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/.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
IT Job Market Turbulent, But Opportunities Abound
While the view of the overall U.S. job market looks bleak, IT professionals have several options at their disposal.
A sudden and unexpected burst in private-sector downsizing pushed the number of announced job cuts to a 16-month high of 66,414 in July, according the latest report on downsizing activity released this week by outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Similarly depressing figures regarding the U.S. job market have made headlines for the past few months, but IT professionals can take comfort in some more encouraging news.
The July surge in job cuts was dominated by a flurry of large layoffs by a handful of private-sector employers, the report noted, including Merck, Borders, Cisco Systems, Lockheed Martin and Boston Scientific. The job cuts from these five companies alone accounted for 38,100, or 57 percent, of the July total. Despite the increase in job cuts last month, the pace of downsizing in 2011 remains slower than 2010, but it is quickly gaining ground. So far this year, employers have announced 312,220 cuts, 8 percent less than the 339,353 announced in the first seven months of 2010.
“The spate of job cuts should definitely raise some red flags, but it is important to keep the monthly job-cut total in perspective. Yes, this is the largest job-cut month in over a year, but the last year has seen some of the lowest monthly job-cut totals since the late 1990s,” said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “The 66,000 job cuts recorded last month are still well below the 105,000 job cuts per month averaged between January 2008 and December 2009.”
Dice’s August jobs report found the number of available IT jobs as of the first of the month stood at 81,498, down from July’s report, which found 82,867 available IT jobs. Of the positions tallied in the report, 49,540 were full-time positions, 34,855 were contract positions and 1,578 were part-time positions. The New York/New Jersey metro area was the top region to find a job, with 9,378 jobs posted as of Aug. 1. That represents a 14 percent rise in available jobs in the region, compared with the same period last year.
In a recent interview, CompTIA president Todd Thibodeaux told Channel Insider that about 400,000 IT jobs are currently unfilled in the United States, with top markets such as New York and Silicon Valley unable to fill the job openings they have. While many of these positions are entry-level, certain skill sets are commanding premium pay such as cyber-security experts, mobility experts and systems integrators who can make one cloud application work well with another, he said.
However, SurePayroll’s Small Business Scorecard for July 2011, an economic indicator that tracks the health of the U.S. small business economy, found small business hiring is down in 18 metro areas. For July 2011, both hiring and paycheck levels were down slightly from the previous month, resulting in year-to-date decreases of 2.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
In addition, optimism among small-business owners plummeted from 67 percent in June to 47 percent in July. For the last several months, Michael Alter, president and CEO of SurePayroll, has said the small-business economy is in neutral and teetering on the brink of improvement or downturn. Now, he believes “the economy is in reverse,” adding that the turmoil surrounding the U.S. debt-ceiling debate certainly played a role.
(Courtesy: Nathan Eddy, eweek)
A sudden and unexpected burst in private-sector downsizing pushed the number of announced job cuts to a 16-month high of 66,414 in July, according the latest report on downsizing activity released this week by outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Similarly depressing figures regarding the U.S. job market have made headlines for the past few months, but IT professionals can take comfort in some more encouraging news.
The July surge in job cuts was dominated by a flurry of large layoffs by a handful of private-sector employers, the report noted, including Merck, Borders, Cisco Systems, Lockheed Martin and Boston Scientific. The job cuts from these five companies alone accounted for 38,100, or 57 percent, of the July total. Despite the increase in job cuts last month, the pace of downsizing in 2011 remains slower than 2010, but it is quickly gaining ground. So far this year, employers have announced 312,220 cuts, 8 percent less than the 339,353 announced in the first seven months of 2010.
“The spate of job cuts should definitely raise some red flags, but it is important to keep the monthly job-cut total in perspective. Yes, this is the largest job-cut month in over a year, but the last year has seen some of the lowest monthly job-cut totals since the late 1990s,” said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “The 66,000 job cuts recorded last month are still well below the 105,000 job cuts per month averaged between January 2008 and December 2009.”
Dice’s August jobs report found the number of available IT jobs as of the first of the month stood at 81,498, down from July’s report, which found 82,867 available IT jobs. Of the positions tallied in the report, 49,540 were full-time positions, 34,855 were contract positions and 1,578 were part-time positions. The New York/New Jersey metro area was the top region to find a job, with 9,378 jobs posted as of Aug. 1. That represents a 14 percent rise in available jobs in the region, compared with the same period last year.
In a recent interview, CompTIA president Todd Thibodeaux told Channel Insider that about 400,000 IT jobs are currently unfilled in the United States, with top markets such as New York and Silicon Valley unable to fill the job openings they have. While many of these positions are entry-level, certain skill sets are commanding premium pay such as cyber-security experts, mobility experts and systems integrators who can make one cloud application work well with another, he said.
However, SurePayroll’s Small Business Scorecard for July 2011, an economic indicator that tracks the health of the U.S. small business economy, found small business hiring is down in 18 metro areas. For July 2011, both hiring and paycheck levels were down slightly from the previous month, resulting in year-to-date decreases of 2.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
In addition, optimism among small-business owners plummeted from 67 percent in June to 47 percent in July. For the last several months, Michael Alter, president and CEO of SurePayroll, has said the small-business economy is in neutral and teetering on the brink of improvement or downturn. Now, he believes “the economy is in reverse,” adding that the turmoil surrounding the U.S. debt-ceiling debate certainly played a role.
(Courtesy: Nathan Eddy, eweek)
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The future of IT jobs? It's in three types of roles.
