10 Ways to a SharePoint Job

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Joel Oleson

The MS news was depressing add that to everyone else that’s laying off and there are a few people looking for work. I posted a while ago how SharePoint is recession proof. Phil shares his comments on SharePoint and the Economy. I don’t want it to get anyone down, but there are some social ways of getting SharePoint jobs.

chrispoteet Still looking for that elusive SharePoint consulting job. 9:27 PM Jan 17th from TwitterFon

Good job Colligo, on setting high numbers and helping us see there are SharePoint ISV companies that are doing well despite the odds.

1. Join a SharePoint User Group – it’s great for networking, but as well companies often are recruiting and looking for help at the User Group. Don’t be afraid to speak up and connect. For info on a user group near you go to sharepointpros.org (ISPA)

2. Tap into twitter. Twitter and all that noise? Yep, there are multiple recruiters who tweet SharePoint jobs by city or region all day long and you can follow those recruiters.

Recent Twitter Traffic:

gaylord_focker: Work at home jobs Seeking SharePoint Tester (Toronto, ON): QA Engineer THIS IS A WORK FROM HOME.. http://tinyurl.com/92y97s

masterdwarf: needs a Sharepoint Developer or extensive OLAP experience. contract to hire. high profile role in multibillion dollar company. #jobs

GetGraDesigJobs: Sharepoint Development Lead / Interactive Design – Bellevue, WA (http://tinyurl.com/98zy6u) Get Graphic Design Jobs

prithvy: JOB: Sharepoint 2007 in SW suburbds of Chicago – Long term contract

TIP: If you can’t stand twitter, you can still subscribe to the twitter feed in your favorite RSS reader with a search term like “SharePoint” or “SharePoint and Job”. That way you don’t have to sit and wait for someone to say something interesting. (You don’t have to anyway if you know what you’re doing.)

3. LinkedIn – I see linked in as nearly the defacto way to build a solid reputation and background and way to network in the world of today and tomorrow. Resume’s are old school and are helpful for people that aren’t familiar with the internet. Linked in communities around SharePoint expertise are often communicating that they are looking for people with skills. Don’t spam the groups, but look at what the recruiters are doing there. Use your LinkedIn Status to tell people what you are looking for.

4. Local SIs (systems integrators) – Whether you want to be a consultant or are in between jobs, connecting with your local systems integrators and even the national ones are always looking to find people to fit contracts they have. It can be a roller coaster, and may sound too good to be true. Sometimes it is, and sometimes you find the job. Many SIs don’t advertise their jobs. They go by word of mouth, so reaching out and telling them what your experience and skills are will help get the word out. Talk to your MS friends to find these local systems integrators. There are tons of ‘em. You don’t have to create your own, while that sounds fun. There’s a lot of secrets, I learned and shared some of these secrets to independent consulting.

5. Reach out to SharePoint MVPs and friends – Despite the down market, there is serious SharePoint work out there still. It has not gone away your network of friends may be aware of companies that are hiring. I believe they still say networking is the #1 way to land a good job. While some companies are no longer recruiting, for the right person they will make room.

6. Speaking at Code Camps/SharePoint Saturdays/.NET and SharePoint User Groups – If speaking is a skill and you have something to say, I’ve found that the regional events are a great way to get visibility and *Very* often someone comes up and says hey I have this problem. They like your solution and they ask how they can get you to work on it. These could easily turn into FTE or Contract positions.

7. Facebook? – Yes social networks are a way to stay connected to the community. On both your linked in and Facebook profile you should update your STATUS to say “Skilled XXX looking for XXX SharePoint position.” Dust off your dice.com, monster.com, and … profiles. With 1745 jobs with the term “SharePoint” on dice.com there is plenty to wade through, there are even more with interesting meta data around them to help you narrow by experience, education, type, . The technology can help you keep tuned in.

8. Diversify your skills and job search – Remember SharePoint is HUGE. If you have experience in Collab, it isn’t that much of a stretch to look at Doc Management, and then Records Management. Is Program Management and Product Management and Project Management different? Sure it is, but it isn’t tough to learn the other disciplines. Support can look up to Ops and Ops can look to Engineering, and Engineering to Technology Architect and so on. Don’t be afraid to stretch. Start a blog or promote your blog when you’re bored. It’s only cool when people are reading it.

9. Stay Positive – The cool thing with social networks… you can stay active in the community and not let your skills go to waste. There are many non profit companies, charities, and codeplex projects even that could use your service and that experience can lead to real jobs. The better connected you are, and the more visibility the more likely you’ll get offers and loops. I’m not saying spam anything. You can and will get dissed/de-listed by your friends and the various social groups if you use them inappropriately. Contribute.

10. Certification – While some would complain that the MCTS is too easy for WSS and MOSS, it will set you apart from the next guy. Even passing one test will help set you a part to a company looking for a “SharePoint” person vs. someone who doesn’t. Even if you’re in a company it helps on retention.

Bonus: Get more familiar with SharePoint Online Cloud and Hosting based services, as the $$ gets tighter and companies look to pinch pennies you’ll see hosted services for corporations become more mainstream.

I was looking at the current jobs on Monster and trends are… they want 2-6 years of experience with a bachelors degree and most likely in the computer industry, but not exclusively. All industries do appear to have SharePoint work with 90% of them in IT or Dev.

Years of Experience

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Less than 1 Y… (7)

Today (77) Yesterday (158)

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