Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Boston Web Tech Job Market | Q3 2014



"Six-figure salaries are table stakes for software and mobile engineers, designers and data professionals."
Fasten your seat belts; it's full speed ahead for technology professionals in the second half of 2014, according to a Dice survey of 700 hiring managers and recruiters.  Hiring is expanding and so are salaries.  One in three experienced tech professionals earns six figures or better, not including bonuses.

Boston Web Tech Job Market


The list of Top 25 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for the third quarter. It appears in the right-hand column and below.  This list is based on keyword searches in job postings at Indeed.com. The most in-demand keywords are listed more frequently than less in-demand keywords.

Indeed.com is a meta-search engine that offers a maximum number of search possibilities.  All searches encompass a 25-mile radius of Boston.  Search parameters can be adjusted to fit your personal needs.

Top 25 Web Technologies in Boston


Here is an abbreviated list of the 25 most in-demand web technologies in Boston. [ or from early March ] listed by number of job postings at Indeed.com:

July, 2014
  1. SQL | 4,901 15%
  2. Java | 4,019 17%
  3. JavaScript | 3,381 33%
  4. agile *** | 3,376 36%
  5. Oracle | 2,837 27%
  6. Python | 2,144 37%
  7. HTML + CSS | 1,667 31%
  8. XML | 1,589 24%
  9. jQuery | 1,548 39%
  10. Ruby | 1,499 82%
  11. HTML5 | 1,469 97%
  12. social media | 1,457 5%
  13. Web Services | 1,441 1%
  14. Git | 1,362 167 %
  15. scrum *** | 1,358 60% 
  16. SaaS | 1,356 18%
  17. C# | 1,342 5%
  18. Perl | 1,340 49%
  19. SQL Server | 1,326 7%
  20. PHP | 1,281 68%
  21. UI | 1,254 17%
  22. MySQL | 1,110 21%
  23. Rails | 1,077 83%
  24. Photoshop | 987 68%
  25. JSP | 887 186%
*** Note: While "agile" and "scrum" are not technologies, they are methodologies used in technology development.  Likewise, "git" is a source code management system.  Combined, these three  keywords appear in many web development job descriptions.  Experience with "agile," "scrum" and "git" is often preferred, if not required, in many web development jobs.

Recommended Strategy


Select five technical skills in the Top 25 and focus on becoming proficient -- if not expert -- in each technology.  What are your Top Five technology skills?  What projects can you link to that demonstrate expertise in these technologies?

Guard against being distracted by "shiny new object skills" that are not listed in the Top 25.  Without having solid core skills in high-demand technologies, you may not experience an optimum return-on-investment in terms of time and energy invested in becoming proficient at lower-demand technical skills.

Boston's Top 100 Web Technologies


An expanded version of this list -- Boston's Top 100 Web Technologies -- is being counted down for the next three months @webapprentices.

[ NOTE: Follow Beantown Web on Twitter @webapprentices and become a Fan of Beantown Web on Facebook today. ]

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Boston's Rockstar Recruiters | Q3 2014


 
  • Shannon Miller -- seven Olympic medals in gymnastics
  • Dennis Rodman -- seven NBA rebounding titles
  • Arnold Palmer -- seven major golf championships
Seven remains the standard.  You need seven to make The List -- Boston's Rockstar Recruiter list.  You need seven recommendations from adoring fans to make The List.

Boston's Top 100 Technology Recruiters

In the fall of 2012 Beantown Web asked the question, "Who are Boston's Rockstar Recruiters?"
  Welcome to the eighth installment of The List.


To begin the quest, Beantown Web identified more than 400 technology recruiters via LinkedIn.  Most are located in the Boston area.  Some are located in New Hampshire and Rhode Island and conduct a significant amount of business in the Boston area.

Beantown Web then turned to LinkedIn to identify customer satisfaction scores.  In particular, how many people were willing to provide a public recommendation for each recruiter?

Olympic athletes have Olympic medals.  Basketball players have individual game stats, as well as, team stats and victories.  Golfers have major championship victories.  The rest of us mere mortals have to make due with LinkedIn recommendations to recognize accomplishments on our field of play.

