IT Hiring Expected to Outpace Every Other Industry

The Information Technology sector overall has added over 300,000 since 2010 and is showing no signs of slowing down.

 

According to CareerBuilder’s latest forecast, 36 percent of IT employers said they expect to add full-time, permanent headcount in the fourth quarter, outpacing the national average for companies hiring and surpassing even Manufacturing and Finance.

 

When it comes to which particular occupations are particularly “hot” right now, Sologig.com and Economic Modeling Specialists, Intl. (EMSI) compiled the following list of IT industry occupations with the greatest job increase between 2010 and 2013.

 

TH “Hot Jobs” for IT including salary information:

1. Software Developers, Applications
   • 11% increase in jobs since 2010
   • Median hourly wage: $43.34
2. Software Developers, Systems Software
   • 12% increase in jobs since 2010
   • Median hourly wage: $47.64
3. Computer Systems Analysts
   • 8% increase in jobs since 2010
   • Median hourly wage: $37.98
4. Computer User Support Specialists
   • 7% increase in jobs since 2010
   • Median hourly wage: $22.54
5. Network and Computer Systems Administrators
   • 9% increase in jobs since 2010
   • Median hourly wage: $35.14
6. Computer and Information Systems Managers
   • 7% increase in jobs since 2010
   • Median hourly wage: $58.11
7. Computer Programmers
   • 6% increase in jobs since 2010
   • Median hourly wage: $35.30
8. Web Developers
   • 11% increase in jobs since 2010
   • Median hourly wage: $27.84
9. Database Administrators
   • 11% increase in jobs since 2010
   • Median hourly wage: $37.39
10. Computer Network Support Specialists
    • 6% increase in jobs since 2010
    • Median hourly wage: $28,59

 

Source: CareerBuilder    October 7th, 2013

By Mary Lorenz in Forecasts, Information Technology, Talent Factor

Demand for Computer Programmers boosted by Obamacare

Computer Programmers

Under the Affordable Care Act, doctors and hospitals must use electronic medical records, but taking their old paper system into the digital age is a giant technological construction project. “You need an army of programmers to put these things together,” says Osborne, of Staffing Industry Analysts. Indeed, the number of medical records and health information technicians employed in the U.S. has grown 7% to more than 182,000 since 2009, before the ACA was enacted, according to BLS data. Employment in other occupations, meanwhile, decreased or stayed flat during the same period, Osborne says.

Computer-related jobs in health care have grown more than 30% in the past five years, although they still represent less than 1% of all health care jobs, Turner says.

Employers will also have to build new electronic systems to report the costs of their employees’ health coverage to the government, although they will have more time to do it, since the ACA 2014 deadline has been extended. The enormous task may be over the head of many companies’ in-house IT departments, so benefits and payroll firms are hiring their own engineers to create tools for their clients.

 

Source: MarketWatch  August 6, 2013           

10 careers boosted by Obamacare

Hiring is booming in these fields as a result of health reform

Ever Wonder What Hiring Managers Are Thinking?

Hiring managers are known for their poker faces and judgmental appraisal while you’re sweating bullets in the interview hot seat. Want a better idea of what interviewers are probably thinking but don’t say? Here are a few common areas of assessment that any job seeker can avoid if prepared for it.

“Are you always late like this?”
Showing up late to an interview is not a good way to start an interview. Typically it leaves hiring managers questioning if you are always late and sometimes questioning how much you actually want this position.

Solution: Plan for double the travel time you actually need. Showing up early is better than late.

“Do you usually dress like that?”
Interviewing in less than professional attire could give hiring authorities the impression you aren’t professional enough or taking this position seriously.

Solution: “Dress for the job you want.” Even if your daily attire may be more casual, it’s better to dress up rather than down for any interview.

“Are you going to jump ship?”
When there are positions on your resume that you have held for less than a year at a company the first thing most interviewers are going to ask themselves is if you are going to truly commit to this job long-term.

Solution: Be prepared to overcome these obstacles. No need to draw unnecessary attention to it but be prepared to quickly explain your career aspirations and be able to put “the hiring manager’s mind at ease.”

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/6-things-hiring-managers-think-145012868.html

Writing Thank You Letters after an Interview

Writing Thank You Letters after an Interview

 

One of the most crucial times in the interview process, is the time after the initial interview. It is the period when you can be forgotten or just blend in with the crowd. The "Thank you" letter is a very good tool to make sure that you are remembered in a positive light. They are not just a formality; they act as marketing tools that can have tremendous value in moving your candidacy forward and positioning you above the competition. Although much of what you include in your thank-you letter may have already been communicated during your interview, there is nothing more effective than the written word to etch those thoughts into your interviewer's mind.

 

Overcome Objections

During an interview if there were any objections raised as to your candidacy, use your thank-you letter to respond to and overcome those concerns. Demonstrate the concerns are not an obstacle but an opportunity, and you're fully prepared to meet the challenge.

Reiterate Your Expertise

If the company communicated its specific needs, issues or challenges, use your thank-you letter to demonstrate how you can meet those needs.

Highlight Your Core Professional Competencies and Successes
If the company communicated its ideal qualifications for a candidate, use your thank-you letter to outline how you meet or exceed each qualification.

Length

How long should your thank-you letter be?  You can take the risk of boring your potential employer to tears or just re-emphasizing your relevant experience directly related to the position. Of course, as with anything else in a job search, there is no definitive answer. We recommend the "short and sweet" versions and have seen that they pack more punch than something that is so long it makes its way to the trash instead of the inbox. Remind yourself that you already have the company's interest or you wouldn't have been interviewing. Use your thank-you letter as a tool to communicate your interest, not re-write your resume. 

