Friday, June 06, 2008

Boston Market | June 2008

Robert Half Technology's quarterly IT Hiring Index and Skills Report was released this week. During the third quarter (July, August and September) more than three times as many chief information officers (CIOs) in the greater Boston area expect to add to their staff than reduce their staff:

  • increase staff | 10%
  • decrease staff | 3%

The vast majority of CIOs anticipate no change in staffing requirements.

IT Skills in Demand

Here are the Web-related skills that CIOs will be looking for over the next three months:

  • Database management | 63%
  • Microsoft .NET development | 24%
  • Java development | 21%
  • XML development | 18%
  • Open source development | 18%

Boston Market

While CIO's remain optimistic about the next 90 days, the technology marketplace has shown considerable slowdown in the past 60 days. In early May demand fell for 19 of the Top 20 skills. This month demand fell further for all 20 of the Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston. This list has been updated and appears in the right-hand column along with direct links to job postings for that skill.

This slowdown reflects, in part, a seasonal adjustment not uncommon as the summer months arrive. None-the-less, the average demand for Top 20 skills as represented by job listings that mention those skills is down 37% on average over the past 60 days.

Demand has declined the least for the following skills:

  • HTML & CSS | 26%
  • Flash | 26%
  • Photoshop | 28%
  • Ajax | 29%

Demand has declined the most for the following skills:

  • ASP.NET | 50%
  • Oracle | 47%

The Next Step

Web technology professionals looking to land work or upgrade to a higher-paying position should redouble their efforts over the summer months while others might become distracted.

Two areas to set measurable goals over the next 90 days are as follows:

  • expand your skill-set
  • expand your professional network

Stop . . . Start

One strategy to help focus your training efforts is to borrow a page from IBM's recent print advertising campaign:

"Stop selling what you have. Start selling what they need."

The professionals who manage information (CIOs) are telling us that they need database managers and developers (programmers) to provide access to that information. The survey results above correlate directly with the Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston listed on the right.

Here is a three-step plan for the next 90 days:

  • Identify one Top 20 skill that you would like to improve | June
  • Set out on a course of study by investing in a book | July
  • Demonstrate your new skill in a Web-related project | August

Come Labor Day you'll be one step ahead of your competition at a time when organizations are likely to refocus their energies on expanding their workforce.

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Tuesday, June 03, 2008

New England's Digital Industry

MITX invented a new acronym -- DMM&T.

The Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) released a study that identifies New England’s digital marketing, media, and technology (DMM&T) industry.

DMM&T Snapshot

Here is a quick look at the Massachusetts DMM&T economy by the numbers:

  • approximately 78,000 professionals practice in this industry
  • approximately 2,400 organizations are affiliated with this industry

The top 10 DMM&T cities in the Boston metro area by number of employees are as follows:

  1. Boston
  2. Cambridge
  3. Waltham
  4. Burlington
  5. Marlborough
  6. Lexington
  7. Nashua, NH
  8. Newton
  9. Woburn
  10. Andover

As you can see from the Wayfaring map, career opportunities are focused north and west of the city of Boston.

DMM&T Future Looks Bright

MITX members expect staffing to grow an average of six percent during 2008. Revenue is projected to expand by 14 percent over last year.

When questioned how the current economy has affected growth prospects, more than a third of survey respondents replied "not at all." Only five percent indicated that the current economy is significantly affecting growth.

According to Kiki Mills, MITX Executive Director:

"We’ve all seen the headlines – softening economy, enterprises retrenching and downsizing underway. However, the MITX constituency is bucking the trend with growth and expansion."
"MITX members tell us that a key challenge will be recruiting and retaining digital marketing and media technology talent. We're working to get the word out to graduates in the region that they can build their careers right here in the Bay State."

A summary of these findings is available via an MITX press release including contact information for obtaining the detailed study results.

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Fastest Growing Companies | 2008

The Boston Business Journal recently recognized metro Boston's fastest-growing private companies, ranked by revenue growth.

Boston Business Journal Pacesetters

Fast growing companies need talented people to help sustain growth. Here are the 60 fastest-growing private companies in metro Boston.

NOTE: Beantown Web now features the LinkedIn Company Insider Widget. 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.

