Boston Market | January 2010

Employers will covet technology workers in 2010. If you are a techie with the right skills and the right connections, then you will uncover work opportunities as this new decade begins. Here are the details . . .

CareerBuilder’s 2010 Job Forecast

One in five employers plans to increase their number of full-time, permanent employees this year. The comparison from one year ago:

• 2010 | 20 percent
• 2009 | 14 percent

Here are the areas within these companies that will most likely increase staffing levels in 2010:

• technology | 33 percent
• customer service | 28 percent
• sales | 23 percent
• research/development | 18 percent
• business development | 17 percent
• accounting/finance | 15 percent
• marketing | 14 percent

So, companies will be hiring in 2010 and technology professionals head the list of desired talent. A summary of these survey findings of 2,700 hiring managers and human resource professionals across the U.S. is available from CareerBuilder.

Top 20 Web Technologies

To find out which web-related technologies are most in-demand access the list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston. The list has been updated for January and appears in the right-hand column. The downward trend from early December reflects a normal year-end slowdown in hiring.

The Top 10 remains largely unchanged from one year ago (HTML + CSS replaced ASP.NET for the #10 position). This demonstrates a strong and steady demand for the following technical skills:

• Web Design | HTML, CSS, JavaScript
• Web Development | Java, C#, Perl, Web Services, XML
• Database Development | SQL, Oracle, SQL Server

The Second 10 skills (#11 through #20) include the following:

• Web Design | UI, Photoshop, Flash
  
• Web Development | Ajax, e-commerce, JSP, ASP.NET, Python, PHP, SharePoint
  

Training Opportunities

The best (read "least expensive") training opportunities to upgrade your skills and make connections during the first quarter are the following:

Code Mastery
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Technology focus: SharePoint, ASP.NET, Silverlight

SharePoint Saturday
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Technology focus: SharePoint

Both events are FREE and hosted by Microsoft at their Waltham, MA offices. SharePoint Saturday events occur in more than 30 cities around the globe. Access the SharePoint Saturday website to identify a location near you, if you are not in the Boston area.

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Computerworld's 2010 Forecast

Six types of technology skills will be most in demand in 2010. Heading the list is . . .

#1 Programming/Application Development

Specifically, companies will look for developers with the following skill sets:

• .Net
• Java
• Web development
• open source
• portal technologies

Demand is growing for people who know specialized programming languages including the following:

• Ruby on Rails
• Ajax

Fewer jobs require these skills, but the number of openings has increased during the past 12 months according to a survey of more than 300 IT executives.

The Others

The remaining five skills most in demand in 2010 are as follows:

#2 Help Desk/Technical Support
#3 Networking
#4 Project Management
#5 Security
#6 Business Intelligence

Details can be found at Computerworld's 6 Hottest Skills for 2010.

Getting Off The Island

If you currently find yourself unemployed, underemployed or otherwise feel lost on a desert island you can't seem to escape from, consider upgrading your skills.

No time travel machine can get you there. It requires discipline, focus and dedication.

Set a five month-goal to upgrade your programming and application development skills to include technologies mentioned above. If you do you will be in better position to shift your career in a new direction.

The journey concludes May 2010.

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Boston Market | December 2009

If you have managerial experience, the four U.S. cities with the most job opportunities per capita are as follows:

1. Washington, DC
2. Boston
3. San Francisco
4. Seattle

Might it be more than just a coincidence that these four cities are major U.S. technology hubs?

Metro areas in the Northeastern U.S. dominate a monthly survey of the best places to look for managerial work. Cities in the Northeast hold six of the top 10 positions:

• Washington, DC | #1
• Boston | #2
• Baltimore | #6
• New York | #7
• Pittsburgh | #8
• Philadelphia | #10

To learn more about the job prospects in your city, access the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index.

The research confirms the general uptrend in hiring that Beantown Web first noticed in June and highlighted in Boston Market | November 2009.

Top 20 Web Technologies

Red ornaments ( ) outnumber green ornaments ( ) on this month's Holiday tree. Job opportunities declined ( ) in 17 of the Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston. Many of the declines are in the double digit percentages from early November. This short-term trend is the first downturn since May and reflects a normal slowdown in job postings at the end of the year.

