Tuesday, April 14, 2009

IMA Web Awards | Q1 2009

Nine websites were honored with Interactive Media Awards (IMA) during the first quarter.

If you are involved in designing, developing, managing, supporting and promoting websites, then you are eligible for The Interactive Media Awards™ competition.

Typically, nominations from around the world are accepted from the following groups:

  • web design firms
  • advertising agencies
  • corporate marketing departments
  • individual web designers & graphic artists

IMA judges evaluate websites based on the following five criteria:

  • design
  • content
  • feature functionality
  • usability
  • standards compliance

Boston-based judges include the following:

Best in Class

The Best in Class award winners in selected industry categories for the first quarter include the following:

You can search the Winners Gallery for additional honorees in the Outstanding Achievement Award Level.

How to Enter

If you would like to be considered for an award, simply complete and submit an entry form by June 30, 2009. To review the categories for the second quarter and download an entry form, simply access How to Enter.

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Web Design Survey | 2008

"The Survey for People who Make Websites" has been compiled and the results are now available. In 2008, more than 30,000 readers took part in the A List Apart survey. Presented below is a snapshot of key findings.

Show Me the Money

The "average" person who makes websites for a living earns $1,000 a week:

  • average salary (weighted) | $52,095
  • salary range (median) | $40,000 - $59,999

Not all web workers are "average." Here are the highs and the lows:

  • earning over $100,000 | 9%
  • earning under $40,000 | 39%

Show Me the BIG Money

If you are looking to become one of the nine percent who have made it into the six-figure club ($100,000+), here are the titles most likely to get you there (percentage of job-title holders who earn six-figure salaries):

  • Creative Director | 25%
  • Usability Expert/Consultant/Lead | 21%
  • Information Architect | 20%
  • Web Director | 16%
  • Marketer | 16%

Job Titles

While the above list represents the high-paying titles, here are the three most popular job titles (other than "other"):

  • Developer | 28%
  • Web Designer | 13%
  • Designer | 8%

Young and Male

A relatively new medium attracts relatively young practitioners (age range | percentage of respondents):

  • 18 - 29 | 52%
  • 30 - 44 | 40%

A somewhat surprising 84 percent of respondents were male.

Work Style

The majority of survey respondents work for someone else. Employees outnumber independents by a two-to-one margin:

  • employee | 56%
  • contractor/freelancer | 26%

Next Career Move

Responses to the question "What is your next career move?" differ dramatically by work style -- employees vs. independents.

For employees the top three "next moves" were as follows:

  • Get a promotion at my current job | 95%
  • Get a new job in a new organization | 86%
  • Attend a conference/take classes/other educational activity | 79%

For independents the top three "next moves" were as follows:

  • Find a partner whose skills complement mine | 73%
  • Get my first job in the field | 69%
  • Start pitching a better class of client | 68%

The Next Step

Here is the "70 | 40 | 10" take-home message based on the findings from this survey:

  • 70% of all independents want to convert their work status to employee
  • 40% of Web workers earn less than $40,000 per year
  • 10% of Web workers earn a six-figure salary

Beantown Web suggests the following two recent resources to help guide you through the "70 | 40 | 10" career transition process:

Detailed findings from the A List Apart Web Design Survey, 2008 are available in an interactive Web format.

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Mass Innovation Nights | April 2009


Mass Innovation Nights allows companies large and small to showcase their new products to an audience of social media enthusiasts, mass media and potential customers. The inaugural event takes place this week.

Charter Members

Here are the Charter Members of this monthly event:

Event Details

Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2009
Time: 6:30 PM
To learn more, simply access the Mass Innovation Nights website. Check out the list of 100+ who have preregistered for this event to help determine if this FREE networking night might be valuable for you to attend. Then, submit your RSVP.
[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>
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Sunday, April 05, 2009

Boston Market | Q2 2009

Spring has arrived and job opportunities for technology professionals with Web-related skills are starting to come alive. Green is the color of the month as 13 of 20 skills show an increase (green up arrow) from last month.

The list of the most in-demand Web-related technologies appears in the right-hand column. Links are also provided to job postings mentioning that skill. All jobs are located within a 50-mile radius of Boston.

This quarterly analysis expands the popular monthly Top 20 ratings. Listed below are the Top 50 most in-demand Web-related skills in Boston.

