Salon

Interesting, but poorly titled, article in Salon about credential inflation.

I have a bachelor degree in engineering but no post-graduate (or "graduate" if you are American) qualification.

This, together with over 10 years of experience, was sufficient for me to become a chartered engineer (the British equivalent of being a licensed engineer) as well as a CITP and a MBCS.

Incidentally I only applied to become an MBCS but ended up with the other two as well. And two days later I ended up in intensive care (unrelated).

Nowadays I would need a master's degree as a minimum.

What has changed?

I suspect that partly this is due to the quality of degrees plummeting. Certainly this is the case in the UK. And universities are now just businesses turning out as many graduates as they can.

Also, there are more people taking degrees. Not just those in the Western world but also in the BRICS. The competition has increased.

And actually in the West we can't compete with the high number of top graduates coming out of India and China. Even if we improved the quality of the degrees we just don't have the population of graduates needed.

Many people are now going for MBAs and there are also more people going for doctorates - note the plural: in Germany if you have two doctorates you may require people to call you "Herr Doktor Doktor Mustermann".

There must be a better way to differentiate yourself.

Not sure what it is though.

Fitting in

So, my boss terminated a senior manager.

(Not me).

The guy just didn't fit in.

I didn't have much to do with him but I found him rude and arrogant.

Others felt the same. At least one of his reports was thinking of resigning because of him.

Other senior members of the department (who didn't report to him) also thought he was a joke.

German companies tend to practise Probezeit ("Test time"): a probationary period of usually six months.

During this time either the employee or the employer can terminate the contract with usually just two weeks' notice and with no need to give a reason. After the Probezeit it is very difficult to sack someone and the notice period can run to three months, for any level of employee, which in turn makes it hard to leave a company for another job.

Now this is better than other countries. For example, the legal minimum in the UK is one week's notice for the first year, although companies often offer better conditions in their contracts so you aren't anxious for a whole year.

And in the USA I understand it is often the case that you are permanently on a week's notice and it is, in general, much easier to sack someone.

Still, in Germany the Probezeit period is quite a tense time and people normally keep their heads down. Which is not that good for companies either, especially for hiring recruits who should be in leadership roles.

I didn't keep my head down that much in this company but fortunately I fitted in. I still found the first six months quite tense - not least as the company is classed as a hyper growth business which meant I had rather a lot going on and a lot to quickly assimilate.

This guy didn't keep his head down either and was very vocal and liked to argue. I keep thinking that his MBA (actually an Exec MBA) proved the alternative meaning: "Mediocre But Arrogant".

It's sad when someone loses their job but sometimes also a relief.

I hope he finds somewhere more suitable for him.

Warning

If you send me your c.v. and ignore any of the points mentioned here do not expect an interview.

Homework

I'm helping a friend do Excel exercises for a company with whom she is undergoing recruitment assessments.

The exercises are pretty straightforward.

I'm also using it as an opportunity to get used to a new tablet.

A few weeks ago I tried out a Fujitsu slate but didn't like it.

Then I tried a Lenovo ThinkPad Nexus. Pretty good but a bit heavy.

And the little PSU caused interference on external monitors.

Yesterday I got my hands on a Microsoft Surface Pro.

You know what?

I think the says at Small & Flaccid have cracked it. L

Frankfurt

When I first visited Frankfurt it was in the 90s and I was visiting an English friend who was living there.

Coming from London, I thought it was a great city and wanted to live and work there.

A few years later I got a job in Munich.

Munich!

Turns out Munich is much, much better.

And not least the beer.

For quite a few years now I have been living in the city.

But a couple of years ago I took a job in Frankfurt, in desperation.

Fortunately the company failed their probation period before I gave up my flat here.

And these days I have a permanent job in Munich - well, as permanent as jobs get.

So, you can imagine my disdain when I was emailed today about a job in Frankfurt.

Experteer

Yesterday I received a final reminder about my payment to this service (of which I am a Premium member).

But I hadn't received any messages before.

Anyway, I renewed it today (I think it was using an expired credit card).

Nevertheless I have a slight feeling it isn't worthwhile.

Does anyone have any positive experiences from using it?

OneNuts

Nowadays, not only do I have a job but one which allows me to "try out" new pieces of equipment more or less as I wish.

So I am trying out a tablet PC, running Windows 8.

It's a Lenovo Helix and I am getting quite impressed with it.

And I am beginning to tolerate Windows 8 (tolerate meaning, in the case, not wanting to totally obliterate Microsoft).

And it has OneNote for Windows 8 on it (and I have been a fan of OneNote for years).

Which seems rather nice until you find out:

1. it syncs automatically to Microsoft's SkyDrive which makes it impossible to use in a business context
2. you can't print
3. you can't do some other things you could do with earlier versions ... BUT YOU CAN'T PRINT.

If Dancing Monkey Boy Steve Ballmer wants to contribute to this job hunting blog he just has to contact me (and send a scan of his pink slip).

Could have written this myself

Found on the WSJ, Get Rid of the Performance Review!

It's never too late

My mobile phone rings at work.

My personal mobile, not my work mobile because that is a Blackberry and my company is still in the early 00s.