Interesting article by Jason Hiner of ZDNet
There’s a general anxiety that has settled over much of the IT profession in recent years. It’s a stark contrast to the situation just over a decade ago. At the end of the 1990s, IT pros were the belles of the ball. The IT labor shortage regularly made headlines and IT pros were able to command excellent salaries by getting training and certification, job hopping, and, in many cases, being the only qualified candidate for a key position in a thinly-stretched job market. At the time, IT was held up as one of the professions of the future, where more and more of the best jobs would be migrating as computer-automated processes replaced manual ones.
Unfortunately, that idea of the future has disappeared, or at least morphed into something much different.
Read the entire article here http://tinyurl.com/428nu6s
There’s a general anxiety that has settled over much of the IT profession in recent years. It’s a stark contrast to the situation just over a decade ago. At the end of the 1990s, IT pros were the belles of the ball. The IT labor shortage regularly made headlines and IT pros were able to command excellent salaries by getting training and certification, job hopping, and, in many cases, being the only qualified candidate for a key position in a thinly-stretched job market. At the time, IT was held up as one of the professions of the future, where more and more of the best jobs would be migrating as computer-automated processes replaced manual ones.
Unfortunately, that idea of the future has disappeared, or at least morphed into something much different.
Read the entire article here http://tinyurl.com/428nu6s
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Why You Shouldn't Take a Pay Cut to Telecommute
A recent survey shows that more than one-third of IT professionals would take a 10 percent pay cut to telecommute.
Telecommuting appears to be the most underrated employment perk of the digital age—underrated by employers, that is. Most employees would love the opportunity to telecommute full-time. In an informal online poll conducted by job search website FINS, a whopping 92 percent of site visitors said they'd accept a dream job even if it meant they had to telecommute.
A separate survey conducted recently by another job search website, Dice, shows just how much some IT workers want to telecommute. More than one-third (35 percent) of survey respondents said they'd be willing to take a 10 percent pay cut in return for the privilege of being able to telecommute. Many members of Slashdot, responding to the same question (Would you take a 10 percent pay cut to telecommute?) said they'd do the same.
It's one thing to want to telecommute. It's another thing to be willing to give up money to do so. Those IT workers who are willing to relinquish 10 percent of their pay to telecommute must have money to burn. That or they haven't quite thought through such a trade-off. No one should compromise their pay. Pay cuts hurt. That's why they're called cuts.
In fact, employers should pay their employees more to telecommute. Here's why: First of all, unless you're a complete slacker, your productivity will rise when you telecommute. You can devote the time you would otherwise spend in traffic to getting actual work done, and you won't be distracted by conversations with co-workers. That means your employer will get more out of you. If a productivity increase isn't worth more money, then what is? It's certainly not worth a pay cut. In fact, making employees take a pay cut to telecommute would make them less productive, as they would lack the financial incentive to work hard. Most people work hard as a telecommuter to maintain this good work-at-home gig.
Some people say they'd rather work in an office because they worry they'd be too distracted by household chores or the TV. If you have enough work, NOTHING will tempt you to leave your home office. Oprah/ESPN, the laundry and dishes can wait.
Second, you're saving your employer money. You're one less mouth to feed on the odd occasions when the company decides to bring in pizza to boost morale. More important, it's in a company's financial interest to have as many employees as possible telecommuting. The more people who telecommute, the less office space the employer will need, resulting in reduced real estate and infrastructure costs. Employers will also save on office supplies.
Meanwhile, your household expenses will increase when you telecommute. You'll be using more electricity to light your office and to power your computer, monitor, printer, etc. You'll have to heat your home during the day in the winter when it otherwise would be unoccupied. You'll also be consuming more water (every time that toilet flushes) and more household items. So any savings you might have gained, for example, from not having to put gas in your car to commute will be offset—if not exceeded—by this increase in household expenses.
Finally, most corporations will use any excuse to cheat their employees out of more money. As soon as they see data suggesting that employees would do a job for less money provided they could do it from the comfort of their own home, they'll start nickel-and-diming. Most corporations would pay their employees in dryer lint if they could get away with it. So let's not give these companies any ideas.
Source: (Meridith Levinson, CIO.com)
Telecommuting appears to be the most underrated employment perk of the digital age—underrated by employers, that is. Most employees would love the opportunity to telecommute full-time. In an informal online poll conducted by job search website FINS, a whopping 92 percent of site visitors said they'd accept a dream job even if it meant they had to telecommute.
A separate survey conducted recently by another job search website, Dice, shows just how much some IT workers want to telecommute. More than one-third (35 percent) of survey respondents said they'd be willing to take a 10 percent pay cut in return for the privilege of being able to telecommute. Many members of Slashdot, responding to the same question (Would you take a 10 percent pay cut to telecommute?) said they'd do the same.
It's one thing to want to telecommute. It's another thing to be willing to give up money to do so. Those IT workers who are willing to relinquish 10 percent of their pay to telecommute must have money to burn. That or they haven't quite thought through such a trade-off. No one should compromise their pay. Pay cuts hurt. That's why they're called cuts.
In fact, employers should pay their employees more to telecommute. Here's why: First of all, unless you're a complete slacker, your productivity will rise when you telecommute. You can devote the time you would otherwise spend in traffic to getting actual work done, and you won't be distracted by conversations with co-workers. That means your employer will get more out of you. If a productivity increase isn't worth more money, then what is? It's certainly not worth a pay cut. In fact, making employees take a pay cut to telecommute would make them less productive, as they would lack the financial incentive to work hard. Most people work hard as a telecommuter to maintain this good work-at-home gig.
Some people say they'd rather work in an office because they worry they'd be too distracted by household chores or the TV. If you have enough work, NOTHING will tempt you to leave your home office. Oprah/ESPN, the laundry and dishes can wait.
