Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

Many thanks to the wonderful people who have commented on my blog. One person's comments really resonated with me:

From Conway1:

I am in the same position as you. I relocated to Pittsburgh earlier this year after several years of experience in a major cosmopolitan city. Although I have a graduate degree, many years of experience, and cutting-edge tech skills for our field, my best offers have been for salaries in the $30s. Some observations on top of what is already in your blog:

* I was told by an employer that although many corporations and PR firms have left Pittsburgh over the last 20 years, many individuals have stayed behind to do freelance work. Obviously, this gums up the market on the demand side of the equation and depresses salaries and opportunities.

* An observation on PR/marketing/communications executives in Pittsburgh -- while I have been proactively building skills and experiences, almost every executive who has interviewed me has never left Pittsburgh and has been squatting at his/her company for 15 or 20 years. Their skills are at least five years behind and they don't demonstrate an understanding of larger trends happening in the world outside of SW PA. Somehow, someway, PIT still seems to allow sentiment and status quo to trump talent and intellectual ability.

I could share more, but I will be direct in how I feel about PGH: I love Western Pennsylvania and its people; however, that strength is also its weakness. Pittsburgh has not adapted and is not adapting to the rapidly changing global economy. I don't buy the sloganeering by politicians and economic development organizations. I know what I have experienced in and out of Pittsburgh and what I read in the media and blogs.

While I had expected that my background would get me a reasonably good job (I had adjusted my expectations ahead of time to PIT conditions), I greatly overestimated the health of Pittburgh's economy in regards to our field. I don't understand why the city keeps erecting taxpayer- and resource-draining sports stadiums when there is a clear shortfall in talent, opportunity, and other essentials needed in the 21st century global competition. Economically speaking, Pittsburgh is a backwater and people aren't willing to make the sacrifices to change that. That goes for the politicians and those who elect them.

Perhaps the best approach is indeed to go to another city and get Pittsburgh out of your mind for a while. Then, someday, perhaps you'll either catch lightning and get that rare, quality Pittsburgh job in our field or you'll find that there are a lot of other places and people out there that can make for a nice home as well.

There are many elements of this person's comments that I agree with.

When I relocated to Pittsburgh four years ago, I was astounded at the number of business professionals I met who had NEVER lived anywhere other than the Western Pennsylvania region. After high school, these individuals attended a local college -- Pitt, Duquesne or maybe WVU -- and then, upon graduation, obtained a job at at XYZ Corporation, working their way up from grunt to supervisor of grunts to vice president of grunts.

What kind of worldview do you get if you've never left the area, except for your family's one week sojourn to Ocean City or Myrtle Beach?

I also concur with Conway1's statement that: "[These managers'] skills are at least five years behind and they don't demonstrate an understanding of larger trends happening in the world outside of SW PA."

Just five years behind??? Ha.

My last place of employment is a perfect example of what Conway1 says. The company CEO, bless his heart, was just not comfortable with technology -- especially the Internet. Same with the top managers. Their aversion to technology, coupled with the CEO's excessive frugality, means that this company will fall further and further behind. And as this business moves increasingly to the Internet, my former company will continue to lose ground to its competitors.

I give my former company five years, if not less, before it is taken over by a bigger, more technology-savvy organization. The top brass will retire happily with the funds from their stock options, golden parachutes and proceeds from the sale of the company; many of the rank and file workers will be out of luck.