Here are the Top 10 Web-related skills that offer the most job opportunities in the Boston metro area:

1. SQL | 600 job opportunities
   
2. Oracle | 455 job opportunities
3. Java | 381 job opportunities
4. XML | 268 job opportunities
5. SQL Server | 238 job opportunities
6. JavaScript | 195 job opportunities
7. C# | 172 job opportunities
8. Web Services | 160 job opportunities
9. Perl | 142 job opportunities
10. HTML + CSS | 109 job opportunities

The complete list of Top 20 Web Technologies appears in the right-hand column.

Two-Step Plan

If you want to improve your prospects for landing a job -- or upgrading to a better job -- in 2010, consider the following two-step plan:

1. highlight managerial or leadership experience in your resume and social profiles
2. upgrade your technology skills and focus on improving one Top 10 Web technology skill
   

The New Year brings hope for improved job prospects. Managerial experience and technology skills will help you stand out among the competition.

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.net Magazine Awards | 2009

The .net Awards celebrate the best in web design and development. Awards are determined via a combination of public opinion and the insights of a leading panel of judges.

The results of the 2009 awards are published in the latest issue (#197) of .net magazine, a U.K. magazine for web designers and developers sold in the U.S. as Practical Web Design.

Best of The Web

Here are the 16 best (and one worst) for 2009:

+ Web application of the year » Dropbox

+ Best community site » Twitter

+ Best API use » TweetDeck beta

+ Interactive site of the year » NVIDIA Speak Visual

+ Blog of the year » Smashing Magazine

+ Podcast of the year » Boagworld

+ Vodcast of the year » Revision3 | Diggnation

+ Design agency of the year » Clearleft

+ Innovation of the year » Google Chrome

+ Web personality of the year » Stephen Fry

+ Viral campaign of the year » Best job in the world

+ Standards champion » Jeffrey Zeldman

+ Open source application of the year » jQuery

+ Redesign of the year » Whitehouse.gov

+ Mobile site of the year » Flickr

+ Mobile app of the year » Shazam

- Infamy award » IE6

Details are available at the .net Magazine Awards website which lists two additional nominees in each category.

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Deloitte Technology Fast 500 | 2009

The 500 most promising technology companies in North America have been identified. This 16th annual list ranks companies based on five-year revenue growth and includes both public and private companies.

The Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ covers companies in the following business sectors:

• technology
• media
• telecommunications
• life sciences
• clean technology

The average growth rate for these 500 companies over a five-year period was an outstanding 2,486 percent!

A press release provides highlights. The Fast 500 website provides access to a printable list of companies.

Fast 500 | Massachusetts

Listed below are the fastest growing technology companies in Massachusetts. Fast growing companies are most likely to be hiring as the economy emerges from recession.

1. CombinatoRx, Inc. | Cambridge
2. NxStage Medical, Inc. | Lawrence
3. LiveWire Mobile, Inc. | Littleton
4. Wave Systems Corp. | Lee
5. Airvana, Inc. | Chelmsford
6. Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Cambridge
7. Rapid7 | Boston
8. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Cambridge
9. LogMeIn, Inc. | Woburn
   
10. Mediaspectrum | Burlington
11. IneoQuest | Mansfield
    
12. Acronis | Burlington
13. Constant Contact, Inc. | Waltham
14. ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Cambridge
15. Netezza Corporation | Marlborough
16. Vertical Communications, Inc. | Cambridge
17. Starent Networks Corp. | Tewksbury
18. Hologic, Inc. | Bedford
19. Acme Packet, Inc. | Burlington
20. Bullhorn | Boston
21. Nuance Communications, Inc. | Burlington
22. Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Lexington
23. Alkermes, Inc. | Cambridge
    
24. SoundBite Communications, Inc. | Bedford
25. Averion International Corp. | Southborough
26. Salary.com, Inc. | Waltham
    
27. BirdDog Solutions, Inc. | Andover
    
28. Evergreen Solar, Inc. | Marlboro
29. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. | Waltham
30. Satcon Technology Corp. | Boston
    
31. Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. | Waltham
32. Spire Corporation | Bedford
33. Virtusa Corporation | Westborough
34. IPG Photonics Corporation | Oxford
35. Akamai Technologies, Inc. | Cambridge
    
36. DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Wilmington
37. athenahealth, Inc. | Watertown
    
38. Grandstream Networks, Inc. | Brookline
39. Sepracor, Inc. | Marlborough
    
40. Cynosure, Inc. | Westford
41. iRobot Corporation | Bedford
42. Double-Take Software, Inc. | Southborough
43. Picis, Inc. | Wakefield

[ NOTE: Facebook Fans of Beantown Web gain access to an interactive list of Massachusetts companies sortable by city and primary industry. In addition, an interactive map is available identifying the companies that might be located right around the corner from where you live. Become a fan today! ]

Web Innovators Group | WebInno24

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 24th installment (WebInno24) will feature the following presentations:

Main Dishes

• On The Spot Systems | develops mobile and web products to enable businesses to provide their customers with information, coupons and rewards that they access while they are on your premises.


• thredUP | exchange the clothes that you are bored of (old-to-you) for new ones (new-to-you).


• ZoomAtlas | a geo-social networking site that allows you to reconnect with people and places from your past.

Side Dishes

• Blank Label | provider of custom dress shirts for the trendy male


• Dympol | ("dim-ple") Discounting Your Music Purchases On-Line


• KangoGift | send gifts as text message vouchers to your friends' cell phones


• KartMe | shareable, mobile lists you create on your computer


• Present.ly | a microblogging platform that keeps your company connected in real-time


• Sponty | create and discover real social activity feeds

Details

Monday, December 7, 2009, 6:30 pm

Royal Sonesta Cambridge

Registration is FREE and the networking could prove invaluable! Check out the Attendee List of more than 900 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 1,000 members.

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Elance Work Index | November 2009

This is the second of a two-part series exploring Web-related opportunities for freelancers. The first article is entitled Global Freelancers Survey 2009.

Freelancing, Part 2

A monthly index monitors trends in Web-related freelance opportunities. The index is available at Elance, whose tag line is "Hire, manage and pay experts to do your work."

Elance allows businesses to locate freelancers in eight categories of expertise, including the following:

• Web & Programming
• Design & Multimedia

Freelance vs. Employment

A comparison between the monthly Elance Work Index for freelancers and the monthly Beantown Web Boston Market for job seekers reveals some rather dramatic differences.

For example, WordPress, a popular content management (CMS) tool developed using PHP and MySQL, is a Top 10 technology in the freelance market. However, WordPress does not even rank in the Top 50 in the employment market with a scant three jobs mentioning this technology in job descriptions in the Boston metro area.

Joomla! and Drupal, CMSs also built on top of PHP and MySQL, offer even more dismal results in the Boston job market with a total of one job posted between the two technologies. Joomla! ranks #23 and Drupal comes in at #53 in the freelance market.

Elance Work Index

The Elance Work Index ranks 100 skills in freelance labor market. According to the Elance blog . . .

"PHP is the number 1 most in-demand skill for online work for all of 2009."

Playing for Both Teams

So, what if you want to play for both teams? Perhaps you already have a job, but want to supplement your income with freelance work. Perhaps you are temporarily unemployed and want to pick up project work until you land your next full-time job.

The best strategy for Web professionals who want to maximize their potential for finding both employment and freelance work might be to develop technology skills that are in high demand, both in the job market and in the freelance market.

Cross Training

There are eight Web technology skills that land in the Top 20 in both the Elance Work Index and the The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston which is listed in the right-hand column. They are the following:

• JavaScript
• HTML + CSS
• MySQL
• Flash
• Photoshop
• PHP
• SEO

Developing expertise in these eight technologies will most likely maximize your potential for playing for both teams -- The Freelancers and The Employees.

Access the first part of this two-part series at Global Freelancers Survey 2009.

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Global Freelancers Survey | 2009

This is the first of a two-part series exploring Web-related opportunities for freelancers. The second article is entitled Elance Work Index | 2009.

Freelancing, Part 1

A survey of freelancers was conducted in September and October of 2009. The survey was coordinated by LimeExchange, an online services marketplace for freelancers and small and large businesses.