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 want to be a Pacesetter follow this simple three-step plan:
  • add value to your professional network
  • offer referrals to others
  • ask for a referral in return when you need one
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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Ignite Boston 3

The third Ignite Boston will be held this week:

  • Thursday, May 29
  • 6 pm to 10 pm
  • Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA

The event is FREE and open to anyone interested in learning about Web 2.0 developments in the greater Boston area. This event is sponsored by Microsoft and features a preview of Microsoft's new WorldWide Telescope.

The event is coordinated by O'Reilly Media, Inc. whose founder, Tim O'Reilly, is credited with coining the phrase Web 2.0. The event features two keynote speakers followed by at least 16 five-minute "lightening talks" on various Web 2.0-related topics.

Keynote Speakers

Lightening Talks

Ignite events are held periodically in various locations around the globe including Seattle and San Francisco. Upcoming events are scheduled for Philadelphia and Paris.

If you preregister for the Boston event, you become eligible for a chance to win $300 worth of O'Reilly books of your choosing. RSVP by sending an e-mail to IgniteBoston at oreilly dot com.

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Sunday, May 04, 2008

Boston Market | May 2008

The Internet economy should be less susceptible to an economic downturn in the United States than many other industries, according to a panel of economists and technologists convened at Google's new Washington, DC offices.

Panelist's comments included the following [sources: 1, 2, 3]:

"Yes, we are seeing an economic slowdown. No, we're not seeing an Internet slowdown."
"The Internet economy is almost counter-recessional."

IT Executive Views

Nonetheless, senior information technology (IT) executives are starting to feel pressure to contain their budgets for new projects in 2008, according to interviews with 27 CIOs and senior IT leaders.

The research was conducted by IDC, a Framingham-based company focused on market intelligence and advisory services for the information technology industry.

Despite budget constraints IT executives in the U.S. are facing real skill shortages in the following technical areas:
  • SAP
  • .Net
  • VOIP
  • Java
The job functions that remain difficult to fill include the following:
  • business analysis
  • security administration
  • project management

A summary of IT Executive Views: IT Priorities and Investments is available via an IDC press release. The interviews focus on large public and private companies and may not be reflective of trends in the public sector, educational organizations or small companies.

IT Employee Confidence Index

In addition, a quarterly measure of confidence among IT workers in the United States reveals a fifth consecutive decline. The index measures the following:

  • how likely IT workers think it is that they will lose their job in the next year
  • how likely employees are to look for a new job in the next year
  • employees’ overall confidence in the economy, their employers and their ability to find other employment

A press release (pdf) summarizing the key findings of IT Employee Confidence Index for the first quarter is available from Technisource, a national technology recruiting and staffing firm with offices in Boston.

Boston Market

The Beantown Web monthly analysis of the Boston Market reveals a trend toward more cautious hiring. The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for May and links to job postings appear in the right-hand column. Demand declined over the past month for 19 out of 20 skills. The lone exception was Photoshop.

Web designers and developers who wish to gain a competitive advantage might want to focus on honing in-demand programming skills, especially the following:

  • Java | #3
  • C# | #7
  • ASP.NET | #11

In addition, project managers are in short supply. Demonstrating that you can lead a project team and deliver results on time and under budget will not likely go out of style any time soon.

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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Next Five Years | Part 2

Part 1 of a two-part "Skills of the Future" series identifies the skills that information technology (IT) managers project they will need over the next five years.

Part 2 reveals the largest single potential growth opportunity for Web technology professionals over the next five years.

Skills of the Future | Part 2

A research study released last week projects that the Web browser market for portable devices will explode by nearly an order of magnitude (10-fold increase) over the next five years. Here are the projections for Web enabled phones:

  • 2007 | 76 million devices
  • 2013 | 700 million devices

Mobile browsing is set for a major growth trend, and smartphones, like the iPhone, are leading the way. According to the Silicon Alley Insider (quoting m metrics), nearly 85 percent of iPhone owners browse the Web on their phones vs. just 13 percent for the overall U.S. mobile market.

