IT Pros Discouraged by Dismal Job-Hunting Results Should Find Much Brighter Employment Prospects in Alternative Fields

/PRNewswire/ -- The recession is heightening competition for a dwindling number of IT jobs, while exerting downward pressure on compensation. Many IT professionals -- both employed and unemployed -- are considering changing careers, but are naturally concerned about wasting their investment in their education and experience. That concern should be dispelled by Debugging Your Information Technology(TM) Career (Elegant Fix Press - http://www.elegantfixpress.com/), which features 20 alternative fields where computer professionals' technical knowledge will be advantageous. An added bonus: Most of these fields offer strong protection from both offshoring and recessions.

Janice Weinberg (http://www.janiceweinberg.com/), the author, is a career consultant formerly with IBM and GE, whose IT background enabled her to identify the 20 careers she describes. While most of them aren't usually thought of as computer jobs, computer proficiency is a key qualification for success in each. For example:

-- An architect's knowledge of best practices in systems design would be
a strong asset in a technology due diligence position.

-- A business analyst who guided logistics staff in defining their IT
requirements would be a credible candidate for a strategic alliance
management position at a company marketing logistics software.

-- A NOC manager who upgraded a change-management function would bring a
valuable customer's perspective to a role as a change-management
software product manager.

-- A network security administrator could become a broker or underwriter
of cyberliability insurance.

-- A software engineer who supported CRM applications could parlay that
experience into a position selling CRM software.

-- Any IT professional who can assess the commercial potential of new
computer technology could qualify for a position as an equity analyst
covering the computer industry.


Most of the careers can be entered without further education beyond a BS in a computer-related discipline. Several -- for example, business continuity planner -- require a certification. Some readers may be motivated to become technology attorneys, forensic accountants or healthcare administrators. Many of the fields can be springboards for new consulting practices.

As Weinberg describes each career, readers will:

-- Realize why computer expertise is an advantage in delivering top
performance;

-- Be able to imagine themselves in the field by reading the hour-by-hour
Typical Workday;

-- Understand how a recession could undermine job security, while
learning career-planning strategies for minimizing or avoiding any
negative impact.


Readers will learn job-hunting techniques tailored to specific fields, including guidance in identifying and approaching employers, and in selecting those aspects of their experience to highlight in their resumes and interviews for greatest impact. Although most of the fields are highly insulated from offshoring, where vulnerability exists, Weinberg suggests job-hunting techniques to minimize one's exposure.

While there are many books providing IT career advice, Weinberg's gives new - and much broader - meaning to the term "computer job," demonstrating that an IT professional's knowledge constitutes precious currency in a world dependent on computer technology.

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Despite Slight Dip in October, IT Employment Continues to Outperform General Employment Market

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- While the news in the general employment market in October was horrific, IT employment dipped only slightly, according to the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB), which tracks monthly IT employment.

With a slight dip of 3,000 jobs (.08%) in October, the association reported IT employment stood at 3,916,200. Even with the modest decline in October, IT employment has displayed surprising resilience during the year. From October 2007 through the current month, IT employment was still up 4.5 percent -- far outpacing the general employment market. The broader job market continues to shed jobs at an alarming rate, losing 284,000 jobs in September (a significant upward revision) and an additional 240,000 jobs in October.

"The contraction of IT employment in October was not surprising. Given all the turmoil in the economy and the devastating job losses in the general employment market in recent months, we are relieved that the decline in October was a modest one," commented Mark Roberts, CEO of NACCB. "While the long-term growth prospects of IT employment remains very strong, I anticipate there will be significant challenges in the short-term and mid-term in light of the deteriorating macroeconomic picture," said Roberts.

The IT employment index is published by the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB), the national trade association representing IT staffing and solutions firms. For complete IT Index please visit: www.naccb.org/employment-index/index.cfm.

Technical note: NACCB's IT Employment Index is the first specific measurement of IT employment. This unique measurement of total IT employment is created monthly by studying the ongoing staffing patterns of a dozen IT and computer related occupations in 16 industries and industry sectors employing significant numbers of IT workers including the manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, financial, information services, business and professional services, and education and health industries. The monthly IT Employment Index is based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, which is subject to monthly revisions, with concomitant revisions to the Index. The IT Employment Index is also subject to annual revisions of BLS data. The IT Index was rebenchmarked in February 2008 with the publication of the BLS January 2008 employment report, reflecting significant revisions of employment data from the past several years.

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