Posted by: George Kaszacs
Job momentum is starting to build in the California job market. The Bay Area is at the forefront of state-wide job recovery citing that more than 80% of new jobs added last year were located in Silicon Valley. SimplyHired says that nearly 40% of the 130,000 open positions in Silicon Valley today are for software engineers. Nationally, software engineering is still considered one of the top ten fastest growth job categories.
Are we on the cusp of a Silicon Valley hiring boom? Could we be experiencing a market phenomenon where startups invent, and VC’s invest their way out of recession? If you’re connected to what many call, “The Mecca of Engineering” that is the Bay Area, the simple fact that these questions are being asked should give you pause. Perhaps the more important question to ask is, “What does this appetite for talent mean to me?”
Consider the structure of a typical engineering organization:
- For every 6-12 Engineers hired, 1 Manager, Director or VP is hired or promoted.
- For every 2-4 Managers, 1 Director, Sr. Director or VP is hired or promoted.
- For every 1-2 Directors, 1 VP or Sr. VP is hired or promoted, and so on.
The point: As the demand for front line engineering talent grows, so does the demand for engineering leadership. This demand only compounds inside startup organizations where internal promotions are not likely or impossible.
As an engineering executive, you experienced firsthand, the increasing volume of calls recently from recruiters pitching new deals, colleagues touting hot new startup ideas, or a VC connection that’s hoping to chat with you over coffee. If you’re like most, you’d say, “I’m happy and really too busy to add on another project or consider new deals.” However, from our perspective as a recruiting firm in partnership with the majority of the Valley’s top VC’s, we’d tell you the market has never been riper with opportunity for new engineering leadership.
In 2010, our firm, Riviera Partners connected with over 8,000 engineering leaders employed in Silicon Valley. From these interactions, we compiled the most common reasons for considering new career opportunities:
- Change in executive leadership and/or ownership
- Change in company vision and/or product strategy/direction
- Just launched and feel technology challenge has been met
- Don’t want to re-up for another 2-4 years
- Technology is dated – time to move into the main stream (social, mobile, cloud, or new media)
- Desire to advance/progress career to next level
- Opportunity to own more, gain visibility and/or responsibility
- Stock fully vested – cash/equity component not competitive
It’s probably safe to say, that if you find yourself in one of these categories, I’m preaching to the choir. However for the rest of you, perhaps it’s time to explore your options by taking that call.
The case for coffee:
- “Busy” isn’t always “best” for your career – Often it takes someone on the outside to get our attention and give us perspective. When was the last time you took stock of your career positioning and market value?
- Intellectual curiosity needs feeding – Let’s face it, we don’t know what we don’t know. Curiosity leads to discovery, which educates and empowers.
- Knowledge gives you leverage and power – “It controls access to opportunity and advancement.” – Peter Drucker
- Timing – it’s impossible to time “if” or “when” a deal may take off but with market intelligence, it’s much easier to make educated timing decisions about your next move.
- Expand the “The Master Mind” group – defined by Napoleon Hill as “an alliance of two or more minds blended together in a spirit of perfect harmony, cooperating for the attainment of one single definite major purpose”. To get where you want to go, you’ll need help.
At the end of the day, you’ve got nothing to lose and potentially the world to gain. So take the meeting.
And for you non-coffee drinkers… now would be a good time to start.
“Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.” – Ovid
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