IT jobs may get left behind in recovery

From Computerworld, September 30, 2009...

Once IT spending begins again, companies in need of tech workers will likely turn first to consultants and outsourcing companies before they take on full-time staff. Whether this decision contributes to what's often called a "jobless recovery" will depend on where the work is going -- onshore or offshore.

This view is gleaned from surveys and analysts trying to understand what's next for the tech job market. In the hunt for clues about the future, some of the best evidence about what's head may be with companies that are already doing well. Take Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., for instance.

Read more...

Get The Best Job References You Can

From Forbes, June 2, 2009...

It's a good sign when a prospective employer asks you for references. It usually means you're a finalist for the job. It's often one of the last steps employers make before making the offer.

How important are those references? It varies from company to company. For many employers a weak reference may not cost you the job, but a strong one can help you nail it.

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Beyond the noncompete

From Computerworld, June 2, 2009...

With the downturn in the economy, noncompete agreements have become more difficult to enforce. Think that means no limits? Think again.

Employee noncompete agreements prohibit employees from engaging in conduct competitive with their employers after the employment relationship terminates. In many states, such agreements have historically been the most effective way for a company to protect a company's investment in training, the development of special skills, trade secrets, confidential information and goodwill. Now, that's all changing. In recognition of our currently dismal economy and the need to permit people to work, some courts -- even in states that generally enforce noncompete agreements -- have demonstrated a reluctance to enforce these agreements.

Nonetheless, employees may find that they are no more free to pursue a new job than they were before. That is because most companies can arm themselves with several tools to achieve nearly the same protections that used to be obtained with a noncompete agreement. Given the change in the noncompete enforcement climate, many companies have already begun supplementing their noncompete agreements with such additional tools -- and technology companies are especially likely to do so.

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Don't sign away your future with a noncompete agreement

From Computerworld, June 1, 2009...

Can signing a standard workplace document derail your career plans? Yes, says Jerry Luftman, executive director of graduate IS programs at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. He says a former student almost lost out on a big break because he'd signed a noncompete agreement, a contract that prohibits employees from doing certain work for a set period of time following the end of their current job.

The former student had been an IT manager at a Fortune 500 company but didn't feel that he was moving up fast enough. So he accepted a higher position at another big company. But when he gave his notice, his original employer threatened to go to court to enforce the noncompete agreement he had signed when he first took the job.

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rusty.alderson@gmail.com

From Computerworld, June 1, 2009...

Laid-off or overworked, IT pros still need to mind their emotional health. Here are six ways to keep your outlook bright in dark times.

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Cloud Rains Opportunities for Software Developers

From DICE, May 29, 2009...

Because it's a big money-saver for companies both large and small, running application and storing data in the cloud is already producing a rain of job opportunities for software architects, developers, and consultants.

Simply stated, cloud computing enables small companies to harness the power of many big computers at a very low cost. It means start-ups can tap the vast computing resources of companies such as Amazon or Google to handle their computing needs over the Internet. Computing tasks that only a few years ago would have required the purchase of servers and database software can now be performed on a pay-as-you-go basis, with plenty of extra computing horsepower on tap when needed. 

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The Art of the Phone Interview

From DICE, May 29, 2009...

Ahh, the quick-death elimination round of the phone interview. It's your one chance to get your foot in the door and progress to the next step in discussions with your prospective employer. But no pressure.

Fortunately, blogger Marci Alboher has a few tips on how to ace phone interviews on Lifehacker. Here are some highlights, along with a few thoughts of my own.

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Tech workers can look on bright side

From Austin Business Journal, May 29, 2009...

Laid off by a chipmaker? Jobs may be easier found in Austin’s growing solar industry.

When Austinite Ron Van Dell moved his company’s headquarters from Illinois to Austin in February, it wasn’t only because the CEO of SolarBridge Technologies Inc. wanted the solar energy company to be closer to him.

He also wanted to tap into the deep pool of Austin-area microprocessor industry workers who have been laid off during the last couple of years. Such workers possess the skills that translate well to the solar energy industry, Van Dell said.

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Best practices for getting hired in a downturn

From Computerworld, May 28, 2009...

Dave Willmer, the executive director of Robert Half Technology, discusses finding a job in a deep recession.

How is IT holding up in the downturn? Companies are downsizing, but IT has been more resilient than other areas. In fact, the unemployment rates for many positions within IT are significantly lower than the national average. For example, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for computer software engineers for Q1 is 4.2%, or half the national average of 8.4% for the same period.

Our company also publishes on a quarterly basis the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report, and 8% of CIOs polled said they plan to expand their IT departments in the second quarter of 2009; 6% expect staff cutbacks. The majority of respondents, 83%, plan to maintain current staffing levels. Those companies that plan to hire cited reasons such as the increased need for customer/end-user support, rising workloads, corporate growth or expansion, and systems upgrades. CIOs planning to reduce staff said the primary reasons are reduced IT budgets, postponed IT projects and companywide layoffs.

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Uncover Emerging Tech Jobs in the News

From DICE, May 27, 2009...

BusinessWeek's published its list of Hottest Tech Companies of 2009, and you should pay attention. While at first glance the information seems to primarily benefit investors, the list is an excellent sourcing tool for job seekers, even beyond the current job openings listed on each company's Web site or on Dice. The hidden job market flourishes in burgeoning companies, and the halo effect often extends to subsidiaries, supply chain partners, solutions partners and customers.

To find unadvertised job opportunities, set-up news alerts on several Internet search engines, so you can spring into action when you read about local companies securing new contracts, consummating acquisitions or hiring new CIOs. The alerts will also deliver press releases, which may never receive coverage in local media and business journals. They could inform you about local mixers and networking events and uncover local companies winning IT awards - which is a great way to start up a conversation with a manager.

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Connecting with Care

From DICE, May 27, 2009...

Your mother probably taught you to choose your friends wisely, because who you hung out with made you look good - or bad - depending on the crowd. Now it appears the same advice applies to connections you make on networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook.

Kirsten Dixson, a reputation management and online identity expert, warns prospective employers may cast judgments, so job seekers should be prudent when making online connections. Here's a summary of best practices, as described by ComputerWorld. 

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Study: U.S. IT wages held steady in early '09

From Computerworld, May 27, 2009...

A survey by the Philadelphia IT outsourcing firm Yoh finds that U.S. tech wages remained fairly steady during the first quarter of this year, indicating some level of stability in hiring patterns even as the global economic recession continues.

