Connected Consultants Earn More

Are you a consultant who wants to earn more money? Then connect with your boss electronically. While it might sound like cyberspace brown nosing, it seems consultants who are constantly e-mailing and instant messaging feel more connected to their teams, have a clearer understanding about the direction of projects and attain higher billable hours, more gigs and, not coincidentally, higher pay. That’s the conclusion Kevin Purdy reached on Lifehacker, citing an IBM and MIT study.

A detailed study of 2,600 IBM workers’ communications found those with “strong connections” to their bosses over IM, email, and social networks generate noticeably more billable hours.

The researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and IBM looked at email, IM buddy lists, social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook, and every other communication protocol of thousands of workers over a year. They derived from all that bit-passing a theory that there’s a sweet spot involving an experienced, knowledgeable manager, or a very small group of them working with bigger teams, and workers who build “strong ties” to them:

“Receiving targeted and useful information directly from the manager with minimum information distortion, consultants with strong ties to management are even more likely to complete a project. This forms a virtuous cycle where strong connections to managers increase the chance of accomplishing a project, which then enhances a consultant‘s reputation and attracts even more connections to project managers.”

From their giant pile of data, the researchers average out that workers with “strong ties,” i.e. constant communication with the right people, earned $588 more per month than the average of the 2,600 consultants, while those with “weak ties” drew $98 per month less than the average. That drop, the study suggests, is due to consultants feeling confused about the direction of projects from contradictory management advice, multiple and mixed work requests, and, in the case of those avoiding contact altogether, otherwise feeling disconnected from the project direction. Also notable in the study is a finding that having a multiple general connections to colleagues at the same level doesn’t really show a monetary benefit.

Consultants should defer to the communication mode and frequency preferences of the project manager, but when in doubt, choosing to communicate more rather than less seems to be better for your boss and your pocketbook.

Don’t Take Your Ball and Go Home

We’ve all heard the same sappy proverbs: When one door closes, another opens.  Every cloud has a silver lining.  But Sramana Mitra has some practical advice for the glass-half-full crowd.

In a recent article on Forbes.com, Mitra details the-rise-from-the ashes story of Michele Munson, a laid-off software engineer who started her own company after the last tech downturn.  With a bit of seed money and the right connections, Munson started Aspera, a company that develops high-speed file transfer solutions, has revenue in the millions, 400 customers and  and 42 employees.

If you’ve been laid off, like Munson was way back when, this may be your time.  Consider your passions, and dive in.  Who knows, you just might end up not only happily self employed, but just plain happy.

Working Without a Net

During recessions, many laid-off tech professionals shun a return to traditional employment, opting instead for careers as independent contractors or consultants. On the surface, such a life seems attractive. After all, you get to be your own boss, and most full-time jobs don’t offer true job security and many employees self-fund the vast majority of their own retirement and benefit costs without much assistance from their employers. In addition, as CNN points out, there’s a growing need for freelancers.

If you’re considering self-employment, think carefully. It requires a broad skill set, self-discipline, self-insuring your unemployment and worker’s compensation and paying for your own training costs.  Ask yourself these four questions before deciding to move away from being a regular employee.

• Do you have in-demand skills? Demand for contractors is predicated upon experience and marketable skills. The more highly educated and highly skilled you are, the bigger the demand for your talents.
• Are you self-disciplined? Not only do you have to ignore the temptation to play hooky, but you have to deliver results unsupervised. You also need to set aside enough money to pay self-employment taxes and survive illness or lean times. Independent contractors are often the first to be let go during a downturn, and they aren’t covered by unemployment insurance.
• Are you a good salesperson? At least 30 percent of your time will be spent marketing your talents, even when you have a gig.
• Are you adaptable? One minute you’re marketing, the next you’re sending bills and following up for payment. You have to adjust to new work environments and co-workers quite frequently.

If you answered yes to these questions, you might be cut out for an independent career.

