banterCZ wants to hire a boss in Western or Northern Europe.

banterCZ has 3 years experience in Agile development, 1 year of that as a leader. banterCZ is a certified Java Programmer (SCJP 6), and a Certified Scrum Master. Languages include English FCE (B2), German B1, and French A1.

banterCZ’s Agile superpower is being able to observe, orient, decide, and act. banterCZ has been in a Team role but is now beginning as a Scrum Master.

Being open-minded, fair-minded, and interested in Agile development are the special characteristics of banteCZ’s new boss. And as for a new company, it should be a friendly environment which shares know-how, but is not overwhelmed by processes.

Want to talk things through with banterCZ? Why not say why you’ll be an ideal next boss.

gdeepankar wants to hire a boss located in Delhi, India.

gdeepankar has more than 10 years work experience in IT, with skills in C++, C, Unix, and Systems Engineering. This has been in Land Seismic (4 years), Telecoms (4 years), Utilities (1 year), and Banking (1.5 years), with clients like Lucent Technologies, Qwest Communication, Schlumberger, LVL7, and more.

gdeepankar is a practicing Certified Scrum Master, with an Agile superpower of understanding the requirements of the Product Owner.

The ideal boss for gdeepankar believes in Agile, Scrum, and XP practices, and who is a Product Owner who interacts with customers and understands their real needs.

gdeepankar’s new company is in products rather than services, and should be practicing Agile already.

Want to talk things through with gdeepankar? Why not say why you’ll be an ideal next boss.

David A Koontz wants to hire a boss located in the Seattle area, or via telecommute.

David’s a software engineer with 20+ years developing software solutions within a variety of industries. He’s experienced the power of the Agile philosophy to unleash a team’s full potential. He enjoys mentoring individuals and coaching teams.

He believes in empowering teams with self-organization to provide motivation to move them along the productivity curve toward ultra performance. David’s had experience teaching Scrum and XP practices to multiple groups that evolved into Agile teams delivering quality software.

David’s got a spidey-sense about team dynamics. And he’s already filled these Agile roles: Scrum Master, XP Coach; Instructor; Consultant.

David’s looking for a new boss because the banking melt down dried up all the projects for the professional services division of his consultancy firm. “The economy, stupid,” David says, quoting Bill Clinton.

His new boss is a Director that wants to perform Agile Transformation Surgery on their Software Development Group, and needs a coach to get started and continue on the Agile path.

David’s new company is a learning organization along the lines of Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline. Because of his Agile experience David doesn’t necessarily need his new company to be practicing Agile already.

Want to talk things through with David? Tell him why you’ll be his ideal next boss.

Managing Agile has just launched Agile.jobs, which is a free service to you (and your new boss). Agile.jobs is a place where you can create job offers to prospective employers. And after we put you in contact with them, you can interiew your new boss and company to see if they are an ideal fit for you.

It probably sounds a bit odd, I know, but once you get your head around this, it’ll make perfect sense. The chances of you finding your ideal position the next time you’re in the job market are statistically very slim.

One reason is that recruitment agencies operate in substantially the same way as they always have despite the digital revolution. And employers are increasingly dissatisfied with their low value-add. Someone could offer employers this service cheaper, faster, and more effectively than agencies. That someone could be you.

You see, 10% of candidates for any vacancy don’t use recruitment agencies; they network. These people are the cream. The next 10% represent the best candidates a recruitment agency can attract, who may be available for interviews. If not, employers may get some of the also-rans making up the next 20%.

Although companies should never see the bottom 60% of candidates, it has happened that some of them do through strength of personality alone.

Only for the well-endowed?
The problem for recruitment agencies is that they cannot attract top talent anymore, because networking has become easier to do. Even so, self-promotion doesn’t come easily to a lot of us. But the issue at stake is not whether you have great self-image.

It could be that self-preservation should be your overriding concern. Have you ever asked yourself what is the personal cost to you of staying where you are? Your career aspirations may be blocked by the barriers to further Agile adoption in your company. Things like an inability to change the organizational structure, general resistance to change, lack of personnel with Agile experience, and low or no management support are reasons why many Agile practitioners are frustrated.

Yet moving on, using the traditional recruitment agency method, might just find you having to introduce Agile all over again at a new company. If you’re looking for a new position, you need to innovate: The traditional way of doing it has a good chance of giving you a bad result. Why not you make the market? Your creativity changes the rules of the game.

Tell the world about the value you offer. Hire a new boss. You deserve it.