Mobile Developers Needed

Wikipedia offers an informative overview of the mobile development landscape. A few of the more popular foundational skills needed to thrive in the mobile development space include the following:

  • Java
  • C++
  • C#

Web professionals who want to focus on mobile development, but who don't wish to delve into these programming languages, can expand their opportunities by developing skill proficiency with "the two biggest variables that will spur mobile browsing", according to the research study:

  • Ajax (JavaScript + XML)
  • RSS

A press release of The Mobile Browser Market is available at the ABI Research website.

The Next Step

Web professionals should check out the W3C Mobile Web Initiative to learn more about mobile development. "The Mobile Web Initiative's goal is to make browsing the Web from mobile devices a reality", according to Tim Berners-Lee, Director of the Cambridge-based W3C and inventor of the World Wide Web.

Then, go to dev.mobi, "the world's most exciting mobile development community." Once there you can perform a Mobility Check by entering a Web address, previewing that website in various mobile device emulators and receiving a free analysis of how that site's web content is likely to function on a mobile device.

Lastly, mark your calendar for July 15 and attend the next meeting of the Web Innovators Group which has been organized to promote Boston’s Web and mobile innovation community. Details about the next meeting will be provided in an upcoming Beantown Web posting.

Go to >>> The Next Five Years | Part 1

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Monday, April 14, 2008

The Next Five Years | Part 1

Part 1 of a two-part "Skills of the Future" series identifies the skills that information technology (IT) managers project they will need over the next five years.

Part 2 reveals the largest single potential growth opportunity for Web technology professionals over the next five years.

Skills of the Future | Part 1

A global survey of more than 3,500 information technology (IT) managers identifies the current tech skills in demand and projects tech skills that will be needed over the next five years.

Power Shift

Respondents to the survey were asked to rate skills on a scale from one (lowest) to seven (highest). Currently, the three leading IT skills are the following (percentage of skills receiving a six or seven rating):

  • security (74 percent)
  • general networking (66 percent)
  • operating systems (66 percent)

The survey reveals that the following skill will grow in importance over the next five years to become the number one most valuable IT skill:

  • wireless & radio frequency (RF) mobile technology

In an interview with ComputerWorld, a survey spokesperson stated the following:

"The findings are a warning to educational institutions to prepare IT graduates with coursework in wireless topics, including standards, software and hardware."

In an interview with eWeek, the same spokesperson stated the following:

"We'd certainly advise any school with an engineering or technology program for students to add wireless components, because we're going to need it."

Other skills expected to grow in importance through 2013 include the following technologies:

Additional Survey Results

Survey participants said that the top two things IT departments should be doing to grow tech staffers' skills are as follows:

  • sending them to external, professional training classes (42 percent)
  • offering rewards for workers who enhance their skill sets (41 percent)

In addition, the most likely positions to open up over the next five years will include the following skills:

  • programming
  • coding
  • developing

The study was commissioned by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) and conducted by The Center for Strategy Research, a Boston-based market research firm. A press release is available for review. To review comments about the survey findings, access a related Information Week article.

The Next Step

According to the survey programmers/coders/developers will prosper over the next five years. Web professionals can continue to increase their skill profile by becoming proficient in the following Web 2.0-related programming skills:

  • JavaScript
  • ActionScript

JavaScript is the foundation of Ajax and ActionScript is fundamental in creating Rich Internet Applications in a Adobe's Flash environment.

The Top 20 Skills (see right-hand column) related to these Web 2.0 technologies include the following:

  • XML (#5)
  • JavaScript (#7)
  • Flash (#13)
  • Ajax (#15)

Adobe Flex and Adobe AIR technologies, while not in high demand currently, are worth monitoring, along with Microsoft's Silverlight technology.

Go to >>> The Next Five Years | Part 2

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Sunday, April 06, 2008

Boston Market -- 2008, Second Quarter

Despite gloomy economic numbers the job market for information technology (IT) professionals remains strong.

In fact, the job market for IT professionals grew more than nine percent from February 2007 to February 2008, according to the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB). A report entitled NACCB March 2008 IT Employment Index (pdf) states that IT employment in the United States stands at an all-time high of nearly 3.9 million workers.

Boston Market

Beantown Web's monthly Boston Market analysis confirms these findings. A comparison of job postings from early January to early April reveals that there are more job postings now than three months ago for 17 of the top 20 Web-related skills in the greater Boston area.

