Saturday, October 06, 2007

MITX Awards Finalists, Part 1

The Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) has announced the finalists for the 2007 MITX Awards. This 12th annual initiative recognizes excellence in the creation of interactive technologies designed, produced, or developed in New England.

Finalists were announced in two awards categories:

  • Part 1 reviews the General Categories finalists
  • Part 2 reviews the BIMA Categories finalists

General Categories

General Categories represents Web projects in 17 industry categories, as well as, two special categories of applied technology and rich media application.

Of The Finalists listed below, Web professionals should definitely check out Website Grader, a finalist in the Rich Media Application category. This free Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tool measures the marketing effectiveness of a website. The application provides an overall score along with basic advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective.

Web designers and developers can review The Finalists below to identify award-winning techniques and trends.

The Finalists

Applied Technology

Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals

Consumer Goods

Corporate Training and Support

Education and Learning

Educational Institution

Entertainment/Sports

Financial Services

Government

Health and Fitness

Human Resources

Kids, 'Tweens & Teens

Nonprofit

Online Commerce

Professional Services

Real Estate

Rich Media Application (RIA)

Social Computing

Technology

Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday, November 8.

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Thursday, October 04, 2007

Q4 Hiring Surveys

Five employment-related surveys released over the past four weeks paint a landscape of positive, but slower growing, jobs prospects through the remainder of 2007.

Manpower Employment Outlook Survey

This survey of 14,000 U.S. employers reveals that companies have conservative hiring plans in the fourth quarter. Three times as many employers expect to increase their workforces than trim their payrolls, a decrease from previous quarters.

CEO Economic Outlook Survey

A survey of more than 100 corporate executives reveals that "CEOs see a modest decline in economic conditions in the coming months." The CEOs in this survey represent companies that employ more than 10 million workers. "The latest results continue a pattern of gradual decline in expectations since the beginning of the year," the survey concludes.

Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series

This monthly measure of online job posting activity reveals that the rate of growth in job posting has slowed in areas like the Northeast where online job advertising has been popular for some time. Still, New England continues to offer one of the highest ads rates in the country (3.65 ads per 100 persons in the regional labor force). Technology continues to be one of the top occupations with the most online ads posted.

Q4 2007 Job Forecast

CareerBuilder.com released its quarterly survey that projects "cautious, but steady" hiring. More than four times as many employers expect to grow their workforce than trim their workforce over the next three months. The information technology industry expects to hire more workers than in most other sectors.

Hudson Employment Index

This index of the workforce's overall confidence in the employment market presented the most cautionary outlook. The national index dropped for the second month in a row indicating that workers are concerned about future job prospects. The Boston Index also dropped on a decrease in hiring expectations. However, the industry-specific IT Workers Index reveals that IT workers are the happiest they've been two years!

Conclusion

Technology workers remain in demand; however, jobs are expected to be harder to come by over the next three months. Each worker must remain vigilant about expanding his/her personal marketplace by focusing on both of the following:

  • upgrading your skills
  • expanding your network of contacts

Remember:

It's not what you know.
It's not who your know.
It's how well you network what you know with who you know.

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Monday, October 01, 2007

Boston Market -- 4th Quarter, 2007

October marks the expansion of the Top 10 Web Technologies in Boston. The list has now doubled to include the The Top 20.

This analysis provides links to job postings in the greater Boston area and is ranked in order by how many times that technology is currently listed in job postings at Boston.com/Monster.com.

The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston can be found in the right-hand column.

Data Rocks

In the Information Economy data rocks. Demand for database expertise continues as three of the top five web-related technologies are database-related: SQL, Oracle and SQL Server. Rounding out the top five are HTML and Java.

Web Scripting

Lurking just outside of the top five are two technologies that offer upside potential for forward-thinking Web professionals:

Each technology is listed more than 600 times in job descriptions posted in the greater Boston area. Proficiency in these two technologies opens doors to Web-based jobs. In addition, these two languages combine to form the basis for the fastest growing technology in the Boston Market today. That technology is . . .

  • Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)

Ajax sits in 16th place in the demand rankings. Ajax is now listed in more job postings than either Flash or PHP at 17th and 18th places, respectively.

The job demand curve for XML, JavaScript and Ajax looks as follows:

Demand for Ajax-trained professionals has exploded from virtually zero to more than 200 jobs in just over two years!

FREE Ajax Course

If you would like your Web career to sparkle like a freshly scrubbed bathroom, consider learning more about Ajax. The best training opportunity in the fourth quarter of 2007 promises to be an 18-week "Free" AJAX Programming (with Passion!) Online Course.

