12 job-hunting mistakes no IT leader should make

If
you’re
looking
for
a
job
without
the
help
of
a
recruiter,
Kirby
suggests
you
still
enlist
a
trusted
friend
or
peer
to
do
a
mock
interview
—
and
video
it.
Check
to
ensure
you
show
enthusiasm
for
the
job
without
being
over
the
top,
and
make
sure
you
answer
the
questions
succinctly
and
without
grandstanding.

Not
seeing
yourself
clearly

Spending
20
years
or
longer
at
the
same
company
isn’t
necessarily
viewed
as
favorably
as
it
used
to
be,
says
Shawn
Bannerji,
managing
partner
for
the
data,
digital,
and
technology
leaders
practice
at
Caldwell.
Back
in
the
day,
it
was
considered
a
sign
of
loyalty
to
stick
it
out
that
long.
But
these
days,
staying
at
the
same
place
for
decades
can
be
a
negative.

The
question
is
whether
a
person
who’s
been
immersed
in
the
same
culture
for
so
long
“can
be
successful
outside
the
norms
of
that
specific
organization,”
Bannerji
says.
Many
of
the
traditional
leaders
in
their
respective
industries
—
such
as
GE,
IBM,
Morgan
Stanley,
and
P&G
—
have
multiple
systems
and
processes
set
up
to
ensure
their
employees’
success,
he
explains.

After
spending
so
long
in
one
place,
IT
leaders
can
perhaps
successfully
transfer
their
expertise
and
skills
to
another
organization
or
industry.
But
some
hiring
managers
feel
this
category
of
candidate
should
“go
somewhere
else
and
prove
it
first,
and
then
I’ll
hire
them,”
Bannerji
says.

If
you
do
find
yourself
wanting
to
move
on
after
a
long
stint
in
one
company
—
anything
over
seven
years
—
spend
time
thinking
through
exactly
how
your
skills
are
transferrable.
And
make
sure
that
is
reflected
on
both
your
resume
and
in
interviews.

Failing
to
have
foresight

IT
leaders
seeking
to
build
their
careers
further
need
to
take
the
approach
of
successful
pool
players
and
think
at
least
two
moves
ahead.
Where
are
you
in
your
career,
and
where
do
you
want
to
be?
How
do
your
pay
and
benefits
compare
to
those
of
your
peers?
That’s
another
strike
against
staying
at
one
place
too
long;
company
lifers
tend
to
miss
out
on
the
same
pay
jumps
that
more
nimble
IT
leaders
generally
receive.

Career
paths
used
to
be
more
straight-line;
“you’d
work
hard,
get
good
reviews,
and
assume
that
path
would
lead
to
recognition,
rewards,
and
promotions,”
Bannerji
explains.
“But
we’ve
seen
a
departure
of
this
path,”
he
says.
People
who
want
to
rise
in
their
careers
need
to
acquire
new
skills
and
competencies,
and
“develop
a
portfolio
that’s
a
professional
calling
card”
or
else
“opportunities
can
pass
them
by.”

He
advises
you
to

find
a
mentor
who
can
act
as
a
career
sherpa
to
“advise
you
how
to
invest
your
professional
capital”
and
to
help
you
determine
which
skills
you
should
be
focusing
on
at
any
point
in
time.
If,
say,
you’ve
spent
a
decade
in
infrastructure,
try
to
develop
more
direct
business
acumen
and
broader
management
or
strategy
expertise.

Getting
rusty
on
tech

Conversely,
a
business
degree
and
strategy
proficiency
alone
won’t
cut
it
as
a
CIO
in
today’s
world.
“The
role
is
evolving
to
have
more
substantive
technical
dimensions,”
Bannerji
explains.
“Cybersecurity,
AI,
machine
learning,
the
journey
to
the
cloud”
are
all
important
on
a
resume
today.
Digital
supply
chains
and
other
areas
also
require
technical
chops.

It’s
also
important
to
understand
product
development
because
IT
is
expected
to
help
or
sometimes
even
lead
in
that
regard.

Not
honoring
the
job
description

It
can
be
tempting,
and
sometimes
okay,
to
ignore
some
things
on
a
job
description’s
checklist
that
don’t
fit.
But
if
you
apply
for
a
position
that
specifies
an
advanced
college
degree
as
a
minimum
requirement,
and
you
have
a
bachelor’s,
don’t
expect
to
land
the
interview
no
matter
how
much
experience
you
may
have.

Also
make
sure
the
job
is
something
you
really
can
handle.
If
the
organization
wants
an
implementer,
and
you’ve
been
mostly
a
strategist,
“that’s
not
the
same
thing,”
Kirby
says.
Even
if
you
force-fit
things
and
you’re
lucky
enough
to
be
hired,
chances
are
good
that
the
position
won’t
be
sustainable
for
very
long
and
you’ll
be
job-hunting
again
before
you
know
it.

And,
if
you
don’t
calculate
all
the
key
elements
correctly
—
position,
company,
pay,
and
location
—
you
can
“throw
off
the
entire
equation,”
Bannerji
adds.

Particularly
at
the
senior
or
executive
level,
you
and
your
entire
family
are
on
view.
Hiring
managers
routinely
check
social-media
accounts
for
inappropriate
photos
or
posts,
especially
regarding
you
and
your
spouse,
for
a
clue
about
how
you
both
might
conduct
yourselves
at
corporate
events
and
how
you
represent
yourselves
in
the
broader
world.

If
you
don’t
want
people
snooping,
adjust
your
social
accounts’
privacy
settings
while
you’re
job
hunting
—
and
suggest
that
all
the
members
of
your
immediate
family
do
the
same.
Something
that’s
‘cool’
or
‘cute’
or
‘funny’
might
not
translate
the
same
to
anyone
who
doesn’t
already
know
you.

You
might
survive
an
Instagram
photo
of
yourself
barbequing
in
your
Speedo,
if
you
insist
on
keeping
that
visible
online,
but
make
sure
your
LinkedIn
account
and
other
more
professional
venues
don’t
show
you
in
sweatpants
or
risqué
clothing,
or
looking
(or
acting)
inebriated.
Vet
your
videos
and
invest
in
some
professional
photos.

Kirby
recalls
a
situation
when
one
company’s
internal
candidate
was
determined
to
sabotage
his
closest
rival,
an
external
candidate.
The
internal
person
found
photos
of
the
external
guy
at
a
party
with
drinks
in
both
hands
and
acting
goofy,
all
while
standing
next
to
an
X-rated
cardboard
cutout.
Internal
Guy
emailed
the
photos
to
hiring
managers,
and
in
the
process
both
candidates
were
thrown
out
of
contention.

You
can
still
be
you,
of
course;
just
don’t
leave
any
potentially
damaging
documentation
of
your
wildest
moments
in
places
where
recruiters
or
hiring
managers
can
find
it.

Failing
to
read
the
room

To
survive
executive-level
interviews,
you
must
hone
your
emotional
quotient
(EQ)
skills,
Kirby
advises.

“One
of
our
candidates
was
showing
off
his
deep
knowledge
of
baseball
and
failed
to
notice
that
one
of
the
other
people
in
the
room
had
her
eyes
glazed
over.”
It
cost
him
the
job.

Get
in
touch
with
everyone
you
know
from
your
former
jobs
and
those
you’ve
met
in
various
professional
organizations,
explain
what
you’re
looking
to
do
and
ask
if
they’ve
heard
of
anything
related
to
that
and
to
let
you
know
if
they
do.
“Chances
are
that
IT
leaders’
next
jobs
will
come
from
their
network,”
Betzig
adds.

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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