<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER  No. 1814 -- 1/29/2008 >>>>>

Did you know that if you are an older worker, and if you are unemployed,
the odds are it's your fault? Well, just in case you didn't know, this HR
person and motivational speaker is ready to explain why you blew it!

   According to Roberta Matuson, president of Human Resource Solutions
   and a former Monster contributor, "Nine times out of 10, if you
   don’t get a job, it’s not your age -- it’s your attitude.
   So check your attitude."

Blaming the victim seems to be very fashionable especially when it comes to
berating American workers. Vivek Wadhwa wrote an article for BusinessWeek
that is far more realistic about age discrimination, although it too has
some serious shortcomings.

There are two passages that are very important to consider together. Read
them then I'll explain why.

   The fact is that in tech, youth is an asset and is in great demand.
   Experienced engineers are needed mostly in senior architect
   positions and in management, where they are paid the highest
   salaries.

   Senior Vice-President and Chief Technical Officer David Vaskevitch
   (Microsoft) acknowledges that the vast majority of Microsoft hires
   are young, but that is because older workers tend to go into more
   senior jobs and there are fewer of those positions to begin with.

Folks, this is a classic cattle herding technique -- older workers are
corralled into fewer and fewer job positions as they are squeezed by
younger workers. Yes, Vaskevitch is correct that most of their new hires
are young, but that's because there are only so many jobs as senior
architects or management. Vaskevitch didn't come right out and say it but
Microsoft isn't going to hire older engineers if they can hire a younger
and cheaper one for similar jobs.

One of the popular myths in the media is that older engineers and
programmers can't find work because their skills are outdated, but what
about when older workers get training in new technologies? Does it help
them? The example used in the story below isn't encouraging; although I'm
not sure Wadhwa understood the cruel irony in his example.

Joe Bennett, a 13 year veteran engineer at Microsoft, decided to brush up
on his skills so he took some courses in C# and ASP.NET. Since the training
he is still working for Microsoft but not in engineering or programming!
Bennett is working at a marketing job so he basically wasted his time
getting trained in these new programming technologies.

This page has a MS organization chart. Joe Bennett is listed as Director of
Enterprise Server Marketing. How much you want to bet he never used C# at
his new job?

http://www.redcomm.com/sample/DOMIS/orgchart/sample/outlineorgchart.html

No doubt Bennett has a choice position, but it's not a job where C# is
needed, and there are just a handful of those types of jobs compared the
large number of programmers at Microsoft that will eventually be
over-the-hill and unemployed by the time they are 40 years old.

Vivek Wadhwa's fatalistic conclusion is used by many of the free-market
ideologues to try to brainwash us into passively accepting globalization.
In addition to his unsubstantiated statement that globalization was
inevitable Wadhwa failed to recognize the dilemma posed by examples like
Joe Bennett. Obviously training wasn't the main issue with Bennett because
he moved into a non-technical job. Wadhwa's proclamation that older workers
can hold onto engineering jobs by improving their technical skills is
dubious at best.

   The bottom line is that we can't slow globalization or require
   companies to do things that aren't in their economic interests.
   Let's focus the debate on improving the skills of our existing
   workforce.

So, what does all this have to do with H-1B? Not much if you read Wadhwa's
article, and nothing if you read the Monster article. H-1B and age
discrimination are very tightly linked but that point escapes almost
everyone but Norman Matloff, who Wadhwa at least provided a link to.

Matloff explains in this short essay on page 5 why H-1B exacerbates age
discrimination.

http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/CLER.pdf

   On the surface, it should not be surprising
   that older workers in the tech field
   tend to face difficulties in finding work,
   since this is common in many professions.
   But it will be shown here that it is even
   harder for engineers and programmers,
   since in those fields employers tend to make
   use of an external source of additional
   younger workers, brought in from abroad
   under work visa programs such as H-1B.

Wadhwa wrote a good article but it could have been a great one if he would
have made the important link between age discrimination and H-1B.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2008/tc20080115_576235.htm


Viewpoint January 15, 2008, 8:00PM EST text size: TT
High-Tech Hiring: Youth Matters
In IT engineering, young hires tend to be more energetic and up to date.
Older workers need to keep skills fresh, or aim for management posts
by Vivek Wadhwa

In the engineering globalization debate, the battle lines are drawn.
Companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Intel (INTC), and Oracle (ORCL) say there
are severe shortages of skilled workers and they need more visas to bring
in foreign workers to stay competitive. Unemployed engineers say this push
for more visas is a plot to suppress wages. My own research at Duke
University has shown that there is no general shortage of engineers in the
U.S.

The globalization debate shouldn't focus on the issue of visas. Instead, it
should examine an issue that tech executives don't like to discuss: age.
Tech companies prefer to hire young engineers. Engineering has become an
"up or out" profession -- you either move up the ladder or you face
unemployment. In other words, even though globalization has compounded the
difficulties for aging engineers, it's not the culprit.

