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By 2010, it is expected the U.S. will face a shortage of 10,033,000 workers. It’s hard to believe, but data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics that tracks expected job openings vs. working population indicates this is the case.

Don’t believe the hype! Like most industries, information technology has had significant job losses.

In light of the current economic climate, how do you see the job outlook for technology workers in 2010? What is the one thing that technology workers and job seekers must do in order to successfully advance their careers in 2010?

 

Blacks Gone Geek conducted a readers poll and found some surprising results!

 
What is the Wisdom of the Crowd?
 
The wisdom of the crowd refers to the process of taking into account the collective opinion of a group of individuals rather than a single expert to answer a question. Join the experiment. Check out the detailed survey results below and join the discussion on Blacks Gone Geek to share your observations and recommendations. 
 

 n=106
 
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself: What job title best fits you?
 
 
2. How do you see the job outlook for technology workers in 2010
 
 
3. What do you see as the hottest jobs for 2010?
 
 
4. What do you see as the hottest technology skills for 2010?
 
 
5. Please select the top 3 IT functional areas for greatest job market demand in 2010.
 
 
6. What is the one thing that technology workers and job seekers must do in order to successfully advance their careers in 2010?
 
 
1During this tough time I think the most important thing is to think out of the box. Look at the organization you work in and see how you can bring value to the organization.  Get out of the regular day to day activities you might get used to and get out there and make some things happen; be innovative, not afraid to learn something new, and push yourself just a little bit more.
2Stay current.
3Networking
4Stay on top of skills
5continue to obtain knowledge
6Go into management.  As a laid off worker companies are wanted the working staff to be able to be the manager and the worker bee.  They are asking for 8-10 yrs experience minimal.  They are consistently looking for managers.
7bleach their skin and change their name, address, and body so that they can transform into a white person. The one thing that technology workers and job seekers must do in order to successfully advance their careers in 2010 is to overcome discrimination and racism.
8change out of IT
9NETWORK
10non tech
11continue to update your skills often and stay rooted in the current industry technology
12reduce h1B
13Networking. We must network and mentor each other during these times. We do not do that enough amongst each other and we can miss opportunities.
14Become a jack of all trades.  Be able to learn and use new tech that will benefit the corporate bottom line.
15keep learning
16Find an inside connection.
17Get overall understanding of the needs of their organization. Behave as a generalist; get more business education; acquire a mentor with 'real' power and political pull within your company.
18Continually retool.
19Continuing education and training.
20Be multifunctional.  The era of the one trick poney is over.
21eliminate H-1B program
22Diversify their skill sets
23Keep learnning new technology
24Be educated on the current application trends and one way to do this is to go back to school and take a class.
25Aggressive training and development
26Keep updating their skills
27Improve technical skills.
28Upgrade technical skills - start looking into Linux and open source
29Keep current and keep adding to there IT toolbox the skills to be a diverse IT person. It's not enough to be just a programmer, you have to be a programmer, DBA, systems ad, network manager, and security specialist.
30Educate and certify their skills
31Stay current
32more education in various current technologies
33Stay up to date with their skills.
34Show value they bring to an organization. Value that cannot be sourced externally.
35Increase their skills
36The ability to rub people the right way, not the wrong way. Making friends on the job so you have a big reference/referral network.
37Become more business focused and determine to how to meet / exceed customer expectations. In regards to customer IT must become more knowledgeable (understanding their objectives, issues, and opportunities and why) with near immediate customer, the business users, the core business and its purpose, the companies value chain, and the companies extended supply chain and all its surrounding dynamics
38Sell your self
39Continuing Education, keep getting certifications and study to become more diverse with your background and IT skills.
40They must go back and take classes for the newest technology.
41Get out of IT.
42Lobby against H1-B visas.
43have both a degree an certification
44Get continuous (quarterly, monthly - period not less than 30 days no more than 90 days) FEEDBACK on your performance.
45Continue Education and Certification.
46Assess their skill sets and upgrade as needed...scratch that- NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK!!!!
