career

Deconstructing the IT boys’ club: Here we go again

Last week, Bridget Botelho blogged about how she had attended the New England VMware Users Group meeting in Newport, RI and found it to be a boys’ club, sparsely attended by women. Botelho was made to feel like something of an outsider, especially when one (male) attendee asked her, “So, why do you write about technology? Wouldn’t you rather be writing about fashion or something?”

Botelho’s blog post (and subsequent comment thread) went on to speculate about the dwindling numbers of women in IT, particularly in VMware, professions, and cites some statistics to that effect.

Today I read Darryl K. Taft’s related column on eWeek, “Do Alpha Male Geeks Scare Women Away from Programming?” The column drew from David Heinemeier Hansson’s blog post on the same subject and discussed whether so-called “alpha-male geeks” and macho programmers might deter women from choosing careers in programming.

“Um… Alpha-male geeks? Is there such a thing?” you might be thinking. Taft and Hansson might agree. Wrote Hansson:

I just can’t get into the argument that women are being kept out of programming because the male programmer is such a testosterone-powered alpha specimen of our species. Compared to most other male groups that I’ve experienced, the average programmer ranks only just above mathematicians in being meek, tame and introverted.”

This got me thinking. As a female in the tech publishing industry (not to mention a life-long girl geek), I’m pretty accustomed to the boys’ club feel of most tech conferences (not unlike comic cons). And while there’s always going to be the contingent of gawkers and incredulous “whoa-it’s-a-girl-I’m-going-to-spaz-out”-ers, I find that generally, these so-called boys’ clubs are welcoming and respectful of female members. And like Hansson points out, most (male) geeks are meek. These days, most of them even know how to put on clean socks before they leave the house.

Of course, IT can be a weird space for women. At any tech show, we have leaders and experts like Padmasree Warrior, Danese Cooper and Lisa Phifer heading up keynotes and seminars, while scantily-clad “booth babes” parade around the exhibit hall. I don’t see that dichotomy changing any time soon, no matter how many girls major in computer science or know how to secure your wireless network.

I don’t have the answer why more women aren’t in VMware, programming, or networking. I think there’s probably some truth to the theory that IT becomes perceived by girls as “uncool,” but the same might be said of any number of professions where women abound.

I do know that what I hear day after day from IT professionals would be enough to deter any sane person — male or female — from selecting a technology career. After all, who wants to be overworked and underpaid? Who wants to work long hours for little reward, only gaining visibility when something goes wrong? Who wants to deal with countless end-user complaints and co-worker headaches… technology that doesn’t work how it’s supposed to… vendors and carriers who don’t deliver… bosses who don’t understand what you’re saying? Who wants to wade through the certification alphabet soup and pay hundreds of dollars for an arguably not-that-useful credential that expires in 3 years? And so on.

Maybe “why aren’t there more women in IT?” is the wrong question to be asking, though. Maybe we should be asking women who are in IT why they chose that path, and how they are succeeding. That might be enough to convince others to follow suit.

Are the Feds finally cracking down on H-1B visa fraud?

It looks like the federal government might finally be cracking down on H-1B visa fraud. The controversial program, which many unemployed and underemployed IT workers will tell you is the reason they’re not earning a decent living, has been under fire in recent years. And last week the U.S. Attorney’s office in Iowa announced that the federal government has arrested 11 people in six states under suspicion of committing H-1B visa fraud. The U.S. Attorney has also indicted Vision Systems Group Inc., a New Jersey-based  IT services company on 10 criminal counts, including mail fraud and conspiracy (You might notice that all of the links on Vision Systems’ web site appear to be inactive at the moment).

The H-1B visa system was designed to allow companies to bring highly skilled foreign nationals, particularly foreign nationals with IT skills, into the United States to fill jobs for which there is a shortage of domestic skilled labor. Companies are required by law to pay H-1B visa holders a salary equal to the prevailing regional wage for the role he fills. For instance, network administrators are paid more in New Jersey than they might be in Mississippi, so a company that hires a foreign worker to work in New Jersey should be paying that worker a New Jersey salary, not a Mississippi salary.

