SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JOB MARKET : TECHNOLOGY’S CHANGING FACE : On the Cutting Edge : BOOM IN COMPUTER NETWORKS
When the computer networking firm 3Com Corp. shed some product lines and layed off 235 people in January, the response from other computer companies was swift. Within 48 hours, 50 companies had called to inquire about hiring the former 3Com employees, and the 3Com career center now has 5,000 job openings from 160 companies on file.
“We thought we’d be calling other companies saying ‘Please, please, send us your job postings,’ ” recalls Jane Creech of 3Com. “Instead, we’ve had to hire two extra people just to answer the phones.”
The tremendous interest in 3Com employees reflects opportunities that exist in one of the fastest-growing segments of the computer industry: local-area networks. At a time when the industry as a whole is in a slump, demand is still booming for the hardware and software products that link groups of personal computers in an office.
That’s because the computer world is gradually moving away from large, centralized mainframe and minicomputer systems toward clusters of more powerful desktop machines. Sophisticated networking capabilities make this long-term evolution possible.
For those seeking opportunity in computers, then, networking is where the action is. At companies large and small, demand is strong for a wide range of technical, administrative and marketing professionals. Market leader Novell Inc. alone is hiring 20 to 30 people a week around the country, according to Tim Harris, senior vice president of human resources at the Provo, Utah-based company.
Those in the best position to take advantage of the networking boom are software engineers with knowledge of the Unix software operating system and the programming language called C. And having a lot of experience is less important than having good skills, according to David Flansbaum, managing director of the technical recruiting company Source-EDP.
“In the traditional corporate environment, it’s very much a question of experience,” Flansbaum explained. “But in software engineering, it’s what you can do as opposed to whether you’ve paid your dues.”
Networking engineers are in demand at a variety of firms, ranging from large vendors such as Novell to a broad variety of consulting companies that specialize in customer network applications.
Even people without a technical background can find opportunities in the local-area networking arena. Companies that use local-area networks often need “network administrators” to monitor and coordinate network usage among the many people who use its resources. Many smaller companies are involved in the installation and service of these networks, and they often need workers to handle routine mechanical tasks such as pulling cables. A basic knowledge of personal computers is often all that’s needed for these jobs.
Sales and marketing people are also needed, and, again, deep technical knowledge is not always necessary. Harris says there is also demand for technical writers to help make manuals and other documentation available to the layman.
On the other hand, those who are suffering from the slump at traditional, old-line computer companies can take heart because experience with mainframe and minicomputers can still be useful in the new world of local-area networks. Many of these networks have to be connected at some point to larger computer systems, and the functions they perform are similar to those once carried out by minicomputers.
Bill Lozoff, 44, discovered when he was laid off from his job as a product marketing manager at 3Com that his broad background in the industry was quite valuable. Not only was his work in networking at 3Com considered a plus, but so was his experience in the minicomputer and telecommunications industries.
“I started snooping around before the layoff hit; I knew something was going to happen.” he recalled. “And once I spent the time looking, I discovered there was really quite a lot out there. The market is still very viable.”
Of course, not everyone has the depth of experience and the connections that enabled Lozoff to find work relatively easily. And the local-area networking field is perhaps a little less open than it was a few years ago, when hardly anyone had experience and companies therefore were not so demanding in the kind of background they required.
But for people who are technically adept and willing to spend time and perhaps some money learning specific skills, opportunities clearly abound.