The course was developed by a technology architect, consultant, and evangelist at Sun Microsystems. The next session starts Monday, October 15.

Prerequisites include the following:

  • 1 month Java programming experience
  • 1 month web application programming experience
  • some HTML experience would be helpful but not required
  • some JavaScript experience would helpful but not required

Tutorials are available to help meet the basic requirements.

Once you have successfully completed the course you will receive a certificate stating the you have "Mastered Ajax Programming Truly with Passion!"

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Sunday, September 23, 2007

New England Technology Fast 50

The 11th annual New England Technology Fast 50 list has been released. It ranks the fastest growing companies by percentage of revenue growth over the last five calendar years.

The ranking includes companies in the following four business sectors:

  • technology
  • media
  • telecommunications
  • life sciences

Technology companies predominate the list, as do companies from Massachusetts.

Rising Stars

A special category called "Rising Stars" recognized the fastest growing companies over a three-year period. These companies were:

Fast growing companies need "rising star" employees to keep growing. If you have a technology background and are looking to make a career move, then consider targeting these Fast 50 companies.

The List

Here are the 50 fastest growing technology companies in New England:

  1. iTech US, Inc. (South Burlington, VT)
  2. Vestmark, Inc. (Wakefield)
  3. Litle & Co. (Lowell)
  4. Airvana, Inc. (Chelmsford)
  5. SiGe Semiconductor, Inc. (Methuen)
  6. IneoQuest Technologies, Inc. (Mansfield)
  7. Endeca Technologies, Inc. (Cambridge)
  8. Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Cambridge)
  9. TheNextRound, Inc. (Westborough)
  10. Bullhorn, Inc. (Boston)
  11. Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Lexington)
  12. NitroMed, Inc. (Lexington)
  13. Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Marlborough)
  14. Constant Contact, Inc. (Waltham)
  15. NeuroMetrix, Inc. (Waltham)
  16. iRobot Corp. (Burlington)
  17. SoundBite Communications, Inc. (Burlington)
  18. Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Lexington)
  19. Compete, Inc. (Boston)
  20. OpenPages, Inc. (Waltham)
  21. NameMedia, Inc. (Waltham)
  22. Dealer.com, Inc. (Burlington, VT)
  23. Vertical Communications, Inc. (Cambridge)
  24. VistaPrint USA, Inc. (Lexington)
  25. Infoscitex Corp. (Waltham)
  26. Network Engines, Inc. (Canton)
  27. Smarter Living, Inc. (Boston)
  28. VoiceSignal Technologies, Inc. (Woburn)
  29. Agiltron, Inc. (Woburn)
  30. CardioTech International, Inc. (Wilmington)
  31. Veroxity Technology Partners, Inc. (Bedford)
  32. Biogen Idec, Inc. (Cambridge)
  33. IPG Photonics Corp. (Oxford)
  34. Capital Fulfillment Group, Inc. (Hingham)
  35. Data Intensity, Inc. (Bedford)
  36. Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Waltham)
  37. ImmunoGen, Inc. (Cambridge)
  38. Clinical Data, Inc. (Newton)
  39. Sepracor, Inc. (Marlborough)
  40. Salary.com, Inc. (Waltham)
  41. Palomar Medical Technologies, Inc. (Burlington)
  42. OpenAir, Inc. (Boston)
  43. Virtusa Corp. (Westborough)
  44. Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Wakefield)
  45. Click Tactics, Inc. (Waltham)
  46. Ektron, Inc. (Nashua, NH)
  47. Double-Take Software, Inc. (Southborough)
  48. Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. (Hopkinton)
  49. Hittite Microwave Corp. (Chelmsford)
  50. Diomed Holdings, Inc. (Andover)

Deloitte & Touche and Mass High Tech both provide summaries of the New England Technology Fast 50 ranking.

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Sunday, September 16, 2007

IT Faculty Survey

Young professionals looking at career options should heed the advice of information technology (IT) instructors at colleges and universities.

Survey Says . . .

According to a recent survey, the two categories of applications that IT instructors rated student proficiency levels as "limited" or “no proficiency” are as follows:

  1. database applications (68 percent)
  2. spreadsheets (46 percent)

Here are the remaining technology skills in which students are considered most lacking by IT instructors:

  • graphic design software
  • multimedia applications
  • web creation
  • web conferencing

According to the survey results, IT instructors expect that more than half of their students will utilize IT skills in their careers after graduation.

The survey results included nearly 800 faculty members, who teach IT courses at four- or two-year colleges and universities. Cengage Learning, formerly Thomson Learning, sponsored this second annual technology survey. A summary is available for review.