Wanted: IT Consultants, Contractors

SAP to cut about 3,000 jobs. Ericsson to slash 5,000 jobs. Intel to close several plants and cut up to 6,000 positions. Microsoft and IBM will layoff about 8,000 people combined. Texas Instruments cuts 12 percent of its workforce. The list keeps getting longer.

Dave Willmer, executive director at Robert Half Technology, yesterday confirmed his firm is seeing a decline in the number of full-time positions needed by his clients. But he’s also observed an an uptick in clients interested in understanding the contract worker  or consultant business model. Even as companies are slashing jobs, IT projects still need to get done. The three areas companies are still investing in are virtualization, VoiP and Web-related projects.

In particular, small-to-medium sized organizations are focused on Web enhancements, since they’re worried about losing market share during the economic crisis. Virtualization remains a priority for larger firms because it’s expected to save money in the long run.  In other words, virtualization projects are considered a “need” have rather than a “nice to have.” Says Willmer:

The interest level varies by industry but everyone that has IT staff is considering a project and they are trying to figure out how to get it done with the least amount of staff right now.

For any IT workers who’ve been laid off, now is the time to focus on getting contract or consultancy gigs. Companies should be clamoring for these types of workers in the coming months.

Is Contracting for You?

Ideas for Part-Time Tech Work

If you’re unemployed, you’ve probably considered taking a part-time gig to help pay the bills while you continue to search for a full-time opportunity. On top of dollars, a technology-oriented part-time job provides networking opportunities and the chance to keep your skills fresh. And once you’re working inside an organization part-time, it’s much easier to build relationships and find the company’s hidden job market, or get referred to another employer. So if you don’t want to make sandwiches at the local deli, consider one of these part-time IT positions:

• Tech sales and service: Consider taking a part-time job selling computers at a local retailer, preferably one that also caters to local businesses, or doing telesales or customer support for one of the online retailers of IT products.
• Technology instructor: Community colleges, technical colleges and adult schools often need experienced IT professionals for adjunct faculty roles. Senior citizen centers or community centers might pay you to teach local residents how to e-mail or search the Internet. Market yourself as a reasonably priced, patient and flexible instructor, and you might be surprised at the number of opportunities you’ll find.
• Tech support: Even if tech support is below your usual pay grade, consider providing remote user support from home as a way to earn extra money. Score some work installing computers or wireless networks for neighbors and small businesses by advertising in homeowners’ association newsletters and community newspapers. You can keep searching, networking and responding to job postings during the down time.
• Contract work: Consider registering with a few IT staffing firms, but also offer your services on a 1099 basis to your targeted employers. The key is to be flexible in the assignments you are willing to take, because you never know when a small project might turn into a bigger opportunity.
• Writer: Write technical solutions for a blog, Web site or online publication for a fee, or write technical manuals, technical support plans or user guides on a freelance basis. Consider offering your advice and writing expertise to business owners for the IT portion of the company business plan. Business owners need written plans to qualify for funding these days, and the plans require specific technical strategies and solutions.
• Technology coach: Offer to coach entrepreneurs or small business owners when they are faced with making technology decisions. Owners need impartial advice and guidance, and often lack the necessary internal resources to serve as counsel, when they face critical decisions.

To start, run an advanced search on Dice, using “part-time” or “contract” in the “employment type” field. (You’ll find this under “additional search options.”

What You Want from a Staffing Firm

Contracting is on the rise as more companies lay off full-time employees and look to offload their work to temporary workers. For many, this may be new territory, so here are some things to consider before you sign up with an IT staffing agency.

Foremost, find a staffing firm that’s looking for more than bodies to fill jobs.  Just like a permanent employer, you want a staffing firm that will invest in your training. This is particularly crucial for IT workers, since it only takes a few months for your skills to become outdated.

