Beantown Web presents a series of Special Reports on the prospects for work for Web technology professionals in 2008.
- Part 1 focuses on big-picture hiring trends for 2008
- Part 2 focuses on non-entry level skills in demand in 2008
- Part 3 focuses on information technology skills in demand for 2008
- Part 4 focuses on non-technical skills in demand for 2008
Part 4
The non-technical skills that are in big demand, according to chief information officers (CIOs), recruiters and information technology (IT) staffing specialists include the following:
- project management
- financial analysis
- communications
"Companies love finding employees who can make sure that technology is being used to deliver business value," says Matt Colarusso, Woburn (MA) Branch Manager with Sapphire Technologies, the fourth largest IT staffing company in the United States.
"They are always looking for people who can communicate, who can bring together the technical side with the business side and the customer side, " stated Colarusso in a Network World article entitled IT Job Skills that Matter Now.
Assignment #1: Prepare a list of examples where you have applied project management, financial analysis, and/or communication skills to a Web technology project.
Strong IT Leaders
In addition, the three deliverables that IT leaders need to demonstrate in order to earn promotions in 2008 are as follows:
- run the IT department like a profit and loss center
- generate ideas for business growth
- solve business problems
Details are available in 2008: The Year Only the Strong IT Leaders Survive.
If you are looking to expand your technology career in 2008 and want to initiate a dialog with an information technology leader, either for informational purposes or during a formal interview process, then a must-read document is The State of the CIO '08 (pdf), available for free download from CIO.com.
Assignment #2: Prepare a list of examples where you have demonstrated profit/loss responsibility, business growth idea generation and/or business problem solving techniques as part of a Web technology project.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that technology is a tool kit that gets utilized to support the business enterprise. A technology professional who wants to thrive in an uncertain business climate must learn quickly to think like a business professional who happens to have technical skills.
Before initiating any networking opportunity in 2008 review your list of six non-technical examples from the above two assignments. By being prepared to discuss the non-technical value you can add to an enterprise, you can elevate yourself above your peers, even if you don't currently possess the The 8 Hottest Skills for 2008.