Preparation

Make sure you have the correct spelling of the recipient’s name along with their company title.  If sending via email, be sure to verify their email address as well. It’s very important to spell check your letter before sending it out.  Failure to do so shows a lack of attention to detail. If you are working with a 3^rd party recruiter, have them proof your letter to get another opinion.  When you have double-checked the spelling and grammar and are satisfied with the letter mail it out as soon as possible. Don’t delay.

The Counter Offer: Opportunity or Risk?

The job search is a complex process in and of itself. Once you are almost done with this tough decision making process, another complicated factor may avail itself at the end which may need confronting. A counter offer is a delicate situation which must be handled with the utmost care. More often than not employers offer counter offers to employees who they deem valuable and therefore shower them with all the things that were lacking in the jobs in the first place. It may be a raise, higher bonus, change of title etc. The list is endless. However the underlying truth to counter offers is still the same, it is something that comes too little to late, and is all too often too good to be true.

People often search for a new job when they are motivated by some reason or another if there is something lacking in their current role. Whether it is money or recognition or a host of other issues, the fundamental point is the same, the need for change far outweighs the prospects of resorting to the status quo.

There may be risks associated with starting a new job but they are a lot less risky than accepting a counter offer. A company will offer a counter offer to patch up the immediate threat of being short staffed. Money, Title, Vacation, Promotions are all offered to offset your departure. However, what must be understood is that such things should not be provided when an employee threatens to leave. An employee's self worth should be dictated by their performance and not by what they can get elsewhere. Time and time again, employees fall prey to counter offers thinking it as a good thing. When they least suspect it, they are let go when their replacement, usually at a discount, has been procured. Once your loyalty is questioned, it is almost impossible to regain that trust. Also, by accepting a counter offer it shows that you are willing to break your commitment to your new employer after accepting their offer, and this will raise additional red flags.

The biggest assets of an employee outside of his/her ability to do the job, are in the areas of trust and loyalty. Counter offers violate these key components. A counter offer should be viewed for what it really is, a bandage for the time being until a permanent resolution can be achieved. Unfortunately, one's career advancements should not be subject to the temporary resolutions set forth by their employer. It should be based on a clear picture of what is expected, what will be received when those expectations are met, and valuing ones services by their merits and successes. This should not be raised by their unhappiness and desire to leave.

IT Trends - 2013

Ok, the good news is that we are still alive! The world did not end in 2012. That was one prediction that went wrong. But that is not the case of predictions for IT industry – they still hold. The big four trends were cloud, mobile, social and data and these will continue to rule the IT scenario in the New Year as well.

The public cloud was where the action was in 2012 -- and it's where much of the action is going to be in 2013. According to IDC, in 2011, IT cloud services generated 1.5 million new jobs and projected that number to reach 8.8 million in the next four years. (Those numbers include both jobs with cloud computing providers and cloud-related jobs within corporate IT.)

A recent Gartner study predicts that Mobile App projects targeting smartphones and tablets will outnumber native PC projects by a ratio of 4:1 by 2015. After a year marked by growing pains, Social Media is heading into 2013 with a strong start. 2013 will be the year of social ecommerce. Even the most traditional retailers will weave likes, pins and tweets into websites and social platforms, like Pinterest, will embrace online sales.

Big Data, which refers to data collected and analyzed from every imaginable source, is becoming an engine of job creation as businesses discover ways to turn data into revenue, says Gartner. By 2015, it is expected to create 4.4 million IT jobs globally, of which 1.9 million will be in the U.S.

No doubt 2012 was a challenging year for IT professionals and 2013 may continue to be so. But there is always a silver lining - IT jobs are growing steadily. We all are aware that IT job market outperformed other fields in the past few years, with unemployment rates much lower than the national average. In November, when national unemployment rate was 7.7%, IT industry was below 4%.

Even so, you cannot get complacent and must take steps to wade successfully through the tumultuous IT industry. Keeping up with the trends and acquiring new skills is not an option, it is a survival tactic. Other side of the low employment rate coin is lack of availability of skilled professionals. As a result employers have to strive to fill positions that require rare skill sets.

Source: ITJC Newsletter

Shortage of IT Talent and Degrees

VP of Rita quoted in Tampa Bay Times
IT Degrees and shortage of them today..

Salary Negotiation Mistakes to Avoid

Salary negotiation is a big part of job-hunting and it makes many young applicants as well as experienced professionals uncomfortable and anxious. Especially when effective tactics are not known. After all, you might ask for too much, ask for too little, or otherwise sabotage your own chances of getting the best possible salary. Negotiation will go more smoothly if you know what landmines to avoid.

When it comes time to negotiate salary for a new job, make sure that you don't make these key errors:

1. Being Unprepared.

At some point, employers are likely to ask what salary range you're looking for, possibly as soon as their first contact with you. If you're caught off-guard, you risk low-balling yourself or otherwise saying something that will harm you in salary negotiations later. It's crucial to do your homework ahead of time so that you're ready when the question comes up.

While salary sites might seem like the most obvious way to figure out what to ask for, these sites are frequently unreliable, in part because the job titles they list often represent wildly different scopes of responsibility. Professional associations in your industry might do more reliable salary surveys, but even then, you're more likely to get the right range by talking to people in your field.

