Beantown Web

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Boston Web Tech Job Market | Q4 2014

"Employment for technology professionals continues to thrive, yet this rising tide of job opportunities for tech pros has not lifted the prospects for all skillsets equally."

According to The Dice Report for September, 2014 demand for some technology skills is growing faster than for others. Beantown Web takes an in-depth look at the demand for tech skills in the Boston area.

Boston Web Tech Job Market

The list of Top 25 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for the fourth quarter. It appears in the right-hand column and below. This list is based on keyword searches in job postings at Indeed.com. The most in-demand keywords are listed more frequently than less in-demand keywords.

Indeed.com is a meta-search engine that offers a maximum number of search possibilities. All searches encompass a 25-mile radius of Boston. Search parameters can be adjusted to fit your personal needs.

Top 25 Web Technologies in Boston

Here is an abbreviated list of the 25 most in-demand web technologies in Boston. [ or from early July ] listed by number of job postings at Indeed.com:

October, 2014

SQL | 4,310 11%
Java | 3,861 4%
agile *** | 2,787 17%
JavaScript | 2,614 23%
Oracle | 2,682 5%
Python | 2,062 4%
social media | 1,481 2%
C# | 1,349 1%
Web Services | 1,441 6%
SaaS | 1,299 4%
SQL Server | 1,265 5%
HTML + CSS | 1,248 25%
XML | 1,237 22%
UI | 1,162 7%
Perl | 1,098 18%
jQuery | 1,063 31%
scrum *** | 955 30%
MySQL | 939 15%
Ruby | 919 39%
PHP | 763 40%
HTML5 | 732 50%
UX | 727 11%
SharePoint | 690 4%
Android | 684 18%
Ajax | 670 7%

*** Note: While "agile" and "scrum" are not technologies, they are methodologies used in technology development. These two keywords appear in many web development job descriptions. Experience with "agile" and "scrum" is often preferred, if not required, in many web development jobs.

Recommended Strategy

Select five technical skills in the Top 25 and focus on becoming proficient -- if not expert -- in each technology. What are your top five technology skills? What projects can you link to that demonstrate expertise in these technologies? View a Smarterer Scorecard of my top technical and business skills.

Guard against being distracted by "shiny new object" skills that are not listed in the Top 25. Without having solid core skills in high-demand technologies, you may not experience an optimum return-on-investment in terms of time and energy invested in becoming proficient at lower-demand technical skills.

Boston's Top 100 Web Technologies

An expanded version of this list -- Boston's Top 100 Web Technologies -- is being counted down for the next three months @webapprentices.

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

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Boston's Rockstar Recruiters | Q4 2014

Pete Sampras -- seven Wimbledon Men's Singles titles
Shannon Miller -- seven Olympic medals

Seven remains the standard. You need seven to make The List. You need seven LinkedIn recommendations to make The List of Boston's Rockstar Recruiters.

Boston's Top 100 Technology Recruiters

In the fall of 2012 Beantown Web asked the question, "Who are Boston's Rockstar Recruiters?" Welcome to the ninth installment of The List.

To begin the quest, Beantown Web identified more than 400 technology recruiters via LinkedIn. Most are located in the Boston area. Some are located in New Hampshire and Rhode Island and conduct a significant amount of business in the Boston area.

Beantown Web then turned to LinkedIn to identify customer satisfaction scores. In particular, how many people were willing to provide a public recommendation for each recruiter?

Tennis players have Wimbledon trophies. Olympic athletes have Olympic medals. The rest of us mere mortals have to make due with LinkedIn recommendations to recognize accomplishments on our field of play.

The standard to measure Rockstar Recruiters has stalled. The bar has stood at seven recommendations for five consecutive quarters. Has exceptional customer service stalled along with the economy?

Only one out of four technology recruiters in the Boston metro area has earned Boston Rockstar Recruiter status with at least seven LinkedIn recommendations received.

Boston's Top 10 Technology Recruiters

Boston's Top 10 Rockstar Recruiters play to packed houses and receive standing ovations. The best in the recruiting business have received at least 38 LinkedIn recommendations.

Here are the Top 10 Boston Rockstar Recruiters for the fourth quarter of 2014 [number of LinkedIn recommendations received + given]:

Scott Dunlop [95 + 6] -- The Bivium Group
Chris Fountas [85 + 8] -- AVID Technical Resources
Jamie LeBlanc [68 + 2] -- The Bivium Group
Doug Schade [66 + 10] -- Winter Wyman
John VanderSande [61 +2] -- WinterWyman
Chris Mitchell [40 + 4] -- Winter Wyman
Brendan Andersen [39 + 16] -- CyberCoders
David Honig [39 + 0] -- MarketSearch
Roy Evans [38 + 17] -- CyberCoders
Leanne Owens [38 + 9] -- Onward Search

Top 10 in Assists

Some players are valuable because they score a lot of points. Others pass the ball effectively. This second list ranks "assists." It answers the following question:

"Of the recruiters listed in the Top 100, who are the most generous in offering recommendations to others?"

