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The making of an effective CIO

Webmaster — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:10:46 -0600

CIOs need to position themselves with their enterprises in order to be successful. They need to not only know where their clients want them to go but also to communicate how they are achieving those objectives. The objectives they need to meet and the metrics that can be used are:

· Understand requirements and objectives Frequency and number of requirements and objectives discussed with multiple people at customer organization.

· Establish company credibility and interest - Company viewed as a leader with known corporate, technical and project management teams in addition to solid past performance and experience.

· Preview preliminary solution with customer - Well-developed solution with features linked to objectives and approach vetted with customer to get buy-in and solution validation.

· Achieve acceptance of win strategy (technical, management, past performance, teaming, price) accepted by customer - Win strategy well established, previewed and accepted by customer.

· Influence the request for proposals - Procurement strategy, proposal instructions, and evaluation criteria favorable.

Employ America Act would limit H-1B Visas

rss@ejobdescription.com — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:50:58 -0600

The proposed Employ America Act has H-1B hiring restrictions that would bar any firm that lays off 50 or more workers from hiring guest workers. This legislation could potentially affect a broad swath of tech firms that have laid-off large numbers of workers but continue hiring.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics high-tech industry overall has laid off more than 345,000 workers (see job descriptions) since August 2008, according to the two senators in the unveiling of what they called the Employ America Act.

The proposers of this legislation said that with the unemployment rate over 10%, companies that undertake mass layoffs shouldn't need to hire foreign guest workers when there are plenty of qualified Americans looking for jobs.

In February, these same legislators moved to prohibit any financial services firm that received money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) from hiring H-1B holders. That blanket restriction on hiring wasn't adopted, but Congress did agree to automatically make any firm receiving TARP funds "H-1B dependent."

A company is considered H-1B dependent if more than 15% of their workers are on the H-1B visa, but the TARP restriction applies regardless of the percent of visa holders on the payroll. Companies that are H-1B dependent must, among the things, make good faith efforts to hire U.S. workers first.

With the Senate expected to receive an immigration overhaul bill early next year, the prospects for any H-1B-related legislation is uncertain and probably unlikely to pass.

Proposed earlier the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2009 would set a number of restrictions on H-1B use, including the so-called 50-50 provision that would prohibit any firm with more than 50 workers from having more than half workforce on H-1B or L-1 visas. That provision is aimed at Indian outsourcing firms. The legislation also sets higher salary standards for visa workers as well as anti-fraud provisions.

Other proposed legislation that would to increase the H-1B cap and that would exempt foreign graduates of U.S. Ph.D. programs from counting toward a cap on H-1B visas.

IT Professionals are satisfied in their jobs but are looking

Webmaster — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:26:52 -0600

The vast majority of IT professionals are satisfied at work with 40 percent are satisfied with their jobs. Indeed, Janco finds that there is a direct correlation between job satisfaction and the salary. Since more money equals greater job satisfaction, one could infer that for some, money does buy happiness.

However, more than 60% of IT Professionals feel they should be making more money.
Though the majority of IT professionals seem to be satisfied with their current jobs, it is not preventing almost 40% of them to start looking for new opportunities. Nearly 1 in 5 are either actively looking or will be looking within the next three months.

Could proposed fed policy help IT Hiring

Webmaster — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:24:05 -0600

Several Republican senators and procurement experts have voiced their disagreement with a policy Obama administration officials are considering that would give a leg up to contractors who pay their employees more, according to a letter and comments at a hearing.

"We are concerned that the imposition of these requirements, during a time of significant economic turmoil in the private sector and tight federal budgets, could have serious, negative consequences, especially for our nation's small businesses," five senators wrote in a letter to the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Today, an Obama administration official said the president hasn't issued any policy regarding a contracting preference. Nevertheless, experts inside and outside of government have offered suggestions to the administration on improving contracting, as the president pledged to do in his reform memo.

Army to reduce outsourcing

Webmaster — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:31:32 -0600

(Washington Technology) Army Secretary John McHugh told a Senate committee today that the Army plans to give outsourced jobs that are associated with inherently governmental functions to its civilian employees.

The Army intends to insource 7,162 positions this fiscal year, McHugh said in testimony before the Armed Services Committee. From fiscal 2011 to 2015, the service aims to take back 11,084 positions and give them to civilian employees. Of those, nearly 3,988 are for acquisition-related work, he said.