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US: H-1B workers outnumber unemployed techies

From Computerworld, May 26, 2009...

As unemployment among tech workers increases with the recession, the U.S. government is raising broad questions as part of a federal case over H-1Bs about the connection of visa fraud to the unemployment of IT workers.

The government's interest in H-1B fraud-related unemployment turned up in court filings in a case in U.S. District Court in Iowa against a New Jersey IT firm, Vision Systems Group in South Plainfield, NJ, which was indicted in February on visa-related fraud charges.

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Too Scared To Take A Vacation?

From Forbes, May 26, 2009...

You're not alone. Here's what to do about it.

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Poll: Working for Start-ups Still a Good Bet

From DICE, May 26, 2009...

High-tech start-ups have begun to experience a pullback in venture capital lending, but IT workers still seem to consider these shops a good bet for jobs. Dice polled users last week, asking if they would consider working for a start-up and an overwhelming majority of the 504 respondents were favorable to the idea.

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How to Control a Salary Negotiation

From DICE, May 26, 2009...

A properly prepared job candidate needn't dread or be tripped up by questions about compensation.

Well before you reach the point where an interviewer asks how much you want, formulate upper and lower bounds of your required pay range using separate methods, advises Jane Ashen Turkewitz, founder and president of T & Jam Resume Services and a former executive recruiter.

For the lower end, choose "a number you'd be happy with - and could live on," Turkewitz writes in a recent poston her blog, Let's Talk Turkey. Then, make sure to stick with the range you've chosen. "Don't deviate. If you say your bottom number is $75K and someone offers you $70K, you KNOW you are going to say 'no.'"

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Tech employment shrinks for fifth straight month

From Computerworld, May 25, 2009...

The number of IT workers in the U.S. has declined steadily since December, a trend that wasn't helped by Hewlett Packard Co.'s announcement last week that it is cutting 6,000 employees..

Employment in technology occupations peaked last November at 4.058 million, according to the TechServe Alliance (formerly the National Association of Computer Consultants), which analyzes federal labor data on IT-related occupations. By the end of April, the number had declined to 3.87 million, the alliance said.

IT recruiters are mostly optimistic that the end of the decline is in sight, though most agree that the IT labor force will continue to shrink through the summer, typically a period of slower hiring because of vacations.

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Beat the Odds

From DICE, May 22, 2009...

In December 2007, which marked the start of the recession, there were 1.7 candidates for every job opening. By March 2009, the number of unemployed workers had increased to 13.2 million, which translates to 4.8 unemployed workers for every available job. Of course, those stats don't come close to estimating how many candidates might initially submit an application or a resume. Instead, they reflect the overall statistical odds job seekers face in the market.

No matter how tough things may seem, it's still possible to turn the odds in your favor by following a few best practices guaranteed to narrow the competitive field for any job.

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Made a Change? A Functional Resume May Help

From DICE, May 20, 2009...

A chronological resume, starting with the job you have now and going backwards in time to your first job, is the resume of choice for job seekers and hiring professionals alike. But in some situations, a functional resume organized by core skills and aptitudes can be a better choice.

"A functional resume works best for someone whose track record has been in a different area or who is in a new field," says Katy Piotrowski, author of Career Coward's Guide to Resumes: Sensible Strategies for Overcoming Job Search Fears. If you have a new degree or you are changing careers or coming back into the workforce after being away, send out a functional resume rather than a traditional chronological resume, she says.

While a functional resume may be the better format for your particular situation, most hiring authorities prefer chronological resumes, says Jonathan Mazzocchi, a recruiter and partner at Winter, Wyman, New York. "Chronological resumes are effective because most companies want to know what you've done most recently, not what you did 20 years ago and they'll put an emphasis on the last five or 10 years," he says.

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If you want to land the right position, ask the right questions

From Computerworld, May 18, 2009...

My first clue that the job I was interviewing for could be something special was the absence of "the look."

"The look" is my term for the facial expression we've all seen when we've asked someone something they just weren't prepared to answer. I call it the look. They don't want to seem surprised, dumbfounded or impolite, but they do want to buy a little time. They seem to make direct eye contact with you, but you can tell that their mental focus is somewhere else. Usually what has their full attention is an urgent internal search for some cogent words that will seem responsive to this question that they never thought they would receive.

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Tactics for today's job hunt

From Computerworld, May 12, 2009...

The days of circling ads in the Sunday newspaper and printing your résumé on fancy stationery may be long past, but many IT professionals still cling to other outdated job-seeking habits that can undermine their efforts. In a competitive job market, fine-tuning your approach to meet present conditions can mean the difference between frustration and success.

Here are some tactics to use in today's job search:

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DiceTV: Negotiation Tips for IT Boomerangs

From DICE, May 13, 2009...

Negotiating compensation can be intimidating, especially if you've been out of the job market for awhile. Looking to jump in? Here's how to get ready.

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LinkedIn Profiles: Avoid the 6 Most Common Mistakes

From Computerworld, May 13, 2009...

In the midst of the recession, many job seekers have spent more time on LinkedIn to connect with colleagues, customers and partners in an effort to land a new gig. Unfortunately, many people commit common errors in their LinkedIn profiles that cost them new opportunities, says Jason Alba, CEO of JibberJobber, a company that provides web-based tools for managing your job search.

More LinkedIn Coverage on CIO.com LinkedIn's Most Unusual Members: Meet The Super-Connected LinkedIn Etiquette: Five Dos and Don'ts How to Use LinkedIn Company Profiles For Job Hunt, Networking

Alba, who recently released a DVD called LinkedIn for Job Seekers, shared with CIO.com the six most common mistakes he sees on LinkedIn profiles. Here's how to spot trouble in your profile and fix it.

Read more...

What's Your Resume's Story?

From DICE, May 11, 2009...

Do you persevere through obstacles when others succumb? Are you a gregarious leader who motivates others into tackling difficult assignments? Although behind every job seeker lies a story of career challenge and triumph, few succeed at captivating reviewers with their tale, because they don't convey that story in their resume.

"Your resume should not read like an obituary," says Jason Alba, chief executive of JibberJobber, a career management Web site. "It should read like a marketing piece and its primary objective is to sell your story to employers."

Build a Story Line

You wouldn't start writing a book until you'd settled on a plot, but many job seekers draft their resume without even thinking about the story they want to convey. Focus on your accomplishments and how you've achieved them to discover the common thread running through your experience. That will become your resume's central theme. Alba suggests the germ of a theme idea might lie in the comments offered by your references or in recommendations made by peers on networking sites like LinkedIn.