Apart from conducting research online, you should also gather information on your prospective employer’s salary levels, promotion and salary hike policies, benefits, etc.

2. Negotiating Before You Have an Offer.

There's no point trying to negotiate before you have a job offer; after all, the employer still hasn't even decided if they want to hire you. Your leverage will be far stronger once someone is certain that you're the one they want. Once you have the offer you are in a powerful position to negotiate. To start the process, ask more details about the salary and the entire compensation package including health insurance, bonuses, and other perks.

3. Discussing Salary in Your Cover Letter.

Some candidates announce their salary requirements in their cover letters without being asked, and some even include their salary history on their resumes. There's no reason to talk money at this stage, and doing it unprompted at the application stage can come across as naive. By doing this you leave no room for negotiations. Or you may not even get an opportunity to interview with the company even if you are a good fit for the job.

4. Citing your Need or Finances.

Salary conversations should be solely about your value to the company, not about your own finances or your need. Employers don't pay people based on financial need, so don't cite your mortgage or your kid's college tuition as a reason you're asking for more money. Your emphasis should be on the value you bring to the company.

5. Accepting Job Offer Too Quickly

In the current economy, it may take several weeks to get a job offer. When you get one, you will be tempted to accept it immediately even if it doesn’t match your expectations. But even such offers should be reviewed before making a decision. Don’t be in a hurry. The employer has chosen you because you are a good match for the position. So, if you feel you deserve a better deal, negotiate further and then make a decision.

6. Asking for too Much Time to Respond to an Offer.

It's normal to request a few days to consider an offer, and sometimes employers will give you a week or so. But if you ask for much time beyond that, you risk signaling that you're not excited about the job, but might settle for it if you don't get any other offers. That's a good way to lessen the hiring manager's enthusiasm and bring into question your own.

7. Asking For Too Many Changes in Counteroffer.

If you have a strong interest in the job, but the offer is not what you expected, you can consider making a counteroffer proposal. You should only pick the one or two most important elements; you can't negotiate every aspect of the offer. If the salary is too low, focus on that aspect in a counteroffer. If you know the company will not negotiate on salary, then focus on modifying a few of the other terms of the offer such as additional vacation time, earlier performance reviews, signing bonus, relocation expenses. Just remember that you cannot attempt to negotiate the entire offer; conduct your research, and write a short counterproposal.

8. Declining Job Offer Too Quickly.

When an employer doesn’t offer a salary that you expected and if it is much lower then rejecting the job may be a wise decision. Yet, take time to think it over before rejecting it. If the money is not very much lower than your expectations, take a look at the benefits.

Salary is only one part of a compensation package; you also need to factor in benefits like healthcare, retirement contributions, and paid leave. After all, if you'll be paying significantly more for healthcare or receiving fewer paid vacation days than you're used to, that might cancel out part of any salary gains you hope to make. On the other hand, being able to work from home or having an on-site day care might be benefits that make it worth it to you to take a slightly lower salary.

9. Underestimating Happiness as a Factor.

A higher salary generally won't make up for a job where you'll be miserable, so think carefully about factors other than money: the work you'll be doing, the people with whom you'll be working, the company culture, and even the length of your commute. It might be worth giving up a bit of extra pay to ensure that you're happy going to work every day.

10. Listening to Bad Advice.

Negotiation advice that worked a few decades ago isn't always effective now. In fact, some of it can hurt your chances. For instance, delaying the salary conversation as long as you can or refusing to name a figure first—common advice in previous generations—can backfire today by turning the employer off and making you look like you're playing games.

11. Not Negotiating.

Whatever you do, negotiate. If you simply take the first salary you're offered, you'll never know if you could have received more by simply asking. Settling for a lower salary than you are worth has some major negative consequences; you will earn less, receive smaller raises (because most raises are based as a percentage of your salary), and have a smaller pension (since pension contributions are usually a percentage of your salary). But settling for an offer that you feel in your heart is too low will not only set you back financially, but also eat at you until you finally begin to seriously dislike your job and/or employer.

12. Taking Salary Negotiations Personally.

Whatever you do in this process always stay professional in handling the negotiations. If the employer has made you an offer then you are their choice, so even if negotiations go nowhere, or worse, keep in mind that you did receive an offer, even if it is not what you expected or deserved. And if negotiations break down between you and the employer, move on graciously, thanking the employer again for the opportunity because you never want to burn any bridges.

13. Not Asking for Final Offer in Writing.

Once you have received a job offer that you find acceptable, the last thing you should do is ask for the final offer in writing. No legitimate employer will have issues with putting the offer in writing, so if yours balks at your request and accuses you of not having any trust and tries to bully you to accept the verbal agreement, take it as a MAJOR red flag that there is something seriously wrong.


[Courtesy: Alison Green, USNews & Randall Hansen, Quintessential Careers]

Big Corporation Vs. Small Business: What’s Best For You?

Big Corporation Vs. Small Business: What’s Best For You?


...“Would you rather be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a sea of water?” Weighing out the pros and cons of large versus small companies is not a foreign task for most of us. So, you have your chosen field, now which environment is right for you: a big corporation or a small business?

For the second year in a row, Apple, Google, and Walt Disney rank as the top companies undergraduates believe to be their “ideal” employers. Furthermore, business majors are still eager to join big name firms like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.

Alternatively, there are those searching for something entirely different. A more intimate work setting without the big name appeals to other job seekers, and for different reasons.