"Civilians are assuming increased responsibilities within the Army," he said.

In fiscal 2009, the Army saved significant resources by bringing back in house more than 900 "core governmental functions," McHugh added.

Core governmental functions, sometimes called critical functions, are jobs that are very close to inherently governmental functions, or work that only a government employee can do. Outsourcing core jobs can force the government to rely on the private sector's knowledge, and contractors potentially can unduly influence the government, officials say.

"The Army is recouping intellectual capital by insourcing former contracted positions,"McHugh said.

The Army identified these positions to insource in its ongoing contractor inventory review process.

Like McHugh, other military officers and Defense Department officials have announced plans in their fiscal 2011 budget proposals to take away numerous jobs from contractors, in areas such as acquisition and procurement.

Baby boomers face new challenges in the job market

rss@ejobdescription.com — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:17:39 -0600

According to the Congressional Budget OfficeOver the past 15 months, the stock market has wiped out $2 trillion in Americans' retirement savings . With the downturn in the stock market and the laying off of so many IT professionals, there now is a situation where "baby boomer" are competing for the same jobs as the "millennials" are just getting out of college.

CIOs now have to decide whom to hire by sorting through a maze of competing technical expertise, business acumen, cultural preferences, and career expectations.

That is not always easy. Millennials have a tendency to eat, sleep and breathe Web 2.0 technologies, and the value of that may not be immediately clear to a traditional CIO.

Boomers have expertise in more traditional technologies such as IT infrastructure and operating systems. That's good news for large enterprises, which are always on the lookout for IT professionals with the skills needed to support its largely mainframe-based package-tracking system. That type of expertise can limit boomers' prospects elsewhere.

This eagerness to learn gives many millennials a leg up on the competition. There is a managerial flip side to consider. Young IT workers who are bold enough to take on new technologies are also more likely to be impatient with the constraints of traditional workplaces.

Businesses that expect all employees to march to the beat of the same drummer, however, may have a tough time reining in millennials' more spirited work ethic and thirst for experimentation.

Recession impacts IT entry positions the hardest

Webmaster — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:49:26 -0600

Take a look at the numbers defining the scope of the recession. When you break down the unemployment rate by age group, here's how it pans out: 16.7 percent for everyone aged 15 to 24, 8.2 percent for everyone aged 25 to 44, and 6.3 percent for everyone aged 45 and older. So, the older you are, the less likely you are to be unemployed.

Federal records show that the older you are, the more money you're likely to be making: The median weekly salary for workers in the 16-to-24 age bracket is about 41 percent less than what someone aged 25 to 44 makes -- and they're making 6 percent less than the folks in the 55-and-up group.

When you look at the numbers in the Janco 2010 salary survey, staff-level salaries start at a median of $40,671 and climb higher as the jobs proceed up the (very short) ladder.

And, unfair as this seems, the more you're making, the less likely you are to be unemployed. According to a new study at Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies, the unemployment rate for people making between $39,000 and $50,000 is 9 percent, and it only drops more as your income climbs: If you're making $79,100 or more, only 3.2 percent to 5 percent of the people in your income bracket have lost their jobs.

Raises too be meager for IT according to study

Webmaster — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:29:26 -0600

At less than 2 percent, raises in technology salaries will be small in 2010, according to a report by Computer Economics. Developers are at the top of both the raise list and the salary list, especially for highly complex application development work. Managers and senior executives will have to get to the back of the line.

IT workers are due to receive a median 1.8 percent bump in salary in 2010 - below the 2.7 percent rate of inflation and the lowest rate in the last five years - according to data from a 2010 salary report from Computer Economics. A similar report from technology job board Dice, in January, showed that in 2009 tech salaries rose a measly 1 percent.

"By historical standards, the 1.8 percent median pay raise is meager," CE wrote on its Website. "But in light of still-high unemployment rates, the finding indicates IT executives are responding to the need to retain their best workers and boost damaged morale."

By comparison, salary raises for tech workers in 2007 were 3.8 percent, CE data showed. The effects of the recession on technology salaries will continue to be felt for some time.

"With persistent unemployment, organizations will be able to hire new workers at rates lower than those who were laid off during the recession. This should place downward pressure on U.S. national median salary levels over the coming months," CE said.

