2013 IT Job Outlook - Blacks Gone Geek Readers Poll - Your Opinion Matters

To be successful in this ever changing IT industry, you have to know what’s hot so you can keep your skills current. This is where we could use your help.  It’s your opinion that matters. How do you see the job outlook for technology workers in 2013? What is the one thing that job seekers must do in order to advance their careers in 2013?

Please click the link below to take a short 5-minute survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2013-IT-Outlook

Survey closes Friday, March 1, 2013. Please take action today!

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Blacks Gone Geeks Readers Poll - Who’s Hiring Now? - Last Call!

The current job market statistics shows a jobless rate of 7.9%, yet the same statistics state that in the Information Technology community the unemployment rate is only at 1.9%. How can that be?  Blacks Gone Geek is an organization that promotes awareness to the African American community by providing a forum where they can share and exchange knowledge within the Information Technology Industry. 

Blacks Gone Geek has created this 5 minute survey to help connect people with jobs. This job posting information will be used to update our “Who’s Hiring Now” report.

It's your opinion that matters. So, if you could please participate in the survey at the link below, Blacks Gone Geek can continue our tradition of helping African Americans in IT to excel in this challenging job market.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WhosHiringNow2012

Survey closes 11/21/12.

Thank you,

Milt Haynes, Founder and Chief Knowledge Officer

Blacks Gone Geek

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Transforming the IT Workforce

 

Hi All,

I have some good news to share. I’ve been invited to speak at the ITSMF 3^rd Quarter Symposium held in conjunction with the BDPA Conference on Friday, August 3^rd. I will be presenting to senior IT executives and BDPA conference attendees on the theme “Transforming the IT Workforce”.

The objective of this workshop is to inspire senior IT executives to use innovative techniques to find top talent so they can "transform their workforce" to meet the growing demands of the future.

My presentation will offer a unique perspective, from the outside looking in. It’s an opportunity for me to share the survey results from the 2012 IT Job Outlook - Blacks Gone Geek Readers Poll in an intimate setting. My presentation will promote dialogue and discussion on what senior IT executives can do to develop their workforce to better meet the needs of the business.

Did you know that today there is a talent shortage? Yes, it’s true. Ask any IT executive how difficult it is to fill jobs that require unique skill sets and you’ll see what I mean. From the bottom to the top, good talent is hard to find. And companies are no longer in a position to hire second best or train "near fit" candidates for a job. New hires have to hit the ground running in order to be productive from day one. Agile methodology is HOT because time to market has to be FAST. Big companies and small companies alike have to be quick and nimble in order to out pace their competition.

How can senior IT executives transform their workforce to meet the growing demands of the business? There is no easy answer, but one way to do it is by looking from the outside in. In other words, don’t just look at the positions you have open at the moment, look at the external talent pool and figure out ways to grow your bench outside the company instead of carrying your bench inside the company on your payroll.

We will explore this theme further at the symposium, but why wait until then. Send us an email or leave us some comments to share your thoughts today. If you’re on the outside looking in, what advice would you offer to senior IT executives looking for innovative ways to transform their workforce?

We want to hear from you!

Milt Haynes

Founder and Chief Enterprise Architect, Blacks Gone Geek

CIO, National BDPA  

milt@blacksgonegeek.org

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Global Knowledge - 2012 IT Skills and Salary Report

2012 IT Skills and Salary Report April 2012 The results are in from the fifth annual IT Skills and Salary Survey by Global Knowledge and TechRepublic, and there are finally reasons for optimism. The average salary of this year's respondents was up 6.2% from last year's and, in fact, is the highest in the history of the survey. While salary is a key component of the study, we also examined other factors such as job satisfaction, impact of acquiring new skills and certifications, and trends in pay, including base pay, bonuses, benefits, and geographic impact. Here are a few highlights: Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction among IT professionals is rebounding from its low point in 2010. Sixty percent of respondents reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their position, compared to 43% in 2011 and 40% in 2010. Impact of Acquiring New Skills and Certifications The correlation between new skills and salary has always been assumed, and this year's report shows a clear impact. In fact, individuals who trained in the prior year earned an average of 8.6% more than those who did not train. Additionally, 65% of respondents reported earning a certification in the past five years. The impact of new skills and certifications was also echoed by managers. The percentage of managers reporting that their staff was more effective or significantly more effective on the job after receiving a certification rose to 50%, up from 35% in 2011. As it relates to specific job functions, all areas reported at least modest salary growth. Salaries grew the most for those involved in security, database, data center, and servers and storage, while those working in communications and applications/programming experienced the least amount of growth. Trends in Pay Adding to the good news of this year's higher average salary is the fact that 63% of respondents received a raise. The bad news is that the likelihood of receiving a raise varied greatly by salary range. Individuals earning $60,000 or less were much less likely to receive a raise than their colleagues in higher earning brackets. Geographic Trends As one would expect, average salary varied widely across the country. There was a variance of more than $9,000 between the top paying (Northeast) and the lowest paying (Midwest) regions. When looking at pay by state, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington, DC, had the highest average salaries. New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming were the lowest paying states. In the complete 2012 IT Skills and Salary Report, you'll find expanded coverage of the above topics, along with 15 detailed charts and graphics addressing intriguing topics, including: Respondents' salary range Salaries of more than 125 popular certifications Salaries by job function Salaries by industry Nationwide salary comparison Download your copy now!  http://images.globalknowledge.com/wwwimages/pdfs/2012_Salary_Report.pdf

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2012 IT Job Outlook - Blacks Gone Geek Readers Poll - Survey Results

Click here for a PDF version of the survey results

Stay Current!

To be successful in this ever changing IT industry, you have to know what’s HOT so you can keep your skills current. This is where we could use your help. It’s your opinion that matters. How do you see the job outlook for technology workers in 2012? What is the one thing that job seekers must do in order to advance their careers in 2012?

Survey Results Observations

1) 61% of the survey respondents are IT Professionals (e.g. individual contributor, consultant, contractor) and 23% are in management. This is a demographic consistent with the Blacks Gone Geek online community and also for African Americans in IT.

2) 88.5% of the respondents think the job market is the same or improving and only 11.5% think the job market is in decline. This is consistent with the national sentiment that things are getting better.

3) Careers in the cloud scored high in all categories.

4) Project management and business analysis are still strong career choices, however, the # 1 choice was Cyber Security Specialist.

5) The top 5 IT functional areas:

a. Applications Development/Solutions Delivery

b. IT Leadership & Governance

c. Customer Relationship Management

d. Infrastructure Management

e. Enterprise Architecture

6) Best Advice:

a. Stay current!

b. Network

c. Embrace lifelong learning

d. Update skills and comfort level with new technology, especially in all things dealing with private and hybrid cloud and mobile applications.

e. Be technically proficient and know how the technology translates into benefits to the business process

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. Join the discussion on the Blacks Gone GeekJob Seekers Forum to share your observations and recommendations.

Thanks! Blacks Gone Geek thanks the 78 respondents who took the time to share their opinion.

For Detailed Survey Results:

http://www.blacksgonegeek.org/Pages/2012ITJobOutlookBlacksGoneGeekReadersPoll.aspx

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