So it’s been very interesting over the last six months working in the printing industry. As a few of my readers know, I have been working in the printing (prepress) industry for more than 15 years. I worked in the product development group at Creo for seven of those years, wearing more than a few hats (won’t bother to name them all).

After leaving Creo (now Kodak) in 2004, I started my own consulting business. I really, really wanted to get out of the “production” side of prepress/printing, because I felt there would be no room for growth in that segment for many, many years. At Creo I worked on a lot of Prinergy products and visited a great many shops that had implemented Prinergy system and witness the fantastic growth in productivity that resulted from modern day workflow system like Prinergy. And in year 2001 or thereabouts, the printing industry stopped growing.

Increased productivity + Stagnant growth = Job Losses.

So I paid the mortgage and the groceries for a couple of years as a project manager and/or business analyst about one year ago a friend of mine got me interested in internet marketing. And that’s pretty much my focus now, I do search engine optimization and pay-per-click and affiliate marketing.

I do internet marketing for one of my customers Printcraft Solutions but I don’t write much about it on this blog as in this business, what do that works, is not something you broadcast to the world. What I will say is this: man we are smoking like Steve McQueen with this stuff. Good traffic to the web site and business is looking up and believe me, with the Canadian dollar at par, not every Vancouver printer can say that.

So this is my sales pitch. If you are an offset printer and you are not located in the province of British Columbia, I can drive traffic to your site. And not just crappy traffic, but good local traffic that is looking for the services that you provide and will turn into paying customers. How will I do this? I won’t write how it’s done on the blog but this is what I can offer. For the first five (NOTE: jUNE 9TH, TWO LEFT) reader who comment on this post, I will do this for free:

1. Review your website for important keywords that will rank you in the search engines.
2. Review your website for OTHER factors that will boost your rankings.
3. Check your competitors and see how THEY rank in the search engines.
4. Give an estimate of how hard (or easy) it would to boost your site in the rankings or draw traffic to it.

Some marketing companies would charge $100s for these services but I will do it for free, but remember you MUST be an offset printing business and you cannot be located in British Columbia.

This post was originally inspired by a posting in a prepress forum where somebody complained about the low pay at their job. I was tapping out a quick reply when I realized that for about 10 years, I have been reading about prepress operators complaining about their lousy jobs and how can they get a better. So I wrote an essay outlining ten steps that you can take.

And whenever I see a posting in a forum about somebody complaining about their lousy job, I’m going to send them this article, whether they like it or not.

1. If you have worked at current position for 2 or more years, and you haven’t gotten a raise or a promotion, then the problem is you. You did not set proper expectations with your employer vis-a-vis your career path. You were too meek, not assertive enough, whatever. Set your mind on moving on. Do not attempt to read this post for tips on getting a salary increase or a promotion or whatever. There is too much wee-wee in the well, put there by your inability to promote yourself. Any job is better than the one you have now.

2. Take some assertive training or some courses on self-confidence. Perhaps you think you are unattractive or overweight and that makes you not very desirable to other employers. I have met many people in the world of prepress who have low self-confidence because of  looks/weight issues. Believe me when I say that the prepress industry is not filled with people who just missed the cut for the Calvin Klein underwear gig, if you get my drift. Personally speaking, if you squint, I do bear a passing resemblance to Richard Gere. If you take off 60 pounds and find a really good plastic surgeon. But back to you. Your new employer will not care what you look like or how much you weigh, only if you can do the job and fit it (not be a jerk). So stop looking in the mirror (and learn to hide your jerkiness, if you are a jerk).

3. Lose your snobbishness over taking a “bridge” job. Many people who have intellectually challenging/difficult jobs will not consider taking a job that is less intellectually challenging because it is a blow to their ego and/or they fear a loss in social status. Many people in prepress enjoy a sense of intellectual satisfaction in doing their job because they truly know how difficult it is, even if they get paid the same amount as the guy who comes in and clean toilets at night. Well your pride in your intellect is your stumbling block, get over it. I will give you a personal example: In the summer of 2004 I was a project manager at Creo. A half-dozen people took my orders, the CEO of the company knew my first name and I was involved in decision-making processes where ten of thousands, if not hundred of thousands of dollars, were on the line.