The technical skill sets among the survey respondents included the following (among other skills):

• Web Development 31%
• Graphic Arts & Design 29%
• Audio/Video & Multimedia 22%

Global Freelancers Survey

What is the primary reason that respondents give for freelancing?

• use freelancing to supplement income from a full-time job 36%
• freelancing is primary job or business 29%
• recent loss of a job 18%

The majority of survey participants prefer freelancing (with the same net level of income) over full-time employment:

• freelancing 59%
• full-time employment 29%

So, it seems as if many professionals have a full-time job and use freelancing to supplement their income. More might become "full-time" freelancers if they could generate the same level of net income as they could from a full-time job.

Additional Findings

How do freelancers find projects?

• freelance marketplaces 27%
• search engines 24%
• friends & referrals 20%

What is a freelancer's largest source of income?

• SMBs (small/midsized businesses) 48%
• entrepreneurial ventures 17%
• large corporations 14%

A summary of the Global Freelancers Survey can be found at the LimeExchange website. You can also search on current projects to see if you might want to use LimeExchange to bid on freelance opportunities.

The conclusion of this two-part series explores the technical skills that are in demand in both the full-time employment and the freelance marketplaces. Access the second part of this two-part series at Elance Work Index | 2009.

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Boston Market | November 2009

Which of these two images do you think best represents the current job market?

Debbie Downer

If you are in the Debbie Downer camp, there are no shortage of downbeat headlines to focus on. Here are two examples:

• Nation's Unemployment Rate at 10.2% in October
• Online Job Postings Plummet in Boston

Up With People

If you are in the Up With People camp, there are an increasing number of people surveys that reveal an upbeat trend in the technology marketplace. Here are two examples:

• Technisource Survey: IT Employee Confidence Index Up in Third Quarter of 2009
• Deloitte Survey: Despite Economy, Organizations Face Significant IT Talent Gap

This is my upbeat headline for November . . .

"Eight Technologies Lead Job Market Recovery"

The list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated and the complete list can be found in the right-hand column along with links to job postings that mention each technology.

Over the five-month period from early June to early November there has been an increase in job postings in all 20 of the Top 20 skills. (Only one of the Top 50 skills failed to post an increase!) The Top 20 technology skills that experienced at least a 50% increase in demand over this five-month period are as follows:

• ASP.NET | 69%
• SEO | 68%
• Web Services | 63%
• Ajax | 58%
• C# | 57%
• JavaScript | 53%
• HTML + CSS | 53%
• SQL Server | 51%
  

So, Web developers who can demonstrate expertise in Microsoft-centric technologies including ASP.NET, C# and SQL Server are in demand, even as unemployment rates continue to rise.

Fundamental Web design skills including HTML + CSS and Web programming skills including JavaScript and Ajax provide a foundation for creating user interfaces (UI) and improving user experiences (UX). The demand for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expertise demonstrates that organizations are continuously competing to position their content ahead of their competition's offerings.

These eight technologies are leading the job market recovery in the Boston metro area. Even as unemployment rises, companies continue to look for experts who can deliver technology-based solutions to increase revenue, decrease costs and improve productivity.

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Boston Market | October 2009

As the nationwide unemployment rate approaches 10 percent, the web technology job market in the Boston metro area continues its impressive rebound. For the fourth consecutive month more Top 20 skills posted increases than decreases over the previous month.

In particular, 16 of the Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston were mentioned in more job postings in early October than in early September.

Over the four-month period from early June to early October there has been an increase in job postings in all 20 of the Top 20 skills. The technology skills that experienced at least a 50% increase in demand over this four-month period are as follows:

• Python | 66%
• ASP.NET | 61%
• SEO | 53%
• C# | 52%
• Ajax | 52%

One skill, not listed in the Top 20, experienced an impressive 357% increase during this four-month period. In early June this technology was mentioned in only seven job descriptions. In early October it was listed in 32 job descriptions. This accounts for a 10-position climb from #50 to #40. The technology climbing the charts with a bullet is jQuery!

The complete list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston can be found in the right-hand column. The list of Average Salaries in Boston has also been updated. Seventeen common Web-related job titles appear in the right-hand column along with their median salaries according to cbsalary.com, a free salary calculator provided by CareerBuilder.com.

