Miracles do happen

[Tim Holloway]

No, Billy hasn't gotten hired yet (AFAIK), but I finally did. It's been a LONG 2-1/4 years. Not the most lucrative position I've ever held, but there's some growth potential, and a good chance to doing new and interesting things.
Since I'm one of the alarmists for offshoring, it's only fair that I list the reasons why I got hired as opposed to farming the work out. There's 2 main reasons. First, it's apparently going to involve a lot of wandering around HQ looking at existing systems and figuring out how to enhance and secure them into an enterprise-wide coherent whole. They'd have to completely BPO before this could easily be done offshore.
Secondly, they're a bunch of cheap bastards, so it's not just salaries they save money on, they also aren't using the big, expensive name-brand software systems that bigger companies standardize on. Which in turn gives less of an advantage to out-of-house work, since anybody working on this stuff will have a learning curve and will have relatively little use for the results of all that learning being recyclable for any other client.
So I guess it's a niche, but as long as it pays the bills, I won't complain.

[Jason Menard]

Congrats!

[Sam Kebab]

Congratulations Tim!

[Ashok Mash]

Well done Tim! Congratulations!
And I hope your new job gives you enough free-time to hang around here in the Ranch!

[Bhau Mhatre]

Congrats!

[HS Thomas]

they also aren't using the big, expensive name-brand software systems that bigger companies standardize on.

I bet you are glad of that though!
Congratulations.
Any job-searching strategies you would recommend that worked particularly in your case ?

[Calina Cazangiu]

I'm really happy you got a job!
I still have this idea about relocating to Florida sometime next year, probably, when my contract here ends. Have you noticed any signs of recovery in IT ?
Calina

[Derek Grey]

Tim,
Congratulations.

[Pooja Kumar]

Congrats Tim!!!

[Matthew Phillips]

[Maulin Vasavada]

Congrats Tim!!
Regards
Maulin

[Matt Cao]

Hello,
You haven't breaking record yet. I know someone 3 years on the bench. Congratulations!!!
Regards,
MCao

[Jamie Robertson]

congratulations Tim, hope all goes well!
Jamie

[Rufus BugleWeed]

Way to go Tim. I'm still counting on you to carry a torch.
P.S. Are they going to hire anybody else?

[Billy Tsai]

I am still waiting...............
have been waiting for a long time

[Alexandre Ferras]

Billy, how long have you been waiting for a job ?

[HS Thomas]

Looks like we are not going to hear from Tim anymore. :roll:

[Stephen Pride]

WTG Tim!

[Paul McKenna]

Congratulations Tim!
Billy, are you in NZ or Australia?

[Manish Hatwalne]

Congrats Tim!
- Manish

[Greg Neef]

Can I touch you?

[Tim Holloway]

<blush/>
Wow, that's what I call a response! Thank you one and all!
I'm probably not going to ride off into the sunset here, since the issues under discussion are much bigger than just me - not only IT offshoring, but general offshoring and the likelihood that microprocessor-based automation is going to put some serious pressure on the grunt jobs that people who can't do anything else fall back on. First we had Aibo and Roomba. Now I hear they've come out with a new, smarter robot vacuum-cleaner that can play watchdog (yes, it's true, a hoover that barks at intruders!). We may end up seeing all the old folks greeting people at Wal-Mart replaced with shiny new Asimo's. The local grocery stores want to go one better and make me checkout and bag my own groceries. There are times when I fear that the only secure jobs outside of health and public safety are going to be the security guards that get paid minimum wage to ensure those Everyday Lower Prices by treating the customers like shoplifters first and revenue sources second. But I've said all that before.
Truth is, worker productivity is at such high levels anymore that more people than just me are beginning to wonder if the 8-10 hour workday 5-6 days a week isn't an idea whose time has passed anyway, where companies are pursuing the illusion of greater productivity and losing the substance.
BTW, I have to credit my job interviewing skills for this long-overdue change in status. It only took about 4 interviews to get the job - the killer was the 6+ month average time between interviews!

[Al Newman]

Fantastic news, Tim. But I'm not surprised, I know a tough old hand when I read his posts. You'll be a fantastic hire. Classic Systems Integration job, like what I did in my last job before getting dumped.
Sorry I'm late congratulating, but I'm just back from 2 days in the hospital. Nasty fever and whatnot, but the doctors fixed me and I'm feeling better than I have for months.
Best of luck. Which I know you will have, because it's not luck, it's motivation and skill.

[Paul McKenna]

Tim,
You've been reading too much of David Wessel's commentary in Wall Street Journal. Get off it!
[ August 27, 2003: Message edited by: Sriraj Rajaram ]

[Tim Holloway]

Originally posted by Sriraj Rajaram:
Tim,
You've been reading too much of David Wessel's commentary in Wall Street Journal. Get off it!
[ August 27, 2003: Message edited by: Sriraj Rajaram ]

Not me. I couldn't afford the subscription. Payday's 3 weeks off yet.

[Mark Herschberg]

Congrats Tim!
--Mark

[Bhushan Jawle]

Congrats Tim ! Your patience is really admire .

[Andres Gonzalez]

[Carlisia Campos]

No miracle here! People started looking and they saw the obvious. I hope you have a blast!

[Sara Jahan]

Congrats Tim!