Sought-after IT jobs — lawsuit-filing not among them

IT jobs are down this year. Mix that lack of employment opportunity with an exceptionally tough job market (the average national unemployment rate is up to 9.4% as of July 2009), and you get some pretty frustrated individuals. One such individual is taking her frustrations to the next level and suing her alma mater.

Trina Thompson graduated from New York’s Monroe College in April with a bachelor’s degree of business administration in information technology. As of July 24, the still-unemployed Thompson filed a lawsuit against the office of career advancement for not helping her find a job.

On top of full tuition reimbursement, Thompson is also suing for an additional $2,000, “for the stress I have been going through looking for a full-time job on my own,” she wrote in her lawsuit.

There are a lot of well-qualified professionals struggling to find a job, and if the IT business admin IT positions are few and far between (as in Thompson’s case) what are the positions IT managers are looking to fill?

The July 2009 Dice Report lists 10 of the most difficult skill sets or positions for IT hiring managers to fill. According to the report, certifications in these specific areas can help candidates stand out and help IT managers find the most serious contenders:

• Security – Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• Virtualization — VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
• Java/J2EE — Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP)
• SAP – According to the survey, hands-on experience is more important than certifications, but there are a slew of SAP programs to take advantage of.
• NET — Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD)
• Database administrators/administration – With so many database solutions available in the market, certifications that apply to an organization’s particular implementation are focused on.
• Oracle — Oracle Certified Professional (OCP)
• Active Federal Government Security Clearance
• Project manager/management – Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute

Depending on the position, certifications can put people ahead of otherwise equally talented candidates. So Thompson and other jobless IT folks could do some managers a favor by seeking traction in these areas. No matter how the court rules, jobs aren’t guaranteed.