However, critics of the H-1B program, particularly Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), say that many companies are gaming the visa system, using the program to important cheaper foreign labor and displacing domestic workers. (Note that the U.S. attorney heading this particular investigation is from Grassley’s home state). Critics say companies frequently forge documentation about the qualifications of these workers and violate the prevailing wage requirements of the visa program. Last October, Grassley released a report which suggested that as much as 20% of such visas could be fraudulent.

An IT industry stimulus bill? better than investing in Detroit’s dinosaurs

Seventy-five years ago millions of young men were out of work. The Great Depression was in full swing. The ruling powers, nervous that so many idle, impoverished young men might might destabilize society, created the Civilian Conservation Corps. This pseudo-military organization enlisted three million young men in forestry, flood control and construction projects that ultimately led to the creation of the country’s most prominent national and state parks. Many people today have no concept of how decimated the country’s forests and agricultural lands were back then. These men planted five billion trees, which in part were responsible for helping end the great Dust Bowl of the 1930s and revitalizing the country’s farmlands.

Today we face The Worst Economic Crisis Since The Great Depression. Is it time for another Corps? How about the Civilian Information Technology Corps?

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank, believes it’s a good idea. In a new 22-page position paper entitled The Digital Road to Recovery (PDF), the foundation says the federal government should invest $30 billion into the country’s “national information technology infrastructure.” By investing this money into upgrading the country’s broadband capabilities and the IT systems of the health care system and the national power grid, the country would create nearly one million new jobs while boosting productivity and innovation, according to the foundation. Not only will jobs be created to build this infrastructure, but the infrastructure itself will encourage the creation of new businesses and new jobs.

“Building out an IT-based network like broadband, health IT, or the smart power grid leads to new jobs generated upstream by investment in industries that create new and innovative applications and services to take advantage of the more robust IT network,” the paper reads.

Like the CCC and the WPA of the Depression, will there be a New IT Deal? Barack Obama is known to love his CrackBerry. No doubt he knows just how important such a targeted stimulus could be for the national economy. It should also resonate with those of you who raspberried my post about how a good network engineer is hard to find.

Microsoft offers free certification exam retake

Can’t afford to get certified? Well, these days, with an even more competitive job market, you can’t afford not to be.

The good news is that Microsoft is giving you two incentives to certify for their exams. Through Second Shot, you get to retake your Microsoft certification exam for free if you don’t pass on your first try.

If you’ve mastered the test on your first try, then you get 25% off your next exam that you decide to take.

All you have to do is register for Microsoft’s Second Shot offer by December 31, 2008. Details can be found on their website (in cased you missed the link above): http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/secondshot/default.mspx

If you need that little extra nudge, think of it this way: Those who have higher credentials, especially of the expert levels, get higher pay. If you want to be Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certified, for example, you need to pass about seven exams altogether. Each one costs $125 through Prometric, so if this seems steep now, think of the payoff later down the line with your new starting salary!

If MCSE isn’t the exam for you, take a look at this newtorking certification guide from our career and training expert, Ed Tittel, to get a taste of the certification landscape. If you need some certification or career training advice, feel free to check out Ed Tittel’s expert section or ask Ed your own career question to guide you in your work ahead.

A good network engineer is hard to find

If you are a network engineer or network architect, you’re a wanted man or woman. At least for now.

Gartner has published some selected findings from its annual IT market compensation study. In it’s new publication, “CIO Alert: Jobs and Skills Topping the Difficult-to-Recruit-For List in the U.S.”, Gartner identified network engineer and network architect as thefourth and fifth most difficult positions to fill. And it’s only getting harder for them to find you.

The percentage of CIOs who said network engineers are very difficult to extremely difficult to find rose from 14.1% in 2006 abd 16.6% in 2007 to 20.3% in 2008.

The demand for network architects has fluctuated a little more. About 18.2% of CIOs said they had a very to extremely difficult time finding engineers in 2006. That number sank to 15.2% in 2007 and then shot back up to 19.8% in 2008.

