Upcoming Oracle Presentation at Australian Computer Society: Melbourne Australia

Over the past few weeks I have been talking to and meeting with the Australian Computer Society (ACS) about having Oracle present to ACS Members about what it is like to work at Oracle and what skills we feel are in demand.



Special thanks to Yasas and Daphne from ACS who helped co-ordinate this. Details of the date and time are below. If you are interested in attending you must register via the ACS link below.


David Talamelli, Principal Recruiter at Oracle Corporation will provide a presentation detailing what its like to work at Oracle, the skills that are in demand and the recruitment process;

Date:
Tuesday 28th October 2008
Time:
5:30PM for a 6:00PM Start


Australian Computer Society: Oracle Recruitment Presentation

Oracle Tops Q1 Forecasts, Gives Upbeat Profit Outlook

Oracle has again reported a strong performance in reporting our Q1 Earnings and have exceeded Analysts expectations.

Analysts who follow Oracle expected the company to turn in a profit of 27 cents a share on sales of $5.417 billion, according to a consensus from Thomson Reuters, while we earned 29 cents a share in the first quarter.

Oracle Tops Forecasts, Gives Upbeat Profit Outlook

This was followed up with a strong forecast for our 2nd quarter with expectations that our New License Revenue will continue to grow.

Safra Catz appeared unfazed about the ongoing turmoil in the financial sector, saying, "We don't believe it should have a material impact on the quarter."

The Hidden Job Market.....How do I Find It??

If you are reading this blog entry you are on the right path.

I read an article today about how a local Australian Job Board - Seek.com.au has expanded in Asia by buying 10% of a Malaysian Job Board - Jobstreet.

Seek buys 10% of Malaysian Job Board Jobstreet

This got me thinking - Open roles posted on Job Boards only make up a small percentage of all the roles that are actually available. I know that I advertise positions on Seek and Jobstreet but the number of people that join Oracle as a result of seeing a job posted on Seek.com.au is relatively small.

So how do people end up getting jobs at Oracle???

1) Call/email us, ask our Recruitment Team if we have any suitable roles, if we don't it doesn't mean that a position like the one you are after will not come up in the future.

2) Have an online presence - are you on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc... with all the social networking tools out there it makes it much easier for us to find you. You would have seen from previous posts my thoughts on Social Networking, if you do not have an online presence - begin today.

3) Keep an open mind - you may not 'actively' be looking for a role, but if we have a role that fits your career plan let's talk about it - sometimes opportunity does knock at your door.

4) Referrals - are you telling people you are looking for work?? We are always asking our 80000+ employees at Oracle who they know who may be interested in work with us - one of those people you tell that you are looking for work may be able to refer your details to our Recruitment Team.

5) Are you part of any organisations, communities, associations, etc... Have you written any articles or blogs. The more visible you are in the IT Industry the more opportunities that will present themselves to you.

This is just a quick snapshot of some things you can do, I may edit this blog entry and create a Top 10 List. We do hire people from Job Boards, but we think outside the square as well.

If you do not see a role posted on Seek.com.au by Oracle does that mean the role does not exist or that we are not hiring??? Opportunities you may want to know about could be passing you by. Contact us and find out what roles we have, your next career step could be with us!!

Other Countries Are Gaining in the War for Talent

I read an interesting blog earlier today titled:

Other Countries Are Gaining in the War for Talent

It is by Raghav Singh and while it is based around the labour shortage that is happening in the US - the article was interesting as it noted: "While a disproportionate number of skilled immigrants still come to the U.S., the numbers that are staying home or are going elsewhere is increasing. Over the last five years, the U.S. attracted an average of 73,000 skilled immigrants annually, down from about 107,000. That may still seem like a lot, but Canada attracted 56,000, Australia 20,000, and even tiny New Zealand managed to get 10,000."

In today's market place when I am recruiting staff here at Oracle, it is no longer about who is available in a city or location - but more so who is the best talent we can identify for a role. In Australia and New Zealand many skilled IT people overseas look to move here for either lifestyle choices or the opportunity to work on new projects, etc... By being able to consider people from outside Australia and New Zealand this increases the potential number of candidates we speak to.

From a candidate perspective moving overseas is a big decision to make. We have hired many people from overseas who have joined us at Oracle in ANZ. I think that before you put you start looking for work overseas you have to go through a thorough thought process and be able to answer:

1)Why do I want to move overseas to a specific location(lifestyle,family,work, etc)?
2)If I have family, is everybody in the family comfortable with this decision?
3)Have I considered salary expectations and cost of living?
4)What Visa requirements must I meet/have to go through?
5)What time frame do I need to be able to relocate?

Moving overseas can be great for your career and also be a great adventure in your life. If you are overseas and would like to think about work with Oracle in ANZ or APAC, have a look at opportunities besides your current location, we may be hiring for that dream job you are looking for now.

Oracle Acquisition Strategy Continues Part 2 + Safra voted 15th most powerful woman

It looks like Oracle's acquisition plan continues to roll along as we have just bought ClearApp:

Oracle buys ClearApp

Two key points I think that this acquisition addresses are:

1) ClearApp addresses the increasingly difficult task of managing composite applications built on SOA platforms by providing visibility of business services across all related application components.

2) ClearApp products and Oracle Enterprise Manager are expected to provide customers with a comprehensive application management solution providing enhanced service levels, reduced system down-time and improved return on SOA investments.

Locally I have seen our SOA based solutions grow from strength to strength and I think technically we are leading the way in the market place.

As a separate comment it is good to see recognition for all of Safra Catz's work in making Oracle as succesful as we are as she has been listed in Forbes magazine recently:

Safra voted 15th most powerful woman in the world

Oracle APAC Graduate Recruitment Program

The Oracle Graduate Recruitment Team has been hard at work since the beginning of the year and has done a fantastic job in identifying and hiring a large number of Graduates in ASEAN and have put in place plans to have Graduates start in Australia and New Zealand in January next year.

I think the Oracle Graduate Program is unique to many of the Graduate Programs available. The difference is that instead of just being a Graduate Developer or Graduate Sales Person, here at Oracle what we do is over the course of 2 years our Grads get to work in numerous business groups like Sales, Consulting, Development, etc... and at the end of two years they can then pick which area best suits them.

I think this is great because it gives people a chance to try a number of different jobs rather than just working in one area without getting to see how the whole business operates and they can see the differences in each group. Many people just starting in their career do not yet know what direction they want to take in their career and I think this program helps give our Graduates the information they need to help them make their individual career choices.

The closing date for this year in Australia and NZ was August 31st, but for Graduates graduating in 2009 you can register your interest at campusrelations_au@oracle.com for Australia campusrelations_nz@oracle.com for New Zealand.

The link to the Oracle Graduate Recruitment Website is: https://campus.oracle.com/HR/Globe.aspx