job-seeker contacts/advice

[GAME05]

Character reference? Well, he does have 12 thumbs-ups from me.

[CheezWizHed]

7 minutes ago, GAME05 said:

Character reference? Well, he does have 12 thumbs-ups from me.

Hire Louis Ely and your Woah are solvvd! 

[nate82]

There was an article I read about people missing money and one was for recommendations for jobs.  So even if I don’t know someone I will recommend them.  I will put anyone in the system as a recommendation.  The only people I can’t recommend are people connected with a government so I can’t recommend Hunter or one of Trump’s kids or close family members cousins, uncles, brothers, etc…..

Random people I meet perfectly fine.

[LouisEly]

On 5/31/2023 at 12:35 PM, LouisEly said:

I didn't lose my job in the economic downturn of 2001.  I didn't lose my job in the recession of 2008-2009.  I didn't lose my job during COVID.  But I lost my job three other times.

And I lost it a fourth time today.

What I suspected has now been confirmed.  My former company just posted my team's roles based out of Mexico City.  I knew that they were building a low-employee-cost hub there and had heard that it was Sales Development Reps.  Apparently my team, too.

Offshoring is no longer just for blue collar jobs.  If your white-collar job doesn't require external or executive communication necessitating native English-speaking or needing to be on-site, it's at risk of being offshored.

I wonder what the employee engagement scores would be now.  Hard to have any trust in executive leadership and not live in fear that your job is next.

[CheezWizHed]

My hat is in the ring.  I've taken my job as far as I can... tried to step up at my own company (only to be pigeon-holed to "software engineering only") and am now fed up with the company's response to "return to the office"... time to try outside the company.

[madbad2000]

35 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

My hat is in the ring.  I've taken my job as far as I can... tried to step up at my own company (only to be pigeon-holed to "software engineering only") and am now fed up with the company's response to "return to the office"... time to try outside the company.

Good luck, keep us updated on your job search.  I'm curious how job seekers in the current environment, especially those that are  looking for more telework from home/remote options, fare in the face of many trying to get people back into the office.

[CheezWizHed]

1 minute ago, madbad2000 said:

Good luck, keep us updated on your job search.  I'm curious how job seekers in the current environment, especially those that are  looking for more telework from home/remote options, fare in the face of many trying to get people back into the office.

I've been in soft-search mode for a while.  I've been a first level people leader for a long time.  My hiring manager was grooming me for his replacement, but then they reorged his position from existence.  Since then, the response I get at the next level is that "you only know software engineering and we need people that can manage more things."  Despite having an Electrical Engineering degree and several key moments of problem solving in the factory (on products that I don't even know) to show proof that I know much more than just "software engineering".   My company seems to only promote people that have been here their entire careers.  

Being in software development, my team rarely needs to be in the office (we request them now to be in 1x/week for team meetings and whenever they need to be on a test station or other reason).  But corporate mandate is a blanket statement for return to the office.  I've laid out a plan for people to be in the office 2-3x/week and we will see how that goes.  

But I have a lead on a job nearby that has several former employees from my current job.  One just made a recommendation for me on a director level position.  The team is spread around the country, so inherently, they don't have as much reason to be in the office. 

[LouisEly]

As a full-time job seeker right now, I can tell you that everyone and their brother who are being told to come back into the office are applying for any roles that are still remote.  Lots of competition for those, which is making life difficult for those of us who are unemployed.

[CheezWizHed]

Sorry to hear that @LouisEly.  But doesn't it make it easier to find an in-office job then? 

Well unless you are looking for a SW engineering director level position, we won't be competing. 😉

[LouisEly]

For in-office roles you have to live where the job is, making it harder.  And many companies don't trust that you will move and/or assume you are living where you want to live.  I am not.  And that is making it harder.

[nate82]

The only thing I would suggest is to not include your address in your resume.  Name, phone, email or LinkedIn link is all you should really be putting on your resume.

Also try applying outside of the industry that you were working in.  A few of the new hires that we hired have been outside the banking industry and one outside of the financial industry.  

[LouisEly]

I've never put my address on my resume, but whenever you apply you almost always have to put your address or at least your city/state in the online job application form.

