Current activity

[Mark Johnson]

I looked in and saw that this group hasn't had any activity since May, 2009. I know the recession is bad, but this is ridiculous.

So let's get some discussion around the current job market for the latter 4 months of the year.

In your view what kinds of opportunities are developing for CI and Strategic analysis positions. Are companies hiring, signing up contractors, or just using outside consultants to launch projects? Or are they pulling their heads into their shells entirely?

I know of some companies who have been doing some minor development, but others are doing all analysis using spare resources internally.

Where are the promising areas for the CI job seeker?

[Jayanth]

Mr. Johnson..

I will see say from Indian perspective. I was a Ci Student... By the time, i completed my course, i.e. this march 2009, the world economy was so badly hit, even normal companies stopped recruiting. the doors to risk management firms stood firmly closed without any proper response.

CI being relatively new to India, was not cherished properly and this could lead to serious long-term hazards to our profession. But presently, Companies have started to hire... But definitely not for the Intelligence team, But only for the technical works.

Unless and until, a person has involved in multi-farious, multi-tasking capabilities, a CI expert wont even get a job!

As asked, the promising areas are.. by my opinion... in the field of renewable energy area, entertainment field, Cyber criminal experts field.

[Graeme Dixon]

I recruit in the CI area. Alot of jobs have been put on hold in the UK. There are indications that things may be getting better.

Keep the faith

Graeme

[Catherine Wippel]

This question is very timely to me, as I was notified last week that my job is being eliminated.

I have been watching the job trends for CI, and I've noticed more opportunities appearing in the eastern and middle United States lately, and most in pharma and CPG industries. I suspect, however, that companies are relying on contractors initially, as the economy recovers.

[Arik Johnson]

Hi Mark - thanks for the poke - I think we all needed it to break the summer funk. ;-)

This actually reminds me of a coincidental trend, perhaps, in terms of work forces in CI. Speaking strictly as an N of 1, I've been pretty scarce myself on message boards more generally over the past couple of months having dialed back my online activity more than I thought (only evident now in hindsight) to focus on my work output more specifically. More work to be done, certainly, but also sharpening up the product so it's, well... better.

Maybe this is true of CI practitioners more broadly or maybe it's just that those of us in the northern hemisphere have been enjoying our summer vacations too much... I dunno? But I suspect this heads-down approach is demanding more of our time than it used to.

- Arik

[Ellen Naylor]

Here is an interesting article I just found written by veterans in the intelligence community about finding jobs in intelligence. A lot of it applies to the government, but there is some data about CI. I also included this on our group wall.

[monica nixon]

Hello Mark,

My perspective, and the same of nearly all of my fellow Strategic intelligence cohorts I consort with frequently:

1) For the most part, it appears the emphasis at most big US Commercial firms right now is very short term and tactical; given the severity of the economic downturn. In other words, its all about immediate sales. Hence, strategic analysts, regardless of how gifted, aren't exactly in demand. Most of the strategic CI folks I know have been laid off, as have a lot of technical intelligence folks. (A few examples of the dwindling: at one one of the largest IT firms in the US, their CI ranks in one division have plummeted from around 20 CI analysts to under 5 in the last few years, and at another very large firm, they completely got rid of Strategic CI when the economy went South)

2) If strategic intelligence analysts can get work right now, I see that often its with start up firms who need some heavy lifting for a short period of time to get of the ground. (ie; we have this IP, where should we or could we take it? Would we have any competitive advantages vs existing competitors in any of the defined spaces? How should we position against various competitors-strengths, weaknesses? What should our competitive messaging be,etc?) Sure, once this is all done then a junior. more tactical analyst can take over as they are cheaper of course to just do ongoing refinements as they move from the precommercialization phase to GTM...so it wont be a long stint but some of that work is out there.

3) There are a lot of opportunities in the IC; however if one does not have an active SC and previous military or national defense background, it can be difficult to get in.

4) I think strategic analysts are going to have to shift to doing more tactical work until this mess shows signs of improvement and the event horizon extends.

While I hear a lot of talk about innovation, I simply don't see a whole lot of it actually transpiring.....

Yours,

Monica Nixon

[Arik Johnson]

Superb insights Monica - I think there's a lot of opportunity in this chaos...

- Arik

[Ted Gruszka]

I think CI is a very narrow niche. CI used in conjuction with other types of research is in very high demand right now. Some companies are at capacity or over capacity. Just my two cents.

[Michael J Finnegan]

"other types"... care to expand on this? looking to get in the field after my master's concludes in a few months and have been actively searching in all types of fields including a job description of collection, research, and analysis. just curious what other's take on "other types" are to expand where i'm searching.
thanks.

[Mark Johnson]

♦Michael,

What I believe Ted is referring to is that organizations are interested in a WIDE variety of inputs. As long as Competitive Intelligence is closely aligned with COMPETITOR intelligence, it will be too narrow to address management's needs. The problem is the whole competitive landscape...not the individual interactions of competitor rivalry.

In Porter's five forces, only ONE of the forces is given to the rivalry and interaction of competitors. This is saying that companies need the other dimensions of competitiveness defined and explored and incorporated into strategy development.

Mark

[Nimalan]

Michael,

Companies might post openings in Market analysis, Business analysis, Strategic business analyst, New business / product teams where we could fit in.

Nimalan