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I received an AWESOME email the other day from a senior level IT/Telecom consultant with a combined 30 years staffing experience in the Contingency, Retained and Consulting space local to Rochester, NY. I’ve known this consultant for a number of years – he’s asked to remain anonymous and I respect that.

He sent a year end update out – full of horrible news. But it is news that we all know yet we still live in denial of it. Pasting the note below:

While 2007, and the first part of 2008 were very good years, the second half of 2008 and 2009 have been very poor. I have seen a slight increase in activity however in November which should carry through the end of the year. Based on that, I do not expect the technology space to improve in the near future. Hopefully we will start strong in the new year but My best guess is second half of 2010. That not withstanding, there are a couple of observations I would like to share with you:

First, companies are doing a good amount of “window shopping.” By that I mean positions listed on their web sites are not actual openings but anticipated needs that they are projecting for and are doing nothing more than accumulating resumes.

Second, when we are contacted by a client and take a job order many companies are specifically instructing us to present candidates we have identified through means other than job boards because they can search them themselves.

Third, for the requirements we are seeing, the technical level of expertise is such that we have had little or no success with job boards. In fact, it is fair for me to say I have used them very little or not at all.

Fourth, opportunities fitting a specific skill set could be anywhere and limiting your geographic options will only make your search that much more difficult.

This might just be the best email I’ve ever received. Again, I don’t think I’ve gone completely insane…yet. This person is HONEST. But he provides some HOPE. But he also provides some very specific action items.

1. Use the crap out of Linkedin. (I didn’t paste that part.) People are looking at you. Have a presence on the Internets!

2. Job boards are where the herd is – you have to use them but they should be a very MINOR part of your search process.

3. Be ready to move. Especially those of us in Rochester and cities that are out-right failing. Moving SUCKS. It is very highly ranked on most traumatic things you can do. I’ve moved a lot in my lifetime. It is not fun at all.

4. If you don’t have a plan to survive the next 6 months to a year – you need to get one and get one in a hurry. How are you and your family going to survive?

For me, the scary part is having to survive another year of unemployment. I know I can do it. But I don’t WANT to. I need to be working. Doing SOMETHING. I am doing a decent job of filling my days with meaningful stuff – but I need to get in the game and mix it up!