Saturday, September 11, 2010

Boston Market | September 2010

More than 4,000 business executives were surveyed about their hiring plans for the fourth quarter. Here are two highlights:

  • nearly half of executives (47 percent) said it is challenging to find skilled professionals today
  • executives in the business services sector anticipate the most professional-level hiring in the fourth quarter, a net 16 percent increase

These findings bode well for workers who have a proven track record of delivering high quality professional services. Additional details are available in a press release available from Robert Half International, a recognized leader in professional staffing services.

Boston Market | September

The job market for technology professionals in the Boston marketplace continues to demonstrate resilience. Fifteen of the Top 20 Web technologies posted an increase in demand during the month of August, a period of traditionally sluggish hiring.

Here are the Top 5 most in-demand technologies according to a keyword search at Boston.com:

  1. SQL | 798 09%
  2. Oracle | 727 18%
  3. Java | 443 02%
  4. XML | 310 08%
  5. SQL Server | 307 08%

Here are the technologies that round out the Top 10:

  1. JavaScript | 272 03%
  2. C# | 227 03%
  3. HTML + CSS | 176 09%
  4. "Web Services" | 175 08%
  5. Perl | 170 02%

The remaining technologies that comprise the Top 20 are listed in the right-hand column.

The Boston Two Step

To succeed in this economy, it's helpful to develop dance moves like John Travolta. Here is a two-step plan to expand your business prospects for the remainder of 2010:

Step #1: Workers who provide professional services, including Web designers and developers, should consider targeting companies in the business services sector for the remainder of 2010. These companies are most likely to be expanding their staff to meet demand.
Step #2: Develop a plan to become a skilled professional that nearly 50% of executives say are difficult to find. For Web designers and developers this means demonstrating proficiency in several Top 10 Web technologies. Add country coding moves to your disco design skills.

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