Where The IT Jobs Are

So which is it? In one issue of InfoWorld (May 8/06), writer David L. Margulius says that IT (Information Technology) people are set for a comeback (free registration may be required) and will be especially important to interactive marketing. Then a week later (May 15/06), also in InfoWorld, editor-at-large Ephraim Schwartz and his interviewee, Gartner Fellow Ken McGee, imply that IT has a troublesome future in light of the fact that IT budgets in companies did not increase significantly.

So if you have/ want a career in IT, should you worry? In short, no. There are a few indicators I use to conclude this:

1. Increasing number of technology company mergers, especially in the areas of RFID and Wi-Fi.
2. Increasing VC (Venture Capital) deals for both interesting and useless tech ideas/ web services.
3. Increasing numbers of personnel agencies emailing me to see if they can send my resume out for jobs that I’m not (or only partially) qualified for.

For the present, I think that the tech bubble is being re-inflated, and opportunties are there. They might be in non-traditional or new areas, such as RFID, digital money applications, Wi-Fi, VoIP, etc.

As for those people already in IT jobs, a Canadian survey (discussed here in Network World Canada in  article by Mark Els; requires free registration) indicates that IT workers in the banking and government sectors are the happiest. Els reported earlier this year that the hot jobs in IT for 2006 (based on resarch by Robert Half Technology) are “Windows administration, SQL Server management, wireless network management and Cisco network administration.” Els also reports in this article that US-based Foote Partners’ identify Cisco networking, VoIP, and wireless management as hot area job areas.

For those search for work, Rosie Lombardi writes (in a Network World Canada article; free registration), that Monster Canada, an Internet job board, is setting up a micro-index of IT job trends. The VP of Marketing, Louis Gagnon, claims that Canada has an IT labour shortage that will continue for the next 10 years. The real problem is far deeper, as I wrote at my MyGlobalCity journal.

On the other hand, Joaquim Menezes reports (in a Computer World Canada article; free registration) that entry-level jobs in Canada are in jeopardy due to offshoring. I think that this hits the crux of the matter. While jobs are presently increasing, they require very specific skills. If you don’t have these skills, learn them. Or redefine yourself.

There are services like Ether that provide the infrastructure for you to offer your consulting skills online, and get paid upfront. If you like to travel and can speak English with a relatively flat accent, there are English teaching jobs going unfilled in Southeast Asia, North Africa, and parts of Europe. They don’t pay as well as IT, but there are “technical”, “scientific” or “business” English jobs which pay more than straight English teaching. And because you only work 15-20 hrs/wk, you have time for other pursuits, which may pay off. Just be sure that you know about the region you are going to, and have negotiated the best deal you can get.)

Job-seeking is a skill in itself, and with all the changes wrought by the Internet and the major world economies, it’s a skill you need to develop if you want to ensure that you minimizing downtime between jobs or careers in the future. Redefining yourself and being adaptible is key to your success.

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