In the autumn of 2004, I had left Creo, not entirely voluntarily, and I was working downtown… painting the side of a building. The supervisor (MY supervisor) basically had no healthy teeth and the guy painting next to me had been recruited off the street (he had his shopping cart parked next to the job site). Why did I take the job? My severance package was still being negotiated by the lawyers and the job paid cash. Any job is a good job that pays you cash.

4. Don’t let the apps narrow your search. Again this is another trap that people who have technical jobs fall into. They are expert in Preps and maybe Rampage or Apogee and they search on the jobs boards for those keywords. And then they want to commit suicide when no jobs for Apogee or Prinergy operators show up on Monster dot com. My advice is to think of applications like shoes: They get released, they are hot for a season or two, and then they fall out of fashion. Over the course of my 17-year career, I have learned at least 50 applications, of which maybe 45 are now obsolete and I don’t bother putting on my resume. If you think of yourself as a “Preps expert” or a “Photoshop expert” and build your resume around that, then you are selling yourself short and probably suffer from low-self esteem. See point #2.

5. Build a really long resume about 4 pages at least, and ten pages is fine. Nobody reads resumes anymore, they just put in through the keyword scanning software. If they want a resume that is to be read by An Actual Human Being, they will tell you.

6. If you are being interviewed by a HR person, do not get into the technical nature of your job. They are just there to make sure you are not a psycho and to ensure you are not too expensive for their employer. Make small talk, show a genuine interest in the company (if you are not genuinely interested in working for them, why are you there) and you will do fine.

7. If the interviewer is an a——-e and the interview is a disaster, then you didn’t want to work there anyways. Yes, I have been interviewed by those types of people, and the only reason I didn’t bite their heads off because of their ignorant, boorish behaviour was so that the recruiter didn’t lose face.

8. If you find another job, and your current employer offers the same amount of money, do NOT stay with your current employer. Financially speaking, you will NEVER make a penny more at your current employer than what they are offering (reluctantly) at present. Meanwhile, at your new employer,  the salary that was offered to you, that was your STARTING salary.

Under NO circumstances whatsoever, do not feel ANY guilt in leaving your old employer, not matter how times they yank you into the office to tell you how irreplaceable you are. To be quite frank, there is a direct correlation between the dysfunctionality of a workplace and the guilt that they try inflict upon people trying to leave the sickhole.

9. Stay with one recruiter, or if that recruiter is not helping you, leave to go to another. Keeping looking for recruiters until you find one that has good chemistry with you. A good recruiter is  defined as one that returns your phone calls and has a good chat with you now and again. Some recruiters are great human beings, I know, I have one. Some recruiters are jerks, and I choose not to work with them. Be like me.

10. Network on the internet, it’s easy. Google “social media” sites and sign up and join groups that interest you (like DesignFloat or Blinkster or whatever). Network through these groups and you will find work eventually. Don’t know where to start? Okay, network with me: Sign up at www.stumbleupon.com. Once you have an account, look for prepresspilgrim.stumbleupon. That’s me. Become my friend or become a fan. Give a thumbs up to my blog. For the first twenty people that will do that, I will post your resume on my blog (up to 200 words). There you go.

One last thing, disconnect cable from your house until you have landed that bright new shiny job. If you can stay away from TV and put that time into job-hunting, you will definitely get a better job in less than six months.

I got a very nice email from Chris Riley of Dixon Direct saying how much he liked this blog. Thanks very much, it’s the compliments that keep me going (not the money, that’s for sure).

Now the thing is, for some reason, his mail went to my spam folder and I was THIS close to deleting it without reading it. So if anybody has sent me mail in the past and never got a reply back, it’s because I thought it was SPAM.

And while we’re at it, if you want to comment on my blog, there is  a delay for the first time you comment, so I can check to see if you are a spammer or not (You wouldn’t believe how many of those are floating about).

Lastly, if you like this site,  bookmark me on www.del.icio.us.com  or give me a thumbs up on Stumbleupon. It’s free.

As I mentioned to Chris, I am swamped with paying work  as I try to squeeze every last billable hour out of my customers before the Christmas shutdown. So posting might be light for awhile to be followed by a flurry of posts as we settle into the holiday season.

cheers, DJ

Absolutely, this is a poster that could be hung in many a prepress shop.

From http://despair.com

They are moving the demonstration center from the Gilmore building at Burnaby to Rochester. I heard they may continue to do benchmarks  at Burnaby BUT on the other hand, the benchmarks may be done in Colorado.

