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February 9, 2001

Backlash

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As the Dot-Com industry, like all new industries, suffers from its inevitable re-alignment many high-tech workers are finding themselves transitioning to new jobs or out of work altogether. What seems out of place, though, is the hostility towards these workers in the press and from other workers. Many high-tech workers are being treated with the same disdain as striking sports professionals or actors. The public seems to be confusing your average high-tech worker with the millionaire founders and owners who employed them.

No sympathy

It may seem like adding insult to injury, but don't be surprised if friends and relatives are not all that understanding when that Dot-Com startup you were working for hands you a pink slip. The truth is, many startup founders have taken on a supremely arrogant public persona and this has painted the entire high-tech industry with a wide brush. The public can only take so much arrogance in anyone and it seems they have reached their limit. People are actively gloating when companies fail today. They see it as some sort of poetic justice or comeuppance for the arrogant brats who had the temerity to boast of how they were going to change the world singlehandedly.

Of course, what the public fails to see are the high-tech workers who worked so hard in anonymity for only reasonable pay to support these arrogant boasts. You didn't see the public gloating when the aerospace industry collapsed in the 90's. Everyone was concerned about what would happen to all the people who had worked so hard for so long. We must all face the fact that a few high-profile people in our industry have made it even more difficult than normal to suffer through a layoff.

Stand tall

I bring up these issues today in an effort to help prepare you. Too many high-tech workers have not understood the backlash that has been building against their industry. This is mainly because they have not had a hand in building the backlash. You have simply been going to your job and doing the best work you can for the best pay you can garner. Too many people, when rudely sent back out into the job-seeking world, can't understand why other people don't care.

In some cases, the animosity can be taken even further. If you happen to be interviewing for a corporate position after working for a failed startup you might find mangers who will try to lowball your salary. Whether it is envy or just meanness, some people feel it is somehow right to give you a comeuppance. Beyond realizing the obvious fact that you probably wouldn't want to work for this person, it is important to "stand tall" in your own mind and remember that you are still a good employee whose company simply failed. More importantly, you probably had no say in the actions that led to that failure. You should never let anyone try to convince you that you are somehow less of a worker or that you deserve some sort of comeuppance merely for having worked at a high-tech startup.

No entitlements

That said, you must be very careful to any appearance of arrogance or entitlement on your part. Just because you worked at some high profile startup failure doesn't mean you deserve more than the guy who programmed computers for the boring, local school system. Your accomplishments should be your calling card in an interview, not the name of your former company. Detail your best successes in an interview and you will garner the respect you deserve.

One of the worst mistakes is to act as if a corporate job is somehow beneath you. If you have been infected by the arrogant attitudes of your former employers it is time to shake them off. The quality of a job is based more on what you are doing than the name or size of the company where you work. If you want to re-enter the corporate high-tech job market, you will need to leave your attitude at the door. Attitude might get you invited to hip parties, but it will probably leave you unemployed

The backlash against high-tech workers as a whole is both mis-guided and mean-spirited, but it is a response to the public boasting and very public failures of many Dot-Coms. While you might not be able to change people's responses or stop them from gloating, you can place yourself in the proper mindset to take the next step in your career.

about this column.

Douglas E. Welch is a freelance writer and computer consultant in Van Nuys, California. Readers can discuss career issues with other readers by joining the Career Opportunities Discussion on Douglas' web page at: http://www.welchwrite.com/dewelch/ce/

He can reached via email at douglas@welchwrite.com