The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston have been updated for April and appear in the right-hand column.

The Biggest Losers

The only three technologies to post losses during the first quarter include the following LAMP stack technologies:

  • #17 MySQL (down 3 postings)
  • #19 Apache (down 11 postings)
  • #21 PHP (down 35 postings)

This may reflect Microsoft's relentless marketing efforts to position .NET as the Web technology of choice, especially in enterprise-scale operations. The three-month trends for comparable Microsoft-centric skills are as follows:

  • #4 SQL Server (up 114 postings)
  • #6 C# (up 86 postings)
  • #10 ASP.NET (up 56 postings)
  • #16 VB.NET (up 26 postings)
  • #20 IIS (up 25 postings)
  • #23 Visual Studio (up 60 postings)

Web Designers

Job postings for skills traditionally associated with Graphic & Web Design are also up over a three-month period. However, these skills offer a lower demand profile in the marketplace. A few of these designer skills include the following:

  • #11 Photoshop (up 48 postings)
  • #13 Flash (up 65 postings)
  • #18 Illustrator (up 41 postings)
  • #28 Dreamweaver (up 10 postings)
  • #29 InDesign (up 7 postings)

Skills that bridge the gap between Web developer and Web designer include the following:

  • #7 JavaScript (up 67 postings)
  • #15 Ajax (up 44 postings)

Emerging Technologies

It is worth mentioning that caution is advised when investing time and energy in learning emerging technologies. The following technologies may rate high on the "Web 2.0" buzz meter, but currently rank relatively low on the marketplace demand scale:

  • #34 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) (65 postings)
  • #40 Ruby (45 postings)
  • #42 Fireworks (33 postings)
  • #46 Rails (23 postings)
  • #50 Adobe Flex (8 postings)
  • #51 Silverlight (8 postings)
  • #53 WordPress (5 postings)
  • #54 Drupal (4 postings)

The Second Quarter

Web technology professionals can not afford to let their skills atrophy. Should the economy continue to display weakness, job losses in the IT sector could emerge. Now, more than ever, it is important to upgrade technology skills to keep pace with market demand.

Evaluate your current skill set against The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston. If you find your knowledge lacking in Top Ten skills, upgrade now starting with Structured Query Language (SQL). This universal language of databases is not likely to vacate the #1 spot any time soon. Like the Boston Celtics, SQL now has home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The ability to capture information and display it in a Web page using SQL is a fundamental skill of Web development, regardless of whether that database is one of the following:

  • Oracle (#2)
  • SQL Server (#4)
  • MySQL (#17)

Set a goal to develop one new skill during the second quarter and post a demonstration project that displays that skill. The Web will continue to evolve, and the Web professional who maintains skills that the marketplace demands will live in a technology world of abundance.

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Monday, March 31, 2008

7th Annual Sources of Hire Study

Looking for a job? A new study provides insight into the most productive strategies.

Nearly 50 large employers were included in the survey. These employers filled more than 300,000 openings in 2007.

SOH Highlights

The CareerXroads 7th Annual Sources of Hire (SOH) Study reveals the following breakdown on how job openings were filled:

  • positions filled by internal candidates (30%)
  • positions filled by external candidates (70%)

So, if you are already on the inside, it pays to perform above average work and establish positive relationships with your coworkers.

And, if you are not on the inside, it pays to know someone who is.

Here are the two primary ways that external candidates land new jobs:

  • employee referrals (28%)
  • job boards (26%)

Agency placements (3%) and temp-for-hire arrangements (3%) accounted for a combined total of six percent of new hires arriving from an external source. Other strategies that yielded relatively low results included the following:

  • responding to print ads (5%)
  • attending career fairs (2%)
  • attending open houses (1%)

Job Boards

Which job boards are most popular with these large employers (percentage of employers with contracts to post jobs and review resumes)?

The top "niche" site was Craigslist.

Conclusion

The report concludes as follows:

"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."

A press release of the CareerXroads 7th Annual Sources of Hire Study is available for review along with a more detailed breakdown (pdf) of the survey findings.