No matter the size, most companies are looking for good, honest, and hard working individuals to fill their next open positions. If you have those three nonnegotiable traits and the proper skills to match the position, the ball is in your court. When choosing you next job, it is important to consider a multitude of aspects directly affecting you and your future happiness and success: one of which being to go big or go small.

Below are characteristics describing the culture of large corporations and small businesses. Know yourself and imagine how you might fit:

Large Corporation:

Structure: If you are an individual who thrives off of structure and organization, then a large corporation might be for you. Most Fortune 500 companies have rotational and training programs in place to prepare their employees for their future roles in the company. Your position comes with a list of very specific responsibilities and they will often be outlined for you. Though not immune to the unpredictable economy, entry-level positions can be considered risk-averse and respectively stable.

Your role: You are one of many working on a team at a large corporation. If you enjoy collaborating and relying on a group dynamic, then you will be productive on the job. Be aware of the ever-present diffusion of responsibility existing in the companies. “That’s not my problem” can only be used as a reason when many people are involved in the same project.

Your future: On your very first day on the job, you will be handed a competitive network on a silver platter. You will have successful leaders in your field surrounding you during the workday. As far as moving forward, you will know the exact corporate ladder of your company. The vision of working your way up is clear and you know what you have to accomplish to get there.

Small Business:

Structure: The structure of small business is often times a little more flexible than those of large corporations. Because the environment in a small business is ever-changing, your schedule may be also. You may have the opportunity to take longer lunches, work from home, or spend a little more time on balancing your personal life. For those who choose not to set a predetermined trajectory of a career path, the small business route gives you a little more wiggle-room.

Your role: Rather than having a strict and straightforward title attached to many corporate workers, you may be expected to juggle many roles when you work for a small business. If you find a small business opportunity with a mission you are passionate about, you can be a driving force in the company’s success and you have the ability to receive more responsibility sooner.

Your future: In a small business, you are competing for a higher position with less people than Fortune 100 companies. You are in control of you own destiny in a small business and your voice will get heard, whether you like it or not. If you find the company you chose isn’t for you, employers love seeing small business experience on a resume. A candidate with small business experience usually is more of a self-starter, company-focused and has ideas.

Big or small, if you have a will to succeed, your future will be bright. Consider the structure, your role, and your future when deciding what size company is the best fit for you.


Source: Posted by Heather Huhman, Glassdoor.com  • June 12th, 2012

How To Make Yourself Indispensable in the Current Job Market

Ditch the slackers, take on dirty work, do it with data -- here's how to get the inside track on a highly rewarding career in IT.

How do you keep your job or get a better one in an era when hiring is in a freeze and budgets are perpetually squeezed? Follow these maxims and find out.

Some of these ideas are practical advice you've probably heard before (and ignored). Being familiar with the business objectives and how technology can improve the bottom line is more important than ever. But so is expanding your portfolio of IT skills. Mastering cloud services or data management will help ensure your relevance in a rapidly changing work environment. You'll also want to reach out and communicate with your colleagues across the aisle and the organization, and take on dirty jobs nobody else wants. Eventually it may even mean leaving the comfort of a big organization and branching out on your own.

But remember: Becoming "indispensable" can be a double-edged sword. Get too indispensable and you might find yourself unable to move beyond your niche.

Effective IT Habit No. 1: Get Down to Business

You may be your organization's most talented developer or dedicated systems administrator. But if you don't know what the business is selling or what service it's providing, you're an unemployment statistic waiting to happen.

First step: Learn as much about the business as you possibly can, advises Mark A. Gilmore, president and co-founder of Wired Integrations, a strategic technology consulting firm.

"Ask yourself, 'How does it make its money? What are its strengths and weaknesses?'" Gilmore says. "Once you understand how the company works, you can use your IT knowledge to improve the company thus making yourself more valuable and less dispensable."

It helps to have a deep understanding of the company's critical infrastructure and to keep abreast of tech trends, he adds. But this may also require broadening your worldview.

"Don't look at things from strictly an IT perspective," he says. "Widen your vision to see how things relate to the business world around you. That will make you more valuable than 20 technical certifications and a master's degree."

Effective IT Habit No. 2: Keep Your Eye on the Bottom Line

Your job isn't just to keep the lights on and the data center humming. It's to help your organization use technology to improve the business; especially by trimming costs and increasing efficiency.

Servers running at a fraction of their capacity? If you haven't already virtualized your data center, now's the time. Software licenses dragging down your budget? You have an increasingly broad choice of low-cost cloud-based apps that let you pay only for what you use and only for as long as you use it. That's barely scratching the surface.

"IT professionals need to focus on areas which either drive down costs, such as virtualization, cloud computing, and converged networking, or on areas that help to generate revenue, such as social media, mobile marketing, and SEO," notes Rick Mancinelli, managing partner for IT consultants Cloud Computing Concepts.

"Ultimately, those IT professionals that have a positive impact on the bottom line will be the most valuable to their employer."

Effective IT Habit No. 3: Keep Your Head in the Cloud

Because so many traditional IT functions are moving to the cloud, which any business user can procure with a phone call and a credit card, your company may no longer need you to flip switches, connect cables, or troubleshoot machines. But they will still need someone who can tell them what services are available, which ones are worth looking at, and which ones they should avoid.

"If your organization plans to rely more on public cloud providers, especially for basic infrastructure needs, you may find you need fewer in-house operations people to maintain, patch, and upgrade systems," says Mark White, chief technology officer of Deloitte Consulting's technology practice. "But you'll still require people with expertise in managing a catalog of cloud services, handling subscribers, brokering agreements with cloud providers, and intervening when problems arise.

