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Agile is becoming one of the most spoken buzzword in the field of IT, software development and project management; and is becoming a fast-track ticket to many new positions.   You name it – Agile methodology, Agile development, Agile project management.

Dictionary defines Agile as : 1. quick and well-coordinated in movement; 2. active; lively; 3. marked by an ability to think quickly; mentally acute or aware.   Is it the formula to get a project or software product done quicker, with well-coordinated and lively team?

Around 2001, a reformation moment arrived in sotware engineering with the Agile Manifesto and declaration of Agile Alliance, and it was posted as :

“We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.  Through this work we have come to value:

0  individiduals and interactions over processes and tools

o  working software over comprehensive documentation

o  customer collaboration over contract negotiation

o  responding to changes over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more”

Associated with Agile is often a term called SCRUM, where a 2-day or so training orientates you with the roles and the activities to 2-week release cycles called SPRINT.   Would the SCRUM SPRINT get you closer to the Agile Manifesto?  I think it depends – it enables interactions and responding to changes, but is it an obvious formula to produce working software, or enable customer collaboration?

In the area of project management,  if your previous experiences do not name the way of doing it as Agile, does it mean that you are out of the door of all Agile-related positions?   Many organizations value the items on the left more, it is worthwhile to compare your way of getting things done against the Agile Manifesto.   Maybe you are closer to Agile than what you think; and that you bring good techniques on how to achieve collaboration, interactions and responding to changes.

January 2013 is part of the history.   Aside from the unbelievable run in the stock market, are your year resolution and new goals done and dusted?  Are we serious in achieving them?

Goal settings and the commitment to achieve them do not come hand-in-hand; and at times, people set goals that are shy of the real purpose.  It is easy to think that we want something when we do not really want it.   Let’s use “obesity” as the situation.  More  research is showing that obesity is a growing problem for the younger generation.  We may wish for healthy weight and yet wish more for the pleasure in food.  We may wish for health but wish more for little exercise to keep up.

Some people set their goals around weight.   How is the goal to “achieve the optimal weight” compared to the goal to “reduce the weight by 10 or 20 or 30 pounds”?   There are many success stories around “weight loss in such and such period of time” and the impressive differences in the “before and after look”.

Say the goal is to “reduce the weight by 10 or 20 or 30 pounds”, there are numerous commercial products.   So a person gets from 200 pounds to 170 pounds, very impressive.   At 170 pounds, the goal is done and dusted.   What happens next, the goal no longer exists, and chances are the weight is back up to closer to 200 pounds sooner or later. Then it becomes the goal again and it can be achieved again.

Say the goal is to “achieve optimal weight”, it is a scary goal to declare, it is a different approach and level of commitment.  It is no long like a project that has start and end; and at the end, one can revert.  It requires an ongoing effort and attention; and may even a change of living style and habit to achieve and sustain.

The common goal of job seeker is “to find a job”.  Obviously so.  Is the goal to get a job ASAP or to land on something that is in line with the overall career objective.   It requires different commitment and willingness for the latter one.

I was in a conversation that comes up once in a while to mature job seeker.  Tough questions like “how do you see yourself compete with younger ones?”, or other more politically correct questions.  The perception is that one learns faster when we are young;  young guns are better; and there are scientific evidence that our brains cells stop to grow at certain age, so on and forth.

If you know of a professional tennis player, chances are that you have heard of “Roger Federer”.   According to some poll, he is the second most respectable person just behind Nelson Mandela. (by the way, the movie Invictus on Mandela is a good one).   Even if it is debatable if Roger Federer gains that level of global respect,  his record is not controversial.    He has countless records on the number of tennis tournaments won, 17 majors won, 300+ weeks at number one  on the ultra-competitive individual sport of tennis.  In short, his number of records is by itself a record.   How does he sustain the level of excellence, now at age 31 approaching 32?  At age 31 in 2012, he regained the number 1 spot from the generation in the age of 25 or 26; and he is a better player than a few years ago.   How could he go against the natural path when tennis professional are thinking of hanging up the rackets after 30?  I believe his secret is his passion in what he is doing, his motivation and belief to be better, more so than his own natural talent.  Many accomplished tennis stars lose the passion and motivation, and rapidly comes down. It is not a skill deterioration, it is the going away of the desire.

In our career, when we lose the passion, motivation and the belief, it becomes harder to compete.

To those tough questions “how could you compete?”  I believe it is not the ability but the desire and motivation.  Assuming you apply for the position, it may already prove the desire is there.

To the contrary, one has the ability to learn smarter, faster, grasp the big picture and apply the learning better with experience, but we don’t see that happen often.    It may not be the ability but the desire and motivation.

Most people have a much longer career than the short tennis career.  The challenge is – how do we keep  up our interest and motivation?  Next time when the tough question shows up, it may become your shining moment.

January so far has been quiet in terms of job opportunities.