Second, you're saving your employer money. You're one less mouth to feed on the odd occasions when the company decides to bring in pizza to boost morale. More important, it's in a company's financial interest to have as many employees as possible telecommuting. The more people who telecommute, the less office space the employer will need, resulting in reduced real estate and infrastructure costs. Employers will also save on office supplies.
Meanwhile, your household expenses will increase when you telecommute. You'll be using more electricity to light your office and to power your computer, monitor, printer, etc. You'll have to heat your home during the day in the winter when it otherwise would be unoccupied. You'll also be consuming more water (every time that toilet flushes) and more household items. So any savings you might have gained, for example, from not having to put gas in your car to commute will be offset—if not exceeded—by this increase in household expenses.
Finally, most corporations will use any excuse to cheat their employees out of more money. As soon as they see data suggesting that employees would do a job for less money provided they could do it from the comfort of their own home, they'll start nickel-and-diming. Most corporations would pay their employees in dryer lint if they could get away with it. So let's not give these companies any ideas.
Source: (Meridith Levinson, CIO.com)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
How to get Promotion at Your Tech Job
There are plenty of opportunities for advancement in the tech world, but determining the right path and approach to landing a promotion means taking the time to figure out your goals, hone your skills, and showcase your value to the business.
"In career management for IT professionals, you need to look forward," says Steve Andriole, Professor of Management and Operations at the Villanova School of Business. "There's still a lot of work that needs to get done that's looking backwards, but if you are looking to move up, you really need to be vigilant about career management and getting on the stuff that's new."
While business functions vary across the technology field, experts say there are clear management and technology areas that offer the greatest opportunity for upward mobility. Figuring out where and how you can fit in is key to getting promoted in those fields.
Figure Out Your Goals
Do you want to get involved more deeply in business management? Are you interested in vendor management or focusing on architecture and governance? These three areas offer the strongest opportunities in growth moving forward, says Andriole, and determining early on what you want to focus on can help you tailor your approach.
For example, if business management is your interest, figure out ways to more closely align yourself with the business side of projects -- developing relationships with business managers and taking a hand at working with business metrics. If it's vendor management that you are most interested in, Andriole suggests investigating certifications you can get to legitimize yourself in the field. If its architecture and governance that you want to pursue, staying up-to-speed on emerging architectures is especially critical to show hiring managers you have a handle on the industry.
Align Yourself With Emerging Technologies
Step back to look at what technologies are most forward-thinking and figure out how you can get involved in those. "If you keep getting assignments in application support for a claims processing system that's 21 years old, you have to go to your manager and say, 'You are giving me stuff the field is running away from," says Andriole. "You need stuff that the field is running toward."
Janice Weinberg, author of the book "Debugging Your Information Technology Job Search" says with more and more companies using cloud computing internet technologies to access web-based services, professionals looking to get ahead in their career ought o spend some time learning about this field. Similarly, Andriole suggests mobility and social media as two other critical areas in which business growth will take place in the coming years. While your manager may not give you opportunities to learn about these technologies, taking the initiative to do so on your own will help you get up to speed when opportunities do arise.
Get Business Savvy
Understanding the business side of technology offers some of the best opportunities for promotion, says Weinberg. While your current position might be heavily focused in putting technology in place rather than assessing its business value, Weinberg suggests taking steps toward getting yourself more in the know about the business impact you are having. It can be something as small as helping put together project budgets and plan staffing requirements, she says, but getting more involved in how the company handles the business side of things will show you are capable of stepping into a line management role where you're responsible for staff and budgeting decisions.
Go Beyond Your Nine to Five
It's easy to fall into the routine of a daily job, but if you want to show you're ready to move up in your IT career path, going beyond what's asked of you is critical, says Kingsley Tagbo, IT Career Coach for Exacticity, Inc., a Missouri-based career coaching firm. "Take on work that no one is willing to take on," says Tagbo. "Everyone appreciates someone who steps up."
Weinberg suggests volunteering to be part of task force committees where you can use your non-technical skills more. Making yourself visible to stakeholders and senior managers is also a critical way to help increase your chances of promotion says Tagbo. During stakeholder meetings, make an effort to give presentations at meetings so that you get on the radar of top managers.
"Prepare yourself for additional duties above and beyond your role," says Tagbo. "It says, 'I can help other people get their work done.'"
Using Mentorship as a Way into Management Opportunities
Often a promotion means moving from a technically-focused role to leading others. But if leadership isn't something you've had experience with, Tagbo suggests seeking out mentorship opportunities as a start. Taking the time to help interns or entry-level employees learn the ropes is one way to show your manager you're capable of overseeing others.
Weinberg suggests you go as far as proposing an internship program if your company does not have one. For example, if you know the company needs to hire two entry level quality assurance software engineers and that the budget is tight, propose initiating a relationship with a local university and establishing an internship program in the IT department. While such an undertaking takes extra work, it also shows you as a self-starter. "[You] could have an accomplishment on [your] resume that would speak to [your] initiative and the fact that it saved the company $60,000 to $100,000 dollars," says Weinberg.
Address Pitfalls
While landing a promotion often means seeking out opportunities that might not be officially out there, if you do have chance to apply for a vacant position within your organization, Weinberg advises that you really take the time to research why the position opened and what areas of need you can contribute to if you get it. "If you know what created the job, it can help you prepare to sell yourself more effectively," she says.
If available, look into customer satisfaction surveys from previous projects to get a sense of where the last manager's weaknesses were. For example, if you know a survey of internal customers came back with negative comments about delays, think about possible solutions you can present during an interview. Weinberg suggests making a handout of solutions to show you've thought through a particular problem and can clearly outline your approach to solving it.