The Top 10

Here are the Top 10 most mentioned Web-related skills [number of times mentioned in job postings]:

  1. SQL [ 512 ]
  2. Oracle [ 468 ]
  3. Java [ 287 ]
  4. SQL Server [ 229 ]
  5. XML [ 212 ]
  6. JavaScript [ 158 ]
  7. C# [ 153 ]
  8. Perl [ 125 ]
  9. "Web Services" [ 125 ]
  10. Ajax [ 96 ]

If you are currently in the job market, demonstrating proficiency in several of these skills will enhance your employment opportunities. Note that all ten skills are database- and programming-related -- core skills for Web Developers.

11 Though 20

  1. JSP [ 86 ]
  2. e-commerce [ 85 ]
  3. ASP.NET [ 76 ]
  4. Flash [ 73 ]
  5. SharePoint [ 70 ]
  6. IIS [ 70 ]
  7. Apache [ 67 ]
  8. HTML + CSS [ 64 ]
  9. MySQL [ 62 ]
  10. SOAP [ 54 ]

Back end server skills (SharePoint, IIS and Apache) dominate the Second 10 along with Web development skills (JSP and ASP.NET). Web Design skills (HTML + CSS and Flash) begin to make an appearance on this list.

21 Through 30

Rounding out the Top 30 are the following 10 technologies:

  1. Python [ 53 ]
  2. PHP [ 52 ]
  3. Photoshop [ 49 ]
  4. DB2 [ 48 ]
  5. Tomcat [ 44 ]
  6. SEO [ 43 ]
  7. Visual Studio [ 42 ]
  8. Illustrator [ 40 ]
  9. Web 2.0 [ 39 ]
  10. API [ 38 ]

The programming theme continues with Python and PHP. Additional design skills (Photoshop and Illustrator) appear on this list along with more nebulous Web skills such as search engine optimization (SEO) and Web 2.0.

31 Through 40

Rounding out the Top 40 are the following 10 technologies:

  1. Social networking [ 35 ]
  2. SSL [ 34 ]
  3. VB.NET [ 31 ]
  4. DHTML [ 30 ]
  5. "Content Management System" [ 26 ]
  6. Acrobat [ 24 ]
  7. ColdFusion [ 22 ]
  8. Struts [ 21 ]
  9. SaaS [ 21]
  10. blog [ 21 ]

Popular Web 2.0 buzzwords (social networking, content management systems and blog) are less popular and fall out of the Top 30. Viable, yet more obscure, technologies also populate this Top 40 list.

41 Through 50

Rounding out the Top 50 are the following 10 technologies:

  1. InDesign [ 19 ]
  2. Ruby [ 19 ]
  3. VBScript [ 19 ]
  4. XHTML [ 18 ]
  5. wiki [ 17 ]
  6. Dreamweaver [ 16 ]
  7. jQuery [ 14 ]
  8. JSON [ 11 ]
  9. RSS [ 10 ]
  10. CS3 [ 9 ]

The hoopla around technologies such as Ruby, jQuery and JSON simply does not translate into mass-market job opportunities. Adobe Creative Suite programs such as InDesign and Dreamweaver also don't generate much excitement in the current technology job market.

NIT Candidates

Popular Web-related technologies that weren't invited to "The Big Dance" this quarter include the following:

It's not that these technologies are not valuable, it is simply that there is relatively little market demand for Web professionals with expertise in these skills compared to the Top 20 Web Technologies.

The Final Four

If you want to compete in today's Web technology marketplace, you should be proficient in at least one of the top four skills. The most versatile skill from this list is the following:

  • SQL

To round out your Final Four skill set, you should possess four additional Sweet 16 skills. Web developers should consider the following:

  • JavaScript
  • Ajax
  • ASP.NET
  • Flash

If you walk onto the court with these five skills, you can compete with any team in the country!

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Monday, March 30, 2009

Sources of Hire Study | 2009

How do large companies fill open positions? The 8th annual Sources of Hire Study reveals the inner hiring practices of large organizations. This study looked at more than 300,000 openings filled by 45 large corporations.

On The Inside

Of the 300,000 full-time positions filled in 2008 here are percentages of internal vs. external candidates who filled those vacancies:

  • internal transfers & promotions | 39%
  • external sources| 61%

So, once you land a full-time position within an organization, deliver on expectations and position yourself for future opportunities. Four out of 10 of these opportunities will likely be filled by an internal candidate and this gives insiders a competitive advantage.

On The Outside

If you are on the outside looking in, the most common external sources that large organizations utilize to fill vacancies are the following:

  • referrals | 27%
  • company website | 20%
  • job boards | 12%

Here are the six most popular external websites (job boards) that provide candidates for these large employers (percentage of companies that actively worked with each site):

Even though more companies work with Monster, CareerBuilder has overtaken Monster as the top source of new hires from all job boards.