This month's Boston Market analysis confirms that Web Developers are in demand and the pay is above average. An analysis coordinated by CareerBuilder.com reveals that the national mean salary for all workers is slightly more than $41,000. "Web Developer" was listed as one of 20 jobs with an entry-level salary higher than the national mean. Entry-level salary for a Web Developer is listed as more than $67,000. Access High Entry-Level Salaries for details.

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Web Innovators Group | WebInno 23

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 23rd installment (WebInno23) will feature the following presentations:

Main Dishes

• Book of Odds | the missing dictionary that tries to answer the question people ask almost daily: "What are the odds of that?"


• Epernicus | a professional networking platform designed to connect research scientists with their real world scientific networks, enabling them to find the resources they need to advance their work.


• BatchBook | simply provides a handy place for you to store your contact information and keep it organized in the way that makes sense for you.

Side Dishes

• Clickframes | build web apps with a single source of truth for every member of your team


• BetterLesson | create, organize and share your curriculum


• Baydin | Life’s too short to hunt for documents. Let Baydin do it for you!


• TheIdeaStartup.com | a new approach to business plan development


• Confidant Solutions | easily capture, manage, and secure your family’s information online


• Happn.in | shows you what people are twittering about in your city


• Tripleseat Software | provides a web based sales and event management solution restaurants

A special break-out session will also be facilitated, "An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Bootstrapping PR."

Details

Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 6:30 pm

Royal Sonesta Cambridge

Registration is FREE and the networking could prove invaluable! Check out the Attendee List of more than 700 hundred pre-registrants to determine if this networking event is right for you. To learn more about how you can use this networking event to connect with others check out an introductory video from the last WebInno event.

Registrants are encouraged to join the Boston Web Innovators Group on LinkedIn and connect with more than 1,000 members.

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Fastest Growing Companies | Inc 5000

Fast growing companies emerge, even in a slow economy. More than one million employees work for the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the United States. These companies have a median annual revenue of more than $10 million.

This is the third is a series or articles about fast growing companies in a down economy. The previous two features were the following:

• Fastest Growing Startups | Q2 2009‏
• Fastest Growing Companies | Fortune 100‏

For the second year in a row, technology is the place to be. More companies are in the "IT Services" category than any other category, accounting for more than 13 percent of all fast growing companies.

The 5,000 fastest growing private companies are featured in the September issue of Inc. magazine. The metro areas with the most fast growing companies are as follows:

1. New York
2. Washington, DC
3. Los Angeles
4. Atlanta
5. Chicago

Fast growing companies need bright, energetic workers to help maintain their momentum. You can access an interactive Inc 5000 list and see which companies are growing the fastest in your city or state.

Fast Growing Companies in Massachusetts

Listed below are the 100 fastest growing private companies in Massachusetts:

[ NOTE: Simply log into your LinkedIn account on a separate tab, then click the "in" icon next to the company name below to identify the LinkedIn connections you might have within that organization. ]

1. Kiva Systems | Woburn
2. Ahura Scientific | Wilmington
3. NWN | Waltham
4. Nexcelom Bioscience | Lawrence
5. Innovative Foods | Wilmington
6. CJ Environmental | Sharon
7. Mediaspectrum | Burlington
8. Kaydon Group | Taunton
9. Senior Whole Health | Cambridge
10. Johnny Cupcakes | Weymouth
11. eIQnetworks | Acton
12. 2Is | Walpole
13. Reveal Imaging Technologies | Bedford
    