While it is much fun to bash Kodak head office for these layoffs,  the high Canadian dollar doesn’t help. I was having drinks with a friend of mine last night and he think the Cdn dollar will go to $1.35 next year.  Aw, no way , at least I hope not.

Kate, Lamberto, Allan, Peter and Rick, hope you guys are hanging in there okay.  It’s okay, there is life on the other side.

Oh joy, oh bliss, today an angel from heaven called and sang sweet poetry on your voicemail. That is to say, a headhunter left a message hinting that somebody thinks you are a marvellous person and is willing to pay you more money because of it. But oh, where is that insistent pricking coming from? Good heavens, it’s your conscience, reminding you that your employer, who has fed you paycheques for six (week/months/years) cannot afford to have you leave just yet. Mon Dieu, quelle dilemna! Yes, they say, loyalty is dead but this employer is different. Aha, says greed, but this is more money. And there is no better news to bring home to your better half than word of a fatter paycheque. Oh what to do?

Of course, like most big questions regarding your career, context is everything, meaning, there is no simple yes-or-no answer. First of all, to place a pin in your bubble of high self-esteem, nobody thinks you are a marvellous person (except maybe your spouse, your kds, and your dog. Especially your dog, who will love you even if the spouse is upset at you again and your kids are teenagers who think you’re sorta strange. If you own a cat, then I’m afraid there are some days when nobody will love you at all. But I digress). The reason why you are being offered a higher paycheque is because the marketplace says so. And the marketplace is very fair, sometimes to the point of brutality. Therefore, there is a reason why more money is on the table. And it’s very important to determine the reason in your particular case, because that will determine whether you should stay (or you should go).

Here, in no particular order, are some reasons why a better-paying job is being offered:

1. The new job is toxic: I have a friend who works at a well-known Crown corporation in the province of British Columbia. This corporation has a well-deserved reputation for being a bit dysfunctional (moreso than some other Crown corps. Actually, some Crown corps are quite well-run. But not this one.) There is a management rung in the corporation which is famous for eating up people and spitting them out. The average length of tenure in that rung is about 4 years, which is phenomenal, as that means an average turnover of 25% a year. So how do they get people for that rung? By paying more money, a lot more money than the rung below. And because they pay more money, the positions attract a lot of candidates who are at the end of their careers, and who are looking for not only a salary increase but a “bump” in their pensionable earnings. Conclusion? As you get older in life, the toxicity of a job matters less and less, and money means more. A general rule is if the money offered seems overly generous compared the title of the position, it’s a good idea to ask the turnover rate for that position (or work the grapevine if that company’s HR pleads ignorance).

2. It’s a promotion: With those darn baby-boomers clogging up the senior ranks, it’s darn hard to get a promotion nowadays, let me tell you. Congratulations, let me help you pack your personal belongings into the cardboard box. What, you won the lottery and you plan to return the winning ticket because you feel you aren’t worthy? Slap! Slap! Come on, snap out of it! Pretty much the only thing you have to worry about is if you are being promoted to a toxic job, in which case, see #1. Always, always ask why the guy you are replacing is leaving. If that guy is being promoted, then woo, woo, don’t let the door bang on your butt as you walk out.

3. You are underpaid in your current job: This is a nasty position to be in if you are at a company where a set percentage of money is allocated to the salary budget each year. For example, suppose you are underpaid by 16%, but there was only 4% allocated to the salary budget in the current fiscal year. This means for you to get paid fairly, there are three poor schmucks who will have to get zip. Yes, it’s not fair, but given the choice between cheesin’ off 3 employees or cheesin’ off one (you), the chances are you are going to get stiffed year after year unless you do something dramatic. Like move to a different company. Important note: If you are being underpaid and have a better offer on the table, DON’T use the better offer to wangle something better out of your current employer. That’s called blackmail. Even if you suceed, people will remember and file it away. And the other employer will put you on their poopee list. Yes, they do exist. Besides chances are that if your employee is underpaying YOU, there are underpaying other people as well. So most likely, they won’t give you a raise because that will upset the salary structure. They will just show you the door.

4. You are underpaid but there are great perks: At Creo, there were two positions that required basically the same level of experience and technical acumen: Subject Matter Expert in the Product Development group and Technical Support Specialist in the sales group. If you were a SME, you could work flex time and hang out with really smart people like developers and cool project managers like me. On the other hand, if you were a TSS, you had to travel a lot, the hours were brutal, and you had to deal with nervous, insecure salesguys. Guess which position paid 50% more?