The most visible trend in 2008, according to the authors of the study, is the pressure to reduce costs attributed to the following sources:

  • third-party recruiters
  • newspapers
  • traditional job boards

A steady growth of sourcing tactics is also evident especially the following:

  • social networks
  • search engine marketing

The report suggests that the use of job boards as a source of hire has peaked and predicts that this source will diminish in the future.

LinkedIn Strategy

If social networks are gaining ground, then the top social network for large organizations is LinkedIn which offers these three tips for finding jobs through its network:

  • update your profile
  • get recommendations
  • add connections

Twitter Strategy

For a perspective on activating your job search via Twitter, access a recent BusinessWeek article, Is Twitter the Next Monster?

Conclusion

In this study more than 17,000 positions were filled from approximately 200,000 referrals. That gives external candidates a better than 1 in 12 chance of landing a job through referral. Compare that success rate with the hundreds of resumes that typically stream in via online submissions for every job and you'll understand why the report concludes as follows:

"We continue to advise job seekers to NEVER apply to a company without first networking to an employee in that firm for a referral. The difference in probability of getting “up to bat” is too large to ignore."

The 29-page full report is available for free download from CareerXRoads.

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Monday, March 23, 2009

Girls in Tech | Boston Launch Event

Girls in Tech is coming to Boston, New York, Portland (OR) and other cities.

Girls in Tech is an organization focused on women's innovative and entrepreneurial achievements in technology.

Boston Launch Event

Girls in Tech Boston cordially invites you (women only) to celebrate its official Boston launch party on Tuesday, March 24th.

Cost: FREE!

Hors d’oeuvres will be served.

To imagine the networking possibilities, check out Attendee List to see if this is a group of professionals that you might like to meet.

Details of the Boston event are available at the Girls in Tech website. Registration is required.

Other launch parties are scheduled as follows:

Social Networks

Even if an event is not scheduled for your home town, you can join the Girls in Tech movement via the following social networks:

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Monday, March 16, 2009

SXSW Web Awards | 2009

More than 12,000 online voters selected this year's People's Choice Award at the SXSW Interactive Festival. And the winner is Lost Zombies.

The five day event in Austin, Texas celebrated the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology.

The judges selected their favorite from the 18 finalists. And the winner is We Tell Stories.

Web Award Winners

Here are the 18 categories along with the winning website and the category definition:

Activism | Tweet Congress
Green and Non-profit websites that are striving to make the world a better place.

Amusement | Addictionary
Humor, memes and all the stuff that is weird for the sake of weird.

Art | Things I Have Learned in my Life, So Far
From traditional photography to untraditional performances, this category focuses on web-based collections of life, society and culture.

Blog | The Bygone Bureau
Sites that revolutionize the power of publishing by providing regularly updated content of a personal or professional nature.

Business | Jasmax
Sites devoted to the promotional needs, functions and services of for-profit businesses.

CSS | ProjectMiso
This category showcases sites that push the boundaries of CSS coding technology, bringing together top-notch design and content with standards compliant and accessible code.

Classic | Flickr
While the SXSW Interactive Web Awards focus on the best new Internet destinations, this category is devoted to sites that launched before January 1, 2008.

Community | Lost Zombies
Social networks and wikis that have quickly developed an extraordinarily active multi-user community and an exceptional following of users who assist with content development.

Educational Resource | The Cycle
From elementary school learning to advanced technology-related tips, these are sites that help you learn.

Experimental | We Tell Stories
These are cutting-edge and trend-setting destinations that are pushing the envelope and challenging our perceptions of the web.

Film / TV | Hulu
Sites related to actors, television, films and the film industry, as well as destinations that offer streaming video content.

Games | Why So Serious? The Dark Knight Alternate Reality Game
The online destinations that help make your life a lot more fun.

Mobile | Gigotron
Sites optimized for handheld and portable devices.

Motion Graphics | NVIDIA Speak Visual
Animations, cartoons, and other intriguing content built using applications such as Adobe / Macromedia Flash.

Music | James Zabiela
Sites related to musicians, bands, and the music industry, as well online radio and other destinations that offer streaming audio content.

Personal Portfolio | Ali Felski
The portfolios, pet projects and personal collections of individuals who are displaying their work and passions online.

Student | Modernity Spirit of Experimentation
This category is devoted exclusively to the student web designers who are refreshing this industry with new talent and new ideas.