"The cloud puts greater demands on both your technical and your business-of-IT skills. If you're CIO, it's an opportunity to take your capabilities up to the next level."

Effective IT Habit No. 4: Broaden Your Tech Horizons

Besides mastering their own tech domains, savvy IT pros broaden their skill sets to include other areas of expertise. If a crisis arises in one of those areas and the persons responsible for handling it aren't available, you may be able to step in and save the day.

"This helps employers view them as valuable team players who can easily branch out to handle other jobs," says Dr. Issac Herskowitz, dean of the Graduate School of Technology at Touro College. "And an employee who has more than one area of expertise is more valuable when a department is downsizing."

The easiest way to develop new skills (and impress your boss) is by volunteering your services to other areas of IT and to stay on top of emerging tech trends, Herskowitz adds. The more you know about the latest and greatest tech, the more likely you'll be invited into the conversation when those technologies are being considered for adoption.

Effective IT Habit No. 5: Don't Become Literally "indispensable"

The problem with being labeled indispensable is that it can become a trap. Your talents can become so critical to an organization's survival that you can never leave or rise to a new position within your company, says Steven A. Lowe, CEO of Innovator LLC, a consulting and custom software development firm.

"A friend of mine is an excellent developer who has created a few critical software systems for the company that employs him," Lowe says. "No one else can step in and do what he does, and the company can't 'afford' to promote him to a more senior position or pay him much more money. So he's frustrated and miserable -- but he's certainly indispensable!"

The way to avoid this trap: Don't hoard information or expertise. Delegate responsibility. Start training your own replacement now, or find ways to outsource your current responsibilities so that you can take on more challenging assignments.

"I have been both indispensable and dispensable, and I had better job security and was happier when I was dispensable," says Jen Hancock, author of "The Humanist Approach to Happiness: Practical Wisdom."

Hancock says, "When I was indispensable, things fell apart. If I tried to take a long weekend I came back to a mess I had to clean up. The longer I was away, the worse the mess. When I finally got my act together enough to manage the work and delegate it out properly, everything ran more smoothly."

Effective IT Habit No. 6: Ditch the Slackers. Find a Mentor

Hanging with a crew that likes to take long lunches and knock off at five (or earlier)? You're not doing your career any good, says David Maxfield, author of "Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success," a book about alter your career-limiting habits.

"The habits that hold you back are likely enabled, tolerated, or encouraged by others," he says. "Use positive peer pressure by surrounding yourself with hardworking friends who share your career goals. Distance yourself from the office slackers."

Instead, Maxfield advises you seek someone with more experience to steer your career in a positive direction. "Find a trusted mentor," he says. "That will help you navigate the career development opportunities that exist within the organization."


Courtesy: Dan Tynan, Infoworld

Where Should You Look for IT Jobs in 2012?

As the economy continues through its recovery and corporate earning improve, businesses across North America are reinvesting in IT projects that were put on hold through the recession, according to a survey from three top IT staffing companies.

The industries with the strongest growth, including technology and health care, are adding the most IT jobs today, and the IT positions in demand today are a combination of those directly related to profit drivers (product and service development) and back-office operations (such as networking and database administration), a positive indicator for the economy overall.

The distribution of the “Top Cities” across the region also points to the fact that IT job growth is not confined to those areas traditionally considered IT “hubs,” such as Silicon Valley. And with the most skilled IT workers today seeing multiple job offers and commanding higher salaries, 2012 is the year for IT pros to find a new job, the report concluded. Three national staffing firms—Modis, Robert Half Technology and Technisource—shared their lists of the best U.S. cities for finding IT jobs. Here are their picks:

Washington, D.C.

The nation's capital and its environs (and McLean, Va. in particular) top the list of the best cities for finding IT jobs. The federal government may not be creating many jobs, but the systems integrators, defense contractors (hence the picture of the Pentagon), and professional services firms servicing the government are making up for it, according to staffing industry execs. Banking companies in the area are also hiring tech workers, as well as rising tech startups.

These companies are primarily looking to hire developers (especially JAVA and .NET), says Matt Colarusso, a regional manager with Technisource's parent company Randstad. Modis notes that business analysts, information security professionals, project managers, and database administrators and architects are also in demand.


Houston, TX

It should come as no surprise that oil and gas companies are major catalysts for tech hiring in Houston. Notably, the healthcare industry is beginning to rival the energy industry as a top tech employer in the area. Houston has "a massive healthcare and medical presence," says John Reed, executive director of Robert Half Technology. This presence includes M.D. Anderson Clinical Care Center, CHRISTUS St. John Hospital and Bayshore Medical Center. All of those organization (and more) need IT professionals who can help them meet deadlines for compliance with new Federal regulations.

Some of the most sought-after IT skills in Houston include network engineers, project managers, business analysts, and JAVA and .NET developers, according to Modis CEO Jack Cullen.


San Francisco, CA

Add San Francisco, the East Bay, San Jose and Walnut Creek to our list of the usual suspects for finding IT jobs. As IPO fever rises and venture capital flows, tech startups are creating jobs. So too are the industry stalwarts. Application developers of all stripes are in great demand.

The healthcare industry is also contributing to the explosion of tech jobs in and around the Bay Area, says Randstad's Colarusso. Both Kaiser Permanente and UCSF Medical Center have large presence in the Bay area.