The standard to measure Rockstar Recruiters has stalled.  In order for a recruiter to make the inaugural Boston Rockstar Recruiter List a mere three LinkedIn recommendations was enough to merit Rockstar status.  Then, the bar was raised to five.  Then, six -- for two quarters in a row.  Now, the bar stands at seven, for the fourth consecutive quarter.  Has exceptional customer service stalled along with the economy?

Only one out of four technology recruiters in the Boston metro area has earned Boston Rockstar Recruiter status with at least seven LinkedIn recommendations received.

Boston's Top 10 Technology Recruiters


Boston's Top 10 Rockstar Recruiters play to packed houses and receive standing ovations.  The best in the biz have received at least 36 recommendations from adoring fans.


Here are the Top 10 Boston Rockstar Recruiters for the third quarter of 2014 [number of LinkedIn recommendations received + given]:
  1. Scott Dunlop [95 + 6] -- The Bivium Group
  2. Chris Fountas [74 + 7] -- AVID Technical Resources
  3. Jamie LeBlanc [66 + 2] -- The Bivium Group
  4. Doug Schade [63 + 10] -- Winter Wyman
  5. John VanderSande [61 +2] -- WinterWyman
  6. Robin Napier [54 + 2] -- CyberCoders
  7. Chris Mitchell [40 + 4] --  Winter Wyman
  8. Brendan Andersen [39 + 16] -- CyberCoders
  9. Leanne Owens [38 + 8] -- Onward Search
  10. David Honig [36 + 0] -- MarketSearch

Top 10 in Assists


Some players are valuable because they score a lot of points.  Others pass the ball effectively.  This second list ranks "assists."  It answers the following question:

"Of the recruiters listed in the Top 100, who are the most generous in offering recommendations to others?"
The Top 10 (plus ties) most generous Boston Rockstar Recruiters for the second quarter [number of LinkedIn recommendations given + received]:
  1. David Perlman [58 + 19] -- Grenadier Search Group
  2. Scott Ragusa [36 + 23] -- Winter Wyman
  3. Marsh Sutherland [30 + 11] -- Walden Recruiting
  4. Carol Taylor [29 + 18] -- Private Clients
  5. Andrea Williams [25 + 28] -- Career Minded Recruiting LLC
  6. Kelley White [19 + 18] -- Advantage Technical Resourcing
  7. Roy Evans [18 + 34] -- CyberCoders
  8. Brendan Andersen [16 + 39] -- CyberCoders
  9. Jeff Sweet [16 + 19] --  VLink, Inc.
  10. Gona Nagesh Kumar [15 + 26] -- XpertTech, Inc.
  11. Sean Dowling [15 + 22] -- Winter Wyman
Congrats to Brendan Andersen for posting Top 10 scores on both the receiving and giving lists.

Team Scores


In addition to receiving seven Olympic medals, the most in a career by a U.S. gymnast, Shannon Miller, was the veteran team leader of "The Magnificent Seven" team that won team gold in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Finally, the team scores.  The following teams placed the most recruiters (at least three) in the Top 100 [number of recruiters in the Top 100]:

Gold Category:

Silver Category:
Bronze Category:

Suggested Strategy


If you have technical skills and believe you offer above average value in the marketplace, then you owe it to yourself to work with recruiters who have consistently demonstrated above average customer service.  Boston's Rockstar Recruiters offers you direct access to Boston's Top 100 (out of 400) Technology Recruiters.

The Boston Rockstar Recruiter Countdown begins @webapprentices and will continue throughout the third quarter listing all 100 Boston Rockstar Recruiters.  Simply follow @webapprentices and connect with your favorite Boston Rockstar Recruiter each day.  Each Boston Rockstar Recruiter will also be recognized on Beantown Web's Facebook page.


If you are aware of a Boston-based Technology Recruiter who has garnered at least seven LinkedIn recommendations, go to Beantown Web's Facebook page and share your Rockstar Recruiter selection with our readers.  Rock on!