Weinberg cautions against waiting for a position to fall into your lap. "Someone who aspires to a managerial role should not be waiting until they hear of a promotion opportunity," says Weinberg. "They should be approaching their daily responsibilities always with an eye toward creating the impression that they are ready for management."
By identifying the management areas you're most interested in, staying up to speed on technologies that have the greatest potential moving forward, learning the business-side of the job and stepping up to go beyond what's expected of you, you send a message to managers that you're ready to take on the responsibilities that a promotion entails.
(Courtesy: Jane Porter, Fins.com)
"In career management for IT professionals, you need to look forward," says Steve Andriole, Professor of Management and Operations at the Villanova School of Business. "There's still a lot of work that needs to get done that's looking backwards, but if you are looking to move up, you really need to be vigilant about career management and getting on the stuff that's new."
While business functions vary across the technology field, experts say there are clear management and technology areas that offer the greatest opportunity for upward mobility. Figuring out where and how you can fit in is key to getting promoted in those fields.
Figure Out Your Goals
Do you want to get involved more deeply in business management? Are you interested in vendor management or focusing on architecture and governance? These three areas offer the strongest opportunities in growth moving forward, says Andriole, and determining early on what you want to focus on can help you tailor your approach.
For example, if business management is your interest, figure out ways to more closely align yourself with the business side of projects -- developing relationships with business managers and taking a hand at working with business metrics. If it's vendor management that you are most interested in, Andriole suggests investigating certifications you can get to legitimize yourself in the field. If its architecture and governance that you want to pursue, staying up-to-speed on emerging architectures is especially critical to show hiring managers you have a handle on the industry.
Align Yourself With Emerging Technologies
Step back to look at what technologies are most forward-thinking and figure out how you can get involved in those. "If you keep getting assignments in application support for a claims processing system that's 21 years old, you have to go to your manager and say, 'You are giving me stuff the field is running away from," says Andriole. "You need stuff that the field is running toward."
Janice Weinberg, author of the book "Debugging Your Information Technology Job Search" says with more and more companies using cloud computing internet technologies to access web-based services, professionals looking to get ahead in their career ought o spend some time learning about this field. Similarly, Andriole suggests mobility and social media as two other critical areas in which business growth will take place in the coming years. While your manager may not give you opportunities to learn about these technologies, taking the initiative to do so on your own will help you get up to speed when opportunities do arise.
Get Business Savvy
Understanding the business side of technology offers some of the best opportunities for promotion, says Weinberg. While your current position might be heavily focused in putting technology in place rather than assessing its business value, Weinberg suggests taking steps toward getting yourself more in the know about the business impact you are having. It can be something as small as helping put together project budgets and plan staffing requirements, she says, but getting more involved in how the company handles the business side of things will show you are capable of stepping into a line management role where you're responsible for staff and budgeting decisions.
Go Beyond Your Nine to Five
It's easy to fall into the routine of a daily job, but if you want to show you're ready to move up in your IT career path, going beyond what's asked of you is critical, says Kingsley Tagbo, IT Career Coach for Exacticity, Inc., a Missouri-based career coaching firm. "Take on work that no one is willing to take on," says Tagbo. "Everyone appreciates someone who steps up."
Weinberg suggests volunteering to be part of task force committees where you can use your non-technical skills more. Making yourself visible to stakeholders and senior managers is also a critical way to help increase your chances of promotion says Tagbo. During stakeholder meetings, make an effort to give presentations at meetings so that you get on the radar of top managers.
"Prepare yourself for additional duties above and beyond your role," says Tagbo. "It says, 'I can help other people get their work done.'"
Using Mentorship as a Way into Management Opportunities
Often a promotion means moving from a technically-focused role to leading others. But if leadership isn't something you've had experience with, Tagbo suggests seeking out mentorship opportunities as a start. Taking the time to help interns or entry-level employees learn the ropes is one way to show your manager you're capable of overseeing others.
Weinberg suggests you go as far as proposing an internship program if your company does not have one. For example, if you know the company needs to hire two entry level quality assurance software engineers and that the budget is tight, propose initiating a relationship with a local university and establishing an internship program in the IT department. While such an undertaking takes extra work, it also shows you as a self-starter. "[You] could have an accomplishment on [your] resume that would speak to [your] initiative and the fact that it saved the company $60,000 to $100,000 dollars," says Weinberg.
Address Pitfalls
While landing a promotion often means seeking out opportunities that might not be officially out there, if you do have chance to apply for a vacant position within your organization, Weinberg advises that you really take the time to research why the position opened and what areas of need you can contribute to if you get it. "If you know what created the job, it can help you prepare to sell yourself more effectively," she says.
If available, look into customer satisfaction surveys from previous projects to get a sense of where the last manager's weaknesses were. For example, if you know a survey of internal customers came back with negative comments about delays, think about possible solutions you can present during an interview. Weinberg suggests making a handout of solutions to show you've thought through a particular problem and can clearly outline your approach to solving it.
Weinberg cautions against waiting for a position to fall into your lap. "Someone who aspires to a managerial role should not be waiting until they hear of a promotion opportunity," says Weinberg. "They should be approaching their daily responsibilities always with an eye toward creating the impression that they are ready for management."
By identifying the management areas you're most interested in, staying up to speed on technologies that have the greatest potential moving forward, learning the business-side of the job and stepping up to go beyond what's expected of you, you send a message to managers that you're ready to take on the responsibilities that a promotion entails.