A company to whom I had applied months ago - a rather large company (actually a freakin huge company) was wondering - rather timidly - if I was still available.

No.

I seem to have landed in a good job and Blackberry phones, well the model 9900, are so damn good I can't understand why RIM are doing so badly.

Sometimes it is too late.

Decision

When I told my bosses, well my immediate boss, he wasn't sure if he wanted me to stay another week or longer.

Now, my contract only talks about immediate termination on either side. Plus they put me on furloughs without notice.

Still, I wanted to be helpful.

On Monday there was a programme team conference call where my departure this Friday was announced. I mentioned, rather embarrased, that this was only my suggestion and had not been confirmed.

Later I sent an email to my boss detailing everything I had been working on. It was a short email. In it, I also said that I would leave on Friday unless there was a strong objection.

No reply.

So, on Tuesday I emailed my new company and told them I can start next Monday.

That "right feeling" feeling

So, after talking to my boss I contact his boss.

His immediate response is lots of laughter and "everyone is leaving".

A few seconds pause ... including him.

He is tying up a new position in a major insurance company.

"Awesome," I tell him, "but I beat you to it".

It's not the waiting ...

... it's the waiting.

Twice this morning I went down to the bottom of our block of flats where the mailboxes are kept.

And both times my mailbox was empty.

Meanwhile I had e-mailed the new company telling them I was happy with the pdf of the contract they had sent and also mentioning that I have holiday in August (which I had forgot to mention before)

They replied that the holiday was not a problem.

Then I went off to lunch and, once again, checked my mailbox.

Big envelope was there.

With a big contract inside.

Lunch could wait (yes, really).

Signed the contract, went to the post office to post it, bought lunch (because it can't wait that long), then called my boss to tell him the good news.

He was very British about it (despite not being British in the slightest).

I have a nominal start date with the company of 1st August but am hoping I can bring that considerably forward. And I anticipate that I can end this contract by the end of next week.

A bit more waiting

Nothing in the post today - actually nothing at all, let alone the contract.

I contact the agency who assure me it's in the post and send an unsigned pdf of the contract.

It has all the details correct - name (and name spelt correctly), salary at the correct level etc.

So now I wait for it to arrive by post.

Meanwhile I have asked a friend who is a German to English business translator to quickly read it. I don't need a translation - just a quick review in case I missed something outrageous (which I'm pretty sure I haven't).

If she doesn't have time (and it was a last minute request as I thought they would write a version in English as well) that doesn't matter.

And in a few minutes there's another German speaking practise meetup - this time in a pub one block away from me. Must dash.

Waiting

The contract didn't come today.

Disintermidation

On Friday an agency sent me an email asking if I was interested in a project, working from  home but for a company in NRW (basically the Rhein area of Germany).

This morning I replied that I was interested.

Whilst I was out at lunchtime hunting for a sandwich the agency called me on my mobile and in the street we had a good chat. The result of this is that my name is going to be put forward to their client.

Splendid.

Which is just as well as I recently realised that my current job has been disintermidated but that my management haven't realised and are still paying me.

In fact I didn't have much to do today at all.

Still this evening I heard that the company who interviewed me last week (face to face) are sending a contract over tomorrow.

If it's okay then it looks like I can disintermediate myself from this current job.

Lazy Sunday

But not that lazy.

Despite it being the start of the holiday season in Germany (known as "Summer") I managed to find and apply for three jobs.

And I haven't heard back yet from the company which interviewed me last week.

Despite being able to interview in German I think I should continue to improve it so will later be going to a meetup of expats who practise their skills in this language.

It's at a beer garden - well, as I said, lazy Sunday.

Managing the Enemy

Yesterday I had a second interview, face to face with a company in Munich.

First I was interviewed by the manager who interviewed me on the phone last week.

He drew things on a flip board. Then asked if I had any questions. I asked if I could outline my approach to his situation on the flip board.

At the end of that he asked if I would like to do that role for them.

I replied, "Yes, please".

He laughed because the only other possible answer, framed that way, was "No, thank you".

In all that bit of the interview went well.

But then he went away and the HR director came in.

He was asking questions about my technical competence which were nonsensical in the role we were discussing. Plus his English wasn't that good and mostly we spoke German.

HR people can really screw up your recruitment. You have to keep them under a tight leash and never let them interview your candidates on their own.

I should hear by the end of the week about this job.

The company who telephone-interviewed me only in German for 45 minutes felt that my profile wasn't right for the role. Which is kinda good because it means that my German was quite good.

Oh and today at work senior management have been wondering if my role is of use to them. Which means that they are only slow by about nine months - I've felt that my role added little value since I joined and was ripe for disintermediation.

Still, I've earnt a lot more than I normally do in a year when permanently employed.

Follow-up calls in Germany

Yes or no? It seems yes.

Emergency Bier

Just had a second telephone interview in German - this time for 45 minutes.

Don't wait up for a second posting today, right?

Even more heartening

So I received a reply from the agency I contacted yesterday evening.

They liked my c.v. but wanted to check that I realised it wasn't a project management job, because otherwise I seemed to be a "perfect" match.

Not a problem at all ....

... I have a telephone interview with their client next week.