Time to make it official!  I have moved to Clearpath Solutions Group where I’ll take on the role of Virtualization Practice Manager, focusing on delivering VMware solutions and services to our VMware, Cisco, and EMC customers.  I’m looking forward to joining a high energy company where I can focus on the VMware technologies that I am passionate about.  I’m going to hit the ground running with VMware View implementations, Site Recovery Manager (SRM) work, and vSphere upgrades on EMC storage and Cisco UCS servers.

A few perks that I am looking forward to in this new job:

• With the changing roles, I’ll be ramping up my writing on VMtoday, as well as on Clearpath’s blog.  A consistent focus on virtualization ought to help provide fodder for my blogging.
• My commute will shorten by about 33% (new commute will be a whopping 4 miles each way on side roads – unheard of in Northern Virginia / Washington, DC!).
• More active in social media – @ClearpathSG gets it (+Clearpath Solutions Group, http://www.facebook.com/ClearpathSolutions, http://www.linkedin.com/company/100452)
• VMware Partner Exchange (PEX) – I look forward to seeing all my virtualization friends at PEX next week!
• New colleagues – there’s some great folks at Clearpath, and we’re still hiring.  Check it out and join the team!

Leaving my role as IT Manager at Tiber Creek Consulting was not an easy decision, but it is time to move from being a constantly distracted, generalist IT Manager to something with a bit more focused. Tiber Creek has been amazingly flexible and encouraging over the past three years as Stephanie Townsend and I have worked though her health issues and the stress it imposes on our family (with Stephanie having improved over the past few months after a new procedure to patch her cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) leaks, I feel some freedom to go after great new things).   Tiber Creek is a great group of people doing great work for our armed forces, and I’ll miss the great team that I have been a part of for the past three years.  Thanks for everything, Tiber Creek!

Here’s to an awesome new role, at an awesome new company.  Thumbs up – let’s do this thing!

As the New Year rolls around you may find yourself looking for a new paying gig. Times are tough, but the virtualization space shows continued strength as companies seek to consolidate servers, reduce administrative burden, and hunt down cost savings in the data center. We will look at how you can land that new virtualization gig quickly.

Virtualization jobs come in all shapes and sizes, from the small shop IT guy who runs everything from the desktop to the data center (or data closet as the case may be) to large silo-structured enterprise environments where IT staff rarely deviate from their narrowly defined set of tasks.  Then there is the whole consulting side of the business, with small and large shop mentalities to go along with it.

Step 1 in getting a new job that will really satisfy (Snickers, anyone?) is to define what it is that you want to do.  Are you a big picture thinker who likes to pull in all of the pieces of the puzzle and assemble them over time – maybe a small IT shop is for you.  Do you like rapid-fire problem solving?  Check out a consulting gig where you can solve a variety of problems for customers.  Figure out what you want to do first, then start looking.

Step 2: Target your search.  Sure the big sites like Dice.com, Monster.com, and CareerBuilder.com have a ton of jobs listed, but to find that really great job you should look for other search resources.  Some of the new job search sites, including SimplyHired.com, Juju.com, and Indeed.com can turn up hits that you won’t find other places.  TheLadders.com also yeilds some great gems.  Social networking tools like Facebook and LinkedIn can get you closer to the hiring manager than search sites can.  Here in the Washington DC area we have a bunch of resources such as the Washington Post’s Job , Craigslist Jobs, The Northern Virginia Technology Council’s Job Site, and DCJobs.com.  A little Googling and personal networking will surely reveal similar resources in your area.  You can also get creative.  Use the VMware Partner Directory to identify companies in your area offering virtualization sales, services, hardware, etc.  Also be sure to check out job sites that focus on virtualization, such as VM People.

Step 3: Think outside the box.  Use search terms other than VMware.  Recruiters don’t always know the technology they are looking to staff.  Search for VM Vare, virtual, virtualization, ESX, HyperV.  Think of related related industries in the virtualization ecosystem (think storage vendors, software vendors, startups, systems integrators, etc.).  Visit the websites of those companies and find their ‘Careers’ section.

Step 4: Get your resume updated.  Show your skills and certifications.  Get your resume out there using social networking tools, leverage sites like VisualCV.com to build your portfolio and showcase your accomplishments.

Step 5: Give back to the community after you get that awesome new job.  Is your company hiring more staff?  Post those openings on VMtoday.com.  The stronger your team is, the better your chances are of being noticed for promtion and expanded responsibilities.

Do you have any great sources for finding virtualization jobs?  Leave your ideas in the comments!