The Opportunity

The survey concludes: "This is not a skill set confined to particular major or career interest – it is a life skill."

The Web is calling and young professionals are surprisingly lacking in training in how to use graphic design software and related Web creation tools. Not-so-surprising, young professionals are most ill-prepared to manage data in database applications.

Conclusion

A web professional with database knowledge should continue to do well in today's knowledge economy. As reported consistently in Beantown Web, database knowledge in the form of structured query language (SQL) is the most in-demand technical skill (see right-hand column).

high SQL demand + low SQL supply = employment opportunity

If you are new to SQL, the best training opportunity available in September is self-paced training. Check out a newly released book entitled Head First SQL (Your Brain on SQL -- A Learner's Guide). A 50% discount coupon code offer applies until the end of September when ordering directly from O'Reilly Media. Combined with free shipping, an investment of under $23 is a nominal price to pay for an significant upside of career opportunities.

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Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Two Jobs Reports

Despite a weak jobs report that stirred concern on Wall Street late last week, two new surveys suggest that a strong jobs market is expected to continue for information technology (IT) workers.

The EDGE Report

The Employment Dynamics and Growth Expectations (EDGE) Report was released last week. The report concludes that employers are finding that workers are most difficult to recruit in the following category:

  • Professional and technical

In particular the three most challenging positions to fill are as follows:

  1. sales
  2. customer service
  3. information technology

Here are the three primary reasons why companies say they are finding it difficult to fill vacant positions [ percentage of respondents ]:

  1. shortage of qualified workers [ 52% ]
  2. inability to offer competitive compensation [ 19% ]
  3. inability to offer career advancement opportunities [ 6% ]

The survey includes responses from more than 1,000 hiring managers and 900 workers, and was conducted from mid-July to early-August by Harris Interactive on behalf of Robert Half International (RHI) and CareerBuilder.com.

An eight-page summary (pdf) of The EDGE Report is available for download.

RHT IT Hiring Index & Skills Report

A quarterly report from Robert Half Technology takes a closer look at the IT market by surveying chief information officers (CIOs). While 14 percent of CIOs polled expect to add IT staff in the fourth quarter of this year, only two percent anticipate cutbacks.

Here are a few questions and responses that are relevant to Web technology professionals:

"Within your IT department which single job area is experiencing the most growth?"

  • data/database management [ 11% ]
  • internet/intranet development [ 9% ]
  • other responses [ 80% ]

"Which of the following technical skill sets are most in-demand within your IT department?"

  • database management [ 60% ]
  • .NET development [ 22% ]

A press release of the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index & Skills Report is available along with links to Hot IT Jobs and IT Skills in Demand.

Summary

These two reports suggest that technology workers are expected to have more career options than many other workers through the remainder of the year. However, not all technology skills have the same demand profile.

Web professionals who are targeting organizations with 100 or more employees for employment opportunities will do well to highlight experience with the following Microsoft-centric technologies:

  • SQL Server
  • ASP.NET

Open source advocates can consider making the transition by downloading MySQL and developing a solid command of Structured Query Language (SQL).

Conclusion

More than 1,800 job postings in the greater Boston area currently list SQL among their requirements, making it the most in-demand Web-related skill and a core component of database-driven Web 2.0 sites. Can you afford not to structure your technical skills around SQL?

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Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Effective Networking

Nearly half of senior level executives surveyed are "confident" or "very confident" that the executive employment market will improve during the next six months. This level of optimism provides encouragement for those attempting to capitalize on end-of-year hiring plans.

While many of us may not be in the hunt for executive level jobs, we can learn a few lessons from those currently in executive positions who have demonstrated success at finding and excelling in jobs with significant responsibility and commensurate compensation.

Three Rules

According to ExecuNet, the executive career and business networking organization, networking consistently ranks as the most effective method for developing job opportunities. Executives report nearly twice as many interviews obtained by this method than any other approach.

Here are three rules for effective networking, according to ExecuNet:
  • Offer Help Before Asking For It
  • Avoid "Needworking"
  • Don’t Be Shy

Three Networking Opportunities

Here are three opportunities to practice your networking skills within the next week:

One Next Step

So, once you make a new connection by practicing the three rules at one of the three networking events, the next step is to systematically manage your new connections.

According to an article in USA Today, more than 1.4 million senior executives have LinkedIn accounts. Senior executives understand the value of effective networking. Let's follow their lead and the next door that opens might be a door to the corner office.

