Dear Bob ... Having been laid off from my prior company some months ago I am currently looking for a position. For my prior company, a small advertising firm, I was effectively the Applications Manager, running all the business systems for the company. I had two reports and responsibility for the entire business system life cycle. My last title was Senior Manager Business Systems which isn't one of the standard Dear Bob …Having been laid off from my prior company some months ago I am currently looking for a position. For my prior company, a small advertising firm, I was effectively the Applications Manager, running all the business systems for the company. I had two reports and responsibility for the entire business system life cycle. My last title was Senior Manager Business Systems which isn’t one of the standard “commodity” titles.I have solid PM experience, implementing ERP systems. I got my PMP and have been a project manager, but never had the title. I get the sense that I’m not being taken seriously as a project manager. For 17 years prior getting my last position I was a DBA, but my employer under invested in my training and besides needed me as a manager. Over the past 5 years I have spent $30,000 of my own money investing in education and obtained a certificate in IT Management from an Ivy League university. I’ve be focusing on moving from commodity kinds of work to positions that are closer to the business end of things. I’ve read over and over in the IT Trade press that business is looking for people with softer skills that bridge the gap between IT and the wider business world. The description I’ve seen most often is Business Technologist. I’ve been trying to reinvent myself into this role, but I’m not connecting in the market.What should I be marketing myself as, where and to whom?– Role Confused Dear Confused …Seems to me you’re trying to find the niche first and figure out who and what you are second. Stop trying to reinvent yourself and start figuring out what specific companies need that’s compatible with what you’re good at and enjoy doing.This isn’t to say you can’t present yourself differently to different companies. Most people can succeed in more than one role (a good thing or most of us would have found ourselves unemployable early in our careers). By all means do so: The way to get hired is to get in front of the person who has a problem – the hiring manager – and make it clear you’re the person who can solve those problems. It sounds like you can succeed as an IT manager, as a project manager, and as a business analyst (or business technologist, although I’ve never personally seen a company use that title when hiring).Get yourself in front of as many CIOs as you can, explaining that these are the skills you can bring to a company, and ask who the CIO knows who might need such a person. Don’t go through HR – HR doesn’t have the problem – don’t respond to help-wanted ads (or, rather, go ahead and respond, but don’t expend much time or effort in this direction since it also takes you through HR).Remember that smaller businesses hire; bigger ones lay off. Talk with the CEOs of small companies, presenting yourself as a potential one-person IT organization or the potential leader of a small one. You were laid off; presumably that means you weren’t terminated for cause. Ask the CEO of your former employer who he/she can introduce you to. Contact a staffing agency. The good ones are always in search of talented project managers. Ask if they double as placement agencies – let them know that if you find a good fit with a company you might like to pursue employment. Many are delighted to work that way: They get a finders fee, and a friendly face in IT management when they come back to sell more services.You’re selling a product – you. It’s great that you’re keeping your skills up to date. Don’t slide down the slippery slope of trying to be something you’re not, just because you read somewhere that “the market” needs something else.– Bob Technology Industry