Recently Brad Swanger, a recruiting manager with The InSource Group, spoke about staffing challenges filling hybrid IT positions.

What is a hybrid position? It is usually home grown over several years, and encompasses a variety of disparate job functions. Hear more about what Brad has to say in this video.

Many hiring managers probably want to hire veterans for patriotic reasons, as well as the skills and work ethics they bring to the workplace.  As a result, most former military personnel will likely be hired by small businesses (the chief U.S. job-creators) with flat organizations and lean operations.  This is the opposite of the military with its chains of command and 1.45 million enlisted personnel.  The military and the business world can also have distinctly different objectives, structures and procedures, so when the men and women who serve our country finish their commitment and look for jobs, the distinctions between the two come into sharp focus.  Yet while it’s important for businesses to be open and flexible when hiring and working with veterans, it is incumbent on the vets to adapt to the business’ culture. 

Discussions with ex-military personnel who have made the transition highlight many of the challenges they faced acclimating to the private sector.  The issue stated most frequently was that most hiring managers will have little or no understanding of the military, so veterans need to translate their service-acquired skills into easily understandable terms.  The résumé is the place to start as it is the first impression of the job applicant.  A simple listing of a military career won’t be effective; vets need to be able to succinctly explain how their armed forces experience will benefit a private-sector employer.  Describing the outcomes and results of their military work will give employers a better idea of how their skills can apply to business.   Coinciding with the résumé is a language issue.  The military has its own language and so does business in general and various industries specifically.  Vets can help their chances of landing the job if they leave military jargon behind and pick up the parlance of the for-profit world.  A good place to start is routinely reading business publications and books on the business best-seller list.  This will also give them a better understanding of the workings of the business world. 

Often, office procedures and customs are unspoken so they can be confusing to veterans making the transition to civilian work.  For instance, the simple act of offering an opinion about a business decision may make a veteran uncomfortable.  While the “sir, yes sir!” environment of not questioning authority portrayed in movies may be overstated in the modern military, service training does instill a deep respect for authority and orders, which may cause veterans to be reluctant to offer an idea or opinion to the boss.  To be successful, veterans need to speak up as open discourse is standard operating procedure in most businesses. 

Overlapping with open discourse is the tendency in lean small businesses to push decision-making down to front-line employees.  This is a situation that may be new to many veterans who were trained and then worked in environments where decisions were made higher up the chain of command.  The challenge for employers is to help vets become comfortable in a workplace where they will be making many business decisions for themselves. 

Tangential to this is how employees in the private sector move up the ladder, or sell themselves.  Advancing a military career differs from getting ahead in the business world.  Those in the service are assigned to their positions by their commanding officers.  Workers in business have more leeway in determining which jobs they pursue and what businesses they want to work for.  This requires a more active style of self-promotion, which may be something veterans have to learn.  They need to get comfortable promoting themselves in a positive way that still fits with the business’ culture. 

Many veterans cite the poor job the military does in preparing them for life after the service.  So, perhaps the most important thing a veteran can do to make the transition to the private sector is find a mentor to offer guidance, insights and contacts.  This is a way employers can help – assign a seasoned employee to take the newly-hired veteran under his or her tutelage.   Serving in the military is a life-changing event.  During service, veterans often obtain skills and training that make them valuable to employers.  However, regardless of those skills, veterans deserve a place in American business.  Hiring vets can be a win for everyone if both sides understand the fundamental differences between the military and private sector and determine ways to successfully integrate veterans into the workforce. 

Appeared in The Dallas Business Journal on Friday, October 5, 2012

James E. Thompson is president and CEO of The Insource Group, an information technology resource provider.  He can be reached at jt@insourcegroup.com.

Luckily, we now live in a time when there exist a variety of ways to address your resourcing needs. Such solutions can include a variety of employees, consultants and contractors. The following example will define in what situation and combinations your firm might utilize them.

Scenario: You have a capital project approved that must be completed by year end. The IT management has decided to transition to the Agile development methodology which has not been used before in your environment.

Challenge: how do you staff the project with minimal impact to the long term budget?

