Recently an ex-co-colleague put in an email questions that I do believe are on the minds of a number of people and that I've been asked a couple of times already...
- How do you see the current market scenario?
- Is there any opening in java/j2ee?
- Also is it advisable to switch in this time frame, when companies are doing employee cuts?
Good questions.And below is my Rs. 0.02...
In any scenario, it best to be where you know there is a need for your particular skills. In the current scenario of a slowdown, I'd suggest looking at it as an opportunity. This is the time to do the tihings you always wanted to do but were unable to find the time for it.
So as a few examples
- this is the time to get that certification you've always been putting off
- this is the time to do that bit of R & D on the new technologies you've been dying to give a spin
- this is the time to join that open source project and contribute to it, not only with code, but maybe with feature suggestions, bug reports, reviews, etc.
On the job front, I wouldn't say that the market is down, quite the opposite! The market is hot but it's very choosy. Hiring takes place only if you match 80%-90% unlike earlier where even a 20% match was enough to hire a person. While it makes landing a job a little time consuming, it does mean that a job is more secure, as once hired there is a genuine need you statisfy and hence less likely to be laid off!
So my advice would be, do not panic and use this as an opportunity! And whatever you do, create a report. A simple blog, or a one page word doc which will be the additional proof that you've done something constructive. This will help not only you but also the organisation you work in.
What do you think?