Technical Achievement | Aviary
These are the sites that are re-inventing and re-defining the technical parameters of our online experience.

Implication

Web designers and developers can scan the Web Award Winners and the Five Finalists in each category to stimulate the flow of creative approaches to resolving current design challenges.

Then, get busy designing the next award-winning website. The cost to enter this year's competition was a mere $10 and the deadline was mid-October. Check out the Web Awards FAQ for additional details.

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Women to Watch | 2009

Who are the 10 Women to Watch in 2009 in the Boston metro area according to Mass High Tech?

Last Thursday evening 10 women were honored by their peers in tech and life sciences as "go-getters, hard working, inspirational and motivational to their peers. These up-and-comers are continuing to grow and will shape the future of their industries."

Women to Watch in 2009

Click the "in" icon next to each name to reveal the individual's LinkedIn profile.

The sixth annual event was held at The Charles Hotel in Cambridge. A summary of the proceedings is available at the Mass High Tech website. You can view photos and bios of each recipient, as well as, watch videos of their acceptance speeches at the Women to Watch 2009 website, where you can also access info on honorees from the previous five years. In addition you can nominate an influential woman for consideration for the 2010 award. The nomination process is open to women working in the technology and academic communities in New England.

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Boston Market | March 2009

Question:

Which has collapsed the most in the last 12 months?

  1. the stock market
  2. crude oil prices
  3. Web technology opportunities

Answer:

If you answered c. you are correct.

  • S&P 500 Index 1 | 43%
  • Light Sweet Crude 2 | 56%
  • Web technology opportunities | 66%

Top 20 Web Technologies

The technologies mentioned most often in Web-related job descriptions are listed in the right-hand column. The list has been updated for March. Opportunities have declined dramatically over the past 12 months for these skills and reflect a 66% decline in average job postings. While some technologies have rebounded in the past month, the general downward trend continues as employers exhibit caution in their hiring plans.

IT Hiring Index & Skills Report

This long-term trend is evident in the chart below.

According to latest Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index & Skills Report, chief information officers (CIOs) still expect to hire more technology workers than fire during the second quarter of 2009. Nationally, a net two percent hiring increase is expected. The New England states can expect a net five percent increase. Details can be found in a Robert Half Technology press release.

While Web-related skills are not at the top on the demand list, 39 percent of CIOs are looking for technology workers with "Web development/website design" skills.

Stay the Course

The implications are clear. Despite a significant drop in opportunities over the past 12 months, employers still expect to hire technology professionals during the next three months.

Technology workers who want to maximize their opportunities should continue to focus on developing skills listed in the Top 20 list in the right-hand column. They should also continue to expand their network of professional contacts most likely to value these skills.

The best opportunity this month to learn about the Web technology marketplace and make valuable business connections is by attending the next gathering of the Web Innovators Group.

(1) source: Yahoo! Finance
(2) source: NYSE.TV

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Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Web Innovators Group | WebInno21

If you are interested in previewing the latest innovations on the Internet and mobile devices, check out the next gathering of the Web Innovators Group.

This 21st installment (WebInno21) will feature the following presentations (sign in to your LinkedIn account on a separate tab, then click the "in" icon below to reveal your LinkedIn contacts at each company):

Main Dishes

  • Adroit Interactive | modify, deploy, test and optimize online advertising in real time, across your entire campaign

  • Bravo Cart | a state of the art, fully integrated e-commerce and shopping cart platform that can be set up by anyone with the most basic computer skills

  • lil'grams | hands-down the simplest, most convenient way to share your baby's memories with all of your loved ones automagically

Side Dishes

  • CoachesTown | provides teams, scout troops, clubs and other organizations with FREE team websites and online communication and management tools

  • JitterGram | connects you with customers looking for just-in-time deals

  • JotNot | the easiest way to create Word and PDF documents from pictures of whiteboards and print

  • mCaddie | social networking and software for golfers

  • PickupZone | identify a local pick-up point to get your packages when and where you want

  • Wiggio | a free online toolkit that makes it easy to work in groups

Details

Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 6:30 pm

Royal Sonesta Cambridge

Registration is FREE and the networking could prove invaluable! Check out the Attendee List of several hundred pre-registrants to determine if this networking event is right for you.

Registrants are encouraged to join the Boston Web Innovators Group on LinkedIn and connect with more than 700 members.
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

IT Skills & Salary Report | 2009

The average base salary of an information technology (IT) worker in Massachusetts is $88,700. Nearly half of all IT workers received a bonus last year. The median bonus was $5,000.

