Do You Have SharePoint Telecommute Positions Available?

If you have SharePoint Telecommuter positions available, you can post them here. Gain an edge on your competition by posting your jobs through a targeted website and audience. Except where an organization's network is not accessible through Internet / VPN connectivity, most SharePoint positions can be supported remotely, from home. Get qualified candidates now!

If you have any other telecommute / telecommute / Work-from-Home positions (anything not related to SharePoint), you can post them here.

If you post your positions through one of the two links in this post, your position will appear prominently at the top of the page.

Happy Recruiting

An Important Milestone Plus a Friendly Reminder...

First, the good news... SharePoint Recruiter Central has now reached over 1,000 visitors!  People are finding us through Google searches, and the stats show that the most visited page is the Definitions #3: Site Collection Administrator page. I am glad this definition is getting the attention it so desperately needs. This role is vital to a positive ROI of any enterprise's implementation of SharePoint.

And now, the bad news... I am still seeing waaaaaaaaay too many job postings that simply say "SharePoint Administrator" or "Senior SharePoint Administrator" for positions that have a heavy developer component to them. Someone please slap these recruiters around for me and direct them to my blog and to the Administrator and Developer definitions pages. :-)

The New Playing Field for Recruitment of SharePoint Skills

It is every IT worker's dream: to commute from the bed directly to the computer sitting just feet away from the bed (or in a den) and be at your workplace without driving so much as a furlong (1 furlong = 1/8 mile for the non horse racing enthusiasts). There may be a brief detour to the shower and maybe the refridgerator. No saying goodbye to the kids, the wife, or most depressing of all, the loyal family dog, and no sitting in congested traffic.

Unfortunately, telecommute work isn't always an option, either because an enterprise's network is a closed one, or the hiring company has simply refused to accept the new paradigm.

Because there actually are companies out there willing to adopt this new method of productivity, SharePoint workers are seeking out these positions. The companies that don't adopt telecommuting and adapt their business definitely put themselves at a distinct disadvantage in recruiting, and nowhere is this more true than in recruiting SharePoint talent. SharePoint experts have more than enough options for places to work as it is and many wouldn't give a second thought to abandoning their current on-site role for one that requires no commute. SharePoint was not made specifically with telecommuting in mind, but SharePoint and telecommuting work very nicely together, and even moreso now than ever before with the increased prevalance of cloud-hosted SharePoint environments like Microsoft's Office 365 (SharePoint online). It doesn't matter if the candidate is an administrator, developer, designer, or a site collection administrator... all of the above can telecommute. All that is needed is a computer and an Internet connection, and probably a phone for speaking with customers.

BOTTOM LINE: If you want to hire top talent, make telecommuting an option for the SharePoint position whenever possible and you, as a recruiter, can simply post your jobs and watch the applications roll in... no more sending recruiting e-mails just hoping and praying for a few replies.

Did I mention "no workplace germs?"

Low Ball Offers...

Recruiters,

Here is a blog all of you should read, and especially in the comments. This reminds me of a certain company, ARMA Global, that I USED to work for. I only worked for them for a short period of time because of Scenario B that is detailed in the post. But instead of six months, I landed that new job in less than 4 weeks, and I had my choice of positions and offers.

http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blogs/captain-obvious-and-the-lowball-offer

This post should also serve as a shoutout to http://www.recruitingblogs.com  Great site. Applies to recruiting SharePoint professionals as well.

Definitions #8: SharePoint Designer

This one is going to be short and sweet, as it is easy to define and explain.

A SharePoint Designer (not to be confused with the SharePoint Designer client) is a person who specializes in customizing the look and feel of a SharePoint site. The individual should be well-versed in basic HTML and have experience with medium to advanced CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). Javascript and jQuery skills are also important.

In addition to HTML and CSS, the Designer should also have an eye for aesthetics and be able to present a smooth but rich user experience in web sites. Also, the ability to create excellent graphics through graphics editing software and stock images is essential.

Résumé Search Keywords: CSS, HTML, javascript, jQuery, SharePoint, SharePoint Designer, Web Designer.

Recommended Resources
 

A Word on Office 365 / SharePoint Online

Office 365 and SharePoint Online are very valuable tools that Microsoft offers to both large and small businesses but is affordable enough for a stand-alone IT professionals to utilize to hone their skills or gain a new skillset.

