06/17/2009
Category Lotus Notes Career
UPDATE: Don't forget to read all the comments (and probably come back later and check for more) as a lot of folks are chiming in with additional great advice, links, training resources, etc.
A while ago I was contacted by someone who had recently been let go from their job as a Notes Developer to see if I knew of any opportunities, etc., etc. I did not, but I did share a good bit of advice on networking and job hunting. Today I received a similar email from a former colleague, and thought I really ought to share that advice with the community, just in case it's any good and might prove useful to someone else. Mr. Balaban has also offered his own advice while we're on the topic.
So, you lost your job. Congratulations, your new job just started, and it is "finding a new job"! It is full-time, and involves wide ranging activities to promote yourself, beyond simply updating your resume, including:
Sign up on LinkedIn
- Once you're on LinkedIn, fill out your profile (basically copy/paste your resume, and include a picture), then start linking like crazy with the large number of Lotus folks I'm sure you already know (and if you don't know very many yet, refer to the next topic on blogging and meet more that way).
- Also, and perhaps more importantly, join the following LinkedIn Groups which frequently see job postings: Lotus Notes/Domino Technologies, Lotus Professionals, Lotus Software Professionals, Gurus of Lotus - Worldwide, etc.
- Do job searches on LinkedIn too.
Sign up on the BlueSkills job site
Though still in beta, you should definitely check out this IBM/Lotus focused job site set up by our good friend Paul Mooney.
Blogosphere
- You've got time to kill, and nothing will make your resume stand out more than being able to point folks to a bunch of well-written posts. Don't worry too much about trying to "compete" with more experienced bloggers - most employers won't be that familiar with the wider world of Lotus blogging, but your resume will give them a reason to look at yours, so it just has to be enough to give them warm fuzzies about your technical and communication skills. PROOFREAD carefully, both for spelling and verbiage errors, since having none will make you stand out more.
- What comes up first for your name in Google? If it's not good stuff about you (and your name isn't "John Smith") you'll want to raise your profile and blogging is a good way to do it.
- Build awareness of yourself (and drive more traffic to your blog) by commenting on other people's blogs as much as possible. Follow PlanetLotus.org carefully so you can be among the first to comment. That said, don't comment just for the sake of it - only if you can contribute something of value to whatever the subject is (doesn't need to be much, but something).
- And of course, keep up with all the Lotus blogs on PlanetLotus.org.
BleedYellow
- Get on BleedYellow's Sametime server - helpful details from Andrew Pollack here.
- There are probably groups/communities that are worth checking out which might be helpful.
- You can launch a blog on the site, so that might be a way to get started blogging if you want to try that.
Twitter
- You may already be doing this, but follow the Lotus crowd on Twitter since they might post something about openings they hear about.
- Figure out Twitter search and notifications. I've not done a lot of this so am no expert, but you might find some nuggets that way.
Lotusphere et. al.
- Try to go. At least you don't have to beg your boss to send you (sorry, bad joke). You might be able to get a free pass from one of the vendors with extras that came with their booth, in return for spending some time as a "booth babe". Long shot but if you are a good talker it might be possible. Its often cheaper for them than paying for travel for a junior employee with little technical knowledge. Sell yourself.
- There are also FREE conferences coming up with similar networking and educational opportunities, such as IamLUG in St. Louis and UKLUG in Edinburgh.
Traditional job boards
- Dice is good, Monster maybe, JustNotesJobs.com might still be around - post resumes everywhere you can think.
- Call every recruiter that seems to be posting Notes jobs and tell them you're available and give them a sense of what sorts of jobs you would be good for, even if the current one isn't one of them. Give them a simple story to tell their clients so they can sell you. Be brief, and don't oversell or sound desperate. Get your resume into their database. "Hey, I wanted to find out more about this opportunity since I know a number of people that might be looking" is a great opener since it makes you sound helpful and not needy. "This particular opening is probably not a good fit but I wanted to throw my resume your way if down the road one of your clients needs someone who..." and then give them the 1-2 sentence summary that they would use as an opener to their clients.
What else? Please chime in, and for those in this boat, good luck!