Stock price pattern may not reflect the company’s performance pattern.  In similar ways, less job openings does not translate to quieter moments for job seekers.

There are a few things that actually keep job seekers pretty busy.

There are the job seekers’ groups or networking, often offerred by Career Transition Services Agency.  Non-profit job seekers’ groups typically require some time commitment and showing up.

The one I went to, expects a 4-hour service commitment every week; plus some weekly meetings.   That is not petty time.  The idea is to  expand network and to improve some skills.   It is one of the better ways to broaden the social or professional circle in a secure setting.   The different types of profession and the diverse industries of these professionals, I have met in the last few months, far exceeded the diversity in the past ten years and more.

In such a setting, the positivity is crucial when the weekly meetings take place.  I would rate these groups on the amount of positive energy the leaders can bring.  In this group, the organizer does a very good job to plan guest speakers in the meetings, with relevant soft topics.

For those who have been in between jobs for a while or for a few times, it almost feels natural to develop bitterness or disappointment.  I think job seekers’ group makes a difference to give the members a lift every week in addition to providing services to improve job search skills.

This past week has felt like a very LONG week!…  I am glad that it is coming to the weekEND.   Job opportunities sometimes come in spurts, its arrival tends to do a very good job to kill rhythm or other plans.

Last week has 5 interviews on different job nature, very different companies.  It has taken some mental strength to prepare and show-up.      It feels like travelling to 5 different countries in 5 days, good experience yet exhausting.

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Cool Unique Questions:

My top ranking:

– how heavy is this building?

– spend 3 minutes to teach me a new skill.

– how would you set up at disney to get new customers sign-up for a credit card company?  how much would you charge per every successful sign-up?

– plus brain teaser type of question.

These make the experience unique and quite memorable.  How it could have helped the selection, it is still beyond me in spite of hiring experience.

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Towards the end of a conversation:

Job seekers sometimes would be suggested to ask questions like “How do you see my fit to this position?”   So far, I find this question could be intimidating to some, it is like “tell me my score right there?”.   I prefer this following series of questions:

– What makes a best fit for the position?  Or what would make a great partner for you in this position?

If the response echoes, that is wonderful to provide feedback; if it represents another individual, it is food for thought offline.

The other question I think is easier on both sides of the interview:

– Are there further areas I can answer to complete your assessment?

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Success story 

one lady in my job group got an offer in an exciting company, she has been in one company for the last 30 days, and have no job search experience, until now.  Isn’t it exciting news?

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After a holiday hiatus, it is time to dust off the sleeping-bug and get back to some rhythm.

January 4, 2013 is one of the best days ever for wedding.  Why? January 4, 2013 in YYMD format becomes 13-1-4, the Chinese pronounication of 1314 in Chinese has a meaning.   CCUE means everything is as wish; 1314 means “forever in the whole life for the whole century”.   Imagine how sweet for a couple to get married on such a date “love forever in the whole life”.

Let’s say it creates some good-luck charm for anything we start today.

Finally there is a deal for the US fiscal cliff.

Well, for job searcher, there are different types of cliff that can easily get a person in low spirit.  What is a job search (fiscal) cliff?

• You run into a job opportunity that fits like a glove, all the interviews are done and the conversation flows beautifully, and the hiring manager promises to get back to you quickly.   It feels an offer is on the way.  Then next day comes and goes, another day and then more days of anticipating until the news that another candidate has been selected or there is a change in the hiring direction.  This is a cliff where the high expectation turn to a low disappointment.
• You run into a long period of no action.  It seems all applications go to a black hole. What happens?
• You finish an interview, and the interviewers end the conversation making you feel chance-less for a job that you consider qualified when you apply.
• And believe me, more forms of cliff.

Like the law of physics, after a cliff fall,  it takes extra anti-gravitational energy to get back up and it is not easy.  It is good for the endurance test.  It is even more challenging to get back up higher, and to-be-ready for another cliff.

Some thoughts to climb out of the hole from the fall over the cliff…

– Think of the positives.  It is encouraging to go deep in the process, than not getting started.  It is like “well, you are the runner up”, while the defeat is hard, it is still a good show.   You have conversations with more folks of this company than many other jobs that you have ever applied, aren’t you?  Not everyone is a born positive thinker.  Next …

– Distraction.  Most are born with natural survival and recovery ability, often it takes time. Some take a couple of hours, a day, some take much longer to recover from a rejection.  Distraction can be in the form of doing something related to a hobby, reading a book, sports…   If you run out of ideas, then just trying something easy and new.  For example, if you are never a music person, try to pick up a crazy teenager music from the library; or pick up a new free class, from the zillions of web sites.

– Keep getting at it.  The best recovery is to create new hope and opportunities.  That means, going back to the drawing board, be it be more job applications or more networking.

– Be Better.  The good news is there is always room for improvement.  If you get the offer, it feels like the end of the journey; if you don’t get it, it forces reflection.  These reflections are pre-mortem for the next opportunities.   If you are in a job search group, it is a good window to ask for feedback.  Failure, to get what has been expected, helps to grow character and resilience.