5. It’s a contract position: In the province of British Columbia, there’s a crucial difference between a contract and non-contract employee. A contract employee can be fired if his or her boss doesn’t like the color of his or her shoes (Or more specifically, the contract won’t get renewed). But a non-contract employee only be fired for wearing shoes of the wrong color. Get it? Oh there is one other thing. The non-contract employee is entitled to severance. How much severance? You need to see a lawyer for your particular circumstances, but it’s surprising how much sometimes you’re entitled to. And remember, you give it all up if you jump to a contract position.

In conclusion, most of the time (but not all), if the money offered is 10% more than what you are making currently, you should go. But before you make the leap, you absolutely should get the employment contract to a (your) lawyer to make sure the termination clauses don’t have you taking all the risk. That is to say, if things don’t work out, then it’s fair for the new employer to let you go. But it’s not fair to let you go without compensation.

Actually, I wanted to title this post “Questions & Conversations that I SHOULD Have Had When I First Became a Supervisor” but it was too long and sounds kinda bitter.

Not that I’m bitter about the first time I became a supervisor. Oh no, it was such a long time ago, about 1995, that I’ve been able to blocked out most of the horrible memories.

But you don’t want to hear awful stories about other people problems. Oh no, you are hear to glean useful career advice. Suck me dry like a lemon. But that’s okay, that’s what I’m here for.

1. Do I have control over the budget over my department?
BTW, the answer will be no. Budget control is always in the domain of the mightly gods who live on Mount Olympus, never to be surrendered to mere mortals such as thee. But that’s okay, question #1 sets up question #2.

2. So what IS the budget for this/next fiscal year anyways?
If the answer is a collective “nobody knows,” then lean back and relax. You’re screwed. Try to last as long as you can in the position before moving on. Don’t worry about trying to keep the company alive single-handedly. You can’t.

3. What’s this number in the budget?
That’s the salary of the guy who reports to you.

4. WTF?!! He makes more money than me?
You took the red pill. You could have taken the blue pill and lived a peaceful lief but nooo, you wanted to move up into management ranks. He’s older than you, so he makes more money. Now if you are a young female manager, you probably think he makes more money because he’s a man. NOPE. It’s just because he (or she) is older. Gender discrimination, race discrimination, religious discrimination is not allowed in today’s workforce. But age discrimination is perfectly acceptable.

5. But I gotta tell that guy to zipper down when he goes to the john, he’s so dumb! Can I fire him now I’m a supervisor?
No, of course not, my silly munchkin. Zeus would be furious if you unsurped even one of his mighty powers. Now, if one of your employees comes into work drunk as skunks and dances naked on your desk, you MIGHT be able to chastise them, but only in a gentle and sensitive fashion.

6. Oh man, this sux. So what am I suppose to do as a supervisor?
Very good, oh apprentice. You are now on the path to true knowledge and revelation. And I will now indulge in symbolic imagery to show you your true calling as rookie boss. Visualize YOUR boss sitting on a pedestal about 7 feet up off the ground. Now visualize the pedestal surrounded by half-a-dozen angry monkeys. The monkeys are squatting on the ground to perform a bodily function, and scooping up the result with their hands, getting ready to throw.

7. Yeah, yeah, I’m closing my eyes. It’s sorta of a funny vision. Now what?
Your job is to get between the boss and the monkeys. With enthusiasm.

8. Crap.
Yes, pretty much that’s what it is.

9. Oh well. Anyways, when do I get my raise?
You mean you didn’t negotiate a raise before accepting the “promotion?”

10. No. I’m on probation. And the end of probation, they said they would give a raise.
In this case, I can tell you exactly when you will be paid like a manager. The day after you accept a managerial position at another company.

11. But that’s not fair!!
Enlightment!! Well done, my young apprentice. You have seen the dark side. Now embrace it, my feisty Jedi.

12. This sux DOUBLE! I want to go back being a regular employee.
Not a chance. You’re marked like Cain after he did his nasty business to his brother. Especially if you’re competent. If you are a complete bonehead, like for example you came straight of MBA school, there is a reasonable chance you can become an analyst. But not you. You got promoted from the line for competence under pressure, didn’t you? Aha, they will not throw you back. Never. Ever.