47Be aware of what is going on in our industry as it relates to their area of focus in IT
48Keeping up with the changing technology wanted by some many companies.
49Balance excellent technical skills with soft skills.
50IT really depends on the individuals skills. For technology workers, they need to keep on top of  new technology. For job seekers like myself, don't have a closed mind, try to keep entry level position into the IT industry and take it from there.
51Continue to skills updated and fresh, don't pigeon hole yourself into a role or particular technology.
52Enhance their skills to become marketable
53Get certified
54Know somebody who can get them in the door.
55network, network, network...join and be active in various associations and contribute to or create blogs
56Continue to update skills
57Continuing with education
58Practice their skills
59keep employed
60obtain a master degree since its becoming  stay on top of technology changes
61Get required training!
62Network with other IT professionals
63keep adding to their job knowledge not only in their field but learn new things also
64Learn latest technologies
65Manage their own carrers.
66Good question. Keep abreast of skills and align oneself with an company that is not totally offshoring.
67REmain current and add new skills every two years
68Create grassroots campaigns and support change to lobby Congress to help stimulate and protect IT jobs.
69Networking and continue education
70Start a business of their own on the side.  If it starts to get successful, then leave employment.
71realize that technology controls them. Not! the other way.
72Continue to learn new technologies and keep their skills updated.
73Stay abreast of the latest trends and technologies and translate into innovative solutions
74Become more independent -- corporate institutions are NOT your friend(s)...
75Network with other IT professionals
76Network
77Stay up to date with training/whitepapers. Also identify key skills in technology such as SAN and scripting.
78Learn everything under the sun to get a "decent" job... sadly.
79Get out of IT. I'm doing it. A hobby is not a career.
80Continue to grow and evolve in the industry as it pertains to educational opportunities and networking with others in the industry.
81explain their value in business terms
82Retrain
83Update skills and get certifited in them
84Network
85Put an end to cheap foreign labor off-shoring and in-shoring practices.
86Understand how disruptive technologies like Cloud, Virtualization, Storage, and Converged Networks are taking hold in the industry quickly. This IS the leading edge and where the new opportunities will be. Understanding how to deploy and secure these new platforms is key.
87Continue, Continue to study new fields and niche technologies quickly.  This knowledge isn't gained in most colleges or specialty technology schools yet because it's new. Still these schools do provide value because the foundation of technical knowledge must be gain intially via traditional higher education.     One can usually find documentation on all technologies on the internet and in some text textbooks copyrighted within the last year or so. Then position yourself as an expert based initially solely on documentation/working/textbook knowledge factoring in actual experience apocryphally. In addition, executive recruiters must support this premise and stretch themselves to think outside of the box also.  I would recommend seeking consultant positions rather the full time employment intially to optain experience and get hired quickly so as not to get discouraged. Individuals need a strategy for competitive advantages similiar to how companies compete against one another.    For example today, Sharepoint is increasing in popularity, therefore one could study everything about Sharepoint, install it on one's laptop, learn how to customize it, program in it, etc,etc.  Once a person is proficient and can do the job if hired he'll succeed because he or she is not speaking in a interview saying give me an opportunity and I'll learn and do a good job.  Employers aren't so interested in you learning but now we are in a era of doing!    The critical mistake one makes is become a expert in one technology and think this will continue to provide a good paying job for himself without expanding to learning new languages, environments, etc.  Don't pigeon hole oneself into this mythical thinking.  Lazyiness and complicatency will get you nothing in this life,  continue to learn and evolve.  History teaches us by studying the Dodo bird.  Think about these statements I often here and you be the judge.     "I've been doing mainframe programming for many years, and I'm a die heart mainframe programmer"    "Many Cobol programmers are dying or retiring, therefore the old systems will eventually need programmers and I'm waiting and then I'll get a job"
88Keep up with trends.
89move to another country, sad but true
90Find jobs first if possible

We thank all of the survey respondents for sharing their opinions and feedback. Please contact us using the form below for more information and for more information on volunteer opportunities.
 
 

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