I wish all to be healthy and happy 1314.

Much to the prediction of some recruiters and confirmed by job seekers, December turns out to be a more active month.   With holiday fast approaching, it feels like the last push before the end of the year.

When the market is active, job searching activities are much like managing multiple projects at the same time – different positions, different requirements, different teams, organizations and culture.   The experience of this would be a credential that effective job seekers have the skills asked of many position – the ability to manage multiple and very different projects in parallel.
There are additional similiarities between career transition and program/project management.  How so…

– explore the opportunities Vs opportunity definition

– define a position plan Vs program objective

– network or career transition services Vs program team or stakeholders

– submit resume Vs launch project investigation

– interview Vs business analysis

– offer Vs sign-off, often it involves the negotiation to get one working.

Seemingly a lot of common techniques.

What if the job seeker does not like project management?

How about this analogy with tennis tournament?  There are many tournaments, each has only that many players in the main draw, amidst many tennis pro.

First, the players get to the main draw, similar to networking or submitting resume.

The interview is like the single elimination process in tennis match.   Winner stays, other move on to next tournaments.

The initial rounds are a bit easier, when it gets to semi-final or final, the competition is more intense.  The intent to attend any tournament is to win and get the trophy.

There comes very different points of view about job market in the month of December.   A lot of suggestion that  November and Decemeber are quiet months with holidays kicking in; the contrary view points out more people land on jobs in December than any other months.    What’s what then?

My personal observation confirms that since November, there are less jobs posted.   Yet, seems more momentum from hiring teams to close existing job positions or shortlist candidates.  I have interviewers coming back for further interview earlier than set schedule; and that hiring manager has the tones that they like to close req. before the holiday.

For motivated job seekers, month of December could be a very good month with the intent of hiring manager, and a number of job seekers taking a break!

Some thoughts while going through more interviews….

Almost every investment bronchure would mention “past performance is not indicator of the future”.  One of the most popular forms of interview is “behavorial interview”, or “situational” questions where we are asked to relate how we address situation in the past.  Does it really help to forecast the future performance?  Situation changes, environment changes, and priority changes.

For many companies, people are the talents and they are the differentiator.  I just start to ponder it would be a cool problem to solve to figure out  ways to improve the quality of interview and the hiring process for companies.  Before I finish thinking, I read about a tool iLiftOFF, an online recruitment testing engine to help companys recruit better using online tests.

OK, how about companies having cool ways to measure “on the job performance” against “interview performance”.   With advance in technology and data analytics, maybe it would not be too long to find an app. doing this.

Job seekers get lists of typical interviewing questions,  they are like “questions that would show up in examinations”; and they show up in interviews.   So the list is great to help the preparation.   Some questions are more commonly used.   There are questions like “tell me about the greatest accomplishment on the job”… it is a tough one as it is  like choosing the best fruits of all, or in sports, discussion about “greatest of all times”;  or questions like “tell me of a difficult situation or a failure”.  If a difficult situation got overcome, would that stay as “difficult situation” in memory?  If the situation is a failure, do we want to remember, let alone share it in an interview…

I appreciate those hiring managers paraphrase the “real challenges” in the job, and ask the candidates how they approach.  We are then trying to solve a real situation in the present, and not trying to guess which past experience could be relevant.

I recently interviewed a company which produces birth control devices for women.   If not for the job search, it would take an unlikely coincidence to be aware of the progress in medical devices for birth control.

From my perspective, social challenges like Food, Shelter and Poverty have a lot to do with the population trend of the countries; and it is a surprise that would not be a visible topic in those economic summit of the country leaders.  It is as simple as demand and supply.  More people, more demand on the basic needs.

I have been in two places where population management was an agenda.  In Hong Kong, around 2 decades ago when it was still governed by British, there were educational commercials on how a family with 1 kid were cute; 2 kids were wonderful; 3 kids became burdensome; 4 kids the family became broke; or sometimes got a superstar celebrity to advocate the same thing.  That was really smart, its influences were not just for the current generation, but more to the next generation who listened to these commercial tunes as they grew up.    Time forward, in the current generation, it is not so often to find a family in Hong Kong with more than 2 kids; and with 4 kids, very uncommon.

China adopted a more forceful approach on one family one kid.  This is just so in line with its image; similar intent on population control, it caused so much international criticism in at least the first decade of the policy; almost two decades after, it only took one real bad situation to undermine the policy and made it really inhumane.

How about for other developing countries?

Could it be a win-win for company with birth control medical devices to link with government or non-profit organizations, and help folks in other parts of the worlds to be aware of the choice?

Technology may ultimately solve the social challenges around food, poverty, hunger; it is very hopeful.  At the same time, many social problems like environmental, hunger and others, don’t they have some relationship with the size of the population?