Revenge of the nerds?!

A report ranking the best jobs in 2013 is chock full of IT roles, with database administrator, systems analyst, software developer and Web developer achieving rare air.

According to the recent U.S. News and World Report findings, reported on recently in InfoWorld, those positions took up nearly half the “top ten” spots on the list. Computer programmer, IT manager and systems administrator roles cracked the top 25.

The ranking of 100 jobs was based on the hiring demand using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics findings and scored out through salary, job prospects, growth potential and other factors.

Though these factors don’t universally grade out at the high end for each and every IT job on the list (for example, IT manager roles rank high for stress level, but also top out on potential with a projected 18 percent employment growth rate in the next decade), the “in-your-face” presence of so many IT roles among the upper echelon of this list signals that, indeed, techies are in high demand these days.

Are you behind in newer technologies, or need a fresh career in IT? Look at GogoTraining’s curriculum offerings. Training can move your career in new directions.

Source: CompTIA IT Career Blog

Whether you’re an active job seeker in the ever-changing IT industry or an entrenched veteran in need of new challenges, your New Year’s resolutions are ready-made.

A clear takeaway from the recent article in CIO.com offering career resolutions is all IT pros need to evolve along with the industry. As organizations gear up to add staff in an IT job market expected to hit the ground running in the year to come, your organized competitors for those jobs are already doing much of the following:

• Expand your sphere of influence to understand the big-picture business side of the industry you target
• Chart out a career map which includes a skills analysis, plan to bridge skills gaps and network of peers and mentors
• Build a current, dynamic personal website to market your “brand”
• Keep on top of your social profile by searching for yourself to see what comes up, much like your prospective hiring manager would
• Proper interview follow-up can pay under-appreciated dividends
• Get out of the comfort zone with new classes, seminars and industry introductions

Check out GogoTraining’s expansive list of video based courses and try something new – shake it up!

Source: CompTIA IT Careers Blog

Today is December 12, 2012. If you’re a Facebook, Twitter or another social network user, you’ve seen “12-12-12″ documented heavily for the last week. The fascination with this date is that we’ll never experience another set of all three – the day, the month and the year being the same in our lifetime (if you’re throttling yourself wondering why, there is no 13th month). The next occurrence will be the year 2112, and I think I can safely say that anyone who has the capability to read this article will not be around then.

So I thought it would be interesting to look at what are some other things that we will never see again: Blockbuster – once the king of VHS and DVD in-store rentals; Hostess brands – you remember Twinkies?; MySpace – one of the first social networking sites.

Innovation at all levels impacts how long a company can stay in business. It’s needed in product updates, packaging, updating applicability, communication and audience. We live in a  interesting times, where word of mouth means more than ever before thanks to Facebook and Twitter; where advertising has moved from the printed page to Google Ad Words (Google’s advertising program); and where we learn about the products and services we’ll buy looking at screens that minimally measure 2.5 X 4. Constant innovation is needed. Incorporating new technologies can give you access to a new audience, improve your product or service above your competition or provide a much desired feature. Staying on the “in business” list requires innovation and inspiration. 2013 is waiting…..

With 100′s of Terabytes of data, companies want new hires who understand the the entire scope of big data processing. It is  a different mindset, and there is a struggle to identify the skills needed, but some have been tagged.

• Working with traditional SQL relational databases
• Distributing loads on servers
• Strong math and coding skills and business savvy
• Willingness to learn new skills (different database or OS)
• Higher level quantitative skill sets
• Research Scientist background

Because of the shortage, crossing from one industry to another is not a considerable barrier. Modis Kelly says, “Data is data. Industry vertical really isn’t going to be the key driver. Its going to be what did you do with the data, how large of an environment was it.” Hiring organizations will avoid backgrounds with small companies because of the small data experience being so radically different. Jim Yu says it involves finding candidates who, “understand the right questions to ask around this data and how to tease this into actions that result in business outcomes for our customers.”

