Dear Bob ... I work for a solid company with a stable revenue stream, but when we hit the wall on signing up new customers, our management decided we should combine forces with a larger competitor. From a business point of view, I agree -- it's probably a great idea. Unfortunately, our competitor is simply a sales organization which outsources its whole delivery capability, including IT. Dear Bob …I work for a solid company with a stable revenue stream, but when we hit the wall on signing up new customers, our management decided we should combine forces with a larger competitor.From a business point of view, I agree — it’s probably a great idea. Unfortunately, our competitor is simply a sales organization which outsources its whole delivery capability, including IT. We in IT are guessing we’re going away. We’re guessing because even though the merger was legally completed more than a year ago, we have heard no plan for the future. Every other department has been integrated — with no layoffs! — except IT. Our former CIO has been promoted, and no one was made CIO in his place — he still has that title too. Guess how much time he has for us?So we’re expecting to be whacked in a few years (getting rid of internal IT would take that long). It’s also possible they’ll decide to drop the outsourcer and switch everything to us. But that seems much less likely since they have used the outsourcer forever, and that’s what they’re comfortable with.I have tried doing a cost analysis, but it was like pulling teeth to get any information on what they spend today. The datacomm manager here has shown how he can save several million dollars per year by managing the network in-house. No one is even interested in hearing about it. Why would that be? So you can see how it might be depressing around here. It could be that upper management is just totally paralyzed by fear/doubt/the unknown, or it could be they written us off already. It also doesn’t help that we’re in the Midwest and our “partner” is on the west coast, making communication with upper management harder still.Yes, I have my resume up-to-date and am sending it around, but with the economy the way it is, no interviews have been forthcoming. At least I still am employed for the moment.– So now what? Dear What …Ah, the old, “never mind what will work best and cost least – we already know what makes the most business sense so don’t confuse us with any facts and figures” routine. Aggravating, isn’t it?I think your assessment of the situation is accurate. No matter what they teach in business school, the reality is that if headquarters is on the west coast, most of what influences decisions lives on the west coast. They bought you (whether or not that’s the legal description of the transaction), which means they know more than you. End of discussion. Or, rather, non-start of discussion.Your assessment of what it’s going to take to find a different opportunity isn’t quite as accurate, at least from your description of how you’re going about it.It sounds as if you, like most people looking for a job, think of their resume as a kind of brochure. And they’re right, only not the way they think they are. Prospects ask me for brochures all the time. But nobody ever makes a buying decision from a brochure; few people even decide to pursue a product further because of one. The reason companies need brochures is because not having one is a Big Red Flag – it’s expected. The only reason prospects need brochures from companies is to hand to someone else and say, “Is this worth looking into?”Resumes are like that, too. It’s possible that a hiring manager might receive an unsolicited brochure through the mail, read it, and call the job seeker back. Heck, in an infinite universe, everything not precluded by the laws of physics must happen somewhere, sometime.But on this planet, 90% of all jobs are filled through networking that bypasses all that. Your resume is just part of the paperwork that follows the real action. So if you want to move on, don’t send out your resume. Call everyone you know and ask them who they know who you ought to know. Ask for introductions, make calls or appointments (breakfast meetings are good for this kind of thing), ask for help: “I think you know Jim Schmidt. A mutual friend introduced us; he suggested I contact you. Here’s my situation – I was wondering if you have any opportunities for someone with my qualifications, or if you know someone who’s looking.”Sales professionals figure that in general it takes 20 cold calls to get one appointment, and of 20 appointments, one will turn into a sale. Direct marketers figure a 1% response rate from a “cold list” is pretty good.That’s why you should focus your efforts on networking. It vastly improves the odds. – Bob ——– Technology Industry