High tech jobs continue to suffer according to government report

Webmaster — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:13:31 -0600

Silicon Valley's decline has been charted over an eight-year period between 2000 and 2008 in which venture capital investment meant big gains for technology workers' wages in the beginning, but those IT wages have since diminished. The recovery will be slow and gradual, according to government economists. On the whole, high-tech industries in Silicon Valley declined sharply in employment and wages from 2000 to 2004 but increased gradually in both respects from 2004 to 2008.

From 2000, when high-tech employment and wages peaked, to 2008, Silicon Valley's hightech industries lost more than 108,400 jobs, or 19.9 percent of their employment.8 High-tech industries in the rest of the Nation lost 6.2 percent of employment. In addition, real wages fell by 13.5 percent among Silicon Valley's high-tech industries, while high-tech wages grew by 1.3 percent in the rest of the Nation.

Cyber criminals are hiring

Webmaster — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:16:39 -0600

The people who brought the world malicious software that steals credit card numbers from your personal computer and empties bank ATMs of their cash are hiring, and they're advertising online.

What they are seeking is people who are willing to take malicious code they provide and link it to something that people will click on -- like a picture of Britney Spears getting out of her car. These people then collect a fee for each 1,000 times that the malware is downloaded.

One site pays $180 for each 1,000 times that malware is downloaded onto a U.S. computer but less for computers elsewhere. It refuses to pay for any downloads to Russian computers, causing Stevens and others to strongly suspect that it, like other similar sites, are based in Russia.

"We pay your wages via the following systems: Fethard, WebMoney, Wire, e-gold, Western Union (WU), MoneyGram, Anelik and ePassporte, and PayPal," according to the website.

It is impossible to know how many computers were infected via these companies but put the number in the millions.

It's hard to separate theft arising from these web sites from other sorts of Internet crime but the FBI tallied $264 million in losses from Internet crime reported by individuals in 2008. The report for 2009 has yet to be released.

The cybercrime problem has become worse over the past three years as consumers and companies alike increasingly expose valuable data such as business plans, credit card numbers, banking information and Social Security numbers on the Internet.

"There are hundreds of billions of dollars that traverse the Internet," the assistant director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cyber Division, told Reuters late last year. "It's (the problem) absolutely gotten bigger, yes, absolutely."

Outsourcing impacts on certain IT jobs

Webmaster — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:31:16 -0600

A survey by a buisess shcool shows that 40% of high-technology firms offshore work, and about 30% of all firms that offshore send IT work overseas. Among the IT workers surveyed, about 8% report ever having experienced offshoring-related job displacement, double the average offshoring-related displacement rate across all other worker types, but still implying an annual offshoring-related displacement rate of only about 1-2% per year.

The study also showed that workers in jobs that require face-to-face contact or physical presence are at smaller risk of offshoring-related job displacement, implying that interpersonal skills are becoming relatively more valuable among IT workers. Other findings imply that IT workers in functions that involve cross-divisional communication or hands-on support are less likely to be affected by offshoring.

Leadership drives success and hiring

Webmaster — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:41:33 -0600

Leadership is an important element of organizational success. So, it is not surprising that many companies look for ways to extend the benefits of leadership development to more employees. Technology-based learning approaches such as online courses, books and video programs can be used effectively to develop employees at all levels.

Internet Position Descriptions HandiGuide®

231 Job Descriptions and Organization Charts

The job descriptions contained within the Internet and Information Technology Position Descriptions HandiGuide® are all in a standard format and are available as in PDF, WORD 2003, and WORD 2007 formats. All of the job descriptions were reviewed and updated to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and the ISO 27000 security standard. The latest version of the HandiGuide was completed in 2010 and is over 650 pages in length. The Internet and IT Position Descriptions HandiGuide includes sample organization charts, a job progression matrix, and the 231 job descriptions.

Many IT Professional Unhappy with Compensation

Webmaster — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:05:03 -0600

National averages for technology salaries are pretty stagnant, a recent Dice report shows, and there are high levels of job dissatisfaction. However, there is more growth in wages regionally, with high technology demand in Washington, New York, Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas.

Salaries for U.S. technology professionals rose a measly 1 percent in 2009 to an average of $78,845, well below the annual inflation rate of 2.7 percent for the year, according to a recent survey by technology job board Dice. Furthermore, the lack of wage growth fills technology professionals with a high level of job dissatisfaction.