Read more...

Austin among nation's top tech centers

From Austin Business Journal, May 11, 2009...

With a high-tech workforce of more than 54,000, Austin ranks seventh on a list of the nation's biggest tech cities from bizjournals.

Texas' Capital City is home to roughly 2,600 tech companies, which employ an average of 20 employees each. Austin also has a relatively educated populace--11 percent of residents have a master's degree or higher. State government and the University of Texas also help make Austin a dynamic tech market.

Bizjournals created a five-part formula to identify metros blessed with the highest concentrations of high-tech companies, technology-oriented jobs, and workers with advanced degrees. San Jose, Calif.--the epicenter of internationally renowned Silicon Valley--ranked first on the list. Stockton, Calif. ranked dead last on the list of 100 U.S. markets.

Washington ranks second in bizjournals’ overall high-tech standings, followed by Boston, San Francisco-Oakland and Seattle. Each of these areas has more than 160,000 high-tech jobs, and at least 10 percent of all local workers hold advanced degrees.

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A Bit of Mental Spring Cleaning

From DICE, May 11, 2009...

If you ever find yourself in need of a motivational kick in the pants to push your career to the next level, the Internet can provide. For instance, on days when it seems impossible to sit down and get to work, sites like Zen Habits can help. A popular stop on the self-help and "getting things done" online circuit, this collection of tips, tricks, and ways to improve your mood, finances and career is uplifting, even if only for a moment. Sometimes a moment is all it takes.

Kick start your day with a browse through the Productivity and Organization section, where you'll find lists on things like 16 Ways to Get Movitated When You're In a Slump, How to Actually Execute Your To Do List, andTop 20 Motivation Hacks.

Zen Habits weaves in and out of the world of Getting Things Done, David Allen's almost cult-like program for productivity. Although some of what you'll discover there falls squarely into the category of common sense, knowing it and doing it are two different things. Motivation can be mysterious and fleeting, especially on a spring Monday. If you're having trouble getting started and the second cup of coffee isn't helping, have a browse.

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The Intelligent Techie's Online Reading Guide

From DICE, May 8, 2009...

It's virtually impossible to keep up with everything that's new in technology, but let's try to make it a little easier by assembling a list of really insightful online resources that analyze current trends and make some compelling predictions about the future.

I've recently become a fan of The McKinsey Quarterly, an online magazine from the prestigious management consulting firm that extrapolates from its constant research to find trends for the future. While a paid subscription is needed to unlock the entire site, even casual visitors can read such articles as "The Crisis: Timing Strategic Moves," "Five Trends that Will Shape Business Technology in 2009,"
and "The Economic Impact of Increased U.S. Savings." Interesting stuff.

The McKinsey Quarterly reminds me a bit of the The Economist, which has a consistently provocative Science and Technology section that I read weekly.

And even though I wasn't smart enough to get into MIT, I can handle the university's Technology Review, a magazine that looks down the road to provide hints about the kinds of IT jobs we'll all have ten or 20 years from now.

If you aren't in the habit of reading the entire Wall Street Journal every day, you should still bookmark its two technology blogs. All Things Digital breaks tech news all the time, and Digits collects all the reportage of the Journal's two dozen or so tech reporters. There's no better way to stay on top of breaking tech news that matters to business.

Read more...

Two Iconic Austin Tech Firms Sold

May 7, 2009...

Borland to be acquired by Micro Focus - Austin Business Journal

United Kingdom software company Borland Software Corp. for $75 million in cash.

Austin-based Borland (Nasdaq: BORL) reached the agreement with Micro Focus, which will buy each outstanding share of Borland's common stock for $1 a share, a 25 percent premium over the company's May 5 closing price. Both boards have already approved the deal, which is set to close later this quarter or early in the third quarter.

Vignette to become part of Open Text in $310M deal - Austin Business Journal

Software maker Vignette Corp. has received and accepted an acquisition offer from a Canadian company.

Open Text Corp. (Nasdaq: OTEX) plans to buy Austin-based Vignette (Nasdaq: VIGN) in a $310 million cash-and-stock deal, company officials said.

The news prompted a 33 percent surge in Vignette's share price, sending the stock up to $12.05 a share.

Vignette, founded in 1996, employs about 600 workers, roughly 200 of whom are based in Austin.

Job hunting? Use social networks to make crucial connections

From Computerworld, May 7, 2009...

Although the total number of IT jobs is shrinking due to the recession, some companies are still hiring -- and using social-networking tools can help you land those jobs. In fact, being in the IT industry just might give you an advantage over the average laid-off worker.

That's because social networking Web sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are foremost among those new tools, and IT people are more likely to be comfortable with them and with related technologies that can help in a job search, such as automated scripts, customized search engines, RSS feeds and the like, experts say.

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Why Jobs Go Begging Amid Layoffs

From Business Week, May 6, 2009...

Are American employers too picky? Are they rejecting reasonable candidates at the same time they claim to have lots of openings they would like to fill?

With the labor market so weak, it's hard to understand why so many jobs are unfilled. As BusinessWeek pointed out in a recent magazine cover story, employers reported that they had 3 million openings they were actively trying to fill as of the end of February. (The March job-openings total will be released May 12.) By contrast, there were more than 13 million people unemployed in March.

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Growing Job Descriptions - And What to do About Them

From DICE, May 6, 2009...

Have you noticed how companies can merge job roles with the speed it takes to collapse ten servers into one virtual machine? Nowadays, companies want database administrators who can code, software architects who can sell, or security specialists who can program. All this makes it tough for them to find someone to hire - and hard for candidates to get in the door.

But IT workers and recruiters think a lot of reqs look more like a committee's wish list than an actionable job description.

Read more...

Some Tech Executives Are Hiring, or Plan To

From DICE, May 6, 2009...

A survey of technology executives found 54 percent are either hiring now or plan to hire over the next three months.

Of those, 93 percent predicted demand for senior talent at their organization will either remain steady or increase over the next three to six months, according to the search firm that sponsored the survey, Massachusetts-based Polachi Inc.

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Job Seekers: How to Tell Stories to Stand Out

From Computerworld, May 5, 2009...

With unemployment at a 26-year high of 8.5 percent, the biggest challenge job seekers face today-next to finding a new job-is differentiating themselves from the more than 13.2 million other people who are out of work and looking for new employment.

One way job seekers can stand out from the job search competition is to tell stories that illustrate their professional experience, says Katharine Hansen, the creative director and associate publisher of the website Quintessential Careers and author of eight career management books.