The Top 10 most generous Boston Rockstar Recruiters for the fourth quarter [number of LinkedIn recommendations given + received] are as follows:

David Perlman [58 + 19] -- Grenadier Search Group
Scott Ragusa [37 + 25] -- Winter Wyman
Marsh Sutherland [31 + 11] -- Walden Recruiting
Carol Taylor [29 + 17] -- Private Clients
Andrea Williams [25 + 28] -- Career Minded Recruiting LLC
Kelley White [19 + 18] -- Advantage Technical Resourcing
Roy Evans [17 + 38] -- CyberCoders
Sean Dowling [17 + 23] -- Winter Wyman
Jeff Sweet [17 + 19] -- VLink, Inc.
Brendan Andersen [16 + 39] -- CyberCoders

Congrats to Brendan Andersen for posting Top 10 scores on both the receiving and giving lists.

Team Scores

Finally, the team scores. The following teams placed the most recruiters (at least three) in the Top 100 [number of recruiters in the Top 100]:

Gold Category:

CyberCoders [7]

Silver Category:

WinterWyman [6]

Bronze Category:

Suggested Strategy

If you have technical skills and believe you offer above average value in the marketplace, then you owe it to yourself to work with recruiters who have consistently demonstrated above average customer service. The List of Boston's Rockstar Recruiters offers you direct access to Boston's Top 100 (out of 400) Technology Recruiters.

The Boston Rockstar Recruiter Countdown begins @webapprentices and will continue throughout the fourth quarter listing all 100 Boston Rockstar Recruiters. Simply follow @webapprentices and connect with your favorite Boston Rockstar Recruiter each day. Each Boston Rockstar Recruiter will also be recognized on Beantown Web's Facebook page.

If you are aware of a Boston-based Technology Recruiter who has garnered at least seven LinkedIn recommendations, go to Beantown Web's Facebook page and share your Rockstar Recruiter selection with our readers. Rock on!

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Boston Web Tech Job Market | Q3 2014

"Six-figure salaries are table stakes for software and mobile engineers, designers and data professionals."

Fasten your seat belts; it's full speed ahead for technology professionals in the second half of 2014, according to a Dice survey of 700 hiring managers and recruiters. Hiring is expanding and so are salaries. One in three experienced tech professionals earns six figures or better, not including bonuses.

Boston Web Tech Job Market

The list of Top 25 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for the third quarter. It appears in the right-hand column and below. This list is based on keyword searches in job postings at Indeed.com. The most in-demand keywords are listed more frequently than less in-demand keywords.

Indeed.com is a meta-search engine that offers a maximum number of search possibilities. All searches encompass a 25-mile radius of Boston. Search parameters can be adjusted to fit your personal needs.

Top 25 Web Technologies in Boston

Here is an abbreviated list of the 25 most in-demand web technologies in Boston. [ or from early March ] listed by number of job postings at Indeed.com:

July, 2014

SQL | 4,901 15%
Java | 4,019 17%
JavaScript | 3,381 33%
agile *** | 3,376 36%
Oracle | 2,837 27%
Python | 2,144 37%
HTML + CSS | 1,667 31%
XML | 1,589 24%
jQuery | 1,548 39%
Ruby | 1,499 82%
HTML5 | 1,469 97%
social media | 1,457 5%
Web Services | 1,441 1%
Git | 1,362 167 %
scrum *** | 1,358 60%
SaaS | 1,356 18%
C# | 1,342 5%
Perl | 1,340 49%
SQL Server | 1,326 7%
PHP | 1,281 68%
UI | 1,254 17%
MySQL | 1,110 21%
Rails | 1,077 83%
Photoshop | 987 68%
JSP | 887 186%

*** Note: While "agile" and "scrum" are not technologies, they are methodologies used in technology development. Likewise, "git" is a source code management system. Combined, these three keywords appear in many web development job descriptions. Experience with "agile," "scrum" and "git" is often preferred, if not required, in many web development jobs.

Recommended Strategy

Select five technical skills in the Top 25 and focus on becoming proficient -- if not expert -- in each technology. What are your Top Five technology skills? What projects can you link to that demonstrate expertise in these technologies?

Guard against being distracted by "shiny new object skills" that are not listed in the Top 25. Without having solid core skills in high-demand technologies, you may not experience an optimum return-on-investment in terms of time and energy invested in becoming proficient at lower-demand technical skills.