Position: Agile Coach
Resource Type:  Consultant
A consultant can be utilized across multiple projects to train the development teams in Agile. Benefits of this resourcing solution are that the training received by your staff will most likely be current and relevant and that once the project is complete, the consultant is done as well, with no further cost to you.  The drawback to this resource type is often a higher short-term cost for the consultant.

Position: Team Leads
Resource Type: Mix of employees and contractors
Utilize strong employees who are accepting of change and integrate them in a team environment with contractors that are experienced in Agile. This plan not only provides a secondary way to train your employees in Agile, but also provides productive resources that will not have to carry over to the next year.

Position: Team Members
Resource Type: Mix of employees and contractors
The percentage of contractors to employees will be based on your corporate environment. What are the skills required temporarily for this project and what are the long-term skills needed to support your business? For instance, your capital project might need extra database skills for the term of the project but already have enough employees already for ongoing support. Some testing resources will need to be from your employee pool to transfer environment knowledge to other testers so quality will remain high. Adjust the percentage of employee to contractor as you review your long-term goals.

Combining short and long-term resources can help you and your company in reaching your goals. Contact your InSource Group representative to develop and implement a resourcing plan that will provide the right mix of resourcing types for your company.

The act is the largest comprehensive health care reform legislation since Medicare and Medicaid were established almost 50 years ago. On June 28, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the act is constitutional under federal tax laws.   An article in the Fort Worth Business Press captured local leaders’ reactions to the ruling.

Comments from our CEO, Jim Thompson, were included in the article.  He stated that regardless what the ruling was, small businesses still face challenges with health care.

“For the small-business person, what we need is clarity in relation to what we will have to do to comply with whatever this law ends up being and, more importantly, we need affordable health care,” he said. “This bill and this ruling don’t give us either of those two.”

Thompson would like to see Congress address the health care issue and take action that would lower health care costs.

“I would like to see all of this sorted out and would like to see the legislative branches of government get back to what they need to: address issues of real meaningful health care reform that lowers the cost of health care to the average individual so that they can provide necessary insurance for their family and their kids,” he said.

The initial provisions of the law, also known as “Obama Care,” began June 21, 2010 with most of the provisions being phased in over the next two years. One part of the bill that could impact small businesses is the mandate for employers and individuals to buy health insurance if they can afford it.

Small business owners already face many challenges in running a business. The new health care act will add another layer of complexity for many of these businesses.  Additionally, due to the length of the new law, experts are still discovering nuances that create uncertainty for business owners in the future. Depending on the business, the company’s ability to hire may be greatly affected.

Clients depend on The InSource Group to stay abreast of changes in the marketplace. We have to be prepared to provide the best staffing alternatives for a range of business sizes while anticipating market changes and the corresponding impact. The InSource Group is here to assist you with your current and future staffing needs.

The first thing that is needed is an inventory of your skills. Get specific.  Don’t use terms like: “I led an event planning team.” That doesn’t tell the potential employer anything about your skills. Did you manage a budget? How large were the teams led? Did you deal with contracts?  These are skills many industries utilize. Review each of your recent jobs and identify what skills were used. Next, make a list of quantifiable statements for each skill. For example, if your skill is “managed budget” then one of your quantifiable statements would read something like this: “Managed $5M budget” or “Reduced budget by 10%.” Statements of this sort clearly identify your skill and how it has been used in your previous industry. Now that you know what your product is, the next step is to sell it to a potential employer.

There are many candidates vying for each opening. As someone trying to switch industries it is imperative for you to tell the interviewer how your skills will transfer. You have to do the work of connecting the dots between the work you’ve done before and the work you can do for their company.

The job description tells you what the position requires. Analyze it. Determine what you believe will be the skills that best fit the job. When you determine those skills, see which of them match your experience. Now look back at your quantifiable statements. These are the things you want to communicate to the interviewer. For example, if you are asked “Do you have any experience managing financials?” Your answer could be “Yes, when I worked at XYZ Company I reduced our annual budget by 10% in less than two years.” Be ready to tell how as well.