Source: Computerworld, Big data worker shortage demands job candidates with diverse backgrounds by Fred O’Connor, October 10, 2012

Computer World has completed its survey that evaluates what are the technologies that companies will be implementing in 2013. Responses also showed that one third  say they’ll be hiring additional IT employees. This is a significant improvement – up 5% from last year and 10% from 2010. While 5% doesn’t sound like alot, 5% of 235,500,000 over age 18 US citizens is 11, 775,000; almost 12 million more people will become employed in 2013. Two thirds of those responding said that they’ll be making a major IT purchase or important upgrade. All of this bodes very well for 2013! So let’s see what are the “hot” jobs that the results of the Computer World survey identified:

1. Programming and Application Development  – Companies have held off moving into new technology areas, upgrading their systems and designing new systems, so 2013 is that year that it will happen for two thirds of the companies polled. With all the changes in social media and communications, database enhancements, and networking and VoIP improvements, companies have got to jump on implementation to compete and stay ahead of their competition. The survey indicates that web developers, computer programmers and software engineers will be the most in demand with skills in Java, Java Enterprise Edition (J2EE), .Net and PHP.
2. Project Management – If you’re an experienced project manager without your PMP, you’re doing yourself a disservice. The PMP certification offering through the Project Management Institute (PMI) now comes in a variety of flavors including PgMP (managing programs that include several projects), PMI-RMP (managing risk within programs) and CAPM (project management for entry level managers). This is a consistently good area in which to be involved as the complexity of projects has increased with such variables as outsourced development, connectivity to the web, databases and networks and responsiveness.
3. Help Desk and Technical Support – Are you a Windows 7 geek who can talk to people? It’s your turn! As companies make decisions to move from their “beloved XP” to the “newly loved 7″ (they don’t have a choice  – the new cheer heard at Microsoft  is “No support team in 2014″ ), they will be looking to hire additional talent with a solid understanding of features, problems, patches and glitches of Windows 7, as the volume of calls will increase as it always does with a new OS. The survey shows that in addition to Windows 7, mobile device support and those ever important interpersonal skills are in the hot seat for jobs.
4. IT Security – Yes, we know;  you’ve heard this before…but this time it’s true!  IT Security is moving from the “lip service” category to a truly identified need within many organizations. Skilled Security professionals are needed to deal with the increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks plaguing companies. The losses due to these attacks not only impact revenue streams but reputations as well. Got Security certification along with experience? You’re on your way to a job, my friend!
5. Business Intelligence – Data abounds in all forms: customer feedback, quality management systems, revenue streams, purchasing systems, process control measures…the list goes on, and now with the Cloud, there’s even more data! And someone (actually a bunch of someones) needs to analyze the data, appropriately group the data and present it to management in a usable form. That’s where you can come in! The survey points to areas like Big Data, math and statistics, and a solid understanding of the business along with IT, as being the high demand arena in BI.

Come join us back here at IT CareerCast on Thursday, October 11th for the other 5 hot areas of employment for 2013. I know, you’re waiting with bated breath…..breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out…

Credits: Survey results taken from 2013 Computer World. Additional content taken from posting on IT CareerFinder September 26, 2012.

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The economy is emerging and IT is one of the business segments leading the way.   There are great jobs to be had with employers of all sizes and types.  Training is a great way to get up to speed or refreshed so that you can be positioned at the head of the pack.

Here are six red-hot areas in which you should get training:

Business Intelligence: It’s all about data.  Companies have oceans of data and they continue to fill with more.  They need information on business performance, benchmarking, sales trends, customer insights.  It is all ripe for the taking and ready to go if only people knew how to push and pull the data around until it turned into information.  There is very real money inside those databases, money companies would be pleased to obtain and happy to pay you to get it as long as you have business intelligence training.

Storage: Moving and keeping the data is of big concern now with the onset of cloud computing.  Companies are keeping more and more data in the cloud to facilitate productivity.  I/O and storage training offer opportunities as the cloud grows in popularity with IT departments.

ITIL: Managing IT for business success means a few disciplines are in order, a major one being IT service management.  ITIL is playing a larger and larger role with companies who are refocusing IT to be about business instead of infrastructure.  Those with ITIL training and certification have a lot to offer today’s IT workplace.