Story-telling, when done right, reveals a job seeker's personality, makes him or her more memorable, and helps a job seeker establish an emotional connection with hiring managers, Hansen says.

Read more...

Maintain Your Professional Reputation Online

From DICE, May 5, 2009...

As more of us spend more time fussing around in social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, it's worth remembering what we do there is widely visible by all sorts of people - including potential employers. Writing in Certification magazine, Robert Half Technology's Dave Willmer (who also writes the "Ask the IT Career Doctor" column in our advice area) says, "a growing number of employers are searching the Internet for details about potential hires." What to do? We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Be smart.

• Determine what information about you exists online by scanning several search engines.
• Take corrective action if you see damaging remarks by asking the source or the site to remove them. If not, consider working with a service such as ReputationDefender to help you.
• Strengthen your reputation by sharpening up your personal Web site and by making sure any online resumes are clean and current.
• Move forward wisely by watching what you say online wherever you go and considering saying less, or saying it anonymously.
• Network wisely by always behaving professionally in social networks, and by observing every possible bit of online etiquette.
• Also be selective about whom you invite into your work, keeping in mind that potential employers may take a look at your "known associates."
• Keep tabs on yourself by setting up alerts in Google News or elsewhere to see where your name pops up.

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How to Perfect an Elevator Pitch About Yourself

From Havard Business Review, May 4, 2009...

You're in the elevator with the hiring manager of Dream-Job Corporation. As the door slides shut, you feel a combination of adrenaline and slight nausea: you've got 15 seconds, if that, to communicate your value as a potential employee in a compelling way — just 15 seconds to cram in a whole resume's worth of work and accomplishments and late nights and successes. There's so much you want to say, but your message has got to be crisp, tailored, to-the-point. Handle this one right, and you'll be the newest member of the Dream-Job team. Flub it up, and you're back to scanning listings on Monster.com. What are you supposed to say?

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The Tricky Truth About Downsizing

From Harvard Business Review, April 30, 2009...

Downsizing has always been a popular practice in the corporate world - even for firms not in distress. But today, with many companies in distress, downsizing efforts are on the rise. So I thought I might as well look into what we know about the effects of such efforts from academic research to see when they can be a good idea.

The answer? Not very often. On average, they simply don't work. For example, professors James Guthrie, from the University of Kansas, and Deepak Datta, from the University of Texas at Arlington, examined data on 122 firms that had engaged in downsizing and statistically analyzed whether the program had improved their profitability. And the answer was a plain and simple "no." The average company did not benefit from a downsizing effort, no matter what situation and industry they were in.

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Are Layoffs Too Expensive?

From Computerworld, May 4, 2009...

Maybe some IT jobs will be saved if enough executives read a March 8 research note from AMR Research Inc.'s Phil Fersht and then are able to convince the top brass of the sense of Fersht's argument. Which is this: The cost of laying off an IT employee may exceed the benefit to be derived.

He says that should the economy recover in 2010, a company might derive only $50,000 to $100,000 in savings from each IT layoff, after all costs have been incurred. Then Fersht asks how those savings stack up against the cost of replacing the laid-off employee once conditions improve. "How can you put a price on replacing the inherent business knowledge of that staff member when you rehire a replacement?" he writes. "It may take another year or two to get the replacement up to speed, and will not only end up costing you more, but may also impede your executives from accessing critical data in a timely fashion. The overall cost of replacing that staff member could easily be three times the costs saved by laying her off. And these easily-identified direct costs are only the beginning; the costs incurred to your culture and morale can prove even more damaging."

Read more...

Don't Twitter Your Job Prospects Away

From Computerworld, May 4, 2009...

Do you doubt that things move fast in our highly connected world? In mid-March, someone with the username of "theconnor" posted a public tweet on Twitter: "Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work."

Tim Levad at Cisco saw the tweet and replied, "Who is the hiring manager. I'm sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web." And that same day, someone else established the Web site CiscoFatty.com and shared the story. No one seems to know whether theconnor (or Cisco Fatty, if you prefer) took the job or not, but he or she did learn a lesson and instituted some privacy settings on Twitter.

Of course, there's a lesson for us all -- to watch what we say and to whom.

Read more...

Does your domain matter in a job search?

From Infoworld, March 12, 2009...

Dear Bob ...Recently, a friend of mine said that, when job-hunting, she didn't want to use a Gmail account because she was concerned about how potential employers would view it.

...

The subject is personal branding - how you want a hiring manager to think about you. As professional markets know, even small inconsistencies can damage a brand, so it's worth thinking about every element of the material you make visible to a prospective employer.

...

For a technical IT position, I would say that an AOL address probably conveys the wrong image -- AOL's core customers are non-technical consumers. Speaking unscientifically, I'd think that of the major services, the order would look like this, from least desirable to best image-enhancer:

1. AOL
2. Hotmail
3. Yahoo mail and Gmail (tie)
4. Local broadband ISPs
5. Personal/family e-mail domain.

Read more...

Jump-starting a tech job search

From Infoworld, April 30, 2009...

Want to land a software developer job at financial giant Bloomberg? If so, you'd better be ready to answer questions like this: "What is a singleton? How would you code it in C++? How can you make it thread safe?" The right answer could help win a job that pays $91,000 a year.

The folks at Empirix, a development tools maker in Massachusetts might ask you this:

{
object* p=NULL;
p = new object();
p->foo()
delete p;
}
// ?? Whats wrong with above

Landing a job in this economy is tough -- so who wouldn't want to find a strategy that could make a difference? Not surprisingly, various entrepreneurial types are moving to fill that need by providing tools and information designed to help you and help themselves find a profitable business.

Read more...

Consulting: How CIOs Know It's the Right Career Move

From Computerworld, April 29, 2009...

Perhaps you've seen the writing on the wall that your layoff is imminent. Maybe you're tired of corporate life and want to ditch The Man and become your own boss. But if you are considering becoming a consultant, listen up: Some CIOs aren't cut out for the job. More on CIO.com Tough Times Yield New Role: Private Equity Partner

If you have power-hungry tendencies, for example, you may want to keep your day job. Consulting differs from being a career CIO in that a consultant doesn't rule an IT department. He or she can offer advice, but not issue directives, says James Sutter, senior partner at IT management firm The Peer Consulting Group, and former CIO of Xerox and Rockwell. In the absence of hierarchical authority, influence and persuasion are now important parts of the job, says Sutter. You need to get things done, much like a CIO does, but you may have to emphasize different skills than you've used in the past.