ComputerWorld notes there are also issues around money:

For example, working for a staffing firm isn’t always a quick financial fix: It can take such firms a long time to find appropriate work for their contractors (especially in this economy), and IT professionals may not get paid when they’re “on the bench” between client engagements. Moreover, IT professionals who work for staffing agencies may not get a lot — or any — benefits, and whatever benefits they do receive may be docked from their hourly rates.

Finally, be sure the agency doesn’t oversell your qualifications. That can cause you real problems, because you it’s not always easy to get out of an engagement once you’ve committed to it.

Still, doing contract work through an agency has some upsides: It gives you a starting point in networking with new employers, and a chance to sample different work environments.

Canada, eh?

If you’ve been laid off or can’t find a contract gig, perhaps you should consider working in Canada for a while. The Information Technology Association of Canada estimates 35,000 IT jobs will be created there over the next 18 months, but its universities will graduate only 7,000 people with the skills to do the jobs, according to the Chronicle Herald. The newspaper quotes Phil Sorgen, president of Microsoft Canada, as saying Canadian businesses aren’t as productive as their U.S. or European counterparts, so the opportunity still exists for significant productivity gains from increased infrastructure. More good news: Sorgen cites attracting more immigrants as one of the solutions to the labor shortage.

Before you get too excited, U.S. citizens must have permits to work in Canada. But some IT jobs are in such high demand, they’re being given special treatment by the Canadian government. Also, before you make your move, research the tax implications. Check out this information on the Canadian citizenship and immigration Web site, which describes IT jobs that qualify for expedited work permit processing.

Boston Hangs On, St. Louis Struggles

I posted two new Dice Local Market Reports this afternoon. Neither have great news for anyone looking for work, but together they show why it’s better to be wading through the recession in Boston than St. Louis.

From our Boston report (written by Sonia Lelii):

Matt Conely, branch manager at Sapphire Technologies’ Boston office, describes the state of the area’s employment as tepid. A good part of the market relies on financial services, he notes, a sector that’s under particular pressure. He still sees firms interviewing but says many are “gun-shy” of pulling the trigger on actual hires. “I think at this point, many companies are in a holding pattern until 2009 budgets are released,” he says. “But the right candidate with a positive attitude will always find themselves getting an immediate offer.”

Conely describes Boston as a contract-driven market, and many companies are in a mode of realigning rates. Consequently, there’s a disconnect in what consultants are asking and what firms are willing to pay. That means consultants will have to expect lower pay rates, since there are far more candidates available now compared to last year.

From our St. Louis report (written by Don Willmott):

In June, BusinessWeek identified St. Louis as the 43rd “best city for tech jobs,” not a particularly stellar ranking, with the leading tech job category being computer systems design. Meanwhile, recruiter Robert Half Technology is actually optimistic about the city these days. Its most recent quarterly survey of CIO hiring plans found 13 percent of St. Louis-area CIOs intend to bring on staff in the fourth quarter, a figure above the national average and 9th of the 30 metro areas RHT tracks.

We’ve got more LMRS here.

Making Lemonade in the Banking Sector

I asked a friend of mine who calls himself a “banking consultant” if he was concerned about how the current crisis in banking may affect his career. Not at all, he replied, because his expertise is advising banks on mergers and acquisitions, which he expects to be a growth industry in the months and years to come.

There’s a similar story in IT. As Network World reports, bank mergers and acquisitions “are creating demand for technology workers who can help post-merger companies smoothly integrate IT operations.”

Network World checked with IT recruiting firm Sapphire Technologies and found its “placements of IT pros in the banking and financial markets increased 18% from the second quarter to the third quarter.” As one Sapphire rep put it:

I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this in the past where, in a matter of three weeks you have all these major investment banks merging and acquiring each other. They’re all taking those first steps on how to combine their information together.

Of course, much of that work will be done by contractors rather than newly hired IT gurus, since no one expects a lot of hiring to go on at institutions that are merging and/or shrinking. Still, companies face a lot of work when it’s time to merge two systems into one. Sapphire says experts in Sarbanes-Oxley, data analysis, business analysis and data integration will have a leg up.