May 9 2012 3:08PM GMT
Posted by: Robin "Roblimo" Miller
Now and then I like to read the latest Foote Partners News Analysis (pdf). Their grasp of the IT employment market is better than almost anyone else’s, and they’re a true research organization with no corporate axe to grind. This month’s report starts by saying, “An analysis of Friday’s release of the April 2012 U.S. employment numbers by the Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL/BLS) reveals a net gain of 9,800 jobs across four jobs segments commonly associated with IT professionals. Two of those segments specifically representing IT services industries, Management and Technical Consulting Services and Computer Systems Design and Related Services, increased by 13,800 jobs in April, for a total gain of 45,300 jobs in 2012 and 124,100 over the past 12 months. Telecommunications employment continued to erode, losing 4,000 more jobs in April for a total of 14,300 jobs lost this year and 42,000 in the past year.” Continued »
Apr 30 2012 1:30PM GMT
Posted by: Robin "Roblimo" Miller
belief,
Facebook,
Twitte,
Google+,
job,
freelance,
network,
join,
premium,
religion,
politics,
identity,
find,
LinkedIn
How to Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ is the title of a book I just finished reading. Note that if and when you look for this book, you want the “Fully Revised and Updated Second Edition,” not the outdated first edition. The cover price is $20; Amazon price is $13.36, with other online booksellers offering similar savings. If you are an IT person or work in any other field that deals heavily with the Internet or technology, this book is well worth $13.36. Heck, it’s worth $20. In fact, the section on LinkedIn, alone, is worth that much. Continued »
Apr 16 2012 2:07PM GMT
Posted by: Robin "Roblimo" Miller
report,
optimism,
confidence,
index,
Randstad,
business,
India,
China,
U.S.,
Brazil,
IT workers,
Germany
Even if you’re on a low-salt diet, you might want to take this much optimism with a grain or two. There’s even an optimistic chart, which you can see by reading the (PDF) report itself. But Randstad Technologies is a giant in the field of HR recruitment and consulting, and world-famous Harris Interactive did the survey, so who are we to question them?
Continued »
Apr 5 2012 1:46PM GMT
Posted by: Robin "Roblimo" Miller
consultant,
IT,
programmer,
expert,
selected,
clients,
software,
professional,
networks,
technologies,
talent,
independent,
skillset,
hire,
references,
ecuation,
excitement
I asked a bunch of people who routinely hire programmers and IT consultants how they went about selecting them. Learning what they look for just might help you find more work… Continued »
Mar 28 2012 2:25PM GMT
Posted by: Robin "Roblimo" Miller
certification,
skills,
job,
IT,
nuclear,
ISC2.org,
Tipton,
advice
IT Security is an ever-growing field. Every year more hackers and crackers try to steal your bank PIN number, mess up your nuclear fuel centrifuges, jam your attack drones’ control signals, steal your company passwords an other secrets and…. it goes on and on, to the point where, Hord says, over two million (2,000,000) new IT security people will be needed in the next few years. Should you be one of them? Do you have the skills to be one of them? If not, can you acquire those skills? Note that Hord works for an organization — (ISC)2 that teaches security classes and runs certification tests. Naturally, Hord is boosting his group’s services a bit, but his information and advice is straight-up, and if you would rather learn and get your cert elsewhere, that’s fine. The point is to get good IT security skills and possibly a test-based certification somehow or other, because in a crime-ridden world, IT security skills mean IT job security.
Mar 22 2012 10:59AM GMT
Posted by: Robin "Roblimo" Miller
Slashdot,
undergraduate,
degree,
CS,
psychology,
HR,
open source,
entry-level
One of the greatest (and oldest) features on the famous Slashdot “News for Nerds” website is the Ask Slashdot section. It may have been the first example of online crowdsourcing. In any case, an Ask Slashdot question will get dozens or hundreds of answers from experts who know what they’re talking about, along with plenty of silliness. (The trick is to set your comment reading level to +3 or above so you don’t see the stupid stuff.) Today I’m reading a recent Ask Slashdot piece titled Finding an IT Job Without a Computer-Oriented Undergraduate Degree. I’m quoting a few of the highest-rated answers here, but you’ll learn even more if you read more than we have room for in this little blog.
Continued »
Mar 15 2012 4:24PM GMT
Posted by: Robin "Roblimo" Miller
remote,
virtual,
manager,
work,
book review,
Kevin Sheridan
I am reading a book titled The Virtual Manager, which is about how to hire, train, motivate and retain people who work from home or remote offices instead of in a cubicle farm where you can watch them all day. It’s a pretty good book, not only if you’re a manager dealing with a virtual work force, but also if you’re a virtual worker learning how to deal with remote managers.
Continued »
Mar 6 2012 5:08PM GMT
Posted by: Robin "Roblimo" Miller
resume,
mistake,
IT jobs,
recruiter,
manager,
human resources
I asked a whole bunch of HR people, recruiters, and IT managers this question. And they gave me a whole bunch of answers. As we say down at the poker club, “Read ‘em and weep, my friends…”
Continued »
Feb 27 2012 1:14PM GMT
Posted by: Robin "Roblimo" Miller
creative,
first job,
IT jobs,
moving,
best cities,
government jobs,
libertarian,
job-hunting
I spend a fair amount of my time reading about job hunting. Today’s post is a list of 10 of the most valuable online resources I’ve found for IT job hunters ranging from new grads up to management-level people. Whether you need a job or are just thinking about moving to a new employer, you should look at the websites on this list.
Continued »