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Web Innovators Group | WebInno17

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 17th installment (WebInno17) will feature the following presentations:

Main Dishes

  • Good2Gether | a new search and social media Web service that connects people to causes through a broad network of websites

  • PicMe Photo Sharing | a tool for letting you easily see, view, share and enjoy your thousands of pictures.

  • Jack Cards | "Jack" is an imaginary correspondence butler who takes care of your special occasions by sending paper greeting cards in a timely manner

Side Dishes

  • Traackr | track your songs, videos, photos & measure your popularity

  • Moborazzi | a social content sharing platform for the on-the-go mobile generation

  • Lingro | the coolest dictionary known to hombre!

  • Yamli | search the Arabic web using English letters

  • Entrecard.com | an easy way to network with other blog owners

  • FLIMP | create sophisticated audiovisual messages that zoom through every bandwidth

  • StylePath | Shop with Style -- find what you love from thousands of sites in under a minute

Details

Wednesday, April 2, 2008, 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.

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Friday, March 14, 2008

2008 Job Satisfaction & Retention Survey

More than half of employees surveyed report that they are likely to intensify their job search in the next three months. Amid the chaos, opportunities appear for those who are prepared to take advantage of them.

More than 7,000 employees and 200 company representatives participated in Salary.com's third annual Job Satisfaction and Retention Survey. A press release is available for review.

Money Talks

The five most common reasons for leaving a job according to employees who completed the survey are the following:

  1. inadequate compensation | 27%
  2. lack of career advancement | 19%
  3. insufficient recognition | 17%
  4. boredom | 11%
  5. no professional development | 11%

". . . compensation may be a key factor as to why employees would consider leaving a job but it's not the top reason they stay in their current job," according to Bill Coleman, a Salary.com spokesperson.

So, why stay? Here are the top five reasons:

  1. relationship with co-workers | 25%
  2. relationship with manager | 25%
  3. desirable work hours | 22%
  4. attractive compensation | 20%
  5. attractive benefits | 20%

Employee Walks

At least an 8% pay increase is needed to entice most employees to change employers.

When an employee does walk out the door, it costs an employer an average of $21,000 in replacement costs.

Employers seem to understand the cost of turnover. Counteroffers, when made, average 7% above current salary. This finding is interesting given that most annual pay increases average half that percentage and many workers receive no annual pay increase at all!

How likely is an employer to counteroffer?

  • almost always | 14%
  • sometimes | 51%
  • never | 35%

A more detailed summary (pdf) of Salary.com findings is available for review.

Opportunity Knocks

Here are three strategies workers might consider to leverage these findings:

  • If you are currently employed and like your work and employer, keep your eye on internal openings that might be created when a co-worker leaves for greener pastures. Make key decision makers aware of your willingness to take on additional responsibility.
  • Initiate a dialog with your supervisor during your next performance review (or sooner) to discuss non-compensation issues -- career advancement, recognition, and professional development.
  • If you are currently seeking greener pastures initiate a conversation about these non-compensation topics to learn more about how green this new pasture might really be.

Salary.com is headquartered in Waltham, MA. Their website currently features 23 job vacancies.

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Manpower Employment Outlook Survey: Q2

Despite less-than-rosy economic headlines, the bottom has not yet dropped out of the employment market. Three new job surveys reveal that companies are still hiring, albeit at a more cautious rate.

Manpower Employment Outlook Survey

"A slowing in hiring intentions reflects a widespread wait-and-see approach among employers," according to a spokesperson with Manpower, a global employment agency.

The company surveys 14,000 U.S. employers on a quarterly basis. This quarter's survey reveals the weakest employment outlook outlook since the first quarter of 2004. That said, fully 26% of employers expect to increase their workforces during the second quarter of 2008, while only 9% expect staff reductions.

While employers anticipate a decline in hiring for the second quarter of 2008, the survey data points to "a gradual and measured downshift, not a sudden and overwhelming change."

Monster Employment Index

The Monster Employment Index for February reveals a moderate increase in overall U.S. online job availability following a three-month downward trend. "It's an encouraging sign of stabilization after three consecutive months of decline," according to a Monster.com spokesperson. A local Boston Index (pdf) is also available.