Nearly half (47 percent) of the 16,908 online participants polled between August and December said their current employers are doing "nothing to keep them motivated," while only 19 percent were being offered challenging work. Responses about bonuses for 2009 were uninspiring too: Only 24 percent of technology professionals polled received bonuses last year.

With job and salary dissatisfaction at its highest levels in years, technology professionals should be willing to go fight for career advancement. HR and technology managers can win by identifying new motivators to keep staff on board, including compensation, training and career growth.

Of those tech workers who did not receive bonuses, 42 percent responded that they were displeased with their compensation. Of those who did receive bonuses in 2009, only 27 percent were displeased.

The new war for technology talent is coming and the battle is retention.

When you look at salary averages regionally in the Dice survey, you begin to see some ripples of growth. Washington had an average salary of $89,014, up 4 percent from the previous year, with technology jobs in defense and for the federal government. Silicon Valley, despite a tough year of layoffs, is still showing an average salary of $96,299 while New York showed a 1.5 percent increase with an average of $86,710. Texas was faring better too, with Dallas seeing a 2 percent gain and Austin having higher average paychecks.

So who is drawing the best salaries in IT right now? Think application developers and SOA (service-oriented architecture) specialists.

Continuing to lead the pack in top paid skills is ABAP - Advanced Business Application Programming ($115,916), followed by SOA - Service Oriented Architecture ($107,827), and ETL - Extract Transform and Load ($105,844)," the survey said. These frontrunners were followed by a few newcomers and some solid technology job stalwarts:

Applications server skills JBoss and WebLogic joined the $100,000 salary ranks with annual salaries topping $101,869 and $100,313, respectively. Individuals with Solaris ($96,672) and AIX ($95,464) skills were the highest-paid [of those with] operating system skills. The [areas with the] highest paid titles include IT Management ($114,874), Information Architecture ($105,247), Project Manager ($103,437), Software Engineer ($91,342) and Database Administrator ($91,283).

Job cuts continue - Ericsson trims 1,500 jobs

Webmaster — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:47:52 -0600

Ericsson, a wireless equipment maker, is cutting 1,500 jobs from among its 80,000 global employees. The company reported on Friday a huge downturn in fourth quarter and full-year 2009 earnings. For the quarter ended December, Ericsson saw its net earnings plummet 92 percent to 314 million million kronor ($43.4 million dollars), compared with the year-ago quarter. Sales dropped 13 percent to 58.3 billion kronor from the year-ago quarter.

For all of 2009, Ericsson's earnings were down 67 percent to 3.7 billion kronor ($512 million). Annual sales survived, though, falling only 1 percent to 206.5 billion kronor over the previous year.

The 1,500 job cuts are in addition to 5,000 layoffs Ericsson announced about a year ago after a 31 percent drop in 2008 fourth-quarter earnings, bringing the total to 6,500. After layoffs and budget cuts are completed around the second quarter of this year, the company is looking to save around 15 billion to 16 billion kronor ($2.1 billion to $2.2 billion) annually.

Work at home option improves productivity

Webmaster — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:17:52 -0600

Work at home is a boon to employee productivity. Some of the factors driving this are:

Reducing support costs - if an employee is not in the office then administrative costs and expenses are reduced.

Increasing workforce productivity - if an employee does not have to commute to the office and can work at home or go directly to a customer location they are more productive.
Attracting and retaining talent - working at home is a benefit that does not cost much but has a very high perceived value
Increasing organizational agility - the organization is more flexible and adaptive to market needs
Reducing the business risk of disruption from terrorism and natural disasters - with diverse locations work at home provides an infrastructure that can survive most disasters
Reducing traffic congestion, air pollution and environmental impact more generally - it is environmentally friendly and more "green"

Is Job Demand Increasing

Webmaster — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 07:17:57 -0600

The second half of 2009 saw growth in online job vacancies. Health care and technology jobs led the pack in job opportunities, but the opportunity numbers for 2009 are still down significantly from 2008 and 2007.

Recent job vacancy data for the month of December pegs computer and math openings up 23,000 from November for a total of 467,000 nationally, according to a report from The Conference Board.

Overall, the annual average for job openings in 2009 is down compared with the previous two years with 3,357,000, which is 1.1 million below 4,481,000 for 2008 and 1.3 million below the 2007 average.