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Monday, September 03, 2007

Boston Market -- September

MonsterTRAK is the student division of Monster.com, the online careers and recruitment resource. Based on the number of entry-level job opportunities posted to MonsterTRAK, one of the five occupations with the greatest demand for young professionals is the following:

  • Computer, Information Technology and Mathematical
According to a MonsterTRAK press release, this category has provided the greatest increase in opportunities over the past year with programming and web design being among the most desired positions.

Development vs. Design


This month's analysis of the Boston job market reveals that Web programmers are in greater demand than Web designers. A keyword search at Boston.com/Monster.com reveals a demand ratio of 3.5 to 1.0 in favor of Web developers:
Web design and Web development are segments of a continuum of technology skills. These skills can be placed into the following five categories:

structure > presentation > behavior > logic > content

In an open source environment the most popular Web skills in each category are as follows:

HTML > CSS > JavaScript > PHP > MySQL

In a closed source environment (Microsoft, for example) the Web skills in each category are as follows:

HTML > CSS > JavaScript > ASP.NET > SQL Server

Here are the demand rankings for these skills in the greater Boston area, based on keyword searches [ relative ranking of number of jobs posted ]:

  • HTML [ #4 ]
  • JavaScript [ #6 ]
  • SQL Server [ #7 ]
  • ASP.NET [ #11 ]
  • CSS [ #14 ]
  • MySQL [ #19 ]
  • PHP [ #22 ]

Here are four additional skills directly related to the five design/development continuum categories:

You can use this demand analysis to identify one technology with the highest demand ranking not currently in your skill set and commit to a goal of improving that skill over the next 30 days.

A Web technology professional who can deliver an end-to-end solution -- from structure through content -- is valued in today's Boston Market.

Notes:

Top 10 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for September and appears in the right-hand column.

Average Salaries in Boston has also been updated for September and appears in the right-hand column.

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Sunday, September 02, 2007

Labor Day: Salaries, Part III

This three-part Labor Day special report focuses on three salary surveys.

Part I examines the 2007 AIGA|Aquent Salary Survey.

Part II examines the 2007 InformationWeek IT Salary Survey.

Part III examines the 2007 Redmond's (Microsoft) IT Salary Survey.

Redmond's 12th Annual IT Salary Survey

Redmond Magazine is the independent voice of the Microsoft information technology (IT) community. Its 12th annual Salary Survey is subtitled "Break Out the Bubbly." Presented here are a few highlights that are relevant for Web technology professionals.

The overall base salary of all survey respondents (excluding bonuses) is $72,000. Adding in an average bonus of nearly $6,000 brings average cash compensation to nearly $78,000. Salary Distribution is available for review.

Base salary for a Webmaster/Developer/Producer is $71,600.

"Becoming an expert in implementing technology is a critical component to a better salary," according to a summary of the findings. Here are the average salaries for Web-related professionals based on Technology Expertise:

  • Web Site Development/Management [ $75,100 ]
  • Database Development [ $78,800 ]
  • E-Commerce [ $82,000 ]

Middle-Aged Males

One interesting statistic from the survey reveals that male respondents outnumber female respondents by a ratio of 6-to-1.

Other findings:

  • You don't need a college degree to reach these salary levels -- nearly half of all respondents do not have a college degree.
  • You don't need a certification to reach these salary levels -- non-certified professionals actually out-earn certified professionals.

A 19-page report is available for free from the Tech Library with a one-time registration.

Next Step

If you are new to Microsoft's approach to Web development, check out ASP.NET 2.0: Building Applications, a FREE online course available from the HP Learning Center. Class begins Monday, September 3 with two modules being posted each week for a total of six modules.

Additional Surveys

Labor Day: Salaries, Part I examines the 2007 AIGA|Aquent Salary Survey.

Labor Day: Salaries, Part II examines the 2007 InformationWeek IT Salary Survey.

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Thursday, August 30, 2007

Labor Day: Salaries, Part II

This three-part Labor Day special report focuses on three salary surveys.

Part I examines the 2007 AIGA|Aquent Salary Survey.

Part II examines the 2007 InformationWeek IT Salary Survey.

Part III examines the 2007 Redmond's (Microsoft) IT Salary Survey.

InformationWeek IT Salary Survey

The national median compensation for information technology (IT) staffers is $78,000. In the Boston metro area median compensation is $100,000, a 28% premium over the national average.

Not all IT job functions are valued at the same level. Here are the base salaries for several Web-related IT functions:

  • Web design/development [ $63,000 ]
  • Web content development [ $65,000 ]
  • Internet/intranet [ $68,000 ]
  • Web security [ $75,000 ]
  • Web infrastructure [ $83,000 ]

Note: These salaries reflect the national averages and adding a 28% premium might more accurately reflect the median compensation in the greater Boston area.