Documenting Age Discrimination
One of the staunchest opponents of foreign worker visas is Norm Matloff, a
professor at the University of California, Davis, who says careers in the
programming profession are notoriously short-lived. His research (flip to
page 5 of the linked PDF) into attrition rates revealed that five years
after finishing college, only 57% of computer science graduates were
working as programmers; at 15 years the figure dropped to 34%, and at 20
years -- when most were still only age 42 -- it was down to 19%. This was
in sharp contrast to civil engineering, where careers lasted much longer.
Matloff says age discrimination is rampant in the tech industry and the
importation of foreign workers into the U.S. facilitates this.

I know from my days as a tech chief executive that finding good engineering
talent in the U.S. is always difficult. And hiring policies and skill needs
vary significantly between companies. Some can only afford to hire young,
inexperienced workers, while others can pick and choose. But age is still
the issue.

Startup firms are often the most cost-constrained. Consider former tech
entrepreneur Jason Williamson, who is now a product manager at Oracle
(ORCL). He says that during the six years he spent running BuildLinks, a
software company focused on the construction industry, his strategy was to
find young, impressionable workers who earned entry-level salaries and
could learn on the job. He had limited capital and needed employees who
could afford to work through the tough times when his company couldn't make
payroll.

Even the well-funded, venture-backed companies usually echo the experiences
of JiNan Glasgow, chief executive officer of patent software firm
Neopatents in Raleigh, N.C. She says she can afford to pay what she needs,
but her best hires and most productive employees have been new college
graduates. She explains they tend to be more familiar with the latest
technologies, adapt readily to change, are more creative, and try new
things. Middle-aged hires have not always worked out as well for her. She
says most had dated skills and expected to be paid for experience that
wasn't relevant to her firm.

Limited Senior Management Berths
The fact is that in tech, youth is an asset and is in great demand.
Experienced engineers are needed mostly in senior architect positions and
in management, where they are paid the highest salaries.

Microsoft (MSFT) is known for the high quality of its hires. Senior
Vice-President and Chief Technical Officer David Vaskevitch says younger
workers have more energy and are sometimes more creative. But he adds there
is a lot they don't know and can't know until they gain experience. So he
says his company recruits aggressively for fresh talent on university
campuses and for highly experienced engineers from within the industry. One
is not at the expense of the other, he insists. For him, it is all about
hiring the best and brightest -- age and nationality are not important. He
acknowledges that the vast majority of Microsoft hires are young, but that
is because older workers tend to go into more senior jobs and there are
fewer of those positions to begin with.

There is lots of competition for these senior jobs. And globalization is
making things worse. Companies are increasingly locating their research and
development operations closer to growth markets (BusinessWeek.com,
1/18/07). Companies like IBM (IBM) are adding tens of thousands to their
workforce in places like Bangalore and Shanghai. Some of these jobs would
otherwise go to older and more expensive workers in the U.S.

How Maturing Engineers Can Cope
So the days of lifelong employment for engineers may be long gone. And they
face decreasing salaries as they reach their fifties. Research by
University of California, Berkeley, professors Clair Brown and Greg Linden
shows that even those with masters degrees and PhDs have reason to worry.
Their analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census data for the
semiconductor industry revealed that salaries increased dramatically for
engineers in their 30s but these increases slowed after the age of 40.
After 50, the mean salary dropped by 17% for those with bachelors degrees
and 14% for those with masters degrees and PhDs. They found that salary
increases for holders of post-graduate degrees were always lower than for
those with bachelor's degrees.

The harsh reality is that as engineers progress in their careers, they need
to stay current in new technologies and become project managers, designers,
or architects. To keep their jobs, engineers need to build skills that are
more valuable to companies and take positions that can't be filled by
entry-level workers. Experienced engineers can also find rewards in
entrepreneurship, teaching, and sales, as well as use their skills to excel
in unrelated professions. And as Microsoft's Vaskevitch says, there are
computer programmers "who become like rock stars and are unbelievably
valuable (and well compensated) as they get older."

Joe Bennett, 44, provides a great example of the approach engineers should
take. After working as an engineer for 13 years at Microsoft and becoming
senior director of its developer and platform division, he realized that he
was losing touch with the technologies he was marketing. So he took a
three-month sabbatical to brush up on programming languages and frameworks
like C# and ASP.NET, and transferred into a job where he was touting the
benefits of different Microsoft technologies. He says that he isn't leading
people, but is having fun again and is more intellectually engaged in his
work than he has been in 10 years. He believes he is now more valuable to
the company.

The bottom line is that we can't slow globalization or require companies to
do things that aren't in their economic interests. Let's focus the debate
on improving the skills of our existing workforce.

Wadhwa is Wertheim Fellow at the Harvard Law School and executive in
residence at Duke University. He is a tech entrepreneur who founded two
technology companies. His research can be found at
www.globalizationresearch.com .