Minneapolis, MN

Colarusso, Cullen and Reed agree that Minneapolis is a great place to find work, especially in IT. Several Fortune 500 companies including Best Buy, Target, 3M and General Mills, are based in one of the Twin Cities or surrounding areas. Cullen notes that the unemployment rate in Minneapolis, at 5.1 percent, is low, and it's even lower for IT workers. He refers to Minneapolis as "one of the best kept secrets" as a place to live and work in the U.S.

The retail, manufacturing, financial services and healthcare companies in the area are all looking to hire IT professionals—specifically project managers, business analysts, application developers, network security engineers and help desk analysts, according to Modis's Research.


Seattle, WA

"It's hard to talk about tech jobs without mentioning Seattle," says Robert Half's Reed. Besides Microsoft's looming presence in Redmond, a host of smaller tech companies, including Avanade, Lizard Tech and Big Fish Games, call Seattle their home. Randstad's Colarusso says that he recently read that Seattle has experienced the most sustained growth in IT jobs than any other city over the last 10 years. He adds that the most common positions Seattle-based tech companies need to fill are business analysts, project managers and developers.


Boston, MA

Five major industries are booming in Beantown and its neighboring cities and suburbs: financial services, healthcare, biotech/pharma, education, and of course IT. And all need tech talent. Boston's most prestigious educational institutions, Harvard and MIT, are based just across the scenic Charles River in Cambridge. They provide local tech and biotech companies, which include EMC, Analog Devices, iRobot and Genzyme, with a ready talent pool, and they give local venture capital firms such as Greylock Venture Partners and OpenView, promising MBAs (or dropouts) to invest in.

The IT jobs in highest demand across all five major industries in Boston include JAVA and .NET developers, storage engineers, project managers, business analysts, business intelligence analysts and data management professionals, according to Modis.


Detroit, MI

Car sales in the U.S. have been growing steadily since the second quarter of 2011, according to the Wall Street Journal, and that's fueling a resurgence in Detroit. While General Motors continues to struggle, Ford and Chrysler are seeing year over year sales growth.

When car makers like Ford and Chrysler do well, so too do their suppliers and subcontractors in the Detroit market, which increasingly includes tech companies developing mobile applications and devices for cars and trucks, says Modis's Cullen. As all of these companies experience sales increases, they have money to invest in IT, which creates demand for project managers, business analysts and JAVA developers, according to Modis.


New York, NY

Robert Half's Reed says that his firm sees the most employment activity in NYC and the surrounding area because of the high concentration of large companies based there. The two industries for which the Big Apple is known—financial services and media (and in particular, digital media)—are creating jobs for JAVA, SharePoint, .NET, PHP and mobile application developers, as well as for project managers, business analysts, business intelligence analysts and quality assurance testers, according to Modis.


Orlando, FL

Tech job opportunities in Orlando, Fla., are increasing due to the new Medical City project's adding 10,000 new jobs in Orlando (driving health care IT jobs) and the increasing networking needs of companies of all industries (driving telecommunications jobs).


McLean, VA

McLean has a lot of startups and growing industries, resulting in an average unemployment rate that is well below the national average. The federal government and contractors continue to drive the need for more workers and open jobs.


Walnut Creek, CA

Many traditional industries are looking for cost savings by using technology to be more efficient, and they need IT workers to build these technologies. This is creating a higher volume of job opportunities, as some data centers are located here as well.


Jacksonville, FL

A low cost of living, coupled with large companies that have invested in the growth of Jacksonville’s economy by adding many IT jobs, have increased the demand for even more people with technology skills. Jacksonville employers have embraced cutting- and bleeding-edge technologies that help drive top IT talent.


Denver, CO

Denver has a diverse economy with a mix of established and startup companies. It also has a low unemployment rate for IT workers and a strong midmarket sector. The report noted Denver has always been a city where people want to live, and as a result, it attracts talent from other markets.


(Courtesy: eWeek & CIO)

How to Retool Your IT Skills for the Cloud

Keith Fafel entered the world of cloud computing during the summer of 2010, while he was working as a product manager with Rackspace, the San Antonio, Texas-based provider of hosted IT infrastructure services.

At the time, Fafel was working in Rackspace's monitoring services line of business, which provides information on the performance of the hardware and software that Rackspace runs for its customers. Rackspace had begun developing cloud-based hosting services, and it was trying to create monitoring solutions for customers provisioning those cloud-based services so that they could be assured their servers and load balancers were working properly. Fafel says he "inserted" himself in the conversation Rackspace was having on how it would develop monitoring software for the cloud.

"The excitement about the cloud was growing, and I wanted to be in the exciting growth areas," he says.

Fafel, who is now Rackspace's director of product for monitoring services, says the move to develop cloud-based monitoring services was a natural career progression for him. For many IT professionals, however, the move to developing applications and managing infrastructure based in the cloud feels anything but natural. Indeed, it seems downright intimidating, especially in light of all the talk about the possibility of cloud computing eliminating IT jobs.

Fafel and others working in the burgeoning field of cloud computing say the transition from a traditional IT environment to a cloud computing environment doesn't have to be difficult or daunting. They acknowledge it's a dramatic paradigm shift for IT, and they admit that the move will be hard for those IT professionals who dismiss cloud computing as a fad and who are wedded to particular operating systems and technology platforms. But for the IT professionals like Fafel who view adding cloud computing skills as a career opportunity, retooling their skill sets for the cloud will be a relatively straightforward process, they say.