According to an overview of the findings:

"Experience with new technologies such as Ajax, Web 2.0 applications, SOA, and wireless is critical to future success in IT."

"IT professionals need to take a good hard look at their skill sets. More than half come from a technology-oriented background, whereas most companies are looking for people who can balance technology initiatives and business needs."
A slide show is available for quick review of the data. The survey is also available for download in pdf format.

For an overview of the findings in video format check out InformationWeek TV.

Web professionals can use the survey data to benchmark job opportunities as the post-summer job market shifts into full gear.

Additional Surveys

Labor Day: Salaries, Part I examines the 2007 AIGA|Aquent Salary Survey.

Labor Day: Salaries, Part III examines the 2007 Redmond's (Microsoft) IT Salary Survey.

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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Labor Day: Salaries, Part I

This three-part Labor Day special report focuses on three salary surveys.

Part I examines the the 2007 AIGA|Aquent Salary Survey.

Part II examines the 2007 InformationWeek IT Salary Survey.

Part III examines the 2007 Redmond's (Microsoft) IT Salary Survey.

AIGA|Aquent Salary Survey

Data from nearly 5,000 design professionals were compiled earlier this year in what is believed to be the most comprehensive national compensation survey of its kind.

The data reflects the following:

  • 2006 wages/salary
  • 2006 total cash compensation*
* Total cash compensation includes not only wages and salary but other forms of cash compensation such as bonuses, profit sharing, incentives and partners’ profits.

Here are a few demographic highlights:

  • work in the for-profit sector (87%)
  • work in organizations smaller than 1000 employees (78%)
  • work as freelance or self-employed (solo designer) (17%)
  • work in the greater Boston area (229) (5%)
The following median salaries were reported in the greater Boston area:
  • entry level designer [ $36,000 ]
  • designer [ $47,500 ]
  • senior designer [ $65,000 ]
The following categories did not provide enough data points to offer statistically significant compensation results:
  • Web designer
  • Web developer
  • Web programmer

Beantown Web will explore these salaries in Part II of this Labor Day salaries series.

The Survey of Design Salaries website provides Definitions for 16 job categories along with a Salary Calculator for comparing compensation across job functions and geographical regions. The entire 44-page 2007 Survey of Design Salaries document (pdf) is available for download.

The survey is commissioned annually by AIGA | the professional association for design, with the support of Aquent, and in cooperation with Communication Arts magazine.

Design professionals can use the survey data to benchmark job opportunities as the post-summer job market shifts into full gear.

Additional Surveys

Labor Day: Salaries, Part II examines the 2007 InformationWeek IT Salary Survey.

Labor Day: Salaries, Part III examines the 2007 Redmond's (Microsoft) IT Salary Survey.

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Monday, August 27, 2007

Sun Tech Days


The emerging world of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) keeps getting richer -- and more complicated. The following technologies are competing for Web developer's time and interest:

Last week Adobe was in Boston showing off its technologies. Now its Sun's turn.

University Day


The fall leg of the Sun Tech Days world tour begins in Boston before leaving for Italy, China, Japan and Germany. The two-day workshop is designed to help Web professionals "develop skills and advance your career in a Web 2.0 world."

The first day, Tuesday, September 11, offers three separate tracks:
Of the three, University Day offers the most promise for those new to Sun's technologies. It is designed specifically for the academic community, including students and faculty. At the end of this session, participants will learn more about career opportunities using Java technologies in the IT industry.

Two of the topics covered in the University Day session are NetBeans and JavaFX Script. To learn more about these technologies access the following introductions:
The second day, Wednesday, September 12, features Keynote Speaker, James Gosling, affectionately known as "The Father of Java."

UPDATE: Lucky attendees will have an opportunity to have lunch with James Gosling. All you need to do is register to enter the drawing! The names of 15 winning attendees will be announced during the morning demo sessions on September 12.

Register for this FREE event at the Boston Sheraton now. Space is limited.

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Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) Bus Tour

The recent release of Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3) has created buzz around related Adobe products. Two of these products are Adobe Flex and Adobe AIR.

According to Adobe's Website . . .

  • Adobe Flex is a cross-platform development framework for creating rich Internet applications (RIAs).
  • Adobe AIR (formerly code-named Apollo) is a cross-operating system runtime that allows web application developers to use their existing web development skills (HTML, Javascript, Flash, Flex, Ajax) to build and deploy Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) to the desktop.

If you are confused as I am, help is on the way.