In addition, 70 percent of IT workers reported an increase in base salary during the previous 12 months with an average raise of six percent.

Massachusetts Salary Premium

Massachusetts IT workers receive a nearly 9 percent average base salary premium over workers throughout the United States:

  • $81,600 | United States
  • $88,700 | Massachusetts

Survey Details

These survey findings were released this week as the 2009 IT Skills and Salary Report. Global Knowledge, an IT and business training company, coordinated the online survey which included a participant base of more than 14,000 IT professionals. The questionnaire was distributed between October 20 and November 11, 2008.

Job Satisfaction

Money apparently does buy happiness in the current economy. Survey results reveal that job satisfaction rose with pay. Those reporting being "not satisfied" with their current job had an lower average pay than those reporting being "extremely satisfied":

  • "not satisfied" | $70,000
  • "extremely satisfied" | $86,400

Budget Responsibility

Being responsible for a budget commands a premium as indicated by the following average base salaries:

  • budget responsibility | $93,600
  • no budget responsibility | $75,000

Top 20 Titles

Here are the 20 most popular job titles listed alphabetically along with the average salary for each title:

  • Business Analyst | $79,900
  • CIO | $134,600
  • Computer Security Specialist | $59,200
  • Computer Software Engineer | $81,600
  • Database Administrator | $81,000
  • Help Desk Support | $46,500
  • IT Administrator | $63,100
  • IT Analyst | $67,700
  • IT Consultant | $96,300
  • IT Director | $100,900
  • IT Manager | $88,200
  • IT Project Manager | $90,500
  • IT Specialist | $65,200
  • IT Supervisor | $77,000
  • IT Technician | $49,300
  • Network Administrator | $58,700
  • Network Engineer | $77,700
  • Project Manager | $93,200
  • Systems Administrator | $65,200
  • Systems Engineer | $78,200

A press release is available from Global Knowledge. A more detailed summary is also available, however, registration is required to download the seven-page pdf. Registration is free.

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Sunday, February 15, 2009

I've Been Blogged

Beantown Web is a "very good" blog according to the editors at Blogged.com. Their rating places Beantown Web in the top 13% of more than 1,100 blogs evaluated in the Business > Jobs & Careers category.

The editors evaluate blogs based on the following criteria:

  • frequency of updates
  • relevance of content
  • site design
  • writing style

The rating system is as follows:

  • Excellent | 9.0 - 10.0
  • Great | 8.0 - 8.9
  • Very Good | 7.0 - 7.9
  • Good | 6.0 - 6.9
  • Average | 5.0 - 5.9
  • Below Average | 4.0 - 4.9
  • Poor | 2.0 - 3.9
  • Unrated | n/a

Beantown Web received a 7.2 rating and a badge appears in the right-hand column reflecting this evaluation. Feel free to click on the badge and provide your own user rating of the value of Beantown Web.

Implications

If you write your own blog, or advise others on blog creation and maintenance, you can submit your blog for review. To learn more about Blogged.com's service you can review their FAQ.

Excellent Blogs

So, if Beantown Web is a "very good," who is "excellent"? Only nine blogs received this rating in the Business > Jobs & Career category. Here they are:

Now, the challenge is to take Beantown Web to the next level -- from (very) Good to Great, one of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.

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Saturday, February 07, 2009

Boston Market | February 2009

In January nearly every worker in Boston lost his job! Only in a science fiction movie? No, only in the United States.

If every job eliminated in the United States in January (598,000 pink slips) were concentrated in Boston, only 10,000 out of 608,000 residents would still be employed!

After the most job losses in one month since 1974, the jobless rate in the United States surged to 7.6 percent.

IT Unemployment

None-the-less, there are patches of green turf in this near-apocalyptic vision. If you are an information technology (IT) worker, you are less likely to lose your job and stay unemployed. According to InformationWeek the unemployment rate for IT workers has risen to less than half the national average -- 3.2 percent.

Of course, IT workers are not immune to layoffs in Massachusetts. However, technology workers with the right skill sets are seeing an increase in job postings for the first time in more than three months.

Boston Market -- February

The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for February and appears in the right-hand column. Even though Punxsutawney Phil reported six more weeks of winter, some thawing has occurred as green arrows returned to more than half of the skills indicating a selective increase in job postings for those skills over the early January job postings.

