Looking for a guru? or Looking for a job?

or maybe, both sides looking for a match? but not knowing actually what for?

     

     
      It's said, people management is about putting right people at right places... which sounds like nuts and bolts to me. The word "right" sounds... square, identical bricks. naah.
     
      Maybe "putting proper people at proper places"? but this doesn't happen by "putting". This same word "proper" before 'people and before 'places means quite different things.
     
      The point of view is... different. And the way of understanding is... different. Whether a person should/would do a job, or fit a place, or become important part of something bigger. Which of these three the person wants, and which the place-provider wants. i say place-provider, not employer, or manager nor hiring manager, because it's not about just management of resources, at least not in the last case. Hiring is like putting - faceless, feelingless. Becoming part of ... is about passions, devotion, feelings. And human nature. It's about finding a mate. Sounds personal, no? well it is! Ever thought about Vocation?
     
      Let's look at them words... words say a lot.
      _job, _work.. slowly disappear, nomore, it's all "career" now. What the fuck..
      _recruiting... _hiring... _human resources... Bodycount? or Brickcount? hmmm. how about _jobs_market or _work-hands_market?
      Thinking about it, turning language into burocracy tool... one needs to reverse engineer every word read or heard.
     
      So beware the dogs - anyone who talks about 'putting people first', 'people are our most valued capital', 'our missions is ...' etc etc "catchy" slogans is suspicious if not plain dangerous. Them slogans are actually very true and revealing - "putting people first = at the front line", capital = $$$ counts only, "mission..." - mmmm, this is worse, these wanna-be crusaders. Well, just read those carefully picked word-collections with your brain and not with your heart and get what they actually mean and not what you would like them to mean.
     
      Such quite personal things do not happen by _advertising AND _enforcing them on tha walls. ("Did you enroll in our Party?" - the thick finger pointing at you...)
     
      It depends on what you want, and what the other side wants. If the two understandings match, or can converge, it may happen. Just make sure it's all said in plain straight words and No wordy lies about it. Promises... ain't contract. Even if in good case they are more than contract, a moral obligation... where is money, moral goes meaningless, so be careful. Same goes for apologies. Some people have only wordiness left so they don't put value in them. Or forget that value overnight.
     
      Life means change, sooner or later the roads will start diverging... or there's a feeling about it. Spot it! analyze it, think. why, what and how. Don't be just frustrated or surprised. Observe how the crack goes. At certain stage communicate it. Probe. Any reaction? Negotiate? If it's more painful/expensive/useless to keep roads together than to find another road - bye-bye. Quick and sharp. No need for ages-long agonies. Don't believe/give up to small gifts - too little, too late. Remember, it's not only the person who should make important compromises - and changes. The place itself should too - but most managers (and manager "factories", well, corp.schools) - cannot get that changing the direction of the road itself might be an answer as well. They think their road (or was it wall?) is Oh So Great... well, put on a smile, whistling find yourself another place, then tell 'em kiss your ass good bye...
     
      Thinking about it, it's not that hard. Finding the place or the man. And when time comes, leaving. It just takes time and wish... and takes and gives experience.
     
     

      so, what is there?
     
      The order above is what seems to be likely to look for. (1) is personal. (2,3,4) can be searched on the web - or locally, by feet.
     
      An approach on (2) is to start searching for places/persons of interest and then check whether/how to reach them. Sometimes there's no place until the _proper_ man haven't asked or the person is pretty busy until proper bird sings on hir shoulder. This way can be more satisfying, successful even if takes longer to find. (and much cheaper unless time counts).
      All big corps have dedicated job sites - or even business - some their own, some serviced by a big HR agency. But that's a _big_ corp - don't expect to be regarded as anything valuable or irreplaceable...
     
      Any reasonable country (means: well organised) has local jobsearching engines which may or maynot be good enough but certainly have to be considered, apart of the recruitment agencies (e.g. jobtiger.bg or jobnet.com.au). Governments always attempt to provide such a site too, even if not very successful - or not so specialized. At least to see how the things go and which is what on the market.
     
      Some (free?) sites that may help finding the matching people-places:
      (noted the names? also lots of "hot-this" and "bleeding-that"...)
     
      There are zillions of recruitment agencies (most of which do not reply), lots of resume-banks sites, a lot of not-working "resume-upload" buttons/scripts, a lot of "send 50bucks and we'll find u job" sites, and even "gimme your data i'll fill your mailbox with rubbish" sites. Expect anything as reply - none (most times), then from promising the rosy future to oily or sharp "no, thanks" via completely out-of-sync recruiters, having no much idea or relying only on a literal keyword match to do their job. Do you believe in (longevity of) computer-made marriages?
     
      heh, i've never tried how all these sites look to the place-provider - but i guess it's a similar experience... One is sure - recruitment agencies always stay at employer's side of view (where is the money? hmmm)
     
      At last but not least - most these resume banks/sites are searchable by anyone, which means, your quite personal data is just lying around. So - guard your anonimity - disposable email addresses and never say too much identifying info.
     
      As of me experience... Well... it all depends on what i want. After 15 years behind keyboards, computers do not amaze me much anymore. They are... repeatable and predictable. All you can find in them is what somebody else has put in, and quit distorted. And i already know all the patterns, or most of them. And like an old tune, it's boring me. i've matured enough to find that people are unpredictable. Human-machine interaction is one side of it (how to communicate with people in future time by moving dead bricks called computer software...). People are pain in the ass and (maybe because of that?) still, people are fun. Especially when learning things, or teaching things, or _both_. Practical things. Doesn't matter on which side i am - teacher or learner (of course i prefer both. Group of _diverse_ experts, YESSSss). i've been lone warrior. i've been last hole in the bucket, and then the first hole in the bucket, and just an important hole as well... Most things and places _are_ what they seem at first sight, just remember to look carefully less the rosy and black glasses - AND always negotiate some fixed term in the start to decide to stay or to leave. Maybe reading some organisational patterns will help understand. "Architecture follows organisation" and "organisation follows architecture" are quite important. Because if it's gray, it will be gray future. If it's a stirred up mess, it will be so. One loud quarrel leads to another later... et cetera.
     
      So i would like a hands-on software advisor role (consultant/ mentor/ leader/ ... lots of keywords here). Not just teacher, it'll be boring theory soon. Or... a one-off project of experts... conquering a new land? [cough] sorry, [covering a new ground?] [opening a new niche?] [breakthrough in a new field of..?] [oh my shit, this warrior terminology], well doing something noone has ever done before. (and not shooting each other later which has happened gazillion times before).
     
      But that's what _i_ want. While _your_ mileage may differ...
     
      ciao
      SvD, sept.2k3