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://career-advice.monster.com/job-search-essentials/older-workers/search-
tactics-for-50-plus-workers/Home.aspx

Search Tactics for 50-Plus Workers
by Dan Woog
Monster Contributing Writer


You’re over 50, and you’re worried. You’ve sent out resumes and
interviewed, but you’re still unemployed. What can you do if you didn’t
get that job -- or the hundreds of others you’ve applied for?

Where to Start

"Search your own name and see if there’s anything out there holding you
back," advises Chuck Campbell, founder and principal of search firm Argyle
Consultants. If companies find negative information about you online, you
need to counteract it by bringing it up first in the meeting, Campbell
says.

Also, check your credit rating. You can use a site like Annual Credit
Report.com, which allows you to fix any erroneous information immediately
through the reporting service.

Mary Willoughby, director of human resources for the Center for Disability
Rights, suggests examining the interview process. "Ask HR people you know
to do mock interviews," she says. "Make sure you don’t talk too much
about the past. Don’t dwell on bad bosses or how hard the job search is.
Emphasize the new skills you’ve gained by reading and researching trends
in your field."

Watch Your Attitude

"The biggest problem 50-plus clients have is that they don’t exhibit
energy," says Campbell. "You can read it in an interviewer’s face. If he
gets restless or looks at his watch, he’s not responding to you."
Practice your interview enthusiasm in front of a mirror, with a relatively
objective friend or, preferably, a casual acquaintance. Avoid using a
spouse or partner, as friction may result, advises Campbell.

According to Roberta Matuson, president of Human Resource Solutions and a
former Monster contributor, "Nine times out of 10, if you don’t get a
job, it’s not your age -- it’s your attitude. So check your attitude.
Ask yourself, ‘Am I doing a complete job search, or am I halfhearted?
Have I really contacted everyone I know? Do I have recent job experience
through a temp agency?’ If your attitude isn’t good for these
questions, it probably shows up in your interview, too."

Interview Follow-Up

The end of an interview is an excellent chance to make a good impression.
Asking, "Where do we go from here?" signals enthusiasm. Also, ask for the
interviewer’s business card. If you haven’t heard back within a week,
Campbell advises making one follow-up call. Ask if the interviewer has any
further interest and offer to meet again.

If no response, Pat Kenney, PhD, president and CEO of HR development
training firm J&K Associates, says, "It’s OK to go back and ask, ‘What
did the person you hired have that I didn’t have?’ But you have to do
it with as much finesse as possible. Most companies are wary of
age-discrimination lawsuits."

Matuson suggest using this line: "I want to improve the way I’m packaging
myself so I can take advantage of the next opportunity."

Adds Tom Darrow, president of the Society for Human Resource Management’s
Atlanta chapter, "Don’t give them any reason to think you’re
disgruntled at not getting a job. You can say, ‘I appreciate your
situation. I understand you chose someone else. I was really impressed with
your company, and I’ll refer my friends to you. If you’ve got a minute,
can you tell me how I can improve for my interview next week?’ Let them
know you’re already chasing another opportunity."

Consider Your Resume

Your resume might also be deterring job offers. "Track it online," advises
Willoughby. "See if you’re getting hits. If people are receiving it but
don’t call back, it may be a bad resume. Invest a few hundred dollars
with a professional to see if you’ve included too much information, wrong
information or even poor formatting." You can track and view resume
performance as well as your apply history through your My Monster account.
Monster also offers a Resume Writing Service if you need expert help.

"Check your resume closely," advises Campbell. "Eliminate what you did 10
years ago -- it’s irrelevant. Then give it to people to critique, and ask
for harsh feedback."

Campbell believes a resume is far more effective as a hard copy, sent
through a company’s employee referral service, than emailed. Email is
easily disregarded; a hard copy is often looked at (and paper is looked at
more closely than a computer screen, which may involve scrolling down). If
you must email your resume, send it both as an attachment and
cut-and-pasted into the body of the message. That way, it’s visible as
soon as the email is opened.

General Job Search Tips

Whether it’s your attitude, interviewing technique or resume, Matuson
says there’s one thing to remember: "You have to be open to what you
hear; be ready to make changes."

Here are some other key points to keep in mind:

Use a professional career coach to assess your resume, dress, grooming and
interviewing technique. The money you spend can help you get a better job
faster.


Limit your resume to two pages. Anything longer makes you look verbose --
and desperate.


Tell your references who you’re interviewing with, why you’d be a good
fit and what key points you’re emphasizing.


Two no-nos during your interview: asking about retirement plans and talking
about grandchildren.


If you’re interviewing by phone, stand up. Your voice sounds clearer, and
your thinking is sharper.


Consider self-insuring to help sell yourself to an employer as someone who
does not need benefits. This may be worth the financial risk, especially if
you’re already covered by a spouse’s health plan.

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