The most interesting observation to report is that open source technologies have yielded to Microsoft technologies in this the opening quarter of the 12-month long 2009 IT Super Bowl. Specifically, LAMP technologies open the year with the following declines:

  • 19% | PHP
  • 12% | Apache
  • 09% | MySQL

PHP has dropped out of the Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston.

Replacing PHP is a rookie named SharePoint, a Microsoft technology that allows teams to collaborate. When Office mates share data, that data is stored in and retrieved from a SQL Server database. The biggest ground gainer of the month belongs to Visual Studio, a Microsoft development tool used to create Web applications. The Web development language of choice for Windows and Web applications is C#.

Here are the Microsoft stats:

  • 78% | Visual Studio
  • 20% | SharePoint
  • 07% | C#
  • 04% | SQL Server

First Round

In the first round of a scheduled 12-round title bout between Dynamic vs. Static web site development, the dynamic team comes out on top, especially the team headed by Microsoft. Currently, there are nearly three times as many job postings for Visual Studio tool set users as for Dreamweaver tool set users:

Training Opportunities

So, here are several cost-effective training opportunities for Web developers in February and March.

First, consider attending jQuery | An Overview from the Developer on Wednesday, February 11. jQuery recently received major street cred when Microsoft agreed to incorporate the technology into its Visual Studio Web development toolset.

Second, consider attending SharePoint Saturday Boston on Saturday, March 14.

Both events are sponsored by Microsoft and both are FREE.

Finally, if you still consider learning a Microsoft technology to be the Boston equivalent of rooting for the Yankees, consider picking up a Head First training manual:

Barnes & Noble is currently offering these newly released guides at 40% off (plus and additional 10% for members).

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Monday, February 02, 2009

Best Business Books | 2008

Introducing the 11 best business books of 2008. The 11 Best out of 11,000 business books published last year!

Regardless of our self-described identity -- web developer, web designer, etc. -- we all provide services for compensation. This process is commonly referred to a "business." Yet, many of us focus on our trade, often to the detriment of understanding the business climate in which we operate. And when that climate turns sour, we wonder where our "business" went -- our jobs, our clients, our livelihood.

Now, more than ever, we need to stay focused on the "business" of our craft. One way to do so is to establish a continuing education program to help us understand the best practices of business. Many experts make valuable contributions to the business community in the form of ink on paper. This medium has not gone away. The Internet merely provides us a mechanism to identify these published best practices.

What follows is a summary of an Internet search on "Best Business Books of 2008."

Best Business Books Lists

Here are the 11 sources used to identify the Best of the Best Business Books of 2008:

The Best of The Best

These lists mentioned 82 business books published in 2008 that stand above the rest. Sixty three books were mentioned on only one "Best of" list. Another eight books found their way onto two "Best of" lists.

Here are the 11 books that were mentioned on at least three "Best of" lists followed by the number of mentions on the 11 lists surveyed:

A Sense of Urgency

I will vouch for A Sense of Urgency being one of the best business books of 2008. I rated the book 5 stars at Goodreads.com. Check out my two reading lists in the right-hand column -- Leadership and Strategy -- for detailed reviews of my continuing education as a business professional. Additional books from The Best of The Best List above have been added to my "to-read" list.

If you feel a "sense of urgency" about the current business climate and want to position yourself to not only survive, but thrive, as our economy begins the healing process, then select one of the 11 books from the above list and begin applying the strategies to your business.

If you had to choose just one business book, what would it be? Perhaps, it might be The 100 Best Business Books Of All Time. Tune in this time next year to see if this book rose to the top of The Best Business Books of 2009.

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Sunday, January 25, 2009

Dice Annual Salary Survey | 2009

The 2008-09 Annual Salary Survey from Dice reveals that the average technology salary in Boston exceeds $84,000.

Dice.com is the leading career site for technology and engineering professionals.

The survey analyzes responses of more than 19,000 technology workers and was conducted between August and November 2008.

Average Salaries

The average salary nationwide for a technology worker exceeds $78,000. Salaries are higher, on average, in larger metropolitan areas. Four metropolitan areas command higher average salaries than Boston. They are as follows:

  1. Silicon Valley | $97,259
  2. Washington D.C. | $86,841
  3. Los Angeles | $86,766
  4. New York | $85,452
  5. Boston | $84,627

Salaries by Job Title

Here are the average salaries nationwide for selected job titles:

  • IT Management | $111,998
  • Project Manager | $103,424
  • MIS Manager | $93,318
  • Software Engineer | $90,031
  • Database Administrator | $89,742
  • Developer: Systems | $87,211
  • Security Analyst | $86,778
  • Business Analyst | $85,933
  • Developer: Applications | $84,672
  • Developer: Database | $84,176
  • Developer: Client/Server | $78,560
  • Programmer/Analyst | $74,851
  • Technical Writer | $73,762
  • Network Engineer | $72,496
  • Systems Administrator | $70,307

What Worries Technology Workers?

