Do you have the right IT Skills that will help you sail through a downturn?
In the recession struck world, chances of finding job has become bleak. However, there still exist marketable IT skills. Disciplines like software design and development, networking and systems administration, software implementation analysis, testing and quality assurance, database administration and senior IT management are highly favored.
Head hunters are now looking for ‘jack-of-all-trades’. Versatile IT workers who apart from a strong technical background know business thoroughly will be in high demand. Executives having knowledge in Enterprise architecture, Project leadership, Business process re-engineering, Project planning, budgeting and scheduling, Systems analysis, Systems design, Network design, Systems auditing, IT security planning and management, Storage administrator, Customer-facing application development, Customer-facing Web application systems, Artificial intelligence, Data mining, Data warehousing, Business intelligence, Data warehousing, Data mining and so on, will never find it difficult to survive in a diminishing job market.
Moreover, no matter what technical skills you have, soft skills will remain important. All companies emphasize on the importance soft skills in the form of communication and leadership. Nowadays, it is very important for IT professionals to communicate well.
Emerging technologies and strategies e.g. radio-frequency identification (RFID), software as a service (SaaS) and virtualization are among the hottest areas of IT. Moreover, tech savvy world is also looking for wireless administration, networking, and other core specialties.
Following is the list of hot IT skills for the coming years:
1. Help Desk/Technical Support – Talking about versatility, help desk and technical support is a good example of technical skills blending with soft skills. Everybody is looking for system administrator with excellent communication skills to meet the heavy demands of the global market. Thus, help desk and technical support will never lose its importance in tight job market.
2. Application Programming – In programming, SAP is the most sought after IT skill at the moment. On an average, SAP experts with domain specific knowledge are charging $35 to $40 per hour more than any other senior technicians. With the ascent of ERP systems, SAP has become red hot IT skill. Apart from SAP, .NET, SQL Server, PHP, Visual Basic, Java and C# are also in high demand.
3. Web Development– Executives with expertise in this skill are subject of feeding frenzy led by the recruiters. Demand for Web 2.0 skills is in creasing with the continual expansion of business-to-business connections. Web developers are also providing technical assistance to web administrators. People with expertise in AJAX, Microsoft SQL Server and LAMP for web development are also highly sought after.
Click here to read the rest of this entry…