I've been in three different industries in the last eight years.  My line of work is industry-agnostic.

[nate82]

2 hours ago, LouisEly said:

I've been in three different industries in the last eight years.  My line of work is industry-agnostic.

Not sure where you want to relocate to but the TSMC plant here in Phoenix is almost finished, I believe the office part has been finished. 

None of these are remote positions:

Supply Chain Procurement Manager: https://ro.careers.tsmc.com/job/Phoenix-Supply-Chain-Procurement-Manager-AZ-85083/942986610/

Senior Manager of Leadership/Management Development: https://ro.careers.tsmc.com/job/Phoenix-Senior-Manager-of-LeadershipManagement-Development-AZ-85001/940998610/

Supply Chain Logistics Manager: https://ro.careers.tsmc.com/job/Phoenix-Supply-Chain-Logistics-Manager-AZ-85083/942986810/

 

If you prefer something more centrally located then ONSemi is another company that is hiring here in Phoenix and other locations.  This company is in Scottsdale so closer to Tempe and Phoenix.

USAA is always hiring out here and a lot of their jobs are 75-100% remote.  The USAA campus in Phoenix is on the norther side of Phoenix just north of the I-17 and loop 101 junction.  But if I were to work for USAA I would prefer the San Antonio office, I applied to a job there about five years ago and that campus is just awesome. 

[homer]

15 hours ago, nate82 said:

The only thing I would suggest is to not include your address in your resume.  Name, phone, email or LinkedIn link is all you should really be putting on your resume.

Also try applying outside of the industry that you were working in.  A few of the new hires that we hired have been outside the banking industry and one outside of the financial industry.  

People can figure out where you live without looking at your resume I'd imagine.

I think full remote jobs are going to be fewer and fewer. Most places worth their salt will still be hybrid - it will just vary as to how much you need to go in the office. You could probably live in a place like Milwaukee, for example, and still commute in 1, 2x per week via train to Chicago. 3x per week would be a lot, IMO, although some people do it every day.

[nate82]

6 minutes ago, homer said:

People can figure out where you live without looking at your resume I'd imagine.

Right but it is just getting by the first screening.  Once you are able to get past that you should be able to explain why you are looking for a position that doesn't match your current address.  Unless the company is looking to hire someone right away then this shouldn't be an issue. 

[LouisEly]

What I've done is if the recruiter is listed on the job posting on LinkedIn (maybe 25% of the time) I contact the recruiter and let them know I'm looking to move to that city (and on my own dime - relocation is usually not provided). 

Remote is decreasing, but for companies in high cost-of-living areas (CA, NYC - non-financial companies, etc.) I still see a lot of remote positions.

[madbad2000]

I'm very interested in following the remote/hybrid/in office debate.  I'm fully telework, but not listed as remote.  I only have to go in when certain meetings dictate that posture for the day.  I fully anticipate my job going hybrid, but probably not more than once a week.  Since I live 15 mins from the office, that's not a deal breaker.  I do have others on my team that are fully remote and they are likely to make a decision to leave if more than 1 day in office.  I also have contractor support that are already flexing and trying to push back about a return to office/hybrid arrangement and/or making fully remote requests. 

Im curious to see the quality debate about potential employees.  If the best and most productive don't accept going back, how does that affect the outcome of the in person teams.  If the best don't accept office life, does that change opinions.

[owbc]

2 hours ago, madbad2000 said:

I'm very interested in following the remote/hybrid/in office debate.  I'm fully telework, but not listed as remote.  I only have to go in when certain meetings dictate that posture for the day.  I fully anticipate my job going hybrid, but probably not more than once a week.  Since I live 15 mins from the office, that's not a deal breaker.  I do have others on my team that are fully remote and they are likely to make a decision to leave if more than 1 day in office.  I also have contractor support that are already flexing and trying to push back about a return to office/hybrid arrangement and/or making fully remote requests. 

Im curious to see the quality debate about potential employees.  If the best and most productive don't accept going back, how does that affect the outcome of the in person teams.  If the best don't accept office life, does that change opinions.