(Courtesy: Jane Porter, Fins.com)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Soft Skills You Need to Succeed in a Software Career
Every software developer knows they need to stay on top of the latest programming languages to remain relevant in the job market. What many often overlook is the importance of soft skills to their careers.
"Technical skills usually get a person hired," says Steve Coscia, author of the forthcoming book, The Trade Technicians Soft Skills Manual. "But the lack of soft skills is what usually gets them fired." Your company won't typically train you on such techniques, but your boss still will expect you to have them, says Coscia. That means you must take matters into your own hands.
Here are the soft skills software developers need to stand out in the workplace.
Be a Team Player
Being able to work effectively in a team is a valuable skill and one that takes time to develop. "If you want to get involved in anything reasonably complex, you'll need to work in a team," says Scott Ambler, chief methodologist for Agile/Lean at IBM's IBM Rational product.
Being able to resolve conflicts peacefully is one of the main skills needed to work with a team, says Coscia. One way to develop this ability is to tap into events such as local user group meetings where you can work informally with others.
Your reputation as a team player can also be developed through the small things you do in the office. Many are so small, you probably don't even think about them. Whether it's handing a project in a few days early or buying a coworker coffee, showing such consideration will go a long way toward showing that you can work effectively with others. Following up on conversations or meetings with a phone call or email is another way to send the signal that you have the best interests of your colleagues in mind, says Coscia.
Pump Up Your Presentation Skills
Brilliant as you are, if you can't get your ideas across effectively, you're at a disadvantage, says Regina Clark, a Goshen, N.Y.-based executive coach and corporate trainer who works with IT Professionals. She suggests checking out resources like your local Toastmasters chapter, where you can meet with others to practice your public speaking and presentation skills.
Modeling, or displaying ideas visually using diagrams and charts, is an asset when making presentations, says Ambler. Whether it's working on a whiteboard or paper, learning how to diagram and break down ideas visually will help you communicate with others. "Developers need to recognize that there's value in these visual ways of communicating," says Ambler.
Check out continuing education classes in modeling and pay close attention to how others higher up in the company give presentations.
Learn to Put It in Writing
It's easy to get absorbed in the nitty-gritty of technology or coding and forget that writing about your work is crucial in letting others know what you're accomplishing, says Tom DeMarco, principle of the Atlantic Systems Guild, a systems think-tank, and co-author of the book, Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams. Being able to synthesize information clearly and concisely is a skill that will be essential as you move up in the management ranks. "That guy who can write a one-page summary of a meeting is absolutely essential," says DeMarco.
Getting involved in online discussion forums is another great way to brush up on your writing skills, suggests Ambler. "Just by interacting with other people [even online], you can improve some of your softer skills," he says.
User-friendly Thinking
Many developers are good at building interfaces for other techies, when it comes to creating a user interface for non-geeks, they don't know what their audience is looking for, says Ambler. While interface design might seem like a technical skill, it's really about paying closer attention to what end users need and how they process information so that you can better meet their needs. "If you can't interact with your stakeholders effectively, you won't be able to produce the results that they want," he says.
Brushing up on interface design, whether through coursework or studying effective examples is one way of setting yourself apart from other programmers. Knowing how to demo your work is another way to show your boss and others that you're able to take complex ideas and present them simply and clearly - an important skill for every manager to have. It's not just modeling up on a white board that's important. Practice sitting at a computer with a non-tech-savvy person and walk them through a demo of your work. You'll find it's not as simple as it seems.
Thinking long-term about your programming career means brushing up not just on your technical skills but on soft skills that make managers successful. Be mindful of how you work in teams, practice your presentation skills, look for ways to work on your writing, and learn how to demo your work effectively and you'll be priming yourself for long-term success.
(Courtesy: Jane Porter, FINS)
"Technical skills usually get a person hired," says Steve Coscia, author of the forthcoming book, The Trade Technicians Soft Skills Manual. "But the lack of soft skills is what usually gets them fired." Your company won't typically train you on such techniques, but your boss still will expect you to have them, says Coscia. That means you must take matters into your own hands.
Here are the soft skills software developers need to stand out in the workplace.
Be a Team Player
Being able to work effectively in a team is a valuable skill and one that takes time to develop. "If you want to get involved in anything reasonably complex, you'll need to work in a team," says Scott Ambler, chief methodologist for Agile/Lean at IBM's IBM Rational product.
Being able to resolve conflicts peacefully is one of the main skills needed to work with a team, says Coscia. One way to develop this ability is to tap into events such as local user group meetings where you can work informally with others.
Your reputation as a team player can also be developed through the small things you do in the office. Many are so small, you probably don't even think about them. Whether it's handing a project in a few days early or buying a coworker coffee, showing such consideration will go a long way toward showing that you can work effectively with others. Following up on conversations or meetings with a phone call or email is another way to send the signal that you have the best interests of your colleagues in mind, says Coscia.
Pump Up Your Presentation Skills
Brilliant as you are, if you can't get your ideas across effectively, you're at a disadvantage, says Regina Clark, a Goshen, N.Y.-based executive coach and corporate trainer who works with IT Professionals. She suggests checking out resources like your local Toastmasters chapter, where you can meet with others to practice your public speaking and presentation skills.
Modeling, or displaying ideas visually using diagrams and charts, is an asset when making presentations, says Ambler. Whether it's working on a whiteboard or paper, learning how to diagram and break down ideas visually will help you communicate with others. "Developers need to recognize that there's value in these visual ways of communicating," says Ambler.
Check out continuing education classes in modeling and pay close attention to how others higher up in the company give presentations.
