7 Jan 2006

IT Hiring Up in 2006

According to a recent report in Computerworld, hiring for IT jobs is expected to heat up as businesses expand IT budgets. Job applicants with experience in specific industries are in especially high demand. On Dice.com, job postings for developers, project managers and help desk technicians rose by nearly half.

In order of demand, the top skills that IT execs will be hiring for are application development, information security, project management and help desk.

Don't worry that the hiring will be offshore. As one analyst noted, "most of the stuff that's going offshore is low-level coding jobs." Skilled .Net and Java developers are in high demand. A recent college grad with a couple of years' experience and entry-level C++ and .Net developer skills demanded and got a $62,500 salary.

Be ready to market your experience in a specific industry, though. Hiring managers are looking for application development skills that can make the most of their companies' existing infrastructure. Also driving demand is a need for people with information security skills. Though there has been a short-term dip in salaries, recruiters know they can't rest too easy on this surplus. Those with network security experience and government security clearances should see plenty of opportunity.

Project managers with specific expertise, especially in network security and compliance fulfillment (think HIPAA and all that paperwork on confidentiality you now have to sign when you get any kind of healthcare) are hard to find, notes one health insurance vice president. Project managers with a penchant for rural living might try looking beyond urban areas. Tucked away in the southeastern corner of Connecticut is a gaming and resort company eager for project managers with that kind of experience. One company outside of Chicago is wrestling with a shortage of project managers and budget concerns about having enough money to pay for relocation costs. Beware of this possible sticking point while you negotiate with a potential out-of-town employer.

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