Project Management: In the same vein as ITIL, project management is key in delivering beneficial results.  Management skills are increasing in importance for IT workers to have as increased demand for services and introduction of cloud vendors ultimately means a lift in projects to manage.  Project management training and certification is the direction to take for those wanting to contribute positively to that sort of environment.

Networking: The handling of data has continued to be a critical segment of the IT industry and has especially seen change with cloud computing.  Managing and maintaining complex network environments is not just about performance but also about business security and integrity.  Networking training is available on introductory and advanced topics for people wanting to be in demand for this still-growing segment.

Programming: Projects are being revived or created left and right.  Many of them were mothballed while layoffs were at their worst in recent years but are seeing the light of day again.  Open positions for programmers have risen in the last six or more months and many large employers are hiring crowds of them to cover projects.  Programming and application development training is an outstanding investment for someone looking for a career in which to get established.

GogoTraining provides classroom-quality IT training courses taught by industry experts in an online, self-paced and affordable format.  For more outstanding IT and management training opportunities, check out the GogoTraining online IT course catalog.

The economy has improved for graduates hitting the field with computer science degrees.  According to Dice.com, companies are planning to hire almost 20% more graduates this year.

Last year was tough for many people trying to get in, graduates and experienced workers alike.  Employers were averaging roughly 40 applicants for every open position.  That average has dropped significantly to about 21 applicants this year.  With job creation running at a generally consistent clip for some time, graduates are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Demand for skills reaches across the IT field.  Networking and storage skills are being sought by those gearing up to be a Cloud vendor.  Security skills are in demand in both corporate and government.   Application developers for web, mobile and software are finding homes in small as well as enterprise-level employers.

Computer science graduates can supplement their degrees with focused skill training in the hottest IT topics of today.  GogoTraining is a leading provider of high-quality training taught by industry experts, available online and affordable (even for graduates!).  Example areas of interest include:

• Android developer training
• Linux administration and programming training
• Microsoft server training
• Oracle database administration training
• Java programming training
• C programming training
• Business Intelligence training
• I/O and Storage training
• ITIL Foundations and Intermediate training
• IT Security training

Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics continue to grow as a strong point of interest with medium and large businesses.  This is translating into more IT jobs as 2011 progresses.  According to Boris Evelson, Forrester vice president and principal analyst, here are five reasons why beefing up the BI skills would likely pay off.

1. More budget.  IT companies are increasing their investment in this space.
2. In-House Friendly. Rather than be prone to outsourcing, BI is a function best kept inside the building.
3. Collaboration. Face-to-face collaboration needs to occur between managers, regular users, analysts and the IT department.  Evelson forsees the never several years being about collaboration between IT and other teams/disciplines.
4. Regular revisits.  BI projects are modified on an ongoing basis.
5. BI hiring on the rise.  With rise of value in BI comes the rise in employment for BI positions.  Evelson notes IBM alone is growing their BI services segment from 4,000 to 8,000 people in the next couple of years.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

GogoTraining is a trusted provider of IT training courses, including business intelligence training.  Check out our online IT training course catalog today to find the courses that will put you ahead.

CIOs stated increasing enterprise growth, cost reduction and new customer development as three focal areas for 2011, according to recent research from Gartner.

A priority on improving business intelligence (BI) was expressed in Gartner’s 2011 CIO Agenda survey.  “Business intelligence is appearing fairly rapidly, and it’s been number one for several years,” said John Roberts, an analyst with Gartner. 

CIOs are turning to BI as one of the critical tools for obtaining goals.  The stakes are higher with companies increasingly tying CIO compensation to things like customer satisfaction and systems reliability.  Business intelligence helps ensure the risks CIOs and businesses will need to take are made in a more informed manner with the right information at the right time.

GogoTraining offers the following Business Intelligence (BI) training courses:

• WebIntelligence™ Basic Reporting
• WebIntelligence™ Intermediate Reporting
• WebIntelligence™ Advanced Reporting
• BusinessObjects® Report Writing
• Mastering Crystal Reports 2008