For all occupations, job vacancies were up 255,000 in December. The good news is the averages of job openings in the second half of 2009 were positive. Job demand was up on average by 58,000, compared with negative 91,000 in the first half of the year.

"Employers' modest increase in demand for labor in the second half of 2009 is a nice way to end what has been a very challenging year, said a senior economist at The Conference Board, in a report. "The gap between the number of unemployed and the number of advertised vacancies is still very high, but the recent six months indicate that things are slowly moving in the right direction. The gap between the number of unemployed and the number of advertised vacancies is about 12 million, with 4.5 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy."

Lay-offs Loom for IT Organization according to Janco

rss@ejobdescription.com — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:55:47 -0600

Janco has just released it January 2010 IT Salary Survey. One of the major findings were that a number of large IT organizations had focued on cutting cost without laying off any staff. However as the recession continues, in order to meet their enterprise's 2010 budgets these organization will need to cut staff.

Layoffs should start to occur sometime late in the first quarter and early second quarter of this year.

Other findings include:

Layers of middle management have been eliminated and the number of direct reports has increased for many IT Directors, Managers, and Supervisors.
Enterprises that have cut costs in lieu of laying staff off are now planning to institute a round of layoffs in order to meet their numbers for 2010.
Companies are continuing to reduce the benefits provided to IT professionals.
- Personal and company bonuses have been reduced if not eliminated altogether.
- Raises have be eliminated by many. For example in a survey conducted by Redmondmag.com it was reported that 36.5% of Microsoft employees saw no raise in 2009.
Hiring is limited to a few selected positions as enterprise continue to cut costs
There now is a surplus of seasoned IT professionals available. For the second time in less than ten years, retirements are being put off because of the downturn in the stock market and the resultant reduction in savings available to support IT professionals as they retire. Added to this is an influx of retirees who are looking to get back into the job market due to of the massive reduction in their investment portfolio

Staffing levels will not increase according to Janco

rss@ejobdescription.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:45:13 -0600

Enterprise IT leaders planning for 2010 might find themselves coming up short on staff and the necessary high-tech skills needed to help their companies rebuild and drive business growth during the economic recovery, according to recent research.

Research from multiple sources is starting to reveal that high-tech executives might be worried about how they can tackle the coming year and the challenges it presents with lean staffs comprised of over-worked IT professionals. According to Robert Half Technology, 43 percent of some 1,400 CIOs polled feel their IT departments are either somewhat or very understaffed in relation to current workload.

"Many companies have cut technology staff levels too deeply, making it challenging for IT departments to keep pace with demands," said an executive director of Robert Half Technology. "Although businesses may be able to operate with stretched teams in the short term, being perpetually understaffed isn't sustainable and can detract from the overall productivity and morale of the organization."

Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis forcasts that IT staff could remain lean well into 2010 and that economic recovery will not also indicate a return of IT jobs to pre-recession numbers.

"IT departments during the downturn were very cautious about where they reduced, and more organizations plan to keep staffing levels flat for a period of time. As the recovery continues, they might not even add too much, so I don't think we will ever go back to the big IT departments of 2000 or 2001," Janulaitis said.

36.5% of Microsoft employees saw no increases in 2009

rss@ejobdescription.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:39:56 -0600

Redmond's annual survey of Microsoft IT compensation shows that, despite a global recession, respondents reported higher average salaries-but lost some ground with raises and bonuses.

We're in the midst of a massive recession that's approaching the two-year mark. In 2008, when we reported that salaries in the Microsoft IT community went up, the recession had respondents wondering if IT salaries had finally hit a high mark. A year later, the recession has gone global, but amazingly it hasn't had the impact on base compensation that we expected. The overall base salary this year? $83,113. While 36.5 percent of survey participants said they saw no change in salary from last year, nearly half claimed their salary was higher in 2009.

Common CIO and IT Manager Mistakes

rss@ejobdescription.com — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:57:14 -0600

There are some ways that many CIOs and IT managers have failed to succeed. Most common mistakes were:

There is a magic bullet for success: Many execs, and companies as well, are constantly looking for a big win. When they find these "awesome opportunities" they throw resources at them in the hope that this success will fix a lot of existing mistakes and problems.