UPDATE: Don't forget to read all the comments (and probably come back later and check for more) as a lot of folks are chiming in with additional great advice, links, training resources, etc.
A while ago I was contacted by someone who had recently been let go from their job as a Notes Developer to see if I knew of any opportunities, etc., etc. I did not, but I did share a good bit of advice on networking and job hunting. Today I received a similar email from a former colleague, and thought I really ought to share that advice with the community, just in case it's any good and might prove useful to someone else. Mr. Balaban has also offered his own advice while we're on the topic.
So, you lost your job. Congratulations, your new job just started, and it is "finding a new job"! It is full-time, and involves wide ranging activities to promote yourself, beyond simply updating your resume, including:
Sign up on LinkedIn
- Once you're on LinkedIn, fill out your profile (basically copy/paste your resume, and include a picture), then start linking like crazy with the large number of Lotus folks I'm sure you already know (and if you don't know very many yet, refer to the next topic on blogging and meet more that way).
- Also, and perhaps more importantly, join the following LinkedIn Groups which frequently see job postings: Lotus Notes/Domino Technologies, Lotus Professionals, Lotus Software Professionals, Gurus of Lotus - Worldwide, etc.
- Do job searches on LinkedIn too.
Sign up on the BlueSkills job site
Though still in beta, you should definitely check out this IBM/Lotus focused job site set up by our good friend Paul Mooney.
Blogosphere
- You've got time to kill, and nothing will make your resume stand out more than being able to point folks to a bunch of well-written posts. Don't worry too much about trying to "compete" with more experienced bloggers - most employers won't be that familiar with the wider world of Lotus blogging, but your resume will give them a reason to look at yours, so it just has to be enough to give them warm fuzzies about your technical and communication skills. PROOFREAD carefully, both for spelling and verbiage errors, since having none will make you stand out more.
- What comes up first for your name in Google? If it's not good stuff about you (and your name isn't "John Smith") you'll want to raise your profile and blogging is a good way to do it.
- Build awareness of yourself (and drive more traffic to your blog) by commenting on other people's blogs as much as possible. Follow PlanetLotus.org carefully so you can be among the first to comment. That said, don't comment just for the sake of it - only if you can contribute something of value to whatever the subject is (doesn't need to be much, but something).
- And of course, keep up with all the Lotus blogs on PlanetLotus.org.
BleedYellow
- Get on BleedYellow's Sametime server - helpful details from Andrew Pollack here.
- There are probably groups/communities that are worth checking out which might be helpful.
- You can launch a blog on the site, so that might be a way to get started blogging if you want to try that.
- You may already be doing this, but follow the Lotus crowd on Twitter since they might post something about openings they hear about.
- Figure out Twitter search and notifications. I've not done a lot of this so am no expert, but you might find some nuggets that way.
Lotusphere et. al.
- Try to go. At least you don't have to beg your boss to send you (sorry, bad joke). You might be able to get a free pass from one of the vendors with extras that came with their booth, in return for spending some time as a "booth babe". Long shot but if you are a good talker it might be possible. Its often cheaper for them than paying for travel for a junior employee with little technical knowledge. Sell yourself.
- There are also FREE conferences coming up with similar networking and educational opportunities, such as IamLUG in St. Louis and UKLUG in Edinburgh.
Traditional job boards
- Dice is good, Monster maybe, JustNotesJobs.com might still be around - post resumes everywhere you can think.
- Call every recruiter that seems to be posting Notes jobs and tell them you're available and give them a sense of what sorts of jobs you would be good for, even if the current one isn't one of them. Give them a simple story to tell their clients so they can sell you. Be brief, and don't oversell or sound desperate. Get your resume into their database. "Hey, I wanted to find out more about this opportunity since I know a number of people that might be looking" is a great opener since it makes you sound helpful and not needy. "This particular opening is probably not a good fit but I wanted to throw my resume your way if down the road one of your clients needs someone who..." and then give them the 1-2 sentence summary that they would use as an opener to their clients.
What else? Please chime in, and for those in this boat, good luck!
- 
Full Posts
Comments