Read more...

How Many Top 10 Skills Do You Have?

From DICE, April 29, 2009...

Global Knowledge, a leading provider of IT certification training, has just come out with its list of 10 Hot Skills for 2009. As the company puts it, "There are certain IT skills that will never go out of style." Here they are:

- Virtualization
- Web 2.0
- Networking/Windows Administration
- ITIL
- IT Architect/Project Management
- IT Security
- Wireless
- Telecommunications
- Programming Languages (C, C++, C#)
- Business Skills

It's that last one, Business Skills, that's the most interesting. I've been hearing this more and more, especially since the economic downturn began. IT folks need to know how the business operates. As Global Knowledge says:

Read more...

Where to Look for IT Jobs as the Stimulus Plan Takes Hold

From DICE, April 29, 2009...

To determine where opportunities may lie, you've first got to identify which federal or state agencies are likely to be involved in funneling money to technology initiatives that might involve technology you're skilled with, or companies you're interested in working for.

Read more...

The Top Things To Do When You Can't Get A Job

From Forbes, April 29, 2009...

Figure out what you might be doing wrong, and fix it. Here's how.

Read more...

Business Survival & Career Growth Expo

From Austin Business Journal, April 28, 2009...

Join Central Texas colleagues for the Business Survival & Career Growth Expo.

Today's environment is the perfect time to take advantage of career changes, advance education opportunities and even start your own business. We have gathered the experts to help you re-position yourself for success.

Whether you are looking to improve your current position, train-up for the job market, start your own business or learn the art of networking, our speakers and collection of companies with booths will be here to connect and help you. Come join us for a high-power session on helping you re-position yourself.

When: Friday, June 26, 2009
9:00 am - 1:00 pm (lunch provided)
Where: Hilton Austin Hotel

Cost to Attend
$10 Individual Subscriber, verification is required
$20 Non-Subscriber

Register online at http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/event/6105.

Contact Robert King for more information and details at 512-494-2546 or rking@bizjournals.com.

IT Pros Counseled to Stay Put in Crunch

From BusinessWeek, April 27, 2009...

Info tech professionals haven't been whacked as hard as some, but people already in jobs are advised to hang on until the clouds clear.

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Austin Tech Happy Hour on May 7th

From Austin Startup, April 27, 2009...

The next Austin Tech Happy Hour will be on Thursday, May 7th from 6pm - 8pm at Molotov. We’ve reserved the entire location just for our event, and with a little luck the rooftop deck will be a great spot to enjoy the Spring weather. We also have extremely strong free WiFi at Molotov, for those who might want to Twitter, browse, or do live streaming.

The photos from the last happy hour are up on the Facebook event from our SXSW event, which was a huge success. Thanks to everyone who came to kick off the SXSW season in style!

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Blogging essential for a good career

From Penelope Trunk, March 23, 2006...

Blogging is good for your career. A well-executed blog sets you apart as an expert in your field.

Ben Day blogged his way into a career as a high-earning software consultant while maintaining the freedom to schedule frequent jam sessions and performances as a keyboard player. Blogging gave him the opportunity to stand out enough to support the life he envisioned for himself.

Phil van Allen, a faculty member of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, said to me in an interview, "For your career, a blog is essential. It's the new public relations and it's the new home page. Instead of a static home page, you have your blog." It's a way to let people know what you are thinking about the field that interests you.

Employers regularly Google prospective employees to learn more about them. Blogging gives you a way to control what employers see, because Google's system works in such a way that blogs that are heavily networked with others come up high in Google searches.

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Study: H-1B use cuts tech wages by up to 6%

From Computerworld, April 27, 2009...

The use of H-1B workers by U.S. companies is decreasing wages by as much as 6% for some IT workers, according to a study by researchers at New York University's and the University of Pennsylvania's business schools.

The study, released earlier this month by professors from the Stern and Wharton schools of business, concluded that H-1B workers' entry into the U.S. at current levels is causing a 5% to 6% drop in wages for computer programmers, systems analysts and software engineers. The study also found that offshore outsourcing decreases wages for a broader category of workers, including IT managers, by 2% to 3%.

The IT workers most likely to be affected by the downward pressure on wages are recent college graduates and people changing jobs, the researchers said.

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IT worker confidence slips to new low, report says

From Austin Business Journal, April 23, 2009...

Employees in the information technology sector don’t think their industry is doing all that well, according to a report by Technisource, the technology placement division of Spherion Corp.

The company’s IT Employee Confidence Index was down 0.7 points to 39.7 in the first quarter of 2009 — its lowest point since the index’s inception in late 2005.

Results included:

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Does a Long Layoff Make You Damaged Goods?

From DICE, April 23, 2009...

People who are laid off have reason to fear that with each passing day, the widening gap in their employment history makes them less attractive to potential new employers. No one likes to have a hole in his or her resume. If that hole starts to grow uncomfortably big, are you doomed?

Not really, says Fortune’s career advisor Anne Fisher, who checked in with several recruiters to get their opinions. As it turns out, when unemployment rises, employers cut potential new hires a break.

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Google Profiles as a Job-Hunting Tool

From DICE, April 23, 2009...

Google’s new profile service could be an important tool for job seekers. Recently unveiled by the Web giant though they’re still being “worked on,” the profiles allow you to present yourself, in your own words and reflecting your own priorities, in Google’s search results.The good news: Your profile shows up on the first page of results. The less good: It shows up at the very bottom of the page.

Placement aside, you should care about this. At a minimum, you can show off your academic and professional credentials by treating the profile like an online resume. Though it’s not really set up to be formatted like a resume, it’s a tool to reinforce the image you’ve tried to present through cover letters, resumes and interviews.

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Workforce Solutions hosts another job fair after high demand

From KEYE, April 22, 2009...

Workforce Solutions will host its Spring Job Fair for area residents and businesses on Tuesday, April 28 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. The event will be held at the Travis County facility located at 5335 Airport Blvd (formerly Chair King), which is approximately one mile south of the North Career Center.

Due to the overwhelming turnout at the Winter Job Fair in January, Workforce Solutions is hosting its spring fair at the off-site location to accommodate more job-seekers.

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A sampling of states' noncompete rules

From Computerworld, April 23, 2009...

Here's a look at several of the country's most populous states' approaches to noncompete agreements.

. . .