However, while going after the magic bullet, they often starve many of the smaller initiatives or operations which have been plodding along successfully for a long time. As a result of lost resources, these little successes consequently founder. They may fail. When the big win doesn't materialize - and they usually don't - the organization is left with less-effective pieces that can no longer provide enough juice to continue. Adding to the loss: Ultimately this approach of always going for the brass ring can demoralize even the best performers.
Failing to learn and grow: When it comes to sports or new hobbies, nearly everyone understands the importance of repeated practice to improve performance. But for some reason, leaders often fail to practice on the job. They apply new techniques, style changes, or business approaches without the necessary testing. For some reason, many CIO and IT Managers think that all they have to do is read or hear these new approaches and they can they go out and put them into action. Consequently, they blow it. At that point they may decide this new way is no good and abandon it too soon.

New approaches - physical or mental - require training and learning. Accept the idea that during your first few times of trying something new, you're likely to stub your toe. Learn from your flub: What could you have done differently for a successful outcome? Then try it again. It'll come. Soon it will become a part of your management style repertoire and your game will improve.
Avoid the hard personnel decisions: Intellectually, everyone knows that having the right person in the right job is critical. And yet.

Many CIOs and IT Managers will leave a weakling in a role for too long. They often attempt to justify their lack of action ("Chuck's been with us for years. Sarah's still learning," etc.), but regardless of their reasons, this mistake can cause a lot of problems. Good people will leave, or at the least, simply become less engaged. The wrong person in the role may miss opportunities that another may have seen, he / she may create more problems because they are in over their head. Being soft isn't generous, or thoughtful, or kind hearted. It's just dumb. I'm often told by the recently terminated that they kind of knew, in their heart of hearts, that they should have been more proactive.
Working hard is all that takes to succeed: Like most winners, in any game, a CIO or IT Manager are successful because they did more of the right things than they did of the dumb things. But they did do wrong things. Almost everybody does at certain times.

CIOs and IT Managers delusion regarding their success keep them from constantly upgrading themselves, fixing their mistakes, and building on the really good things they did do.
Being a constant fixer: Some people are naturally predisposed toward helping people fix their problems. If you're in trouble, you may welcome his or her stepping-in to help correct your issue. But many times, you don't need that person to come and tell you what to do. Then, their help is seen as interference. And it can make you pretty cranky.

If someone is thinking aloud with you, resist the urge to jump in. Don't interrupt them to provide "the answer." Let them process it on their own - it will make them better and more self-sufficient. And, as a bonus, you may actually learn something.

On the other hand, when another individual comes to you with a great idea, just tell them it is. That's all. Don't add anything. Because by adding, "that's good, why don't you add this to it," you devalue both their idea and their thinking. That's demoralizing and frustrating. So, keep this in mind - for the most part people don't like fixers. Just shut up, let them own it, and tell them they're doing good stuff.

Networking Tips for IT Professionals

rss@ejobdescription.com — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:05:20 -0600

Before anyone starts to look for a job they need to see that their professional network is in order and that they have game plan of steps that they will follow. Included are:

Belong to professional groups in your industry and be active - To get the most out of networking opportunities, arrive on time for events or 15 to 30 minutes early if the event is a conference, lecture or trade show where your early presence won't impose on a host. When you show up early, you will meet the movers and shakers at the event. In addition, you never have to worry about having to break into other people's conversations. If you're one of the first people in the room, others will begin to congregate around you.
Treat networking events as ways to meet other professionals not sales opportunities. Trade shows, conferences and parties are opportunities to meet people, to create likability and commonality the two cornerstones of networking. No one at a networking event is going to offer you a job right then and there. So don't try so hard to sell yourself. Instead, find common ground with the people you meet. Break the ice by asking people about their interests outside of work.
Give out your business card only if it is asked for or after you ask for the individual you are talking to.. When you immediately hand your business card to people to whom you're introducing yourself, the action suggests that you're interested only in selling a product or service to those people
Networking is not a numbers game, aim to make meaningful connections with a manageable number of people.
Talk about what you would like to do and never be negative. Job seekers should state what kind of job they're seeking, as well as the industry and any specific companies that interest them.

Is the IT job market stabalizing?

rss@ejobdescription.com — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:37:51 -0600

Over the last three months, the tech job market has been stabilizing and may even be improving in some areas -- particularly in management and consulting services, according to two separate reports analyzing the government's most recent labor data.

The big picture for all jobs is shaped by the U.S. Department of Labor in its monthly jobs reports, and y it delivered the best news yet in this downturn: a loss of 11,000 jobs in November. That compared to 597,000 lost jobs in November 2008 and 741,000 that were lost in January.

