Blog: William McKnight

« Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Warehouse DBMS Servers, 2006 is out | Main | 2007 Predictions for how we work in Information Management »

Business Intelligence Job Market

There is quite a bit of job movement in data warehousing and business intelligence today, with a couple of high-profile moves making headlines. This happens when there are opportunities and the market is slow to react to the requirements for keeping employees.

Consequently, there may be many readers of this blog who are considering a job change. Many new jobs do not ultimately meet expectations. The major reason is because the job move was done too hastily and the new position was not evaluated carefully enough before it was accepted. So, thinking about all the moves I’ve seen, I’ve provided some tips for making a move a successful one.

1. Interview multiple places. Force yourself to get multiple real offers. This will give you the confidence to negotiate and examine each position to the degree necessary.
2. Ask questions that project yourself into the position after the bloom is off and you are settled, i.e., at 6 week and 6 month timeframes. What will you be expected to have accomplished by then? What will you be doing then?
3. Understand the office culture. If it is a highly driven, impersonal culture and you like to shoot the breeze, you will not like it. What personalities will thrive in the culture? Is it your personality?
4. Understand how many hours your boss works and if s/he takes work home, and how frequently. Many people prefer a round-the-clock mentality because it festers accomplishment and career progression.
5. Look around the workspace when you visit. See those people in cubes, offices, meeting rooms, etc. That will be you if you get the job. How does that feel?
6. Surprise your interviewers with some well thought-out questions. Catch them off guard. Your gut should tell you if the interviewer is affording you a healthy measure of candor. If you get answers with spin, trying to paint a rosy picture for everything, that’s not candor. Most people prefer high levels of candor.
7. It’s all about fit. Don’t portray yourself as something you’re not. You’re only fooling yourself into a bad fit.

Share: