SiliconGlen, Scotland. Tartan Tech Talk.

I started contracting last year and in the first week of Jan 2007 started as project manager of tesco.com grocery (Welwyn Garden City). However, following a department wide reorganisation the project I was on was put on hold and as a result the contract ended. Shortly afterwards however I got my next contract in Belfast working for the criminal justice sector. This lasted over 9 months and I obtained security clearance through it but the contract ended just before Christmas. I’ve had a few interviews since then but no joy yet although great feedback, it’s been more a case of there were candidates who fitted the roles in question better rather than anything negative about me.

At the moment, the immediate aim is to get a contract project management / software development manager position, flexible UK wide. Usual stuff I’ve done in the past has been web / e-commerce based but I’m not restricted to those roles and have worked in sectors ranging from banking and public sector to .com start-ups and consultancy. Longer term however, I’m looking to move up the management ladder to a more CTO level position, especially for a smaller company or start-up and as you can tell by the favourable response many of my ideas have had on Cambrian house, I’m not short on fresh ideas. Having been a company director for 13 years I would ideally like to be running my own company to carry some of these ideas forward (one of which was reviewed on Cambrian House as ‘the next Google’) but the current financial climate together with a lack of much of a networking scene in Scotland where you can get together with complimentary members of a management team makes this difficult. I guess I must be doing something right, there can’t be many like me in Scotland who have been interviewed by both Google and Amazon. There’s some more info about me via the links under my profile on this page.

So if there’s anyone out there hiring at the moment for a Project Manager with innovative ideas and great at finding solutions to problems, on the lookout for a CTO or wanting to fund a startup then please get in touch. I realise this might sound like I’m not sure what I want to do, it isn’t meant to be, it’s just being pragmatic. Maybe there wasn't enough of that during the dot com hype days.

Craig

Labels: Jobs

I'm pleased to say that on the first working day of the year in Scotland, I received a job offer which I've accepted and I start work there next week. It was less than three weeks between seeing the job advert and starting work, which is pretty good going considering the Christmas/New Year break.

It's a project management position for a major "dot com" and I'm looking forward to it.

Best wishes to all the other job seekers out there and I hope that the New Year for you brings similar success, it's a frustrating market when you are dealing with companies that take months to make a decision one way or the other.

Craig

Labels: Jobs

I applied for a job recently which would have been a slight step up the career ladder. The job was excellent and I was really excited about applying. I tailored my CV accordingly the agent liked it and thought I was a great match and after 2 weeks the company reported back that despite my impression that it was a step up the career ladder and it was a bigger package than I am currently on that they rejected me because they felt I was "too experienced".

Is this a euphemism for "too old" I wonder? I don't feel too experienced when shovelling horse shit each night when I clean the stable. I don't feel too experienced when I do the manual work around the house. I also don't feel too experienced being versatile enough to step in and do all sort of work that comes my way so long as it gets the job done for the company?

Too experienced? Is there such a thing? If I think I'm a good match for the job, the agency thinks I'm a good match for the job is it not better for a discussion to happen regarding whether the employer feels I'm too experienced or not rather than a flat rejection? After all, what some women prefer when returning from having a baby is an easier job with more flexible hours, less stress and a better work-life balance. Are they also rejected for taking a step back because they are "too experienced" ?

Well if the company wants me to run a multi billion pound company then fair enough I'll take the job, but really being a project manager would be just fine for me thanks. It would be a great job, would be a career move for me and would allow me to balance the day job and doing an MBA. Perhaps after 2 years I might be too experienced then, but 2 years is a long time to look around for a promotion.

My experience, as well as feedback from agencies and the experiences of other candidates indicate that recruitment is easily the most inefficient process when running a business. How can it be made to work more smoothly?

Labels: Jobs

As someone currently looking for a job, (anyone hiring for Technical Lead / IT Manager or CTO at the moment?) I have been using a wide variety of job search sites with mixed results. Incase anyone else is in the same situation, the site I have found that consistently returns the most relevant results and has the most flexible search (especially for Scotland) is ScotRecruit, the Scottish branded version of Jobsite who brand themselves as "The original, award-winning UK job search and jobs by email service". I guess my computerised job matching service I thought up in 1989 and got an award for in the Shell Livewire competition and my picture in the local paper doesn't count then? :-)

Seriously folks, there are loads of sites out there. Try this one first.

They have even lead the field and created a very useful page on the age discrimination legislation which is about to come into force in the UK.

Labels: Jobs, Search