I’m on a 30ish-person fully remote team, we’re spread across all 4 time zones in the US. It’s quite obvious that being able to source the entire US for our talent pool is going to yield better applicants than restricting to a handful of locations. This year especially as more people are being forced into RTO. 
 

I haven’t seen a single downside to a fully remote team and there are numerous advantages both from a business and personal standpoint. The high performers like it the most for sure. 

[LouisEly]

1 hour ago, owbc said:

I haven’t seen a single downside to a fully remote team and there are numerous advantages both from a business and personal standpoint. The high performers like it the most for sure. 

Those who allow remote are going to get the best people, no question.

One thing that's not talked about much is that remote workers are likely healthier than those who come into the office.  Not just less exposure to communicable diseases (I haven't had so much as a sniffle since at least 2019), but not having that 30-45-60+ minute commute means being able to sleep in 30-45-60 more minutes or have that much more time for exercise.  Not commuting means less exposure to air pollution, noise pollution.  Healthier, well-rested workers are more productive.

[nate82]

1 hour ago, owbc said:

I haven’t seen a single downside to a fully remote team and there are numerous advantages both from a business and personal standpoint. The high performers like it the most for sure. 

I can see some downside to this but it is fully dependent on what job it is.  Nearly all IT jobs can be done remote and the ones that can't are mostly server and physical IT jobs where you can't do them remotely.  Obviously a mail room job or a copying job you are going to have to be in the office. 

At the company I work at all of Executive Directors have to be in office 100% of the time.  This is more to do with anyone who wants leadership training or mentoring are able to receive this.  But these positions are paid extremely well we are talking about $200k plus a year jobs plus a really good compensation plan. 

My company has decided to go mostly hybrid there are some positions that are 100% remote but those are jobs that were remote previously. 

I still believe some of the entry level jobs or low paying jobs like customer service should be 100% remote.  Since the pay is so low usually around $25-40k a year the working from home is a real big benefit for those employees.  Even doing hybrid for those jobs doesn't make any sense at all.  Plus it pushes the cost down for businesses that are employing call centers.  Call centers can be extremely expensive to run and to keep running.  Far cheaper to give the people a voucher for a laptop or just send them a virtual desktop that only runs work applications and to pay a subsidy for an internet connection.  It is just cheaper to do this than to run a call center.  For whatever reason some companies are reluctant in doing this probably because it will keep some middle management jobs and those people are fighting for their jobs now that they are no longer needed if they go fully remote. 

[LouisEly]

Ford Motor Company just posted a job in my line of work at my level.  It is fully remote.

They had over 80 applicants within two hours of being posted on LinkedIn.

[jerichoholicninja]

Some people have been trapped in their houses with 2 small children the last 7 years and want to work in an office just to be around adults other than their wife. Just saying...

[homer]

In a few years I'll be interested to see comparisons of in-person vs hybrid vs remote companies and how that impacts retention rates and job satisfaction. My personal opinion (based almost entirely off of larger societal trends and not on productivity) is that remote is good for the individual and bad for society.  Full disclosure - I was 100% in the office pre 2020 and am now about 98% remote. If the office was within 20 min I'd probably go in 2x a week. I also don't have kids. Next year I have to go into the office for maybe 10 days. I can choose to go in more often if I want.

[madbad2000]

1 hour ago, jerichoholicninja said:

Some people have been trapped in their houses with 2 small children the last 7 years and want to work in an office just to be around adults other than their wife. Just saying...

Yep, and those people have the ability to go into the office with plenty of jobs looking to hire in person.  Their needs are met.  Those that place great value on the remote side are the ones that are fighting for what they want and have proven they can be productive in a remote environment.

[jerichoholicninja]

5 minutes ago, madbad2000 said:

Yep, and those people have the ability to go into the office with plenty of jobs looking to hire in person.  Their needs are met.  Those that place great value on the remote side are the ones that are fighting for what they want and have proven they can be productive in a remote environment.

When I started my job search 2 years ago I figured that, as someone who actually wanted to work on site, it would be pretty easy to find something. Unfortunately 95% of the jobs in my area are either manufacturing/manual labor or healthcare and I have zero experience/qualifications or interest in doing either of those things. I'm lucky to have gotten the job I have now but I almost certainly would have left by now if I could actually find something else.