Thursday, July 05, 2012

Boston Web Tech Job Market | Q3 2012‏

"Finding certain hard-to-find, skilled technology professionals continues to be a battle."
According to The Dice Report for July, the most difficult tech candidates to find and secure are the following:
  • Java developers
  • Mobile developers
  • .NET developers
  • Software developers

Boston Web Tech Job Market


On a local level, the Boston technology job market confirms the Dice.com findings.  The job market for Web tech professionals continues to be strong.

The list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for the third quarter. The list is based on keyword searches in job postings at Boston.com. The most in-demand technologies are listed more frequently than less in-demand technologies.

Here are the Four Biggest Movers from early April to early July, listed by percentage increase:
  1. Ruby | 117 listings 22%
  2. PHP | 182 listings 19%
  3. MySQL | 162 listings 12%
  4. Python | 192 listings 11%
Go forth and program -- particularly in Ruby, PHP and/or Python.  You will be rewarded by recruiters and hiring managers.  They will likely be queuing up to offer you a seat inside their air-conditioned office space. Double down on your database knowledge -- particularly MySQL -- and multiple job offers await.

Get Smarterer


How can you demonstrate your technology chops?  One way is to consider getting Smarterer by testing your skills online, for free.  Give one of these four challenges a test drive ...

Ruby PHP MySQL Python

Northeast PHP Conference


In addition to online skills challenges, consider upgrading your skills in PHP and MySQL by attending the first annual Northeast PHP Conference, a two-day conference featuring more than 30 speakers and four learning tracks.

This is your chance to network with more than 300 developers, designers, recruiters, hiring mangers and content experts from New England and beyond.

Full Disclosure: Gene Babon is a Professor of SQL at Smarterer.com and one of the Event Hosts for the Northeast PHP Conference.

Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston


Here is the complete list of the most in-demand web technologies in Boston. [ or from early April ] listed by number of job postings at Boston.com/Monster.com:
July, 2012
  1. SQL | 830 05%
  2. Oracle | 609 12%
  3. Java | 565 03%
  4. JavaScript | 351 06%
  5. SQL Server | 336 07%
  6. C# | 274 04%
  7. XML | 264 20%
  8. Social Media | 223 06%
  9. "Web Services" | 204 14%
  10. HTML + CSS | 212 08%
  11. Python | 192 11%
  12. Perl | 189 03%
  13. PHP | 182 19%
  14. MySQL | 162 12%
  15. jQuery | 160 03%
  16. Ajax | 146 01%
  17. ASP.NET | 143 01%
  18. UI | 136 04%
  19. SharePoint | 124 05%
  20. Ruby | 117 22%
[ NOTE: Follow Beantown Web on Twitter @webapprentices and on Facebook by becoming a Fan of Beantown Web. ]

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Web Innovators Group | WebInno34

Nine companies. Nine hundred networking opportunities. All in one room. All FREE.

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


This 34th installment will feature the following presentations:

Main Dishes

  • Cloze | Making real connections is hard.  Cloze makes it easier.

  • ImpulseSave | How we can save you money and make pigs fly.

  • MyReci | Share recipes.  Stay Organized.  Get Inspired.

Side Dishes

  • ByteLight | Anyone can find their exact position inside a building.

  • GivingSomeThing | The world's most transparent donation resource.

  • Ovuline | A free ovulation calendar.

  • Specctr | Supercharges Adobe Fireworks and automates spec generation.

  • Stix Mobile | Your iPhone photos will never look ordinary again.

  • Trendslide | A pulse on your business.  Trending up, flat or down?

Event Details

Monday, June 25, 2012, 6:30 pm

Registration is FREE and the networking could prove invaluable! Check out the Attendee List of more than 900 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 1,500 members.

[ NOTE: Follow Beantown Web on Twitter @webapprentices and on Facebook by becoming a Fan of Beantown Web. ]

Friday, April 13, 2012

Boston Web Tech Job Market | Q2 2012

Boston is one of the 10 largest job markets in America for technology workers.

Boston is also one of the 10 fastest growing job markets in America for technology workers.

Boston is the only city in America to make both lists, according to The Dice Report for March.

The Boston technology job market is large and growing.

Boston Web Tech Job Market

The list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for the second quarter. The list is based on keyword searches in job postings at Boston.com. The most in-demand technologies are listed more frequently than less in-demand technologies.

Here are the Five Biggest Movers from early January to early April, listed by percentage increase:

  1. Python | 173 listings 53%
  2. MySQL | 145 listings 48%
  3. Social Media | 238 listings 39%
  4. PHP | 153 listings 34%
  5. jQuery | 156 listings 26%

So, by developing programming skills, particularly in Python, PHP and/or jQuery, customers, recruiters and hiring managers will likely be queuing up to offer you a seat at their table. Add in some MySQL database knowledge and a dash of social media spices and you have a recipe for award-winning Job Jambalaya.

Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston

Here is the complete list of the most in-demand web technologies in Boston. [ or from early January ] listed by number of job postings at Boston.com/Monster.com:

April, 2012

  1. SQL | 874 listings 14%
  2. Oracle | 690 listings 10%
  3. Java | 546 listings 12%
  4. SQL Server | 363 listings 16%
  5. XML | 332 listings 25%
  6. JavaScript | 331 listings 06%
  7. C# | 286 listings 11%
  8. Social Media | 238 listings 39%
  9. "Web Services" | 237 listings 22%
  10. HTML + CSS | 196 listings 06%
  11. Perl | 184 listings 17%
  12. Python | 173 listings 53%
  13. jQuery | 156 listings 26%
  14. PHP | 153 listings 34%
  15. Ajax | 147 listings 04%
  16. MySQL | 145 listings 48%
  17. ASP.NET | 142 listings 03%
  18. UI | 141 listings 16%
  19. SharePoint | 131 listings 21%
  20. Photoshop | 124 listings 22%

[ NOTE: Follow Beantown Web on Twitter @webapprentices and on Facebook by becoming a Fan of Beantown Web. ]

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Best Business Books | 2011

Nine books catapulted to the top in this year's search for the Best Business Books of 2011.

For the fourth year running Beantown Web has conducted a quasi-scientific meta-search to identify the best business books published in the previous year. The search began by identifying 10 "Best of" lists. This year's research started with the following:

A total of 65 books were mentioned on at least one "Best of" list. Ten books were mentioned on at least two lists. These 10 books comprise The Honorable Mention list.

Best Business Books | Runners Up

Here are the three books mentioned on at least three lists (The Runners Up):

Best Business Books | Third Place

Four books tied for Third Place honors by being mentioned on four lists:

Best Business Book | Top Honors

The second place finisher was mentioned on five lists:

The best business book of 2011 was mentioned on six of the 10 "Best of" lists:

Personal Recommendations

I can personally vouch for four of the nine books honored on this year's list. Feel free to check out my reviews at Goodreads.com:

The other five books are now on my wish list.

Suggested Success Strategy

No matter what your professional discipline is -- Web technology or some other field -- business is the engine that drives economic well-being. The economy appears to be slowly moving forward after several years of being stuck in the mud. You can help improve your economic prospects by learning more about the business of business.

Goal: Identify one business book from the nine listed above, read it, practice its principles and shift your career prospects into a higher gear in 2012.

Check out previous lists:

[ NOTE: Follow Beantown Web on Twitter @webapprentices and on Facebook by becoming a Fan of Beantown Web. ]