The top worries for technology professionals, according to the survey, are as follows:

  • keeping skills up to date | 22 percent
  • job elimination | 20 percent
  • lower salary increases | 14 percent
  • cancelled projects | 12 percent
  • increased workload due to staff cuts | 10 percent

Keep Skills Up-to-Date

According to a Dice spokesperson:

"... over the long-term, updating and broadening one's skill set is the key to continued salary gains."

If your salary falls below the average for your metropolitan area, consider developing a plan to upgrade your technology skills in 2009. What skills should you focus on? Check out the Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston in the right-hand column.

Currently there are nearly 200 Web-related postings on the Dice job board for the Boston metro area. As part of your skills upgrade plan, check out these postings and compare your skill set with the skills that employers are currently demanding.

A press release summarizing the Dice Annual Salary Survey is available at the Dice website.

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Friday, January 16, 2009

Ignite Boston 5

This FREE networking event is coordinated by O'Reilly Media.

Keynote presentations will kick off the evening followed by guest speakers who'll catch you up on the "cool, new, innovative stuff going on in technology today." Presentations are informal and lightning fast -- each presenter talks for five minutes max!

Books, t-shirts and other promotional items will be raffled off.

This is a fun event -- the fifth in a series. Space is limited to the first 250 registrants. Sign up now.

Details

Access Ignite Boston for details and registration.

Also, consider joining the Ignite Boston Social Network to begin networking with more than 100 Web 2.0 professionals in the metro Boston area.

Of course, you should also consider joining the Ignite Boston Facebook group.

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Boston Market | Q1 2008

Technology workers will continue to weather the current economic turmoil better than many other professionals, according to John Challenger, CEO of outplacement and job recruitment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The demand is expected to be stronger than average for technology workers with the following skills:

  • systems engineers
  • application developers
  • database professionals

Challenger predicted in a recent interview that growth will be strong in the following two areas:

  • mobile technology
  • electronic medical records

Boston Market | January

Despite Challenger's outlook, the job market continued to slow in December. There are fewer job postings in early January than there were in early December. This seasonal effect is typical in strong markets, as well as weak ones.

This quarterly report on the marketplace for technology professionals in the Boston metro area will look at bigger picture trends for 50 Web-related technologies.

Top 20 Web Technologies

There are fewer job listings this month than last month for 19 of the top 20 technologies. The lone exception:

  • Ajax | 103 (job listings)

The list of the most in-demand Web-related technologies has been updated and appears in the right-hand column along with links to job postings for that technology at Boston.com.

Nine Month Trend

Job opportunities peaked in the second quarter of 2008. On average there were a staggering THREE TIMES as many opportunities posted at Boston.com in April 2008 than there are today.

For example, SQL remains the most in-demand skill to add to your portfolio. Today, there are more than 500 postings that mention "SQL" in the job description. In April 2008 there were more than 1,500 postings! This ratio holds for each of the Top 10 skills listed in the right-hand column.

Good news: There are more than 500 postings for workers with SQL knowledge and experience! Database skills are in demand.

More good news: Job opportunities historically increase from January through April.

The Remaining 30 Skills

Here are a few popular Web-related skills that have not made the Top 20 list:

#29 Visual Studio | 40 (job listings)
#32 Illustrator | 30
#33 Dreamweaver | 28
#35 Ruby | 26
#39 InDesign | 20
#41 Rails | 19
#50 ColdFusion | 10

In addition, Web-related buzz words that simply do translate into job demand include the following:

  • Silverlight
  • Fireworks
  • Adobe + Flex
  • WordPress
  • Drupal
  • Joomla
  • Adobe AIR

Claiming expertise in these technologies will not likely improve your profile with technology recruiters. None of these technologies currently offer more than single-digit job opportunities.

The Next Step

In a challenging job market, it is wise to follow market demand trends and the Boston marketplace is pointing to the Top 20 Skills in the right-hand column. The best value in the market in January can be found in the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN).

