harder since the experience required for those roles are at the level where you can just hit the ground running with your expertise in that technical area and industry.

Business Vision. Work on your business and communication skills while you can in your current job and company. Get on projects where you're facing customers or clients or where you're playing a role in business strategy or managing relationships with other internal business units. Raise your profile in business relations and communication within your current role.

For everything else listed, it's important that you know exactly what your priorities are. What are the things that you'd forgo in order to have? Flexibility over cash? Vacation time over gym membership? Vice-versa? It's important that you know exactly what you want and can present yourself/negotiate when the time comes.