Two Labor Department job categories were responsible for a net gain of 11,200 IT jobs over the last three months. They are management and technical consulting services, which added 13,300 jobs, and computer systems design and related services, which gained 5,200 jobs. Over this period, the data processing, hosting and related services fields lost 2,700 jobs; the computer and peripheral equipment category fell by 3,200 jobs; and the communications equipment area lost 1,400 jobs.

End of year career self assessment for CIOs and IT Managers

rss@ejobdescription.com — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:22:05 -0600

Career question that CIO and IT Mangers should be asking themselves as they end this year:

How does your compensation compare to you peers in your company and against your competitors?
How does your boss measure your performance?
Do you believe it is the job of the CIO to align IT with the business?
Whats the greatest accomplishment of you and your team in the past 12 months?
Do you have a good sense of the massive changes taking place in all sectors of the industry?
How will you social networks to enhance you career? Your compnay?
How are you applying infrastructure innovation - - is deeply strategic and serves as a way to stay ahead of aggressive competitors and abreast of rapidly shifting
customer demands and requirements?
Is your "Computing Device 2010" strategy pretty much a mirror image of the same one you cobbled together in 2007 and 2008 and 2009, or have you and your team really started to dig into the pros and cons and best approaches to SmartPhones and netbooks and virtualized desktops?
Do you share with your team examples of game-changing innovation that can inspire and motivate?

India's outsourcers move jobs to the US!!

rss@ejobdescription.com — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:44:30 -0600

Wipro, India's third largest outsourcer, is expanding its development center in Atlanta from 350 to 1,000 staff, reflecting a growing trend for Indian outsourcers to expand and hire locally in the U.S. market. The company said that 80% of its current 350 employees were hired locally, and includes recent graduates from reputable academic institutions in Atlanta, experienced professionals and retired army personnel.

India's largest outsourcer Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said earlier that it was expanding its business alliance with The Dow Chemical Company, including setting up a services facility near the site of Dow's global headquarters in Midland, Mich. TCS also announced that it was expanding a software services delivery center in the Cincinnati suburb of Milford, Ohio.

Infosys BPO, the business process outsourcing subsidiary of outsourcer Infosys Technologies also said this month that it would acquire McCamish Systems, a BPO company in Atlanta focused on the insurance and financial services market.

Indian outsourcing companies are expanding both in India, and in the U.S., their key market, in anticipation of a pick up in business. Employing staff in the U.S. is expected to go over well with the local community and politicians because of resentment in the U.S. about companies moving jobs to India and other countries, analysts said.

IT loses over 300,000 jobs in 2009 according to Hackett

rss@ejobdescription.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:19:42 -0600

Large, global companies have eliminated 300,000 IT jobs in 2009, according to the consultancy Hackett Group. Back-office jobs in general fell 630,000 -- three times the average annual job loss from 2000 to 2007. The firm doesn't expect 2010 to see a turnaround for such positions, and instead forecasts an "extended jobless recovery." At the same time IT Salaries have fallen and Janco Associates, Inc, forecasts that this trend will continue.

Reasons include the general economic downturn, outsourcing, lack of economic growth, deep cuts in response to budget pressures, and improvements in productivity and automation.

The research estimates that nearly 2 million IT jobs in North America and Europe will have been eliminated between 2000 and 2014. That makes IT the largest back-office segment to lose jobs. The figures are based on a survey of 4,000 global companies, all with more than $1 billion in revenue. Back-office jobs include IT, administration, HR, finance, and procurement.

The following factors are critical considerations for CIO as they look to advance the use of Infornation Technology.

Inefficiency kills competitiveness: In order to maintain profitability and cash flow in times of weaker demand and margin pressure, it is imperative to understand and target inefficiencies throughout the organization. Some combination of both rapid and strategic cost reduction initiatives is critical to short-term results as long-term competitiveness.
Cash is king: freeing up unnecessary working capital is the cheapest form of financing. During periods of economic growth the focus on the balance sheet wanes, leading to increased inventories, receivables and inefficient management of sourcing relationships and payables.
Accurate and timely information is critical: Having timely and correct information is critical during volatile economic times. Ensuring that information allows you to understand how demand is changing and impacting your business is critical in planning and forecasting, which in turn are critical to decision-making.