13. Oh no (Whimper.) What do I do? What do I do now?
At last you have reached the proper emotional state of mind that now I can tell you the secrets of managerial wisdom:
A. As you travel through the valley of despair, don’t play the game of “avoiding all contact with your employees unless you need something.” Managers who do this are called “seagulls.” Don’t be a seagull. Say hello, ask them how are they doing. Don’t ask them to throw themselves on a hand grenade for you (not yet, anyways).
B. Schedule regular meetings with your boss. Ask her or him what needs to be done for that day/week/month. Focus on getting the resources you need to get those tasks done. Minimize the conversations that focus on YOU: how are you feeling, what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong. Hey Hamlet, I’ve got a revelation for you: Nobody cares about how’re feeling today, least of all your boss. You need to focus on your feelings, go see a shrink. Or buy a puppy.
C. Sign up for those management training courses/certifications/programs/whatever like a crazy fool. Punch those tickets and send the bill Mr or Mrs. Pedestal-Sitter. Only the most incompetent boob of a boss vetoes manager-training expenses.

Thank you, thank you, oh great guru.
You’re welcome. Oh wait, you were being sarcastic, weren’t you.

So the first thing a project manager should do is go to the owner of each task or subtask in a project and ask for that person’s opinion on the probability of success or failure in the time allotted. They will give you a percentage or say “I don’t know.”

And for heaven’s sake, you are asking them their opinion, not telling them your expectations. Cripes, don’t queer the data collection just yet, you moron. Ask them what needs to be done to up the percentage of success. Don’t expect good answers.

Next day, or next week if you have the time, go around and ask them again the same questions. For people who still say, I don’t know, negotiate politely a WAG (Wild-Ass-Guess) out of them. Expect the WAG to be somewhere between 50%-75%. Carefully take note of the conditions that have been stated by the stakeholders. Always assure them that you are not going to hold them to their predictions and beat them over the head if things start going south.

Tally up the numbers. You should have anywhere from 3 to 10 tasks with percentages ranging from 49% to 99% . Going deep (having a lot of tasks) is good because it shows you’ve done a lot of research & talked to a lot of people. Now you should have two numbers: the expected success percentage of the project without conditions and the success percentage with conditions.

The delta of these two number is important too. I’ve list a chart below with sample success percentages and what this means:

Example #1

Success without conditions: 95%

Success with conditions: 99%

Delta is 4.

This is a great project to undertake if you are lazy and don’t want to get fired. Basically, it’s going to be a success even if you only show up at the office for 2 hours of the day. The downside is that it’s probably going to be a boring ride. But boring is good when the economy is bad or you just finished a project from hell and need some down time.

Example #2

Success without conditions: 50%

Success with conditions: 90%

Delta is 40.

You will work hard on this project but your efforts with be appreciated by members of your team. This is a good project to take especially if Those Above You are willing to award Glory Points for success. The downside of this project is that if some of people who quoted the percentages were wildly optimistic, you could get hosed. The bigger the Delta, the more you have to scrutinise the predictions.

Example #3

Success without conditions: 35%

Success with conditions: 75%

Delta is 40.

Even though the percentage of success has only dropped by 15 points, you should run away very fast from projects like this. Remember that people’s perception of project success are fundamentally flawed (too optimistic). So you’re going to work very hard on this project, people are going to expect success, but you have a very signficant risk of failure. ANY project that has a success with conditions percentage of 60% to 75% should be avoided, but the absolute worst are the ones with a big delta, which means you need to bust your rear end and still end getting zero glory points.

Example #4

Success without conditions: 15-25%

Success with conditions: 49%

Delta is 14-34.

These types of projects are common in R & D. As the success rate drops below 50%, so do people’s expectations. These projects are attempted because success means a big payoff. Or at least it should. If you are project managing one of these suckers, you are either a) Entitled to some serious bon-bons like a bonus or promotion if you pull it off or b) having a lot of fun because of the nature of the work. If the answer is c) Neither then I recommend digging out some resume templates when you have a minute.

In conclusion, and it bears repeating over and over, you want to be high (85+) or low (under 50). Getting stuck in the mushy middle happens every once in awhile but if it happens continually then there’s a problem with your organization or maybe you.

Watch the Delta too, you should try to alternate between high and low Delta projects or else you run the risk of burning out.