Get on The Bus


An 18-city road show travels up the I-95 corridor this week starting in Washington, DC and visiting Baltimore and Philadelphia before arriving in Boston on Friday.

The Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) Bus Tour will open its doors at 9:15 am Friday and conduct technical sessions, showcases and discussions. The bus will be parked at the Artists for Humanity EpiCenter in South Boston. [Directions]

InfoWorld offers two articles to help you get up to speed on these latest technologies:

The Web continues to change faster than the Boston Celtics starting lineup. Get on the bus this Friday or risk being left behind.

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Sunday, August 19, 2007

Your Job: How Satisfied Are You?

When it comes to job satisfaction, employees and employers sometimes view their work experience through a different lens according to a recent survey.

The top five contributors to job satisfaction, according to employees, are as follows:

  1. compensation/pay
  2. benefits
  3. job security
  4. flexibility to balance work/life issues
  5. communication between employees and senior management

When human resource professionals were asked to predict the top five contributors to job satisfaction, here was their ordered list:

  1. relationship with immediate supervisor
  2. compensation/pay
  3. management recognition of employee job performance
  4. benefits
  5. communication between employees and senior management

Show Me the Money

Employers underestimate the value of compensation and benefits in attracting and retaining high quality employees.

Employers overestimate the value of supervisory relationships and employee recognition programs.

A summary of the survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is available at DiGiTAL50.com.

What to Do Next

So, what if you feel your current employer is not making a significant contribution to your job satisfaction? It could be time to identify another employer. Two recent articles in The Wall Street Journal shed some light on effective job search strategies.

Stand Out: Join the Crowd

The first article encourages passive job seekers to become more visible by joining and participating in professional organizations. To learn how networking can lead to job referrals access If You Want to Stand Out, Join the Crowd.

LinkedIn: The Right Way

The second article explores the value of expanding your network via a service such as LinkedIn. The Right Way to Use LinkedIn offers advise for developing your contacts and enhancing your reputation in the marketplace.

Conclusion

Here is Beantown Web's four-step (JADE) plan to increase your job satisfaction:

  1. Join a professional network
  2. Attend networking functions
  3. Develop your professional contacts
  4. Enlist your network to help you find a more satisfying job

Mark's Guide provides a listing of technology-related professional networking events in the greater Boston area. The most promising upcoming event for Web professionals is Ignite Boston 2 on Thursday, September 6 in Cambridge.

This FREE event is sponsored by O'Reilly Media, Inc. In addition to learning about Web 2.0 start-ups and making new LinkedIn contacts, you can register to win $300 worth of O'Reilly books of your choosing! Simply send an email to IgniteBoston at oreilly dot com.

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Interactive Media Awards -- Q2, 2007

The Interactive Media Awards™ recognize the highest standards of excellence in website design and development and honor individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievement.

The awards are annual, but are judged on a quarterly basis, with categories rotating every three months.

Judges evaluate websites based on the following five criteria:
  • Design
  • Content
  • Feature Functionality
  • Usability
  • Standards Compliance
Web designers and developers can benchmark their projects against these award-winning sites to stimulate creative thinking.

The Categories and Best in Class Award winners for the second quarter of 2007 are listed below:

Airline:
Association:
Beauty/Cosmetics:
Community:
Consumer Services:

E-commerce:

E-Zine / Newsletter:

Financial Information:
Government:
Health/Nutrition:
Newspaper:
Real Estate:
School:
Search Engine/Directory:
Teens:
Training / Vocational:
Created by the Interactive Media Council, Inc. (IMC), a nonprofit organization of leading web designers, developers, programmers, advertisers and other web-related professionals, the competition is designed to elevate the standards of excellence on the Internet.

Awards for Outstanding Achievement and winners in other categories and previous years can be accessed by using the Interactive Media Awards search engine.

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Sunday, August 05, 2007

Boston Market -- August

"Among the most sought-after talent right now are project managers, Web developers, and business analysts," according to a representative of Hudson, a professional staffing firm, in an interview with InformationWeek.

The Hudson Employment Index, which had been on the decline for three months, bounced back in July. The Index is a monthly measure of U.S. worker confidence in the employment market. Hudson has an office in Waltham.

This month's Boston Market analysis confirms the continuing tend in favor Web development skills over Web design skills, both in number of job opportunities and compensation.

$20,000 Pay Differential

According to PayScale.com job title and type of employer can mean a difference in annual pay of up to $20,000. Here is the breakdown of average salaries factoring in Web discipline (design vs. development) and type of organization (nonprofit vs. for profit):

Web Designer:

  • $48,350 (nonprofit)
  • $56,300 (for profit)

Web Developer:

  • $60,650 (nonprofit)
  • $69,000 (for profit)

These salaries are national averages. Boston area salaries are generally higher. "Average Salaries in Boston" have been updated and appear in the right-hand column.

