Re: Nasty Surprise: The Story of High-Tech Jobs

["Meek, DavidX L" <davidx -dot- l -dot- meek -at- INTEL -dot- COM>]

Sorry to hear about your situation, Maury.  Been there, done that.  (Had a
three-month bout of unemployment a few years back.)  But you can look at
this as a fortuitous wake-up call.  If you wanted to move to SoCal anyway,
here's your chance.  That's a good thing.  If you improve your interviewing
skills, and keep them honed in expectation of future use, you're creating a
measure of job security for yourself.  That's a good thing too, because
chances are you're going to need those skills.

I've been a consultant for nearly three years now, and people often ask me
how I handle the lack of job security.  I tell them that the only job
security you have anymore comes from your skills combined with an ability to
sell yourself.  The days of the 20-year retirement with the gold watch are
probably gone for good.  Besides which, being a consultant keeps me out of
most office politics.  Who wants to make a political ally out of a guy who
will be gone in a few months?

Like most people I've met, I used to dread job interviews.  Now, I look
forward to them.  I've interviewed so many times that now I'm extremely
comfortable and look forward to the opportunity to show my skills.  I
haven't yet had an employer who has needed 100% of what I can do, so my
chances to brag occur only at interview time.

Maury, get your resume out there, make contacts, maintain them, and  hone
your interviewing skills to perfection.  Pretty soon, you won't look for
work; work will look for you.  (My last four contracts came from people who
called *me.*)

Good luck, and enjoy the SoCal sun!  (I spent three glorious years in San
Diego--what great city!)

-Dave
(Any statements made above are mine, and mine alone.)


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