The upward tick in online employment postings confirms Boston Market -- March 2008 findings.

Conference Board Help-Wanted Online Data Series

The Conference Board measures online job ad placement across the United States. February 2008 showed a three percent increase over February 2007. While the growth is positive it represents the smallest annual growth rate since this series began in May 2005.

The New England Region, in particular, posted a decline in annual labor demand for the fifth month in a row. None-the-less, the metro areas across the nation where the number of advertised vacancies are plentiful in relation to the number of unemployed include Boston.

Also, "technical occupations continue to be in high demand in February," according to a summary of the Help-Wanted Online Date Series. A more detailed analysis is also available in pdf format.

Next Steps . . .

With three employment surveys revealing sluggish job growth, now might be time to increase your network of professional contacts. You never know when you might need employment help and you can always lend a helping hand to someone else who might be looking for an opportunity.

Here are two Web-related networking opportunities in the Boston area to consider:

You'll walk away from either event with new knowledge and new contacts. Even better, both events are FREE!

NOTE: If you live in the Washington, DC area check out a new Web Development certificate program being announced this Saturday at the campus of the Center for Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA) at Boston University.

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Saturday, March 08, 2008

2008 IT Salary & Skills Report

The national average salary for an information technology (IT) worker with a college degree is $76,400. The national average salary for an IT worker with a certificate or degree from a technical school is $65,700.

The average pay for an IT worker in Boston, regardless of education or training, is $75,500.

This data is presented in a newly released survey of more than 7,000 IT professionals coordinated by Global Knowledge and TechRepublic.

In addition to salary, nearly 50% of respondents receive a bonus and annual bonuses average nearly $4,000.

Average Salary by Job Function

Here are the average salaries by job function for Web-related professionals:

  • Project Leader | $90,800
  • Database Manager | $87,300
  • Database Administrator | $78,500
  • E-business Specialist | $77,400
  • Database Analyst | $70,000
  • Web / Internet | $62,700

Certifications

The most popular certifications are offered by Microsoft, as selected by 34% of respondents.

Those Web professionals who hold a CIW (Certified Internet Web Professional) certification earn, on average, $71,000.

Demographics

Here are a few demographics from the survey:

  • average age | 43
  • years in IT | 14
  • male vs. female | 3:1 ratio

Nearly 80 percent of respondents were either "very" or "mostly" satisfied with their career choice.

Concerns

What concerns IT professionals the most?

  • "Keeping up with skills" | 57%

Experience

By far the single most important factor in determining salary is experience within the field. Survey results broken down by experience reveal the following salary data for those workers transitioning into technology with less than two years of experience:

  • 25 and under | $39,800
  • 26 - 35 | $45,600
  • 46 - 55 | $46,100
  • 56 and over | $44,700

Turnover

Nearly one in four respondents stated they are considering changing employers within the next year. The full cost to replace a professional is 150% of annual salary. Therefore, a company will have to invest $110,000 to replace a worker valued at $74,000. These costs include recruiting, vacancy costs, productivity losses and training.

Conclusion

The survey concludes as follows:

"The level of your success in satisfaction and in salary is a direct result of your investment in yourself. The demand for the IT professional is increasing, but since critical technical skills are constantly changing, long-term success is achieved by broader education and experience."

A full copy of the report is available from TechRepublic. Registration is required and it is free.

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Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Boston Market -- March, 2008

"IT employment remains strong . . . demand for IT professionals remains robust," according to Mark Roberts, CEO of the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB).

NACCB Survey

Information Technology (IT) employment reached an all-time high in December 2007 and was essentially unchanged in January 2008. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment grew nearly eight percent from January 2007. More than 3.8 million workers are employed in the IT marketplace in the United States. A press release (pdf) is available for review.

CIO Survey

In addition, recruiting skilled IT workers remains a challenge for many Chief Information Officers (CIOs), according to a new survey developed by Robert Half Technology.

CIOs were asked the following question:

"Of the following staffing issues within the IT department, which do you consider to be your greatest challenge as a CIO?"
The top two responses were as follows:
  • Finding skilled technology professionals (24%)
  • Providing staff with adequate professional development resources to keep skills current (23%)

Beantown Web Findings

These two surveys confirm Beantown Web's findings that the technology marketplace in the greater Boston area remains strong, despite an apparent slowdown in the economy.