Top 10 Web Technologies

The skills required to attain a higher compensation rate have also been updated for August and appear in the right-hand column under "Top 10 Web Technologies in Boston." This evaluation represents keyword searches of job postings at Boston.com/Monster.com for common technologies used in Web design and development.

The one minor surprise in this month's list is the demotion of CSS from the Top 10 list. It was replaced by Photoshop.

Indeed.com Job Trends

It is no surprise that programming and database skills (Web development) occupy many of the Top 10 spots as database-driven Web 2.0 activity continues to expand.

Indeed.com offers a valuable trending service that confirms this Beantown Web analysis. For example, let's look at demand for traditional Web design skills using Adobe's Creative Suite as a proxy for demand.

This analysis confirms the demand for professionals with Photoshop skills over other Creative Suite program training.

Now, let's look at the three "front-end" or "client-side" Web design skills:

JavaScript, a programming skill, continues to outpace CSS by nearly two to one in marketplace demand.

When we look at "back-end" or "server-side" Web development skills, Indeed.com confirms the relative demand for C# Web developers:

C# and VB.NET are the primary programming language options used in ASP.NET applications. Web developers new to ASP.NET should choose C# over VB.NET because of the far greater market demand and the upward trend. Demand for PHP developers is stagnant and continues to lag in the marketplace behind Microsoft's server-side offerings.

Finally, the core database language, SQL, leads all Web 2.0-related skills.

The ability to construct and execute SQL statements to update a database (Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, etc.) in a Web environment remains the skill that every Web developer should highlight on their resume. Job demand for open source database options such as MySQL remains sluggish, at best.

Assignment:

Go to the Indeed Job Trends search engine and type in three technical skills you are most proficient in. Add in a fourth "wish list" skill that you feel you need to develop. Indeed.com will provide you with a profile of the relative job market demand for your current skill set.
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Technology Workers Wanted

Technology jobs openings are going unfilled because companies cannot find enough qualified workers.

More than 180 information technology (IT) employers were surveyed by CareerBuilder.com. Nearly half of these companies stated that they currently have open job positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates.

The survey didn't ask IT employers what jobs they were trying to fill. However, a spokesperson stated that IT employers who post job openings on the site are looking mostly to fill positions in the following disciplines:

  • computer programming
  • software engineering and development
  • Web-related functions
  • systems analysis

[Beantown Web will analyze these Web-related functions in a monthly "Boston Market" posting scheduled for later this week.]

A summary of this latest survey of technology employers is available at InformationWeek.

Life-long Learning

Life-long learning is a now a prerequisite for continued employment in technology fields.

A national poll of 1,400 chief information officers (CIOs) reveals that while technology training is needed, softer skills can also be improved on.

The top three skills that CIOs felt their team needed the most improvement in were as follows:

  • Technical abilities
  • Project management skills
  • Verbal & written communication abilities

A summary of this survey is available from Robert Half Technology.

Web technology professionals should consider developing a three-part game plan for acquiring non-technology competencies, such as project planning and communication, in addition to technical skills.

Project Management

Assignment: identify at least one project (preferably Web-related) in which you were a team leader (also preferable) or were a member of a team. Obtain feedback about your performance.

One example I use is the ability to prepare curriculum and manage a classroom for a one-week technical training module at CDIABU.

By having concrete examples of projects you have lead, you can comment about what you learned in the process. This demonstrates that you can get the job done in a timely manner, even if you may not have all of the technical skills required to complete the project.

Communication Skills

Assignment: Identify at least one project each where you can demonstrate your verbal and written communication skills.

The two communication projects I focus on to demonstrate my skills in this area are as follows:

  • verbal -- technical classroom instruction at CDIABU
  • written -- weekly blog articles at Beantown Web

Having concrete examples you can point to that demonstrate your verbal and written communication skills can help you land that next assignment, even if you may not currently possess all of the technical skills that the job requires.

Conclusion:

Yes, you should develop a game plan to improve your technical skills, but remember, your non-technical skills, especially project management and communication (verbal and written), can help separate you from your competition.

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Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Seven Year High


Technology workers are in demand as witnessed by a recent report issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- the unemployment rate for information technology (IT) professionals currently stands at a mere 2%.

The industry now employs more than 3.5 million people in the United States. This employment trend in the tech sector represents a seven year high. A summary of these findings is available courtesy of Information Week.

