NZ Recruiter

Will You Be Changing Jobs in 2010?

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

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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?

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

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NZ Start-up Optima makes a name for itself Overseas

Link: Software start-up Optima scores big deals overseas - 27 Mar 2007 - NZ Herald: Technology News from New Zealand and around the World.

I love hearing about Kiwi firms kicking butt overseas. Optima Corporation, developer of resource allocation optimization and management software, has been making a name for itself overseas, primarily in emergency services with their Siren Predict and Siren Live software, and in the aviation industry with their Global Pairing software.

What's great about this company is the history and the niche that it's taken hold of. They started as a group of maths research students and lecturers from the University of Auckland. With the help from venture funding and funding from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, they have been able to commercialize their software to markets overseas.

One thing to think about: their biggest barrier to growth is finding and recruiting good developers. As with all companies, their greatest competitive advantage is its people.

Computerworld > ‘Finding the pain’ gets Kiwi start-up Cyberglue out of sticky place

Link: Computerworld > ‘Finding the pain’ gets Kiwi start-up Cyberglue out of sticky place.

Here's some great advice from Tony Seba, author of Winners Take All: The 9 Fundamental Rules of High Tech Strategy, a lecturer at Stanford University where he teaches high tech strategy and entrepreneurship, and who is also a guest teacher at the University of Auckland Business School:

Seba’s advice is to start with the customer, find the pain in the marketplace and develop a product to address that pain.

“By finding the pain you will find folk that need the product and are willing to pay for it,” he says.

Auckland-based Cyberglue, a web-application software house, took his advice and after 9 years of veering off track from their original aim of "pioneering out-of-the box e-business systems and products in what would now be called the enterprise content management market," they are now back on track, very focused and strong.

Lets face it everyone in business has goals, but often reality can put a little detour on the path to those goals. I think one of the major success factors is to realise when you have taken the detour as far as it can go, and when it's time to refocus on the original goal or reevaluate new ones. It's great to see Cyberglue were able to get some outside help to push them forwards, and good on them for having the guts to do it as well.

Morgan's new venture in talent management

Link: Warehouse deal a boost for Morgan's new venture - 19 Feb 2007 - Information technology.

Sam Morgan is at it again with startup Sonar6, a web based talent management system which tracks staff performance and potential - they  have just signed on The Warehouse with all 3000 full-time employees as a client. But what I really liked hearing was founder Mike Carden's vision in competing globally by tackling the UK and US markets rather than Australia which so many NZ companies target:

"... at this stage of the business we have to go after the biggest opportunities. Because we are a web-based business there is as much effort required for us to be successful in the UK as in Australia, and the UK is more receptive."

Great to see such kiwi entrepreneurship aiming internationally.

Geneious 2.5, Company "does a Nokia" on Finland

Link: Scoop: Geneious 2.5, Company "does a Nokia" on Finland.

Not sure I quite understand the "does a Nokia" comment, but another NZ startup software company who are making a noise globally is Biomatters. Their product Geneious was the number one science download on Apple.com for two weeks earlier this year, which is no mean feat. They also look like a pretty cool place to work for software developers who have a knowledge of bioinformatics. According to their website:

"We emphasize team spirit and a fun work environment. We use pair programming (and other good extreme programming practices) and also offer options to top performers. From 2006, senior developers at Biomatters will spend a portion of their time doing pure unmanaged research into whatever they want."

I hope by "options" they mean pre-IPO stock options and not just a choice of which colour desktop to have on your computer :-).

Dual success for Engineering spin-offs

Link: Scoop: Dual success for Engineering spin-offs.

Two more NZ startups are getting some good ink. First Telemetry Research who are a spin-off from the Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Auckland University.  The company develops wireless power transfer technology for medical applications. The devices allow power to be transmitted through the skin without damaging tissue. This technology has a lot of importance in avoiding invasive surgery so the growth opportunities should be strong. Their website is here.

The second company is Optima, who design software. In particular, they have an application they developed  for emergency ambulance services called Siren. I have seen this company present at a venture capital meeting and it was impressive what the system could do, and also the benefits for emergency service providers. Their website is here.

PlanHQ in Beta

Wellington web application startup PlanHQ is now in Beta. Founded by Rod Drury among others it looks like the first NZ firm to jump into the web app productivity business that has been popularized by 37 Signals. The site has that unmistakable 37 Signals look about it. Their tagline is: "Collaborative Business Planning: Simple web based business planning that gets you working on your business while you're working in it".

Providing an online business plan application would seem to me like a nice idea with wide appeal. Using a web app hopefully encourages the collaboration that is a lot more likely to make the plan a living, breathing thing. And therefore provide more value to a growing business. It will be exciting to see how they go!

Silicon Welly is Alive

So the Silicon Welly blog is up and running. Wellington really has taken off with software success in the last few years. Being the capital it seems that IT firms in Wellington have never had a problem in convincing government departments to part with their cash in their direction. But there seems to be a real trend in Wellington towards the web and more importantly product development rather than bespoke software development. Successes like Aftermail and Trademe have really given the area a boost and now there are several new startups that look very interesting coming out of the area.