A one-day MSDN Developer Conference will travel through Boston on Thursday, January 22. Top 20 Skills that will be covered at this conference include the following:

#1 SQL
#4 SQL Server
#6 C#
#9 Web Services
#10 ASP.NET
#11 Ajax
#12 HTML & CSS
#20 IIS

If you are new to Microsoft's approach to Web development, this series of presentations can provide an overview of why Microsoft's technologies are in-demand. Getting in the door will require a $99 investment. Details are available at MDC Boston.

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Monday, January 12, 2009

Mobile Monday Boston

Developing websites for mobile devices is expected to provide significant growth opportunities for Web designers/developers, even in a down economy. See The Next Five Years | Part 2 for details.

To learn more about the mobile web marketplace consider attending Mobile Monday Boston.

Compelling Mobile Business Models

Six speakers from Boston-area mobile companies will discuss their organization’s current business model, how the model has evolved over time, and the impact of the current economic climate.

Keynote:

Jeff Glass | Bain Capital Ventures

Speakers:

Details

Event > Mobile Monday Boston
Date > Monday, January 12, 2009
Time > 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Where > Boston | Langham Hotel
Description > This FREE seminar is brought to you compliments of Bain Capital Ventures.

Registration for this FREE event is required.

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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Technology Fast 500 | 2008

There are more fast growing technology companies in Massachusetts than in any other state, except California.

The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 List for 2008 has been announced and Massachusetts boasts 46 companies.

The Fast 500 ranks the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications and life sciences companies in North America. Companies are selected based on percentage revenue growth from 2003 to 2007.

Technology Fast 500: Highlights & Trends provides a detailed summary of the 2008 results. A 2008 Technology Fast 500 document (pdf) offers a listing of all 500 companies.

Technology Fast 500

Here are the 46 Massachusetts companies that made this year's Technology Fast 500 list [NOTE: Sign in to your LinkedIn account on a separate tab, then click the "in" icon to reveal your connections at that company.]:

  1. Starent Networks Corp. | Tewksbury
  2. NxStage Medical, Inc. | Lawrence
  3. Interleukin Genetics, Inc. | Waltham
  4. Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Lexington
  5. Airvana, Inc. | Chelmsford
  6. Wave Systems Corp. | Lee
  7. DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Wilmington
  8. LogMeIn, Inc. | Woburn
  9. mValent | Waltham
  10. Grandstream Networks, Inc. | Brookline
  11. SiGe Semiconductor, Inc. | Andover
  12. AgencyPort Insurance Services, Inc. | Boston
  13. IneoQuest Technologies, Inc. | Mansfield
  14. Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Cambridge
  15. Indevus Pharmaceuticals | Lexington
  16. SoundBite Communications, Inc. | Bedford
  17. Vertical Communications, Inc. | Cambridge
  18. Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corporation | Waltham
  19. Constant Contact, Inc. | Waltham
  20. Bullhorn, Inc. | Boston
  21. Evergreen Solar, Inc. | Marlboro
  22. Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Cambridge
  23. CharterAuction.com, Inc. (DBA Jets.com) | Quincy
  24. Altus Pharmaceuticals | Cambridge
  25. Salary.com, Inc. | Waltham
  26. BirdDog Solutions, Inc. | Andover
  27. IPG Photonics Corporation | Oxford
  28. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. | Waltham
  29. Alkermes, Inc. | Cambridge
  30. ImmunoGen, Inc. | Cambridge
  31. Clinical Data, Inc. | Newton
  32. NeuroMetrix, Inc. | Waltham
  33. Biogen Idec, Inc. | Cambridge
  34. iRobot Corporation | Burlington
  35. Cynosure, Inc. | Westford
  36. Nuance Communications, Inc. | Burlington
  37. athenahealth, Inc. | Watertown
  38. Sycamore Networks, Inc. | Chelmsford
  39. Akamai Technologies, Inc. | Cambridge
  40. Averion International Corp. | Southborough
  41. Hittite Microwave Corporation | Chelmsford
  42. Sepracor, Inc. | Marlborough
  43. Hologic, Inc. | Bedford
  44. Palomar Medical Technologies, Inc. | Burlington
  45. Sonus Networks, Inc. | Westford
  46. Double-Take Software, Inc. | Southborough

The Next Step

According to one conclusion from the 7th Annual Sources of Hire Study:

"Good or bad, we advise job seekers to never apply to a company without first networking to an employee in that firm for a referral. The difference in probability of getting 'up to bat' is too large to ignore."

If you believe you can excel in a fast growing organization, then tap into your LinkedIn network to gain an introduction into that organization and explore ways in which you can add your unique value to their operation.

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