Depending on which level of service you subscribe to, you can take advantage of just basic features, or go into full Enterprise SharePoint, chocked full of features like Managed Metadata, syndicated content types, pretty much everything but Project Server 2010... All without needing your own server hardware or network infrastructure. All you need is a PC with an Internet Explorer browser.

One of the biggest limitations of SharePoint Online in its current form (SharePoint 2010) is the restriction from being able to use true SharePoint functionality on the public-facing site collection offered with the E-level Office 365 subscriptions. Many people would love to use those features on public facing content and are not advised of these limitations before they buy the subscription, so, needless to say, Microsoft has had to deal with a great deal of backlash. But those days will be over soon... Supposedly.

Microsoft has issued news stating that the new 2013 public facing SharePoint sites offered as part of Office 365 will indeed provide the full functionality of SharePoint.

Even though the current SharePoint online fell short of expectations on the public facing website, someone trying to learn SharePoint 2010 can still use it as a learning and test lab for prototyping solutions using the popular collaboration platform, up to the site collection level. I believe it to still be a bargain for this use, all without having to set up your own hardware, hosting, and configuration.

Key Recruiter Takeaway: Learn SharePoint with Office 365 or with your company's existing enterprise SharePoint portal!

Definitions #7: Microsoft Project Server Administrator

A Microsoft Project Server Administrator is an extension of the SharePoint Administrator role / skillset. A Microsoft Project Server admin should be intimately familiar with SharePoint Administration, somewhat familiar with Microsoft SQL Server, be a good reader, and a good researcher and troubleshooter. Why does the individual need to be a good researcher? Because publications and good instruction for Project Server setup and administration are rarely found in a single, easy-to-read-and follow location, whether that be in print, online, or otherwise. And if the admin will be working with an ITIL-compliant organization, they are going to run into severe organizational roadblocks, and there will be butting of heads within the organization.

Finding the correct pieces to make it all work takes time, some money for good books, and a lot of patience. This is especially true when configuring the extended features of analysis and reporting / BI.  If the Project Server instance is being installed in an enterprise environment on a shared enterprise DB cluster, make sure the SharePoint Administrator has a good, POSITIVE give-and-take relationship with the DBA, because they will need to be able to a) trust you with elevated permissions, even for service accounts, b) allow for additional component software to be installed on their server, and c) make changes to their server by adding new databases, OLAP cubes, etc.

The Project Server admin should be able to learn the basics of navigating Microsoft Project Professional, or, even better, have access to a seasoned project manager who can assist with familiarization of project management tasks within Project Server. The Project Web App performs many of the tasks that Microsoft Project Professional client provides, all through the browser.

Intermediate to advanced proficiency with Excel and PowerPivot is essential if you are going to be using the reporting and analysis capabilities in the Business Intelligence portions of Project Server.  While the use of the reporting capabilities is not a requirement for use of Project Server, your enterprise leadership will definitely want to leverage it if they know it exists, so be ready and prepared to learn the steps for implementation. The admin MUST follow all installation steps carefully, or there will be troubles, hence the need for someone who can read and follow a manual. The Microsoft Technet online video overviews even stress over and over again the necessity of completely reading all instructions before beginning installation.

Be warned! After installation is complete, learning the permissions for Project Server is a huge challenge because of their complexity, granularity, and the fact that they seem to run somewhat counter to permissions assignments in SharePoint.  The permissions are assigned and filtered at several different levels, so it is best to use only groups and categories, preferably the pre-defined ones, as they are out-of-the-box.

Key Recruiting Take-away: Before I get too off-track with technical detail, you, as a recruiter, should be ready to find someone with the existing experience, depending on the needs of the hiring company, especially if they need someone ready to hit the ground and get the installation/implentation done in short order. That existing experience will probably cost you extra. If you have some time to ramp the person up, still be ready to send your existing SharePoint / SQL admins to training and invest in some textbooks if you want to save yourself a bunch of headaches when the admin goes to deploy and implement Project Server.

Résumé Search Terms: Project Server (2007 or 2010), SharePoint Administrator/Administration with SQL Server.

Textbook recommendation that got me through the install process: Implementing and Administering Microsoft Project Server 2010 | Second Edition