Richard Monson-Haefel's Blog

A new deck of cards: I found a Job!

Well the good news is that I have accepted a job as a Sr. Analyst at The Burton Group – I start May 24th.

Although I found the job the old fashioned way, through networking, I wanted to thank everyone that responded to my original blog entry and offered support, advice, leads, and occasionally a Job. Thank you. I'm very grateful.

When I made that post I fully expected to get flamed, but I figured it was worth showing a little vulnerability so that people understand that (in at least my case) working on the JCP EC and the JSR Expert Groups and Open Source comes at a cost – even if there are very real benefits.

I'm really looking forward to working with The Burton Group. They are a top notch and very respected organization that has a more technical focus than Forrester and Gartner – anyway its right up my alley.

Thanks again to all those who responded – it was a very positive experience and I'm grateful.

Richard

Comments

• don't be afraid to be human Showing humility can help. A lot of people may be afraid to hire a "Name" (which you are, for better or worse) because they fear you are: 1) too expensive 2) too busy with other things (writing, speaking, JCP committee meeting, etc. etc.) 3) gone the moment something more interesting pops into your view. Showing you're only human after all may temper those fears just enough to let them look at you as they would at other candidates and see they're getting someone with suppreme knowledge.

  Posted by: jwenting on May 18, 2004 at 11:30 PM

• Nice one Congrats Richard.

  Posted by: rwinston on May 19, 2004 at 01:01 PM

• Being independent can be difficult

  I've been an independent for 8 years now. There are a number of ways to find work while staying independent. This simplest is going to the agencies/trawling the boards looking for regular contracts. This pays so-so. But being a "name" makes no difference - they still want "Blah App Server version 3.2.6.8 with stupid tool X v 1.3.2.7" experience exactly, or they're not interested. Doesn't matter that I could do the work with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back. It's actually the agency guys who haven't got a clue that cause this, if you can bypass them and get through to speak to someone at the company then you can sell yourself in 10 minutes. (This is experience speaking.)

  A second option is cultivating one or two long term customers, either big Java sites with lots of work or companies which can feed you consulting work as a subcontractor. A lot of small consultancies fall into this category, and it's really great, good money and reliable work. But you were probably the first to go in 2000, and may have had a lot of trouble since getting back into the groove. If you are still independent though, this is the beginning of an up cycle, so one of these kinds of gigs should turn up soon.

  Third option is to treat yourself as a business, and sell your services. You have to market yourself, you have to go and get sales leads, you have to close deals, you have to respond to what the marketplace is looking for now, rather than what you think you could do in the marketplace. This is pretty stressful, and not everyone is suited or can adapt to the varieties of roles needed. I forced myself to, but every once in a while wonder if it's worth it. Too much travelling, too much sales and marketing, not enough doing Java which is what I like doing best.

  I've done all of the above. At times money rolled in so much so that I could see my first million in the (far) distance. At other times I've struggled to cover my outgoings. The temptation to go and get a permanent job rears up every once in a while, whether I'm doing well or badly, because they each have their own stresses.

  I guess my conclusion is that it can be difficult being independent at times. With a family, you cannot afford long stretches with no work. I had kids from the start. I know guys who stayed out of the job market after 2000 for a couple of years just living on savings - that's pretty difficult to do with a family but a single guy could probably coast for quite a while. I know I couldn't afford to do that. But there are good compensations. Setting your own time. Taking a day off almost anytime you want to go out with the family. Focusing your work into stuff you enjoy more. Ah well, each to their own.

  Good luck in your new job Richard.

  Posted by: jacksjpt on May 20, 2004 at 08:53 AM

• Congratulation Good luck to you and your family, Richard. Please continue to support the Java community.

  Posted by: bitog on July 19, 2004 at 08:39 PM

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