The only jobs which are harder to fill are enterprise architect, database administrator and ERP programmer/analyst.

Now I know what many of you are thinking. With the economy hurtling towards some sort of apocalypse, will any company be in a position to hire anyone in 2008 or 2009? Gartner does mention in its research note that IT recruitment continues to be a top challenge for IT organizations even in current economic conditions. Of course, this survey data was collected in February, before people starting use the term “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression” on a daily basis. At least network engineers and architects have a little bit of an advantage over security analysts and bsuiness analysts and… COBOL programmers.

Networking skills are in demand

If you’re looking for a new job and you have networking skills, you are in luck. Even in this weak economy CIOs are looking for you.

Seventy percent of CIOs in a new survey listed network administration as a technical skill most in demand in their IT departments. This stat comes from IT staffing firm Robert Half Technology, which just published its quarterly survey of the hiring plans for 1,400 CIOs from companies with more than 100 employees. The firm asked CIOs to list the technical skills most in demand within their companies. They were allowed to give multiple responses. At 70% network administration was the top skill in demand, followed by Windows administration and desktop support (both at 69%). Wireless network management skills (47%) and telecommunications support (44%) are also in demand.

CIOs also identified which job areas areexperiencing the most growth in their IT departments. Networking placed second at 14%, behind help desk and end user support (18%). Robert Half said in its press release that networking had been the biggest growth area in IT departments for the past year, but had slipped to second this quarter. Still, second isn’t so bad.

This should come as good news to networking pros since new IT jobs are scarce overall. The survey found that just 11% of CIOs are adding new staff this quarter, a two-year low, down from a high of 17% in the third quarter of last year. Three percent of CIOs plan to cut staff. So while server administrators and Web developers are scrounging for new jobs, networking pros shouldn’t have too much trouble.

Have Cisco pay YOU for a change

After all the money you’ve diverted from your (enterprise’s) coffers, don’t you deserve a little something back? I mean, your requisition orders must pay the salaries of at least a few marketing types, sales types, and even a few engineers, so a kick back is the least they could give you.

Well, you’ve got your chance as Cisco continues moving from providing dumb pipes to selling services and solutions. BusinessWeek has the scoop on Cisco’s I-Prize contest, which will award $250,000 to a team of innovators and entrepreneurs for their idea, with up to $10 million in funding set aside to potentially staff, develop, and market a business based on the idea.

If you’re sick of ho-hum tasks and pointy-haired bosses, this could be your ticket out. And while entries are closed for this year’s contest, there’s always next year or one of dozens of similar contests, as Business Week reports:

Cisco’s innovation contest is one of at least a dozen corporate-sponsored competitions that have cropped up in recent years, all aimed at developing and rewarding innovation. Microsoft (MSFT), for instance, annually awards its $25,000 Imagine Cup to a student team that best uses technology to solve a real-world problem. Using money to reward technological innovation is hardly novel; historians say one of the first innovation prizes dates to 1714, when the British government offered £20,000 to the person who could devise a method for determining a ship’s longitude. (The prize was officially awarded 59 years later.)

Hey, if a Canadian steamfitter and a German student assistant can make it to finalist status, what’s stopping you? If you’re not quite ready for that 180 degree career change, there are other opportunities to give your networking career a jolt.

One quick method: Enter to win Cisco Press’ CCNA Official Exam Certification Library. We’ve got 10 copies to give away to 10 lucky readers. See contest details for a chance to win.

Internetwork Expert is sponsoring a Real CCIE’s, Real People 2008 Scholarship, where the winners (one U.S. and one international award will be given) will receive:

• CCIE Self-Paced End-to-End Program
• Complete CCIE Rack Rental package compliments of Graded Labs
• Onsite Bootcamp of the recipients choice (including airfare, hotel, provisions, and ground transportation).

Not bad, but hurry up: The contest is over in 3 days!

Further Reading:

• Cisco’s I-Prize homepage
• Real CCIE’s, Real People 2008 Scholarship, via CCIE Pursuit
• SearchNetworking.com’s career news and tips landing page