In-Depth
Good Work! 8 Great Companies for MCPs
Like your job? Here's your chance to compare your company with eight of the best—at least in how they treat their Microsoft Certified Professionals.
When you perform a heroic feat of technology, do
you get acknowledgement from managers and co-workers?
When you became a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer,
did your firm pick up the training and exam tab? Did you
get time off for classes without having to dip into your
vacation days? Did your boss encourage you to order new
business cards to show off your new MCSE logo? If you’re
snorting at these questions, maybe it’s time to seriously
evaluate the company where you work. Conversely, if you’ve
felt the glow of at least some of these niceties, pat
yourself on the back: You’ve chosen wisely among employers.
| This
Year’s Best Companies! |
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Compaq Computer
Corp. One of the largest sellers
of PC desktops and servers
Nominated:
Colorado Springs OMC Facility; 50 employees
Colorado Springs, Colorado www.compaq.com
EWA Services
Worldwide training and consulting company
Nominated:
Killeen, Texas office; 25 trainers;
headquarters in Herndon, Virginia
www.ewa.com
>Gateway, Inc.
Worldwide PC manufacturer
Nominated:
Product Development Services department
in North Sioux Sioux City, South Dakota;
170 employees
www.gateway.com
800-846-2000
ICL European-based
systems and services company; 22,500
employees
Nominated:
Slough, Berkshire UK office
www.icl.com
+44 (0) 1753 532323
LAMTEC Corp.
Manufacturer of vapor retarder materials
for insulation; about 30 employees
Nominated:
Flanders, New Jersey
www.lamtec.com
800-852-6832, 973-584-5500
Online Consulting
Microsoft CTEC; about 50 employees
Nominated:
Wilmington, Delaware
www.onlc.com
800-288-8221, 302-658-3018
Paladin Data Systems Professional services
firm specializing in Microsoft and Oracle-based
solutions, and training; about 75 people
Nominated:
Poulsbo, Washington
www.paladindata.com
800-532-8448, 360-779-2400
Randolph-Macon Woman’s College All-female liberal
arts college; 700 students
Nominated:
Lynchburg, Virginia
www.rmwc.edu
804-947-8000, 804-947-8103.
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The way companies treat their technical employees often
goes a long toward explaining how successful those companies
are at attracting and retaining skilled staff. Last month,
we ran our fifth annual salary survey. By now, the editorial
mailbox contains the usual letters from employers complaining
about the yearly disservice we perform by perpetuating
myths about the (over)valued nature of technical services.
And yet money’s really just part of the retention equation,
as you’ll shortly read.
The organizations we profile here recognize this: The
expense of spending $10,000 in a year on training, bonuses,
and special perks for top technical performers is considerably
less than paying $20,000 or more to a headhunter yearly
to replace yet another member of the moral-sapped technical
crew.
In this article, we’ll share secrets from some terrific
companies to work for as an MCP. Although the firms we
profile will probably experience a bump in the number
of resumes they receive over the next month, our bigger
hope is that other companies will learn from these stars
and adopt some of the ideas we share here to keep you
happy.
How We Chose the Best Companies
How did we make our choices? Actually, you helped make
them for us. Several months ago we invited readers to
nominate their firms as a great place to work as a Microsoft
Certified Professional. Our questions ranged from the
expected—Does your company pay for exams and training?
Does it offer extra compensation based on certification?—to
questions about benefits, working hours, vacation time,
public recognition for newly earned certifications, and
even the sorts of high-tech toys a company supplies. In
answer after answer you told us your company was a great
place to work—and shared why. More than a hundred of you
came through with details about just what it is you like
about where you work. We filtered that list by confirming
that all winning companies could answer yes to these questions:
- Does your company pay for certification training?
- Does it pay for travel related to that training?
- Does it cover the expense of your exams?
- Does it pay for self-study and test preparation software
and books?
- Does it give you paid time off for training?
- Does certification play a role in your compensation?
- Does certification play a role in the promotional
opportunities at your company?
| Three
of the Worst |
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Not all of you are happy with the way
you’re treated. Several people stepped
up to nominate a current or past employer
as “one of the worst places to work.”
We’ve removed the names of the submitters
to protect the disgruntled, but if you
think you recognize your firm or its
habits, try leaving a copy of this article
in the IT hiring manager’s mailbox to
send a wake-up call.
“My company was among the top five
companies in 1999 to spend money on
technology. I would imagine they are
among the top three companies who
don’t know how to use it. I’m here
to get my Windows NT Server and Exchange
Server certifications and my stock
options at the end of the year, then
I’m a ghost!”
—From an MCP at a
company providing financial solutions
“The company has no formal process
for an annual review (or any other
review) of technical employees. Once
hired, an employee’s salary remains
fixed. Management thinks the company
is shrinking because of [the end of]
Y2K. It’s really shrinking because
Human Resources can no longer (with
a straight face) tell prospective
hires that there’s a career path here.
Somehow the doors stay open. That’s
the miracle.”
—From an MCP at a
small consulting firm
“This place is a sweatshop! [For
three months,] I worked 60-80 hours
for 40-hour exempt pay in a crisis-management-driven
sweatshop. The CIO, my boss, was fired
during his probation period. I left
this $300-plus million company for
an IT shop with 20 people that pays
nearly twice the salary, clearly stipulates
a 40-hour week, and compensates double-time
for the four-hour Saturday that’s
required once per month. I think [that
sort of] trend will continue.”
—From
an MCSE at a British publisher of
educational books and software
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From there, we whittled down the list to about 20 companies
that deserved extra scrutiny, contacted them to confirm
our information, and selected the winners. If you don’t
find your firm listed, maybe it’s time to start on that
personal evaluation. Can you effect change in your organization?
If so, no time like the present to start—share this article
with the people in charge of hiring at your company; highlight
important points and stash a copy in the lunchroom suggestion
box.