Begin Retooling Now

"There's a great benefit today in that there are so many [training] resources available," says Bernard Golden, CEO of cloud computing and virtualization consulting company HyperStratus. "There are a lot of online resources, and a lot of these products you can use for free or they're dirt cheap. You have a real opportunity to get hands-on experience with a low barrier to entry."

IT professionals interested in learning about cloud computing would be wise to begin their education now, cloud computing experts agree.

"Right now, everyone is doing something as it relates to the cloud," says David Nichols, CIO Services leader for Ernst & Young. "They may have one or two applications in the cloud or are using it for storage. For just about everyone, what they're putting in the cloud is so small relative to the rest of their infrastructure that they don't have to worry about addressing this new business model separately."

The fact that most enterprises and IT departments are currently inching their way to the cloud, as Nichols describes, works to IT professionals' advantage: It takes some pressure off of them. They can learn at their own pace, as opposed to having to quickly come up to speed in the midst of a major cloud transformation. By starting their training now, they can get ahead of the technology curve.

"Cloud is here to stay. It is not a flash in the pan. It is a paradigm shift, and IT professionals need to recognize it," says Andy Knosp, vice president of professional services for Eucalyptus Software, a provider of a platform for private infrastructure-as-a-service clouds. "If they are going to increase their skills and their value in the [job] market, now is the time to get trained."

Here, cloud computing experts offer advice to IT professionals on how they can adapt their skill set for the cloud.

Get Your Head in the Cloud

The first step in retooling your skill set for the cloud is to understand the basics: That is, the concept of cloud computing, the different deployment models (public, private and hybrid) and use cases for them, and how the model differs from traditional IT operations.

At its most basic level, cloud computing is a way of dynamically delivering customized IT resources (such as applications, storage and server capacity) over the Internet and "on demand." It relies on virtualization software, which pools available computing resources from many servers, to provide that seemingly instant access to applications, storage or servers.

The reason cloud computing represents such a radical paradigm shift for IT is because of this instant access to scalable IT capabilities that it facilitates. The classic example of this concept is the time it takes to provision a server for a new application. In a traditional corporate IT environment, this process can take weeks: A new server may need to be purchased. Once purchased it needs to be configured and software has to be deployed for it.

In a cloud environment, the server capacity is already in place, and it's virtual. Instead of weeks, it can take minutes to get a server running. The process of provisioning a server to run an app is almost entirely automated, and users only pay for the computing capacity they use, as opposed to paying for all of the capacity that an entire physical server provides.

Cloud computing differs from traditional IT in several other ways. It presents new problems and therefore requires new approaches to solving those problems. For example, when Rackspace began to develop monitoring services for its cloud customers, it looked to traditional IT management and monitoring tools from several major vendors. Fafel says Rackspace quickly realized that those tools, which are designed for enterprises in which there's a known set of users and are managed in a centralized fashion, didn't work in a multitenant cloud environment. Rackspace ultimately decided to use monitoring software from a small cloud company, CloudKick, which it later acquired.

"As you're evaluating solutions to build within the cloud and work within the cloud, you have to be open to looking at startup companies that are just getting off the ground," says Fafel. "That's a hard pill to swallow for many IT leaders."


Select Areas of Specialization and Certifications

IT professionals who understand the concept of cloud computing, its different deployment models and use cases will be able to speak confidently about how their organizations might take advantage of the cloud and the benefits they might derive from it. Talking about cloud computing inside their IT organizations will distinguish them as knowledgeable and can help get them moved onto cloud computing projects, says Golden.

He recommends IT professionals learn about cloud computing's hot areas, such as platform-as-a-service (and Cloud Foundry in particular) and non-relational database management systems such as NoSQL, Apache's CouchDB and Cassandra databases, and Mongo. He also urges IT professionals to learn how to manage cloud infrastructure services environments and the management frameworks that sit around them, whether BMC or RightScale, for example.

All of these recommendations may seem overwhelming. The good news is that resources for you to educate yourself abound.

"It's dead easy to learn those things," says Golden, "because they all have online versions that are dirt cheap."

Indeed, many vendors in the vast cloud computing ecosystem, including Rackspace, Eucalyptus, RightScale, enStratus and Opscode, offer in-person or online training courses, documentation, white papers, demos, webinars and other resources on their Websites. These resources are often free for customers and partners. Sometimes they're free to the public or available for a low cost.

"Most everything an IT professional would need these days is freely available or relatively inexpensive," says Rackspace's Fafel. "You don't need a $5,000 server to help you learn. Launch your Web browser, launch a few servers in the Rackspace cloud, dig into blogs, and absorb as much information as you can."

As you build your knowledge of cloud computing, Eucalyptus's Knosp suggests investigating and obtaining certifications. He said he believes that when employers advertise positions for cloud administrators and architects, they will seek candidates with vendor-specific certifications. IT professionals who hold those credentials will be in a better competitive position in the job market.


(Courtesy: Meridith Levinson, CIO)

IT Employment Finishes Strong in 2011

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- In December, the economy added IT jobs at a robust pace, contributing to the totals of an already strong year for IT employment.
According to a monthly index of IT jobs developed and published by TechServe Alliance, a collaboration of IT services firms, clients, consultants and suppliers, the number of IT jobs increased by more than 15,300, (.4%) rising to 4,082,100 jobs in December. On an annual basis, IT jobs were up 3.3% in 2011 over 2010. This reflects an annual rate of growth in IT employment that is more than double rate the growth rate experienced in 2009 (1.3%).
By comparison, overall job growth for the economy was up only 1% year-over-year; though an improvement over 2010 when the labor force actually contracted on year-over-year basis (-.7%).