The monthly Beantown Web survey of the Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston reveals that 18 of the top 20 skills all posted increases in job postings from early February to early March. The only two skills that were mentioned less frequently in job postings were Perl and PHP. This may be partially reflective of Microsoft's marketing efforts to promote ASP.NET as an alternative server side scripting environment.

The Big Winner

Ajax was the biggest mover of the month jumping three spots from #16 to #13. Ajax was mentioned in 40 more job descriptions this month than last!

The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston can be found in the right-hand column along with a new indicator of movement (up or down) from the previous month.

Training Opportunities

Adobe officially launched Flex 3.0 and AIR 1.0 late last month. While these technologies hold long-term promise for Web developers, neither skill demonstrates a strong demand currently. Neither skill cracks the Top 40 with Adobe Flex being mentioned in only 10 job descriptions and Adobe AIR mentioned in zero. Nonetheless, check out Adobe Developer Week 2008 to learn more about online training opportunities for these technologies.

On the other hand, SQL Server, C# and ASP.NET remain three of the Top 10 Web skills most in-demand. To get an overview of how these technologies work together to create interactive Web-base applications, check out a FREE online course offered at the HP Learning Center.

ASP.NET 2.0: Building Applications offers the following lessons beginning this week:

  • Lesson 1: Take advantage of ASP.NET
  • Lesson 2: Designing an ASP.NET application
  • Lesson 3: ASP database tutorial: design your database
  • Lesson 4: Create a connection to your database and retrieve data
  • Lesson 5: Manipulate data
  • Lesson 6: Understand application security and deployment, and widgets

NOTE: The Center for Digital Imaging Arts is announcing a new Web Developer certificate program at its campus in Waltham this Saturday at 10:00 am.

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Saturday, February 23, 2008

FREE Web Development Software

"Through DreamSpark, we are providing professional software development and design tools to university students around the world as a download at no cost."

Bill Gates | San Jose Mercury News | February 19, 2008

Introducing DreamSpark

With those words Microsoft launched DreamSpark in 11 countries including the United States. College students who want to learn programming such as ASP.NET can now do so without the burden of purchasing proprietary software tools.

Web developers in training will receive free, fully functional software from Microsoft, just for the asking! Here are the tools available for FREE download:

One Billion Served

Bill Gates is concerned about the future. "During the last decade, the number of college students who study math and science in the United States has declined dramatically", according to Gates. "Today, there simply aren't enough people with the right skills to fill the growing demand for computer scientists and computer engineers."

The giveaway is now available to more than 35 million college students. As the program expands, up to one billion students worldwide could gain free access to Microsoft's development tools, according to an article in The Stanford Daily.

To learn more about the software giveaway check out a Bill Gates interview on Channel 8, Microsoft's internal communication network. You'll need Microsoft's Silverlight software to view this interview. Alternately, you can access a Flash version on YouTube.

The Future is Now

Thus begins what could become the greatest transfer of Web development knowledge from one generation to another that the world has ever witnessed.

If you are a student, now is the time to begin learning SQL Server, C# (C "sharp") and ASP.NET, three of the Top 10 Web Technologies in Boston (see right-hand column for links to more than 1,000 job vacancies that list these skills).

If you are a parent of a teenager, now is the time to ask your child's high school administrators and teachers about their plans to introduce Microsoft tools into the educational curriculum. (Microsoft is expected to extent the software giveaway to high schools later this year.)

If you are neither a student, nor a parent, and still want to expand your career options, you can attend a FREE Microsoft Launch Event in your area and receive FREE Web Development software. The Boston event will be held Tuesday, March 18.

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

MHTC's Annual Business Climate Survey

Technology CEOs in Massachusetts remain confident in the state's economy.

Waltham-based Massachusetts High Technology Council (MHTC) released it Annual Business Climate Survey at last week's 2008 Annual Meeting and here are the findings.

Survey Says

Highlights include the following:

  • 64 percent of participating CEOs expect job expansion this year
  • only 7 percent anticipate work force reductions at their company

More than three out of four CEOs surveyed (76 percent) felt Massachusetts was an "outstanding" or "good" place to run a technology firm.