There are shelves and shelves of books that can provide instruction on the process of determining transferable skills. A quick Google search of “Job Skills Transfer” will yield a variety of instructions and tools to assist in identifying your transferable skills. Another alternative is to partner with someone who has a wider view of the marketplace and can guide you in your job search. The InSource group is a great resource for assisting you in clarifying your transferable skills. In addition, they have the reach to locate potential positions for candidates with your skill set. Partnering with a trusted staffing provider can strengthen your appeal to potential employers and also provide you greater visibility in the local job market.

Recently, a few of my peers in the industry have asked me about how to prepare for the next role they aspire to.  Quite simply, I suggest that the answer is to never stop learning.  Furthermore, I submit that if you don’t work to enhance your skills and knowledge, you will become obsolete entirely too quickly.

Technology is a particularly dynamic field.  In one of our recent blog postings about the last twenty years in technology, “What a long, great trip it’s been,” I was struck by how much things have changed in a short number of years.  For example, our office infrastructure today makes significant use of “cloud computing” in our business model, yet this trend only recently came into play around 2008.  

If one does not invest in learning about how to implement new and useful technologies, their value to any employer is significantly reduced.  While keeping up with new and current best practices, technologies and trends can be like trying to hit a moving target, it is imperative to maintain and enhance your working skill set.

According to Charles Darwin, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”  

So, how does one stay flexible?  Here are a few suggestions I try to follow to increase my value to my employer:

•    Foster and build a “big picture” perspective: keep in mind your company’s overall goals and integrate that with your specific planning and tasks
•    Create and maintain a professional development plan
•    Be active in your specific technology community through user groups, conferences and publications
•    Communicate with your corporate leadership regarding policies on continuing education, what new directions your company may be going, etc.
•    Keep certifications current, such as MCSE, CISSP, etc
•    Take classes on new and related skills that support your professional growth
•    Experiment with new technologies/platforms when possible
•    Watch for and monitor new trends in your industry
•    Position yourself to take advantage of those trends through analysis of their applicability to your specific job responsibilities and work environment
•    Work with a recruiter to keep you informed of what is happening with jobs and candidates with similar skill sets

Simply doing your job is not enough.  You have to be ready to do whatever your job will entail tomorrow.  

Jeff Weadock
Information Technology
www.insourcegroup.com

The technology industry has changed dramatically since The InSource Group was founded. We thought it would be fun to highlight just a few of the many changes which have occurred over the last two decades.

The 1990s saw a tremendous shift in how software was developed.  Early on, if you were an Assembler, RPGII, RPGIII, PL/1 or COBOL developer, you were in high demand during the early 90s.  4GL programming languages such as PowerBuilder and Delphi were just beginning to gain acceptance, with PowerBuilder professionals experiencing a hot ride for several years.

Remember the UNIX vs. DEC/ VAX wars being waged for the engineering and scientific community in the early 1990’s?  Heterogeneous networks became the buzz words for connecting different hardware platforms to a common network with a standardized communication protocol.  IBM was the undisputed hardware leader with its mainframe and mid-range AS/400 lines, while a host of competitors were vying for left over market share. Microsoft began its real run at the business enterprise (first with Windows 95 recommended to run on 8 megabits of memory, AND the OS upgrade still being shipped on floppy discs!) and quickly became an established part of the rapidly emerging client-server architecture.  By the way, what ever happened to the OS/2, CP/M and PICK operating systems?

Software development was primarily performed in a structured or iterative methodology, while object oriented programming was finally gaining acceptance beginning with client server based application architectures.  FORTRAN, C and Assembly were still the dominant languages used by the technical community, although C++ was actually invented around 1980.   While until 1995, Java was still just a slang word for coffee.

What about those hardware vendors from the 90’s?  Which of these do you remember:   Stratus, Prime, Tandem, DEC, Data General, Honeywell, Computervision, Silicon Graphics (SGI), Wang Computers, Cray, SUN Microsystems, Convex or Pyramid Technology?  Most are out of business or absorbed by the few remaining dominant hardware vendors.

With the increased acceptance of C++, Visual C++, along with Java’s introduction in 1995, object oriented development professionals were in high demand. If you were one of the early developers who jumped on the OO development band wagon, the mid and late 90’s were very good to you.

The new millennium brought many more changes.  How technology was being used seemed to change as much as the technology itself.

Who can forget the Armageddon predictions associated with the Y2K conversion efforts for all those mainframe applications using a two digit date field?