14. Rapid7 | Boston
15. Zipcar | Cambridge
16. Orbis Clinical | Woburn
17. Watermark Environmental | Lowell
18. DestinationWeddings.com | Framingham
19. BackOffice Associates | South Harwich
20. Plenus Group | Lowell
21. eClinicalWorks | Westborough
22. Acronis | Burlington
23. AutomatedQA | Beverly
24. Smart Destinations | Boston
25. Blue Cod Technologies | Marlborough
26. Universal Mind | Westfield
27. XMLaw | Braintree
28. Cambridge NanoTech | Cambridge
29. Planet Shoes | Waltham
30. AgilePath | Newburyport
31. Reflexis Systems | Dedham
32. MindLeaf Technologies | Bedford
33. Apps Associates | Westford
34. Exclusive Concepts | Waltham
35. Pro-Teck Services | Waltham
36. NuView Systems | Andover
37. Pongo Resume | Northborough
38. SEI Boston | Boston
39. HUB Technical Services | South Easton
40. ExtensionEngine | North Andover
41. Globoforce | Southborough
42. Communispace | Watertown
43. IneoQuest | Mansfield
44. Bullhorn | Boston
45. Neighborhood Diabetes | Woburn
46. Waveguide | Chelmsford
47. S4 | Burlington
48. Odyssey Systems Consulting Group | Wakefield
49. Quantech Services | Lexington
50. Senate Construction | Shirley
51. Treeline | Wakefield
52. Atalasoft | Easthampton
53. PepperDash Technology | Allston
54. Observant | Waltham
55. Oasis Systems | Lexington
56. LightWedge | Newton
57. WorldAPP | Braintree
58. Infoscitex | Waltham
59. Glance Networks | Arlington
60. TalentBurst | Framingham
61. Graduate Leverage | Waltham
62. Everon Technology Services | Boston
63. Preserve | Waltham
64. Veroxity Technology Partners | Bedford
65. Crowe Paradis | Wakefield
66. Syrinx Consulting | Waltham
67. Massachusetts Technology | Allston
68. Beacon Partners | Weymouth
69. Atlas Travel International | Milford
70. VoIP Logic | Williamstown
71. SOURCEntra | Framingham
72. Isis Maternity | Needham
73. Daymark Solutions | Littleton
74. Integration Partners | Lexington
75. AgencyPort Insurance Services | Boston
76. Beacon Hill Staffing Group | Boston
    
77. Late July Snacks | Barnstable
78. Decision Resources | Waltham
79. Compressor World | South Easton
80. 21st Century Biochemicals | Marlborough
81. Strictly By The Book | Fall River
82. BOC International | Boston
83. Accounting Management Solutions | Waltham
    
84. Beacon Application Services | Framingham
    
85. Boston Interactive | Charlestown
86. Integrated Design Group | Boston
87. Safecore | Burlington
88. SmartPak Equine | Plymouth
89. Metatomix | Dedham
90. Parietal Systems | North Andover
91. OmniPresence | Marlborough
92. Verndale | Boston
93. Iatric Systems | Boxford
94. Cape Medical Supply | Sandwich
95. Chiller Technology | Woburn
96. K logix | Brookline
97. Merchant Warehouse | Boston
98. Dennison Lubricants | Lakeville
99. Tri Wire Engineering Solutions | Tewksbury
100. The Brookeside Group | Acton

The Next Step

Remember, if you're trying to land work at one of these companies, take the advice offered by the 8th annual Sources of Hire Study:

"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."

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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Boston Market | September 2009

OK. Let's get the bad news out of the way. An unemployment rate approaching 10% is not the most positive news to hear during a Labor Day weekend.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the news may be even worse:

The underemployment rate for August was 16.8 percent.

"Underemployment" is a broader measure that includes capable Americans who would like to work full-time, but have to settle for part-time opportunities, and those who are too discouraged to even look for work.

What follows are a few thoughts on how Web technology professionals can to get out from under the underemployment shadow.

Forward Focus

Let's look forward by focusing on what industry experts are saying.

The AIGA Design Leaders Confidence Index reveals that demand for design services is improving. This finding marks the second consecutive quarterly improvement reported by more than 300 design leaders working in various types of practices.

The ExecuNet Recruiter Confidence Index reveals that search firms are expecting an improvement over the next six months in placing workers in leadership positions. Just seven percent of recruiters are "not confident" that the market will get better during this period.

The Spherion Employee Confidence Index registered its highest level in more than 18 months as workers who have jobs are growing increasingly confident in the improving strength of the economy.

Boston Market

The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston have been recalculated for September. An analysis of job postings at Monster.com reveals that job opportunities remained stable during August despite the perception that late summer is a slow hiring period. Half of the Top 20 Technologies show an increase in job postings in early September over early August.