According to the survey, CEOs at technology companies place education reform at the top of the list of priorities. The Massachusetts technology economy will continue to be vibrant only to the degree that an adequate pool of trained technology professionals enters the workforce. Workers who continue to upgrade their technology skills should excel in the current high tech economy.

The annual survey has been conducted since 1987. To learn more access a story in Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology.

MHTC Council Members

The MHTC council membership is comprised of 99 organizations in Massachusetts. These organizations are most likely to be hiring technology professionals in 2008:

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Monday, February 11, 2008

Boston Market -- February, 2008

Evidence continues to reveal a slowing in the U.S. economy.

AIGA Design Leaders Confidence Index

AIGA is "the professional association for design." Graphic Design and Web Design professionals belong to this organization.

The AIGA Design Leaders Confidence Index is a quarterly survey of influential members constructed to provide a snapshot of the current conditions within the design economy.

AIGA Confidence Index

The index has dropped substantially during the last two quarters indicating a slowdown in design-related opportunities.

Despite this drop in confidence AIGA claims the design economy is expected to outperform the national economy in 2008.

Source: AIGA

According to a press release, " . . . only one-third of respondents feel [business] will decline in the next six months. Only one in four reduce their likelihood of hiring new employees."

Graphic Design vs. Web Design

A quick look at the Boston Market for technology talent reveals the following job opportunities at Boston.com:

  • Graphic Designer [ 34 ]
  • Web Designer [ 27 ]

Still, Web Developer opportunities surpass combined Graphic Design and Web Design opportunities by nearly 50%:

  • Web Developer [ 89 ]

This analysis, however, is crude since most organizatiions are looking for a basket of skills and don't necessarily rely on labels when searching for talent. A more precise method is to search on technical skills mentioned in job descriptions, not job titles.

Web Development

A keyword search on technology skills most in demand reveals that the only two traditional Graphic Design skills to land in the Top 20 are as follows:

  • Photoshop [ #11 ]
  • Illustrator [ #19 ]
Traditional Web Design skills offer greater opportunities as follows:
  • JavaScript [ #6 ]
  • Flash [ #13 ]
  • HTML + CSS [ #17 ]

The remaining 15 skills, while not exclusively Web-related, do reflect skills commonly affiliated with Web Development, including programming and databases, both in an open source and a Microsoft environment. These skills have been updated for February and are listed in the right-hand column under Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston.

Developer's Note: The chart for this article was developed using Google's Chart API. Developers who want to add simple charting functionality to their Web projects should check it out.

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Saturday, February 02, 2008

Dice 2007 Annual Salary Survey

The average information technology (IT) worker in the U.S. earns a salary of $74,600. Web Developer/Programmers average slightly less at $68,600.

Boston Metro Area

Salaries in the Boston metro area are higher than the nationwide average. In fact, Boston is the second highest paying metro area behind Silicon Valley with an average IT salary of $83,500. So, the average salaries for Web Developer/Programmers in the greater Boston area are likely to be higher than the $68,600 national average.

This salary information was released this week as part of the Dice 2007 Annual Salary Survey that encompasses more than 19,000 technology professionals. Dice is "the career hub for tech insiders." A press release (pdf) is available for review.

Survey Highlights

Technology professionals continued to be in high demand in 2007, with an annual average unemployment rate of 2.1 percent -- less than half the national average.

Even entry level tech workers fared better than many entry level employees in other industries. The nationwide average starting salary for entry level tech workers is $41,500.

Those technology workers with the highest average pay increases in 2007 possessed skills in the area of e-commerce.

Six Figure Salaries

For the first time in the history of the survey, two job titles averaged more than $100,000 in base salary. These titles were as follows:

  • IT Managers
  • Project Managers

Conclusion

Technology professionals are valued in today's marketplace, despite an apparent slowdown in the economy. Web technology professionals who want to maximize employment options in 2008 should focus on adding value by seeking out opportunities in the following three areas:

  • assume responsibility for managing a technology project from start to finish
  • gain supervisory experience by leading others
  • join a team involved in developing an e-commerce website
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