Learn to Put It in Writing
It's easy to get absorbed in the nitty-gritty of technology or coding and forget that writing about your work is crucial in letting others know what you're accomplishing, says Tom DeMarco, principle of the Atlantic Systems Guild, a systems think-tank, and co-author of the book, Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams. Being able to synthesize information clearly and concisely is a skill that will be essential as you move up in the management ranks. "That guy who can write a one-page summary of a meeting is absolutely essential," says DeMarco.
Getting involved in online discussion forums is another great way to brush up on your writing skills, suggests Ambler. "Just by interacting with other people [even online], you can improve some of your softer skills," he says.
User-friendly Thinking
Many developers are good at building interfaces for other techies, when it comes to creating a user interface for non-geeks, they don't know what their audience is looking for, says Ambler. While interface design might seem like a technical skill, it's really about paying closer attention to what end users need and how they process information so that you can better meet their needs. "If you can't interact with your stakeholders effectively, you won't be able to produce the results that they want," he says.
Brushing up on interface design, whether through coursework or studying effective examples is one way of setting yourself apart from other programmers. Knowing how to demo your work is another way to show your boss and others that you're able to take complex ideas and present them simply and clearly - an important skill for every manager to have. It's not just modeling up on a white board that's important. Practice sitting at a computer with a non-tech-savvy person and walk them through a demo of your work. You'll find it's not as simple as it seems.
Thinking long-term about your programming career means brushing up not just on your technical skills but on soft skills that make managers successful. Be mindful of how you work in teams, practice your presentation skills, look for ways to work on your writing, and learn how to demo your work effectively and you'll be priming yourself for long-term success.
(Courtesy: Jane Porter, FINS)
Thursday, February 24, 2011
5 Steps to Giving Quality Interviews
5 Steps to Giving Quality Interviews
Source: Careerbuilder.com
Interviewing should be taken seriously and anyone giving an interview must be prepared. Learn ways to run a more effective interview, asking great questions that can keep candidates on their toes, and allow you to learn more about your prospects.
Your business depends on your ability to make a good hire. But making a good hire is not exactly an easy task. After sorting through resumes and selecting the few choice candidates considered worth your time is only half the battle. Often the hardest part of the hiring process is conducting a job interview that differentiates between who the candidate wants you to see and who is really sitting across from you.
Below are five keys to helping you conduct a better job interview and questions you can ask candidates to keep them on their toes:
Do your homework
Going into the interview, you should have already studied the candidate you are about to meet face-to-face.
You expect the candidate to walk in to your office with some knowledge of who your company is and what it is you do, right? It's in your best interest to prepare for the interview as well. Going into the interview, you should have already studied the candidate you are about to meet face-to-face. The least you could do is to become familiar with his or her resume, cover letter, and any other materials that were submitted to you for consideration of the job.
Before the interview is also the appropriate time to Google your candidate to see if anything interesting pops up. You should also find out if they have a MySpace or FaceBook page, and if so, what type of content appears on those pages. You might find something that does not mix with your culture or morals. Or, you might be pleasantly surprised as a candidate relives the days spent saving the whales, if you're into to that sort of stuff, too.
The benefit of doing your homework beforehand is that you don't waste too much of your interview time going through these materials together. You come in to the interview with questions or comments on their experience, background, work, and can spend the entire interview getting to know more about the real candidate, and not who they are on paper.
Some interesting icebreakers to kick off the interview are:
"How about those (insert local sports team here)?"
"What do you think about this weather, huh?"
"Did you have any problem finding the place?"
Don't Rush to Judgment
So often we base our opinion on someone by their appearance or the impression we get of that candidate within the first few minutes of meeting them. The problem with this is that it clouds our heads, and if your first impression is not a favorable one, it is an uphill climb for the candidate without them even knowing it.
When a candidate enters your office for a job interview do whatever it takes to not form an immediate opinion of them. If it helps, say to yourself that you believe this candidate to be a certain a way, and then flush this out of your head any way you know how.
Stop doing this! When a candidate enters your office for a job interview do whatever it takes to not form an immediate opinion of them. If it helps, say to yourself that you believe this candidate to be a certain a way, and then flush this out of your head any way you know how. Give the candidate a clean slate and let their talents and qualifications (or lack thereof) form your opinion. You don't want to blow off a potential top talent because his or her appearance reminds you of a neighbor you didn't like growing up.
A few good secondary questions to ask now are:
"Tell me about your last job."
"Tell me about a time when you did something that was a huge success."
"Why did you become a (insert title of position here) in the first place?"
Study Behavior
Asking behavioral questions requires candidates to draw upon their background and experiences to describe how they used skills that are relevant to your position. Their resume may be filled with "I'm a team player", "Organized", "Multi-Tasking", and "Born Leader", but anyone can include this on their resume. Asking questions that force candidates to speak about these traits enables you to discover whether or not they do in fact possess them. Be sure to ask plenty of these questions right in the middle of the interview and score your candidates on how quickly they respond and the amount of tap dancing they do. But be careful – if it sounds too rehearsed then chances are it is.
Behavioral questions to ask:
"Tell me about a time when you took charge of a situation and made something positive happen."
"Describe a situation when you were given a tight deadline to perform, and tell me how you managed to get it all done."
"Talk about when you had to deal with a co-worker that was hard to get along with. How did you get along with them?"
Change Things Up
You're past the halfway point of conducting a better job interview, so now is the time to get a little bit crazy. Ask the candidate a question that has no right or wrong answer.