Texas

State law says that employers can ask their workers to sign noncompete agreements if they are given confidential or proprietary information and/or specialized training, says Ronald M. Gaswirth, a partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP in Dallas.

Companies can also ask existing employees to sign such agreements, as long as they meet the statute's requirements, he says. The state does not require employers to offer additional consideration in these cases because it considers continued employment sufficient consideration.

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Don't sign away your future: Noncompetes done right

From Computerworld, April 23, 2009...

Can signing a standard workplace document derail your career plans? Yes, says Jerry Luftman, executive director of graduate IS Programs at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. He says a former student almost lost out on a big break because he had signed a noncompete agreement, a contract that prohibits employees from doing certain work for a set period of time following the end of their current job.

The former student had been an IT manager at a Fortune 500 company but didn't feel that he was moving up fast enough. So he accepted a higher-up IT management position at another big company. But when he gave his notice, his original employer threatened to enforce in court the noncompete agreement he had signed when he first took the job.

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Freescale to cut 170 Austin jobs

From statesman, April 22, 2009...

Freescale Semiconductor Inc. said Wednesday it has given up on trying to sell its cell-phone-related chip business to a single buyer and will now sell it off in pieces, which will result in the elimination of 900 jobs, including 170 in Austin.

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Support Yourself By Blogging? Not Really

From DICE, April 22, 2209...

For refugees from an intellectual and real-time-oriented business - like many aspects of tech, for example - the notion of blogging for profit has natural appeal. An ex-colleague of mine blogs for a living, and a few professional acquaintances in transition have at least toyed with the idea.

How achievable is it? Not very - unless you’re able to get by on $22,000 a year even after putting in enough work to attract what’s considered a large audience for a blogger (100,000 unique visitors every month). That’s what evidence from a widely cited survey indicates. And it’s reinforced by anecdotal evidence from individual bloggers.

The economic potential of blogging is suddenly a hot topic, due in large part to an article in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal by guest columnist Mark Penn (better known as one of the nation’s leading election campaign strategists). Penn cobbled together statistics from disparate surveys to argue that some 450,000 Americans rely on blogging as their main income source - more numerous than computer programmers or firefighters, and almost as numerous as lawyers - and those with substantial readership earn $75,000 on average.

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Still in Demand: Java, .NET, Linux Skills

From DICE, April 22, 2009...

Researcher Foote Partners’ newest IT skills and certification data shows that IT professionals with expertise in Linux, Java/J2EE, unified communications, Microsoft .NET, virtualization should see their pay increase, according to Foote Partners’ IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index. These skills increased in value during 2009’s first quarter, the company found, as did ERP and business process management/modeling and improvement.

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Cheaper Routes to Certifications

From DICE, April 22, 2009...

EarthWeb’s Eric Geier is well aware - as you likely are as well - that studying and testing for IT certifications can be expensive. Luckily, he offers two great suggestions for getting the study materials you need at a bargain price. His first idea: Join the IEEE Computer Society.

"For $28, for a half year, and non-students can join the society only for a half year at $49. This gives you free access to a conglomerate of study resources and networking outlets. You’ll have access to 3,000 distance-learning course modules, where your favorite certifications will probably be included. Course subjects range from Cisco to Java to project management. You also have access to 600 selections from Safari Books Online, Essential Tech, and Business Library. Plus you are given access to 500 books through their e-Learning Campus, provided by Element K. You’ll also get discounts on select conferences and be able to participate on committees."

Geier’s other good idea: Join the Association for Computing Machinery.

"Students can become members for as little $19, for an entire year. Professional membership starts at $99, also for a year. All individual members receive full access to over 2,500 online computing and business courses, in multiple languages, and 1,000 virtual labs provided by Element K. Also like the IEEE Computer Society, ACM gives you access to 600 selections from Safari Books Online. The ACM Online Books Program also includes an additional collection of 500 online books from Books24×7."

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Forbes names Austin-Round Rock best area for jobs

From The Daily Texan, April 22, 2009...

Texans looking for a job might not have far to go, according to Forbes.

The Austin-Round Rock area had topped the magazine’s list of the Best Big Cities for Jobs, followed by four other Texas metropolitan areas: Houston-Sugarland-Baytown, San Antonio, Fort Worth-Arlington and Dallas-Plano-Irving.

Austin also is the only city out of the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas that added jobs in the past months, said Beverly Kerr, vice president of research at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

“From February to March, there has been a net growth of over 3,000 jobs in Austin,” Kerr said.

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Leveraging soft skills in a competitive IT job market

From Computerworld, April 21, 2009...

Competition for IT jobs has intensified, so companies that are hiring expect to find candidates who can exceed the technical requirements of a position. While soft skills have long been touted by IT employers, today's harsh economic realities have made those abilities more valuable than ever. IT professionals who know which soft skills are currently the most important and why -- and who are willing to work to improve those abilities -- can find that they have a distinct advantage over similarly qualified peers.

Skills such as public speaking, negotiation and persuasion are among the most valuable in the current economic environment. What do these skills have in common? They're all based on the ability to communicate effectively. As budget restrictions create tension for managers and staffers alike, workplace relationships can easily become strained, leading to morale and productivity problems. Effective communication can help prevent or alleviate these situations.

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The interview that'll bag a job

From Computerworld, April 21, 2009...

In today's ultracompetitive job market, even getting an interview is a feat. Yet recruiters and hiring managers say many unemployed candidates blow the opportunity by appearing desperate or bitter about their situations -- often without realizing it.

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Ex-Employers Enforcing Agreements

From DICE, April 20, 2009...

If you signed an employment or non-compete agreement with your previous employer, either as a condition of employment or in exchange for a severance package, better check the details before starting a new job. Nowadays, companies are taking steps to protect client lists, intellectual property and trade secrets when they see former staffers sign on with a competitor.

Enforcement of these agreements vary by state, the specific language of the agreement and each situation. This means every laid-off worker must do their homework in order to know their rights and limitations.

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Study: IT skills pay drops slightly overall in Q1

From Computerworld, April 17, 2009...

A new study shows that pay for IT skills fell by 0.5% overall during the first three months of this year, but also that some 46 skills rose in value.

Under noncertified skills, Linux pay grew the fastest, jumping 28.6%, according to the survey by Foote Partners LLC, a Vero Beach, Fla., consulting and research firm that tracks IT skills pay. It was followed by Apache Web server (25%), Sybase Adaptive Server (25%) and Java J2EE/SE/ME (20%).