At the same time, it seemed like any company with a business idea related to the internet became prime investments for Venture Capital firms.  Some companies even changed their name to end with “.com” to capitalize on the hysteria.  For a while, if you could design a website using HTML you too were a hot commodity.  And suddenly in 2001, the “dot com” bust finally occurred.

Seemingly as quickly, the world changed and became “flat” as described in Thomas Friedman’s book published in 2005; “The World Is Flat”. Now, not only was technology continuing to change at a rapid pace, America was competing on a larger, global playing field.

Outsourcing and off-shoring projects became all the rage in the early to mid-2000’s. The successful completion of a large number of fiber optic, transatlantic communication cables capable of data rates of up to 10 gigabytes / second provided access to a cheap and educated workforce primarily in India and China.  During this time careers in technology did not look so promising in America as companies cut back on IT investments and hiring technical staff.

ERP specialists were the exception during this time as Fortune 500 companies sought to optimize their operations to compete more efficiently and globally.   Whether a functional or technical specialist with SAP, Oracle, i2, PeopleSoft, Baan, Lawson or JD Edwards experience, this was a time of high earnings.

Application developers with Java, C++, or .Net framework experience saw a decline in demand, while data architects and data warehouse specialists stayed in high demand as companies struggled with complex ERP and Business Intelligence system implementations.

Then, another change began taking place.  Is it possible to over emphasize the influence on both the personal and business use of social media sites?  From 2002 to 2006, the following sites were placed in operation:  Friendster, MySpace (a response to Friendster with the first version coded in 10 days!), Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Along with increased use of the World Wide Web came increased risk of hackers and potentially devastating computer viruses to the business enterprise.  Greater attention was placed on information security with new hardware and software products being developed, along with new career paths developing around data security. These increased threats quickly elevated the importance of the position of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). By 2009, 85% of large organizations reported having a CISO, up from 43% in 2006.

RIM’s Blackberry can arguably be credited with kicking off the mobile computing race. Soon, PDAs, smart phones and ultimately electronic tablets accelerated by the iPad introduction, created demand for a new type of development professional.  Experience with operating systems such as iOS, Android, Windows CE, BREW, and Symbian along with software languages like Objective C, J2ME and Python grew in demand.  Working closer to the operating system increased in importance, something more typically associated with engineering or scientific software development efforts.

Last but not least, the acceptance of cloud computing as a viable business model is changing the technology landscape again.  Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)  now provide access to applications and services previously available only to larger firms with deep capital resources.  Technology professionals such as Business Analysts, Project Managers and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with a deeper understanding of how a business operates combined with strong technical skills, have reemerged in importance.

To finish this off, here is a short list of some of the more important events for each year The InSource Group has been in business.  We hope you enjoy the trip as much as we have.

1992 – Ross Perot Sr., founder of EDS announces his presidential candidacy as an independent candidate, with most of the country still asking, “What’s the World Wide Web?”

1993 – Mosaic was the first graphical web browser released for browsing the internet.

1994 – Yahoo is started as a personal list of sites by two Stanford college students, David Filo and Jerry Yang.

1995 – The Java language introduced by Sun Microsystems and Amazon.com becomes operational, while less than 27% of U.S. households own personal computers according to Dataquest.

1996 – The average modem transfers data at 14,400 bps and “dial up” is still the dominate method of connecting to the internet.

1997 – Personal computer ownership in U.S. households rises to 43%.

1998 – Windows 98 OS released by Microsoft.

1999 – Craigslist’s website is incorporated, the original version of Napster’s file sharing software debuts,  and the Melissa email virus is unleashed.

2000 – The Internet bubble peaks on March 10th, and the NASDAQ and other markets begin their yearlong downward spiral.

2001 – Wikipedia debuts and the Apple iPod is released.

2002 – The Blackberry smartphone by RIM is introduced supporting email and web browsing.

2003 – Apple iTunes store opens while 67% of users who download music from the internet say they do not care whether the music is copyrighted or not.

2004 – Facebook is started by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, Google files for their IPO and the number one word of the year based on on-line lookup according to Merriam – Webster’s was “blog.”

2005 – YouTube is founded and Google Earth is launched.