You're past the halfway point of conducting a better job interview, so now is the time to get a little bit crazy. Ask the candidate a question that has no right or wrong answer. It could be why the sky is blue or why grass is green? It could even be why do worms not have eyes? Whatever your question, judge your candidate on how well they answer and if they are thrown for a curve or not. If they stay on the ball and answer as if it was expected then you have a pretty sharp candidate sitting across from you. Even if they laugh a bit at first but manage to form a pretty good answer, you know you have someone who can improvise and react to situations. If they stumble about and seem completely flustered, you have to wonder about the candidate's ability to respond to pressure seeing as the candidate has a hard time speaking off the cuff. Remember, these questions are not meant to derive a correct answer. The purpose is only to gauge the candidate's reaction to a tricky situation.
Great abstract questions to ask:
"If nothing ever sticks to a Teflon pan, then how do they make Teflon stick to the pan?"
"Can a fish drown?"
"Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?"
Maintain a Consistent Evaluation Process
Just because you've concluded your face-to-face job interview, doesn't mean the process is over. Go back and examine the answers to your questions and score these answers against a guide that makes it easy for you to judge. This guide needs to be somewhat flexible as there is not an exact answer for qualitative data, but you can form a set of guidelines for what the ideal answer would be. Having a set guide makes it easier for you to fairly judge each candidate's response and select a candidate that fits your company's needs. You should be well on your way to making a better hire after following these five steps for conducting a better interview.
Source: Careerbuilder.com
Interviewing should be taken seriously and anyone giving an interview must be prepared. Learn ways to run a more effective interview, asking great questions that can keep candidates on their toes, and allow you to learn more about your prospects.
Your business depends on your ability to make a good hire. But making a good hire is not exactly an easy task. After sorting through resumes and selecting the few choice candidates considered worth your time is only half the battle. Often the hardest part of the hiring process is conducting a job interview that differentiates between who the candidate wants you to see and who is really sitting across from you.
Below are five keys to helping you conduct a better job interview and questions you can ask candidates to keep them on their toes:
Do your homework
Going into the interview, you should have already studied the candidate you are about to meet face-to-face.
You expect the candidate to walk in to your office with some knowledge of who your company is and what it is you do, right? It's in your best interest to prepare for the interview as well. Going into the interview, you should have already studied the candidate you are about to meet face-to-face. The least you could do is to become familiar with his or her resume, cover letter, and any other materials that were submitted to you for consideration of the job.
Before the interview is also the appropriate time to Google your candidate to see if anything interesting pops up. You should also find out if they have a MySpace or FaceBook page, and if so, what type of content appears on those pages. You might find something that does not mix with your culture or morals. Or, you might be pleasantly surprised as a candidate relives the days spent saving the whales, if you're into to that sort of stuff, too.
The benefit of doing your homework beforehand is that you don't waste too much of your interview time going through these materials together. You come in to the interview with questions or comments on their experience, background, work, and can spend the entire interview getting to know more about the real candidate, and not who they are on paper.
Some interesting icebreakers to kick off the interview are:
"How about those (insert local sports team here)?"
"What do you think about this weather, huh?"
"Did you have any problem finding the place?"
Don't Rush to Judgment
So often we base our opinion on someone by their appearance or the impression we get of that candidate within the first few minutes of meeting them. The problem with this is that it clouds our heads, and if your first impression is not a favorable one, it is an uphill climb for the candidate without them even knowing it.
When a candidate enters your office for a job interview do whatever it takes to not form an immediate opinion of them. If it helps, say to yourself that you believe this candidate to be a certain a way, and then flush this out of your head any way you know how.
Stop doing this! When a candidate enters your office for a job interview do whatever it takes to not form an immediate opinion of them. If it helps, say to yourself that you believe this candidate to be a certain a way, and then flush this out of your head any way you know how. Give the candidate a clean slate and let their talents and qualifications (or lack thereof) form your opinion. You don't want to blow off a potential top talent because his or her appearance reminds you of a neighbor you didn't like growing up.
A few good secondary questions to ask now are:
"Tell me about your last job."
"Tell me about a time when you did something that was a huge success."
"Why did you become a (insert title of position here) in the first place?"
Study Behavior
Asking behavioral questions requires candidates to draw upon their background and experiences to describe how they used skills that are relevant to your position. Their resume may be filled with "I'm a team player", "Organized", "Multi-Tasking", and "Born Leader", but anyone can include this on their resume. Asking questions that force candidates to speak about these traits enables you to discover whether or not they do in fact possess them. Be sure to ask plenty of these questions right in the middle of the interview and score your candidates on how quickly they respond and the amount of tap dancing they do. But be careful – if it sounds too rehearsed then chances are it is.
Behavioral questions to ask:
"Tell me about a time when you took charge of a situation and made something positive happen."
"Describe a situation when you were given a tight deadline to perform, and tell me how you managed to get it all done."
"Talk about when you had to deal with a co-worker that was hard to get along with. How did you get along with them?"
Change Things Up
You're past the halfway point of conducting a better job interview, so now is the time to get a little bit crazy. Ask the candidate a question that has no right or wrong answer.
You're past the halfway point of conducting a better job interview, so now is the time to get a little bit crazy. Ask the candidate a question that has no right or wrong answer. It could be why the sky is blue or why grass is green? It could even be why do worms not have eyes? Whatever your question, judge your candidate on how well they answer and if they are thrown for a curve or not. If they stay on the ball and answer as if it was expected then you have a pretty sharp candidate sitting across from you. Even if they laugh a bit at first but manage to form a pretty good answer, you know you have someone who can improvise and react to situations. If they stumble about and seem completely flustered, you have to wonder about the candidate's ability to respond to pressure seeing as the candidate has a hard time speaking off the cuff. Remember, these questions are not meant to derive a correct answer. The purpose is only to gauge the candidate's reaction to a tricky situation.