Meanwhile, pay for PowerBuilder skills saw the biggest decline, falling 50%. AIX, C++, CGI and dBase/XBase pay all dropped 25% in the first quarter, according to the study.

HP/Certified Systems Engineer topped the list for certified IT skills pay growth, with a 14.3% increase in the past three months. Next strongest were Sun Certified Programmer for Java Platform (13.5%), HP/Accredited Integration Specialist (12.5%), GIAC Certified Incident Handler (12.5%) and EC-Council/Certified Hacking Forensics Investigator (12.5%.)

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When to Show Your Versatility

From Harvard Business Review, April 17, 2009...

Managers often say they admire versatility in an employee. After all, a versatile person can switch seamlessly from one type of task to another, putting nary a crease in the fabric of daily work life. In practice, though, I find that versatility comes under suspicion, at least initially.

During my years working full-time, I often served on groups that were tasked with hiring. Inevitably, the resumes that showed the greatest concentration of directly relevant experience would rise to the top. Folks in the hiring group gave lip service to the breadth that was evident on some resumes, but in the end it was the safe-bet candidates who were selected for a first round of interviews. More than once, I heard people justify hesitation about an apparently versatile candidate with the warning "Jack of all trades, master of none."

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MentorWorks Launching in Austin

From Austin Startup, April 17, 2009...

Austin entrepreneur Mark Roberts has recently launched a new website called MentorWorks, which is designed to be a marketplace to match up talented mentors with those seeking expertise. eBay is a great marketplace for all sorts of things, as is craigslist, but none of them really provide the essential elements needed to bring together the people who need each other.

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Lone Star Entrepreneurial Summit

From Austin Startup, April 17, 2009...

Surely, the University of Texas has plenty of classes on entrepreneurship, you might be thinking. Well, yes and no. At the post-graduate level there is an MBA concentration in entrepreneurship, and I believe the business honors program also has an entrepreneurship focus. But that’s it. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of options for students in engineering, computer science, or even the life sciences.

Consequently, we’ve had a huge outflowing of talent that accept jobs at the tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo after graduating from UT. Mostly because they’ve not been exposed to, and integrated into, the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem in Austin. Texas Ventures is really working hard to bridge that gap between the university and the startup business community. One output of that effort is the upcoming Texas Entrepreneurial Summit.

The summit takes place over the course of three evenings here in Austin, from April 22-24th, 2009. They are planning for over 1,000 people to attend who are interested in entrepreneurship in Austin.

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Does ‘Dominant’ Equal ‘Competent?’

From DICE, April 17, 2009...

Want to look competent? Get in touch with your dominant side. In a recent study, University of California, Berkley researchers found those who act more dominantly are perceived as more competent, even when they aren’t.

Organizational behavior and industrial relations Associate Professor Cameron Anderson and doctoral candidate Gavin Kilduff tested their “great pretender” theory on 17 four-student teams. They gave each team 45 minutes to design a mock non-profit environmental organization or a for-profit Web site. The winning team would receive a $400 prize. More importantly, the experiment required each participant to rate his or her colleagues’ level of influence on the group, and each participant’s level of competence.

The results: Team members with the most dominant personalities were rated the highest for such qualities as general intelligence, dependability, and self-discipline. Less outspoken workers were perceived as having less desirable traits, giving them high scores for being conventional and uncreative.

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Use Twitter for Job Hunting…Maybe

From DICE, April 17, 2009...

It’s a big day for Twitter: Oprah has arrived! So get ready for even more Twitter hype.

While this social networking phenomenon hasn’t cured cancer yet, a flurry of articles, hype, and cable news personalities has it solving just about every other malady that plagues mankind. I’m not sure I buy into all this noise just yet, but I’m willing to listen. At Forbes, for example, Tara Weiss can fill you in on how to use Twitter to find a job. The article does include a few inspiring success stories, such as this one.

[Kyle Flaherty] left his marketing position in Boston last spring determined to find an in-house public relations job. He tweeted (Twitter lingo for posting a message) about his decision and included a link to his professional blog, where he described the kind of work he was looking for. Within days his tweet was retweeted. That is, an acquaintance forwarded it–to his current boss.
Sounds so simple.

The real advice here is simply to use Twitter as yet another way to put yourself in front of people who make hiring decisions. The way you do that is to find them by doing various searches on your industry and even recruiting firms that work in your field and then follow their “tweets.” Respond eloquently when appropriate, and slowly build up your online identity by posting your own intelligent tweets about your industry and hope people start following you.

The good news is that all this is rather effortless so it won’t be a major time sink for people already wrapped up in other social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

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Don’t Bargain Basement Yourself

From DICE, April 16, 2009...

In today’s job market, you might be tempted to offer to work for free or at a reduced salary during a trial period to prove yourself to an employer. Don’t do it, says consultant Edward Navis of Full Spectrum HR in Little Falls, N.J. You’ll simply devalue yourself and set the company up for a pay discrimination suit, he says.

“From a marketing perspective, people look at free things as having no value,” Navis says. “And even if they say yes to reduced pay, they may not see you as worth more at the end of the trial period.”

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Surviving Dog-Eat-Dog Competition

From DICE, April 15, 2009...

Video...

How To Stand Out At A Job Fair

From Forbes, April 15, 2009...

When Monster.com held a career fair in Manhattan in March, 3,700 job-seekers packed the place. A recent job fair held by General Dynamics Information Technology in Fairfax, Va., attracted 1,000. And Targeted Job Fairs, a company that holds fairs across North America, reports that traffic to its events is up by 64% in the first quarter of this year over a year before.

With so many people crowding job fairs, are they even worth attending?

"Absolutely," says Eric Winegardner, vice president of client adoption at Monster.com, which is sponsoring more than 100 job fairs across the country. "It cuts out the Internet way of recruiting and brings people together face to face."

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Get More Value Out Of Certifications

From DICE, April 15, 2009...

Take test. Pass test. Move on. That’s how things usually work, but in the world of IT certifications, making the grade is just one step in what is an ongoing process that will occupy you throughout your career. Linda Musthaler of Network World has laid out some good advice for IT experts who wants to make the most of their certifications, squeezing extra value out of them beyond simply getting the credential. For example:

Use your certification as leverage with your employer.

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How to Hire—and Get Hired—in a Recession

From Business Week, April 14, 2009...

Unemployment in the U.S. is going to race past 10% in the coming months and probably peak at 11% or 12%, according to the smart folks with whom I'm privileged enough to spend some time. There's an outside chance (call it 20%) that we might have a "disastrous event" that causes it to hit 15% to 20%. Sounds impossible, I know, but there are many regions in the U.S. already in the mid-teens.

