Kris Aasted, a managing partner of Aasted and Associates in La Jolla, CA, a small firm focused on the storage industry says in this difficult economic climate, "companies are only hiring exact matches to their needs--and taking all the time they need to do it. Not long ago, the good athlete rule applied. That is, if you were a strong executor with a track record of success, then even if the job was not an exact match, [coming from a slightly different functional area like business development instead of storage sales] a company would hire you. Now you have to currently be doing exactly the same job with deep expertise. This is not an environment to be making a change in job type."

In addition, he says that companies are willing to wait to find their perfect job candidate. "Back in the dot-com days, companies were willing to make an offer from a much smaller job candidate pool, only two or three candidates. "Now," says Aasted, "companies want to interview eight to 10 candidates. They feel they can get their ideal choice."

More bad news: Compensation packages are flat or falling, according to Aasted. "Bonuses are way down. For start ups, CEOs are getting today what good VPs got not long ago."

What does this tight job market mean for a storage administrator looking for new opportunities, such as moving up to new responsibilities within their company or trying to secure a better position elsewhere? The No.1 thing hiring managers and HR people look for is what you accomplished in your last few jobs. Lou Adler, CEO and founder of CJA-The Adler Group Inc., an executive search firm, agrees: "Past performance is the best predictor of future performance."

In other words, doing is more important than having: Job candidates may have an MBA, five years specific industry experience, market research skills and a bunch of storage certifications. But the doing is what gets companies excited about a candidate, such as a successful implementation of a SAN in less than six months, writing a strategic storage plan and getting it approved or restructuring the storage management team, which significantly lowered storage management costs.

Adler says, "It's what you do with what you have--not what you have--that determines success."

As a direct result of placing an emphasis on doers, a concept called talent management is rapidly gaining favor with companies in these lean times. According to Andrew Dietz, a consultant at Egon Zehnder International, companies rate their employees' contributions, and based on their performance reviews, assign employees into groups such as A, B and C performers. The theory driving talent-management programs is the 80/20 rule, meaning 20% of an organization's top employees yield 80% of its positive results. Many chief executives claim having the best talent is what differentiates their companies strategically.

Of course that means that those viewed as "A" players get the plum assignments, preferential treatment and are rewarded more handsomely. Unfortunately, it's a fact of corporate life these days that those placed in the bottom group don't have much job security.

If you feel it's time to move on--for whatever reason--corporate recruiters say networking is the best way to find a new opportunity. Says Aasted: "Good networking is an overused term," but he strongly advises job seekers to build a short list of people that will help them take the next step in their career. "Be pleasantly persistent with the people on your list," he says, adding: "build relationships--don't treat them like a loan offer at a bank."