The Top 20 List is located in the right-hand column and is dominated by database and programming skills. One newcomer to this month's Top 20 came about as a result of feedback from an executive recruiter. He stated that he was was experiencing an increase in demand for "UI Designers."

A search on this term landed it at #20 with 75 job postings. According to Wikipedia, "The goal of user interface design is to make the user's interaction as simple and efficient as possible." Job seekers with design skills may want to add "UI (user interface)" to their professional bios and social profiles.

Training Opportunity

The best training opportunity in September begins this week with FREE online Ajax training. Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a Top 10 Web technology in terms of job demand in the Boston technology marketplace. JavaScript and XML are also Top 10 technologies. With more than 100 job openings mentioning Ajax in job descriptions, and nearly twice as many mentioning JavaScript and XML, few technologies will grab the attention of recruiters than Ajax.

Free Ajax training is offered by Sang Shin, technology evangelist at Sun Microsystems. This 18-week course will guide you through some of the following topics:

• Ajax Basics
• JavaScript Basics
• Libraries and frameworks (Dojo, Prototype, jQuery, etc.)
• and much more

Participants receive a certificate upon successful completion during the first quarter of 2010. To learn more, access Ajax and Web 2.0 Programming (with Passion!) Online Course.

[ NOTE: Beantown Web is now on Facebook. Facebook Fans gain access to an expanded list of the Top 50 Web Technologies in Boston. Become a fan today! ]

Fastest Growing Companies | Fortune 100

Job losses are subsiding. The worst may be over. Prepare now for the turnaround.

Hale Stewart provides a visual analysis of job loss trends in his column at The Huffington Post. Based on one visual below, it is possible that 2010 will bring a return to net job creation.

Fastest Growing Companies

So, where should one start looking for employment opportunities? One avenue is to target large companies that have been growing during the downturn. Fortune magazine has released its list of the 100 fastest growing Fortune 500 companies.

While 21 of these companies are international, many states landed at least one company on the list. Here are the states with the most fast-growing large companies:

• California | 15
• Texas | 13
• New York | 8
• Massachusetts | 6
• New Jersey | 5
• Michigan | 3
• Missouri | 3
• Oklahoma | 3

You can access the list for your state at the Fortune section of CNNMoney.com.

Fastest Growing Companies in Massachusetts

Here are the six fastest growing large companies in Massachusetts:

[ NOTE: Simply log into your LinkedIn account on a separate tab, then click the "in" icon next to the company name below to identify the LinkedIn connections you might have within that organization. ]

1. Bruker | Billerica
2. Pegasystems | Cambridge
3. Thermo Fisher Scientific | Waltham
4. Zoll Medical | Chelmsford
5. Atlantic Tele-Network | Salem
6. Sapient | Boston

Conclusion

Remember, if you're trying to land work at one of these companies, take the advice offered by the 8th annual Sources of Hire Study:

"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."

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Fastest Growing Startups | Q2 2009

StartUpHire is a job search engine whose mission is to connect talented individuals to exciting career opportunities at venture backed companies.

They have compiled a list of the fastest growing start-ups backed by venture capital (VC). They focused on major metropolitan markets and formulated the list based on job postings during the second quarter.

The metropolitan areas include the following:

• San Francisco-Silicon Valley
• New York
• Southern California
• Baltimore-Washington
• Seattle
• Austin
• Philadelphia
• Denver-Boulder
• Atlanta
  

Access a list of the fastest-growing, VC-backed companies in these metropolitan areas at StartUpHire which provides direct access to job postings in these and other cities.

Boston's Fastest Growing Startups

The 10 fastest growing VC-backed companies in and around Boston are as follows:

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• Acceleron Pharma | Cambridge
• CambridgeSoft | Cambridge
• Turbine | Westwood
• ITA Software | Cambridge
• Kronos | Chelmsford
• Senior Whole Health | Cambridge
• Zipcar | Cambridge
• Gomez | Lexington
• E Ink | Cambridge
• Acquia | Andover

Fast growing companies need bright, energetic workers. Start making connections today!

[ NOTE: Beantown Web is now on Facebook. Facebook Fans gain access to an interactive map of the 10 fastest growing startups in the Boston area. Become a fan today! ]