. . .

If you're looking for a job, you want to send out as many signals as possible that show that not only are you not afraid of hard work, but you're actually turned on by it. You must understand that, right now, there are too many candidates fighting for each position. The leverage that led to bidding wars between employers two to three years ago is gone—just like the bidding wars over houses are over.

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No Posting Required

From DICE, April 14, 2009...

Astute business managers are always looking to add a great employee, even if they don’t have an opening. That’s because managers face business and personnel challenges that can only be remedied by talented people, and job postings often produce a flood of both qualified and unqualified candidates.

The concept of proactively marketing your skills to pique the interest of hiring managers was discussed in a thread created by FM1 on the Dice Discussions board.

It seems FM1 had some success submitting his resume and cover letter to local employers who touted their open door policies toward talented candidates on their Web sites, even when they appeared to have no open jobs. FM1’s initiative resulted in several interviews.

If you decide to take FM1’s approach and cold market your skills, use these tactics to achieve the best return:

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Making an Interview Work

From DICE, April 14, 2009...

Today’s ultracompetitive job market is inducing more candidates to adopt misguided methods to stand out in an interviewer’s mind. The old saw, “You want to stand out for the right reasons,” applies more than ever. Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal provides a useful roundup of tried-and-true interview advice.

A few tactics prone to backfire: Arriving an hour early for an interview (it’s best to arrive 10 minutes before your scheduled time); mentioning your own current financial or personal challenges; handing out bound summaries of your past work-related projects.

Other interviewing chestnuts that remain as valid today as 20 years ago:

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How to get fired

From Computerworld, April 13, 2009...

A plunging stock market, crumbling budgets, layoffs and restructurings: So much of today's news is bad, so much of it can adversely affect your career, and so much of it is maddeningly beyond your control.

But there are things you can control, starting with your own behavior. Now more than ever, it's essential to ensure that idiosyncrasies and personal peccadillos don't undermine your career.

Here are five cautionary tales of real CIOs whose tragic flaws did them in.

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Texas tech sector not too shabby, report says

From Austin Business Journal, March 31, 2009...

Texas’ technology industry hasn’t been hit as hard as the total private-sector nationally, according to a new report.

The number of tech jobs in the Lone Star State declined 0.6 percent during fourth-quarter 2008 compared with 1.3 percent for the national private-sector. Texas lost 38,000 tech jobs during the three-month period, trade association TechAmerica reported.

The decline came one year after Texas’ tech job growth (14,700) was the largest in the United States. The number of tech workers in Texas ranks the state No. 2 in the nation following California, the report shows.

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Austin job growth falls, but some see signs of turnaround

From statesman, March 27, 2009...

Austin employers are dramatically cutting back on hiring, with job growth falling to a five-year low last month.

The 0.2 percent growth rate was down from 3.8 percent a year earlier and 0.9 percent in January, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

Still, Austin was the only major Texas metropolitan area to add jobs in the month, as the recession hit harder across the state.

And some local employment experts say they're beginning to see signs of improvement.

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6 ways to ruin your resume

From Computerworld, April 13, 2009...

My vision is blurry. I've reviewed more than 40 résumés for a network administrator position, and less than half have made the cut. Although I rejected some candidates because of their lack of experience (or, rather, their lack of demonstrated required experience), others had errors in their application packages that lowered their ranking -- errors that could have been easily corrected.

Of course, the traditional job-seeking advice still applies. Always follow résumé best practices -- proper spelling, good organization, consistent font and so on. Realize, too, that if you simply don't meet the required minimum experience, it's very unlikely that you'll get the job. Beyond that, if you avoid these all-too-common mistakes that can be found in résumés for all kinds of IT positions, you'll boost your chance of landing the job.

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Finding Stimulus-Based Jobs

From DICE, April 9, 2009...

Everyone is trying to anticipate where the government’s stimulus package is going to create jobs, so it makes good sense to follow the news to find out how and where new IT positions may be. TechCareers suggests there’ll be a need for engineers and project managers to oversee stimulus-based projects in manufacturing and construction sectors, and looks at when such jobs might be created in other industries:

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No Surprise: Companies Cut Tech Budgets

From DICE, April 9, 2009...

Research firm Gartner reports technology spending will fall 3.8 percent worldwide and 1.6 percent in the U.S. this year. That’s down significantly from 2008, which saw a 6.1 percent rise worldwide. It’s also nearly double the decline that occurred when the tech bubble burst in 2001, says CNNMoney.

Meanwhile, companies have started to cut IT budgets, which doesn’t bode well for IT employment. Jobs are being hit particularly hard in sectors like services and finance, which combine to employ 50 percent of the nation’s technology professionals.

Forrester Research estimates U.S. tech jobs will decline by 1.2 percent this year, after three years of at least 2.5 percent growth. They ‘ve already fallen by nearly 1 percent since the November peak, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Year to date, 8,000 tech jobs have been slashed, including 4,100 just last month.

But not all IT jobs are in peril, according to Forrester:

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Career Advice Via Google

From DICE, April 8, 2009...

Should you land an interview soon, here’s a question you might hear that’s not out of left field: “What’s the last book you read?” Take the time to make it The Google Way: How One Company Is Revolutionizing Management As We Know It, by Bernard Girard.

What can Google teach you about better managing your career? Start by learning from its success, as well as what makes its employees successful and happy. Namely:

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Overall, 2008 was a Good Year

From DICE, April 8, 2009...

For what it’s worth, the trade association TechAmerica says tech-sector employment went up, not down, by a total of 77,000 jobs in 2008. Says CIO magazine:

The total headcount for 2008? Just under six million American tech workers, up from 5.8 million in 2007. Contrary to the widespread presumption that the tech sector is shedding jobs almost as fast as General Motors, TechAmerica’s report says job losses in high-tech manufacturing and communications services (PR and marketing) were more than offset by gains in engineering and technical services. In particular, software services jobs jumped more than five percent, to a total of 1.7 million.

The TechAmerica Cyberstates 2009 report found tech jobs are no longer restricted to Silicon Valley. In 2008’s state-by-state comparison, the largest number of new jobs - 14,700 -were added in Texas. The state with the fastest growth, at 8.1 percent, was Kansas. Virginia led the nation with the highest concentration of tech workers - 92 of every 1,000 private-sector workers in the state were employed in the tech industry. Virginia was followed by Massachusetts and Colorado.

Read more...