This article about the ‘blame game’ was sent to us in response to one of our articles.
Always to Blame
I have every sympathy for the author of this article’s current situation, but
always find it interesting that IT recruiters are somehow to blame for all the
ills of the world.
It should also be noted that there are lots of other people, in all walks of life, who are experiencing the same difficulties in making a living.
The author seems to think that the world owes him a living (dog, house, car,
wife etc), and that life is a simple conveyor belt where things will naturally
land in his lap if he keeps his head down and works hard.
If only!
There are no jobs for life nowadays, which is the ultimate symptom of the capitalist dream which this author seemed to be holding so dear.
In the ever more pressured chase for bigger houses, cars etc., importance has shifted onto costs, profit and share price, rather than knowledge, experience and quality.
This is a situation embraced and speeded up by the IT contractor market 1990-2015, which in my opinion has started to impact on the whole of society where contracting is becoming more prevalent (Medical sector, Engineering etc).
Professional Relationships
In this market, your contacts and professional relationships become your safeguard for the future.
Rather than slagging off recruiters, why not find one or two that you can trust, who you know personally and that will find you opportunities through being good at their job. (We are out here!).
If you fire off a CV to hundreds of recruiters then you know what will happen – as there are bad recruiters as well as good.
Face it, recruitment is here to stay in the IT sector, and largely grew to the industry it is today due to the propensity of IT technical professionals to contract themselves out from 1990 onwards.
You created the monster of recruitment yourselves – and we are not going away!!
We are partners in OUR industry.
Not Looking Hard Enough
In my opinion, if you have 12 years experience and cannot find any opportunities
then you have not strived hard enough to make your skills marketable enough.
Maybe you have been in a comfort zone, not really pushing yourself to keep up
with the latest technology and just plodding along? In that case, I have no
sympathy as once again – no one owes you a living.
There are jobs for people who put store in retraining, pushing for positions of responsibility and making a difference. I doubt whether you are in this category, especially as after 12 years with no house/wife you have used up your savings in just 6 months!!
Blame Game Doesn‘t Help
Attempting to blame politicians statistics, recruiters, your bosses etc. does not hold water
nowadays.
IT professionals are no longer on the gravy train – you have to be able to demonstrate your importance to potential employers.
All this talk about the market as a whole does not matter – it is whether you and your skills and experience as an individual are marketable that is the issue.
There are plenty of IT jobs, but just more competition.
Don’t forget that we recruiters are also facing more uncertain futures as well – so wake up, don’t blame everyone and everything else and take a look at whether you are in the top 25% of the market, because if you are – you will not find it difficult to get a job!
If you are out of work the blame stops with you!