"As we begin 2012, I am heartened to see accelerating growth in IT employment," stated Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance. "Based upon both the data and anecdotal reports of my members companies, one of our greatest challenges going forward will be a shortage of IT talent in key skillsets," added Roberts.

For a complete December 2011 IT Index, please visit http://www.techservealliance.org/pressroom/documents/IndexreleaseDecember2011FINAL.pdf


ABOUT TechServe AllianceTechServe Alliance is a collaboration of IT services firms, clients, consultants and suppliers dedicated to advancing excellence and ethics within the IT services industry. Hundreds of IT staffing, IT solutions and IT consulting firms and tens of thousands of affiliated professionals, count on TechServe Alliance to keep their leadership informed, engaged and connected. TechServe Alliance serves as the voice of the industry before the policymakers and the national and trade press. By providing access to the knowledge and best practices of an entire industry and tapping the "collective scale" of hundreds of companies, TechServe Alliance supports its members in the efficient delivery of best-in-class IT services for clients and exceptional professional opportunities for every IT consultant.

SOURCE TechServe Alliance

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

More Than 700 Tech Jobs in Tampa Bay to Fill in 2012

TBTF Jobs Survey: More Than 700 Tech Jobs to Fill in 2012


Friday, December 16, 2011

85 percent of the companies surveyed said they are hiring in the coming year.

Tampa, Fla. (December 16, 2011) – Encouraging news for Tampa Bay’s job market was announced by the Tampa Bay Technology Forum today when it released the results of its job survey. The survey discovered that more than 700 technology jobs will need to be filled in 2012.

"One of Florida’s greatest economic challenges is unemployment and underemployment. We believe that the long term answer to employment and over-all economic growth and stability will be technology related jobs,” said Heather Kenyon, TBTF president and CEO. "By surveying local technology companies we were able to gain a better understanding of some of the challenges related to workforce. Many companies state that finding qualified workers in the region can be challenging. TBTF is dedicated to assisting the technology industry and, to a greater extent, the region’s economy by helping to connect the industry with the needed resources to find, educate and develop the talent they need.”

More than 100 companies completed the survey, and 85 percent of respondents revealed they are hiring right now and through 2012. The positions identified that will need to be filled range from IT services, engineers and architects to sales and marketing. Three of the companies – Blue Rhino Group, Tata Consultancy Services and WellCare – indicated they expect to bring on 100 new hires in 2012. TBTF’s survey aligns with recent national news that tech jobs are the one bright spot in the economy. A recent Business Week article listed the top ten cities with the biggest growth in tech jobs, and Tampa was eighth on the list.

"I am encouraged by the 2012 staffing outlook, and believe it is a great time to be in the IT field,” said John Kuemmel, senior vice president, information technology at Catalina Marketing. "We are seeing an uptick in the level of IT staffing going into 2012. The people we are looking for are concentrated on business intelligence, project managers and Java developers. Our focus for 2012 will continue to be on new product innovation and business process optimization applications.”

About Tampa Bay Technology Forum
Founded in 2000, the Tampa Bay Technology Forum (TBTF) is a non-profit membership association committed to connecting and growing the technology community in Tampa Bay. TBTF’s 300+ member companies represent technology entrepreneurs, business and community leaders, investors, government representatives, researchers and educators. For more information, visit http://www.tbtf.org/.

Higher Salaries, More Jobs for IT Pros in 2012

While the overall employment picture in the United States remains tight, many IT pros can look forward to a more prosperous 2012.

Even with several negative economic indicators nagging workers worried about availability of jobs, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released late last week and a survey out this week by online employment site Dice show that technology professionals have been more isolated than most from market woes.

According to BLS, unemployment only went down a hitch to 8.6 percent from 9.0 percent, while the number of workers who have given up looking for jobs increased by 315,000 unemployed workers last month. The number of long-term unemployed workers without jobs for over 26 weeks continued to make up nearly half of those unemployed today. But in the technology sector, there was some good news.

Though two of the IT-related sectors measured by BLS lost jobs -- Telecommunications and Data Processing, Hosting and Related Services -- two other IT segments saw notable growth. Combined, the Management and Technical Consulting Services and Computer Systems Design and Related Services segments experienced a net gain of nearly 129,800 jobs in the last twelve months.

According to David Foote, CEO of IT analyst and employment research firm Foote Partners, this tracks with his research.

"Among the 2,200 employers who participate as research partners in our industry research, there’s no question that consulting firms and systems integrators are benefitting from these employers’ purchases of managed services and investments in cloud computing as an alternative to acquiring technology skills in house,” Foote says.

IT recruitment firm Dice, which queried nearly 1,200 IT hiring managers and recruiters recently about their plans for 2012, saw more employment going inhouse. Released this week, the data showed that 65 percent of employers will be seeking to hire technology professionals in the first half of 2012. About a quarter of those report that they plan to expand staffs by more than 20 percent during the same time period.

"The tech recruiting market is active, although the pace of improvement has been impacted by broader economic concerns," said Alice Hill, Managing Director of Dice.com. "Many companies are chasing mid-career talent. The elevated economic uncertainty makes it tougher for hiring managers to lure tech professionals into leaving their current position."

This is working to technologists' benefit salary-wise as many companies are luring new recruits from the safety blanket of their current situations with higher pay. Dice found that 42 percent of hiring managers predict that new-hire salaries will rise in 2012.


Source: [CI] channel insider  2011-12-07

By Ericka Chickowski