Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Friday, October 2, 2009
IT jobs may get left behind in recovery
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.
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Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Get The Best Job References You Can
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.
Read more...Beyond the noncompete
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.
Read more...Monday, June 1, 2009
Don't sign away your future with a noncompete agreement
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
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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Friday, May 29, 2009
Cloud Rains Opportunities for Software Developers
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.
Read more...The Art of the Phone Interview
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.
Read more...Tech workers can look on bright side
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.
Read more...Thursday, May 28, 2009
Best practices for getting hired in a downturn
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
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.
Read more...Connecting with Care
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.
Read more...Study: U.S. IT wages held steady in early '09
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
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.
Read more...Poll: Working for Start-ups Still a Good Bet
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
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.'"
Read more...Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tech employment shrinks for fifth straight month
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.
Read more...Friday, May 22, 2009
Beat the Odds
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.
Read more...Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Made a Change? A Functional Resume May Help
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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