Girls in Tech | Boston Event

Girls in Tech is a network of professional women who aspire to careers in technology.

Girls in Tech has an official presence in the following cities:

Atlanta, Austin, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kuwait, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Omaha, Orlando, Paris, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Stamford, Tampa, and Washington DC

Girls in Tech | Boston

The Boston Chapter of Girls in Tech will be hosting a lifestyle panel discussion designed to explore the following issues:

• work/life balance
• career management
• leading a purpose-driven life

Agenda:

• 6:00 - 7:00 pm » Networking
• 7:00 - 7:45 pm » Panel Discussion
• 7:45 - 9:00 pm » Open Audience Discussion

Event Details

• Date » Tuesday, June 30, 2009
• Time » 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
• Location » 38 Cameron Gallery, Cambridge, MA

This event is FREE. Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will be served. Reservations are required.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A WOMEN'S ONLY EVENT

Boston area technology enthusiasts should consider joining the 200+ members of the Girls in Tech | Boston Chapter Facebook group.

For information about activities in other metropolitan areas access the Girls in Tech website.

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AIGA Aquent Survey of Design Salaries | 2009

More than 9,000 designers nationwide completed an annual salary survey.

Billed as "the most comprehensive annual survey of compensation data for the communication design profession in the United States," the survey was a joint effort between the following:

• AIGA | the professional association for design
• Aquent | the talent agency for marketers and designers

Here is a summary of the findings.

Boston Salaries

Median salaries for design professionals in Boston exceeded the national average by a range of between $2,000 and $8,000. Here are the Boston median salaries for select job titles:

• Entry-level designer | $40,000
• Print production artist | $47,500
• Designer | $47,000
• Web designer | $60,000
• Senior designer | $65,000

Relatively few Web developers and programmers belong to the organizations that were used in the survey sample. Therefore, salaries for Boston could not be provided with statistical accuracy. Here are the national median average salaries for these job titles:

• Web programmer/developer (back end) | $62,400
• Web developer (front end) | $65,000

It would not be unusual for these median salaries to be higher in the Boston metro area.

Definitions are provided for these and other job titles at the AIGA website.

Advice from Design Leaders

Ten design professionals from across the country were asked to share their advice on surviving during challenging economic times. One quote was a headline grabber.

"Be smart and strategic—or else deliver pizzas"

Here are the 10 design leaders along with their LinkedIn profiles:

• David Baker | Tennessee
• Michael Bierut | New York
• Alexander Isley | Connecticut
• Judy Kirpich | Virginia
• Denise Korn | Massachusetts
• Jamie Koval | Illinois
• Monica Little | Minnesota
• Janet Martin | Colorado
• Shel Perkins | California
• Paula Savage Hansen | Texas

Access Advice from Professional Designers at the AIGA website.

National Survey Results

Salary results are available for 31 cities and nine regions of the United States at the AIGA | Aquent Survey of Design Salaries website. Simply access the Salary Calculator to review the compensation data for 15 design-related positions in your part of the country. You can also download a FREE 48-page summary of the survey findings.

Additional Surveys

Here are additional salary surveys and guides that have been summarized in Beantown Web in the past nine months:

• InformationWeek's Salary Survey | 2009‏
• Web Design Survey | 2008‏
• IT Skills & Salary Report | 2009‏
• Dice Annual Salary Survey | 2009‏
• Computerworld | Salary Survey 2008
• 2009 Salary Guide | Robert Half Technology‏
• Microsoft Salary Survey | 2008‏

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The Dice Report | June 2009

Four out of five technology recruiters and hiring managers say that the current economy has caused them to scale back hiring for the next six months.

More than 1,900 people responded to the email survey conducted by Dice.com. The survey targeted human resource staff and recruiters who primarily hire or recruit technology professionals. The survey was conducted in May 2009.

Two Questions

Six questions were asked in the survey. Here are two that stand out.

“Has the current economic environment caused you or your clients to scale back hiring plans for the next six months?”

• Yes, substantially | 43%
• Yes, slightly | 38%

“How likely do you think layoffs are in the next six months at your organization, or if you are a recruiter at your clients’ organizations?”

• Very likely | 12%
• Likely | 31%

So, layoffs will likely continue in the technology sector over the next six months and companies will continue to be reluctant to add new staff for the remainder of 2009.

A Call from the Mountain

Granted, this is not the most motivating picture of the future. Now is the time to envision a view from the mountain on the other side of this valley. A Dice spokesperson is standing on that mountain and calling back to us across the valley . . .

“While it’s not surprising in this economy that companies are being selective, more than 90 percent of respondents indicated they have at least one hard to find skill set or position to fill. This potentially equates to solid demand when the economy turns upward.”

Details are available at The Dice Report, Special Edition, June 2009 .

Three Possible Paths

To get across the valley Web professionals should consider strengthening three core skills. According to ComputerWeekly.com, trend data suggests a growing demand for these technologies:

• PHP
• JavaScript
• Ajax

Details are available at Learn PHP and get a job. Even though this publication is based in the UK, Beantown Web's Boston Market | June 2009 supports the demand for these technologies in the Boston metro area.

Obtaining training and demonstrating proficiency in these three technologies will likely help you get across the valley quicker and provide you a better view from the mountain on the other side.

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Boston Market | June 2009

Here are three indicators that the economy may be on the mend.

Spherion Employee Confidence Index

A monthly index that measures workers’ confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment, has risen for three consecutive months. The Spherion Employee Confidence Index reports that workers are more optimistic about the strength of the economy.

AIGA’s Design Leaders Confidence Index

A quarterly survey of more than 300 design leaders reveals an improvement in optimism about the economy over the next six months. The Design Leaders Confidence Index posted is highest score in the last three quarters. Fourteen percent of survey participants feel they are more likely to add staff now than they had anticipated at the beginning of the year.

ExecuNet's Recruiter Confidence Index

A survey of executive search consultants has climbed for the third consecutive month. ExecuNet's Recruiter Confidence Index reveals that the executive search industry's outlook for the employment market continues to improve and now stands at its highest level since June 2008.

Top 20 Web Technologies

So, what do the tea leaves say about the Web technology marketplace in Boston? Continued stability. The Top 20 Web Technologies list has been updated for June and appears in the right-hand column. The biggest gainers for the month were technologies outside of the Top 10 as follows:

• PHP | 48%
• JSP | 27%
• MySQL | 18%

This short-term trend reveals an ongoing strong demand for Web Developers. Web Design & Development professionals should continue to focus on maximizing their opportunities by improving their programming and database skills since these technologies dominate the Top 20 list.

June is Innovation Month

Here is a two-fold strategy for upgrading skills and improving career advancement prospects over the next month.

Step #1: Access the New England Innovation Month website and review the many networking opportunities that are occurring in the Boston metro area this month; commit to attend one event.

Step #2: Review the Top 20 Web Technologies list in the right-hand column; identify one technology to improve; get to work improving that skill by the end of the month.

[ NOTE: What if I don't see my technology skills listed in the Top 20? Simply access Beantown Web's new Facebook page. Become a fan today and gain instant access to the Top 50+ Web Technologies in Boston! ]