Great abstract questions to ask:
"If nothing ever sticks to a Teflon pan, then how do they make Teflon stick to the pan?"
"Can a fish drown?"
"Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?"
Maintain a Consistent Evaluation Process
Just because you've concluded your face-to-face job interview, doesn't mean the process is over. Go back and examine the answers to your questions and score these answers against a guide that makes it easy for you to judge. This guide needs to be somewhat flexible as there is not an exact answer for qualitative data, but you can form a set of guidelines for what the ideal answer would be. Having a set guide makes it easier for you to fairly judge each candidate's response and select a candidate that fits your company's needs. You should be well on your way to making a better hire after following these five steps for conducting a better interview.
Monday, January 17, 2011
IT employment Grows By Almost 100,000 Jobs in 2010
Source: TechServe Alliance
Alexandria, VA, January 14, 2011 – IT employment continued its pattern of month-over-month growth by adding 3500 jobs in December—representing the 13th consecutive monthly increase. According to a monthly index of IT jobs developed and published by TechServe Alliance, a collaboration of IT services firms, clients, consultants and suppliers, in December, IT employment stood at 3,911,900 jobs; reflecting incremental growth of 0.1 percent. Along with December’s positive news were upward revisions of both October’s and November’s IT employment numbers. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment was up 2.6 percent, approximately 100,000 jobs, compared to only a 0.9 percent increase in total non-farm employment.
Read the complete article here http://www.techservealliance.org/research/documents/IndexreleaseDecember2010.pdf
Alexandria, VA, January 14, 2011 – IT employment continued its pattern of month-over-month growth by adding 3500 jobs in December—representing the 13th consecutive monthly increase. According to a monthly index of IT jobs developed and published by TechServe Alliance, a collaboration of IT services firms, clients, consultants and suppliers, in December, IT employment stood at 3,911,900 jobs; reflecting incremental growth of 0.1 percent. Along with December’s positive news were upward revisions of both October’s and November’s IT employment numbers. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment was up 2.6 percent, approximately 100,000 jobs, compared to only a 0.9 percent increase in total non-farm employment.
Read the complete article here http://www.techservealliance.org/research/documents/IndexreleaseDecember2010.pdf
Thursday, January 6, 2011
2011 Job Forecast - Careerbuilder.com
A new year brings with it new hope for change and the promise of a fresh start... and if CareerBuilder's 2011 Job Forecast is any indication, there will plenty of both in the coming months.
"2011 will usher in a healthier employment picture as business leaders grow more confident... The year will be characterized by steady, moderate gains across various industries."
- Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder
More employers plan to grow full- and part-time staff.
Employers will increase their reliance on contract/temporary help.
Fewer employers plan to downsize than last year and the year before.
Employers' compensation offers will become more competitive.
Sales is the most popular functional area employers said they will be recruiting for in 2011 as they focus on expanding their customer base and market penetration. Twenty-seven (27%) percent plan to add sales positions in the New Year, with Information Technology (IT) a close second at 26%. The top ten functional areas for recruitment include:
1. Sales – 27 percent
2. Information Technology – 26 percent
3. Customer Service – 25 percent
4. Engineering – 21 percent
5. Technology – 19 percent
6. Administrative – 17 percent
7. Business Development – 17 percent
8. Marketing – 17 percent
9. Research/Development – 15 percent
10. Accounting/Finance – 14 percent
COMPENSATION
Forty-one (41%) percent of employers are concerned that their best talent will leave their organizations once the economy improves, as heftier workloads and longer hours take their toll on worker morale. Sixty-one (61%) percent said they will increase compensation for their existing staff in 2011, up from 57 percent in 2010. While most employers estimate the average raise will be 3 percent or less, one-in-ten (10 percent) expect the average increase will be 5 percent or more.
Thirty-one percent will provide higher initial job offers to job candidates, up from 29 percent last year. While most increases will likely fall within the same 1 to 3 percent range, 8 percent of employers expect to up initial job offers by 5 percent or more.
"2011 will usher in a healthier employment picture as business leaders grow more confident... The year will be characterized by steady, moderate gains across various industries."
- Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder
CareerBuilder recently surveyed over 2,500 hiring managers and over 5,000 workers for its annual forecast. Among the major findings for what's in store for 2011:
More employers plan to grow full- and part-time staff.
Employers will increase their reliance on contract/temporary help.
Fewer employers plan to downsize than last year and the year before.
Employers' compensation offers will become more competitive.
Sales is the most popular functional area employers said they will be recruiting for in 2011 as they focus on expanding their customer base and market penetration. Twenty-seven (27%) percent plan to add sales positions in the New Year, with Information Technology (IT) a close second at 26%. The top ten functional areas for recruitment include:
1. Sales – 27 percent
2. Information Technology – 26 percent
3. Customer Service – 25 percent
4. Engineering – 21 percent
5. Technology – 19 percent
6. Administrative – 17 percent
7. Business Development – 17 percent
8. Marketing – 17 percent
9. Research/Development – 15 percent
10. Accounting/Finance – 14 percent
COMPENSATION
Forty-one (41%) percent of employers are concerned that their best talent will leave their organizations once the economy improves, as heftier workloads and longer hours take their toll on worker morale. Sixty-one (61%) percent said they will increase compensation for their existing staff in 2011, up from 57 percent in 2010. While most employers estimate the average raise will be 3 percent or less, one-in-ten (10 percent) expect the average increase will be 5 percent or more.
Thirty-one percent will provide higher initial job offers to job candidates, up from 29 percent last year. While most increases will likely fall within the same 1 to 3 percent range, 8 percent of employers expect to up initial job offers by 5 percent or more.
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