2006 – The social networking service Twitter is founded and the first Sony e-book reader is released.

2007 – The first Apple iPhone was released and the smart phone frenzy accelerates.  Is there anything  else worth talking about?

2008 – Microsoft offers to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion and the PC mouse turns 40 years old.

2009 – The Internet turns 40 years old, and almost 1/3 of the world’s population is surfing the internet.

2010 – The Apple iPad was introduced and Bill Gates was quoted, “It is a nice reader but there is nothing on the iPad I look at and say Oh, I wish Microsoft had done that”.  Uhhhh Bill, would you like to take that statement back?

2011 – On aggregate, healthcare information technology combined with advances in medical device technology opens up a whole new area for information technology innovation.

Vice President
www.insourcegroup.com

Frankly I wish I had written the same article earlier, as I agree whole heartedly with Eric’s observations, with one exception… I believe these issues Eric discusses also apply to small and medium sized organizations.  The 10 reasons listed all have to do with career development and personal growth.    Those two items are universal to the health of a company regardless of their industry.

Eric’s top 10 list on ways to lose your best employees are:

1 – Big Company Bureaucracy
2 – Failing to find the project for the talent that ignites their passion
3 – Poor annual performance reviews
4 – No discussion around career development
5 – Shifting whims / strategic priorities
6 – Lack of accountability and /or telling them how to do their jobs
7 – Top talent likes other top talent
8 – The missing “vision thing”
9 – Lack of open-mindedness
10 – Who’s the boss?

While any time is the right time to rectify the above mentioned problems, yearend planning provides a wonderful platform to make changes for the better.   Whether you believe corrective action needs to be taken in one or multiple areas, here is my suggestion to begin the effort.

• Pick one item at a time and focus on that item.
• Clearly establish the end goal or results to be accomplished.
• Choose realistic and measurable benchmarks.
• Establish a feedback mechanism to monitor the progress on achieving the stated goal.
• Stick to the task until the initial desired results are achieved.
• Make this effort part of your company’s culture.
• Choose your next goal, and repeat steps 1 through 6

In the 19 years of being in the IT Search and Staffing Industry, The InSource Group has seen our fair share of management styles.  Universally, the success of a company begins at the top with its executive leadership and then filters down through the organization.  If you are in a position to improve your group’s performance, now is the time to do so.  The importance of top talent retention can never be underestimated or ignored.   We wish you great success on this journey.

If you would like to read Eric Jackson’s article in its entirety, follow this link:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2011/12/14/top-ten-reasons-why-large-companies-fail-to-keep-their-best-talent/

Vice President
www.insourcegroup.com

In August of this year (2011), FASTSIGNS was a finalist in the Tech Titans competition sponsored by The Metroplex Technology Business Council.   FASTSIGNS was one of the top three contenders in the category of Technology Adopters from the largest pool of Tech Titans competitors in the last 10 years.  The InSource Group wrote about their performance in an earlier blog.

Here is another competition in which FASTSIGNS will be a clear winner……………… hiring and supporting our returning military veterans.

Besides being FASTSIGNS’ CEO, Catherine Monson also serves on the board of directors for the International Franchise Association (IFA).   According to Catherine, “There are 825,000 franchise locations in the U.S. and those folks support nearly 18 million jobs.  In those 18 million jobs we should be able to find 75,000 or 80,000 for veterans.”

FASTSIGNS has committed to hire 200 veterans at FASTSIGNS locations as a part of IFA’s Operation Enduring Opportunity.  Additionally, FASTSIGNS also provides a discount on the franchise fee to veterans opening a new FASTSIGNS franchise.  We applaud Catherine’s and FASTSIGNS tangible commitment in supporting our U.S. military veterans.

The InSource Group supports our clients through our technical staffing services. As an IT staffing firm we see on a daily basis the importance of hiring the right person for the right job.  Our thanks go out to FASTSIGNS for their ability to extend their hiring practices to the veterans who serve our country so well.

For additional information on FASTSIGNS’ efforts and on the IFA’s efforts, follow this link:  http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/print-edition/2011/11/18/fastsigns-out-to-expand-hire-veterans.html?ana=e_ph&page=all

Vice President
www.insourcegroup.com