Let's take a look at the winners and losers in the current information technology (IT) jobs boom and identify one winning strategy that all Web technology professionals should be aware of moving forward.

Management Expertise

U.S. tech workers come in all flavors. One of the largest increases in the past seven years is in the category of management. IT management jobs account for 12% (423,000) of computer-related jobs. Manager jobs are up more than 50% since 2001. The reason for the increase is that more information technology professionals are taking on responsibilities in the following areas:

  • leading projects
  • managing systems
  • coordinating outsourcers & others vendors

Highlighting any of these three areas of responsibility in a cover letter and resume will go a long way toward enhancing employment opportunities.

Positioning for Future Opportunities

While the report identifies winners (software engineers) and losers (support specialists), it does not isolate trends for Web technology professionals. So, we'll have to read between the lines to identify how Web designers and developers can position themselves for future growth opportunities.

All websites are hosted on Web servers. The Web server marketplace comes in two general flavors:

  • Apache [open source]
  • Internet Information Server (IIS) [Microsoft]

As Web 2.0 continues to generate demand for dynamic, data-driven Websites, opportunities will continue to expand for Web professionals who can demonstrate scripting skills and database connectivity expertise. Two general skill-set options include the following:

  • PHP / MySQL [open source]
  • ASP.NET / SQL Server [Microsoft]

Apache, while still the market leader, continues to lose market share to Microsoft and stands at its lowest percentage of market dominance (54%) since the end of 1998. Microsoft (32%) continues to gain ground according to Netcraft's July 2007 Web Server Survey.

Web Development Implications

Microsoft's annual revenue for the recently concluded fiscal year surpassed $50 billion. Revenue growth can be traced to many factors including an increase in sales for development and database tools Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005. The beginning of the slide in Apache dominance can be traced directly to Microsoft's release of these products in late 2005.

Look for Microsoft to enter a new phase of growth as their vast marketing machine gears up for the release of Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 on February 27, 2008.

Where Do You Want to Go Today?

Prediction: Microsoft will become the dominant Web server platform by the end of 2008 -- or at least spend a boatload of money trying.

Web designers and developers who are open to learning Microsoft-centric tool sets should consider positioning themselves now for future opportunities by downloading Visual Web Developer 2005 Express and SQL Server 2005 Express (both FREE tools) and learning ASP.NET today.

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Thursday, July 19, 2007

Four Talking Points

What's the difference between being "confident" in your job prospects and being "happy" in your current job?

Two new studies provide insight and reveal four talking points you can use to discuss the prospects of future happiness in your current job or in one you might be interviewing for.

Average Workers Are Confident

A recent survey of more than 3,000 working adults shows confidence in the U.S. job market. A few key findings:

  • nearly two thirds (65 percent) of U.S. adult workers feel confident in the future of their current employer
  • more than three fourths (77 percent) of U.S. workers believe that it is unlikely that they will lose their jobs in the next twelve months

The Spherion Employee Confidence Index is a monthly gauge of overall worker confidence. The index increased to its highest number since February.

Addition findings reveal the following:

  • only 14 percent of U.S. adult workers are not confident in their own ability to find a new job

A detailed summary of the Employment Report detailing 12-month trends is available in pdf format.

Tech Executives Are Not Happy

The second study looks at above-average workers -- those who have reached the executive level. Nearly 60% of information technology (IT) executives say they're not satisfied or somewhat unsatisfied with their their jobs. Executives in human resources and finance are considerably happier with their current jobs.

A survey of more than 2,000 executives by ExecuNet, an executive career networking firm, revealed this finding.

So, what's bugging IT leaders? The top job complaints include the following:

  • limited advancement opportunities
  • lack of challenge/personal growth
  • differences with culture
  • boss not a good match

Only 9% of all executives cited compensation as a top reason for being unhappy with their jobs.

A summary of these finds is available from InformationWeek. A more detailed Executive Job Market Intelligence Report (pdf) is also available from ExecuNet.

Take Home Message

American workers appear to be happy with the jobs they have and feel confident of finding a new one if they have to. However, the higher one climbs the corporate ladder the more dissatisfied one tends to become.

To minimize your risk of future job dissatisfaction consider introducing these four talking points when interviewing for a new position:

  1. Tell me about opportunities for advancement within this organization.
  2. Provide me with examples of how you challenge employees and encourage them to grow professionally.
  3. Tell me more about the corporate culture within this organization.
  4. Provide me with examples of your personal management style.

Satisfactory responses to these four talking points might reveal whether or not you will be "happy" in the long term with this employer or "confident" that you will be moving on to another opportunity in the near future.

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