Techies Are Still in Demand in Some Strong Job Sectors
In the technology sector, forecasting can be dangerous business.
Just ask investors who poured their savings into dot-com stocks only to lose big as cold winds hit the market last year.
Today’s job seekers are entering a labor market that’s undoubtedly different from the “name your price” days of early 2000--though it’s not without opportunities for people who can demonstrate their worth to employers in a rapidly changing environment.
A poll of local and national recruiters about the hottest technology positions for 2001 turned up some interesting possibilities.
One field likely to remain strong is the one made up of information-security professionals, the folks who help to protect privacy by warding off hackers.
“It’s almost like ‘an apple a day,’ ” says Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of RHI Consulting, a recruiting firm in Menlo Park, Calif. “A lot of companies are being proactive, making sure both their internal and external information is secure.”
That goes for start-ups that provide security advice, as well as large companies and government agencies hiring their own personnel to manage information-technology risks. There are a number of specialized roles within the security area, from the techies who test corporate and government security firewalls to people who analyze potential threats to lawyers and lobbyists who make policy for individual companies and the industry as a whole.
Ben Venzke, 27, has followed the security field for more than a decade. He directs special intelligence projects at IDefense, a Fairfax, Va., company that designs security systems for clients and alerts them to potential breaches.
To be successful in the security arena, Venzke says, job candidates will have to work well under tight deadlines.
“The industry is very fast-paced, especially when you’re flooded with information,” he says. “You’re really dealing with tremendous volumes of information.”
Of course, there’s always the delicate issue of having to pass a security check yourself. Consider yourself forewarned: Questions routinely arise about U.S. citizenship, prior arrests, drug use and past international travel.
While information security poses a somewhat new demand, good old-fashioned software developers with experience will continue to command high salaries. People with Java, C++ and Visual Basic prowess are especially hot, according to RHI’s 2001 salary survey. Jobs at biotech companies and optical-networking firms also will remain plentiful, especially compared with the carnage some dot-coms have experienced over the last several months.
Finally, don’t forget to take a broad view of technology. If you’ve sworn off dot-coms, remember that there are other companies out there in which to ply your trade.
“The actual recruits are still in high need, but it’s coming from different areas,” says Paul Stefunek, who does Internet placements for the Stratford Group.
Among the industries needing more techies are insurance and financial services. Those paper-intensive sectors are shifting more resources toward the electronic exchange of information, in part because of electronic-signature legislation that Congress passed last year, experts say.
“Insurers are realizing they must add an e-commerce component to their businesses,” says John Savercool of the American Insurance Assn. “It’s important not only to do business online through online sales but also to communicate online with customers.”
Leonard Stevens, a New Jersey recruiter for the insurance sector, says his clients get most excited about job candidates with sales and marketing experience in the e-commerce arena, “not necessarily super-techies.”
“They’re willing to take some chances on people with experience and with a strong understanding of sales and a financial services background,” says Stevens, of Stevens, Valentine & McKeever.
