Which IT Careers Are Hot and Which are Not? 284
necromante asks: "I've been working on different IT positions through my career: support; some networking; DBA; web development; project management; even working on the client side for a little while. However, I don't feel like I am really a specialist on any of those subjects and I feel I need to focus on a particular field. So, I decided to ask for some feedback before making my decision. I understand that this depends everyones tastes, likes and dislikes. However, I would like to have a better idea of which are the available options, and I hope the results of this discussion can benefit other readers. Is there any IT career that I should consider more than the others? Which are the emerging fields? Is there any industry I should focus on in particular? Which careers on IT are actually more in demand and which ones not? Is it a better path to focus on moving into management?"
Too many variables (Score:3, Interesting)
You then also have to look at not just region, but industry -- informatics is becoming more significant in some industries, but not in others.
Then there's issues with the size of the company -- specialization may be good for large companies with a massive IT workforce, but it's not desired in smaller companies with a small IT staff.
From the sounds of things, you need to look into systems analysis -- and review your organization, and your network of contacts. What's good advice for one person is most likely not what's good for anyone else.
Pick something boring, or get lucky (Score:4, Interesting)
On the other hand, you can always pursue what you really love, and hope that you happen to get lucky and that your obscure interest is the Next Big Thing (TM). That's how the really great ones did it. Of course, if you did a better job selecting your parents (see: Paris Hilton), the career thing wouldn't really be an issue and you wouldn't be in this boat. So based on your track record, going with the chance part isn't such a good idea for you.
I am an IT Multi-Tool (Score:4, Interesting)
I have the following credentials:
Degree in Computer Science - No I didn't learn everything I needed to know in college, but that paper opened a few doors.
10+ years experience with computers in a networked environment.
Experience using and troubleshooting computers ranging from DOS to Windows to Linux, with a sprinkle of Unix.
Programming in C,C++,Java, VB and VBA
Knowledge of HTML
Experience in maintaining production servers for critical tasks.
Experience with peer-to-peer networks, hundreds of nodes.
Experience with Databases,MSSQL and MySQL know basic to moderate level SQL.
Experiences with Apache and IIS.
Command line scripting from DOS Batch to Linux Bash.
Tons more things I have just "worked" with as needed.
I have always been a "jack of all trades" in terms of computer work. Recently I have been specializing, not by choice, but by necessity in Phone and Data Networks. I have taken several weeks of training in ACD and Phone PBX systems. I have been setting up our phone ACD for about 2 years now. About to start working closer with the PBX hardware as well. It is an interesting niche.
If you are just looking for the latest "hotness" in computers it is security. But that type of job could well leave you stressed out with gray or no hair and a coronary in your early 40-50's. I see too many green newbies fresh out of college all excited about security and their careers. I don't know if I should find them amusing or scary. I guess someone has to do that job.
As for me, If I can keep learning and enjoying what I do, I couldn't ask for anything more.
Re:Good techies don't necessarily make good manage (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:No Future in IT in USA (Score:5, Interesting)
I was bitter once. I got laid off after 9/11, couldn't find a job to save my life
You have to bounce back -- if you don't, you shouldn't be in the field to begin with. Same thing applies if you can't find a job today -- you probably need a new profession. IT is booming, the Internet bubble was a temporary setback. Not all IT is INTERNET.
Not everything can be offshored -- I've seen successful offshoring, but I've also seen a large number of disappointed businesses who feel they were overcharged for sub-par return on investment in off-shored projects.
There is always a need for business analysis and system architecting. Someone thousands of miles away is going to have a very difficult time truly knowing a business, and understanding its needs. There is ALWAYS going to be a need for capable, creative people who know the technology AND the business to be local.
Re:Choose a career you like (Score:1, Interesting)
As a counterpoint I'll bring up what a friend once said to me, "Get a job doing something you love and what you love becomes work." And I found that to be true. I used to love writing code just to be writing code. I taught myself Perl simply because it sounded fun. Then I got a job as a programmer. Writing code became work. For years it was work and I never did it for fun. Now it's been five years since I did that for a living and I'm just now getting to the point where it can be fun again.
Just because someone is wise, doesn't mean they're always right.
Re:Good techies don't necessarily make good manage (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The Fileds You Love (Score:5, Interesting)
There's also a third option in many larger companies: a cross-functional, multi-domain expert. While many people are familiar with the Java/Routing/InfoSec/DB2/etc. expert who has developed extensive expertise and attained mastery in the technical domain, the multi-domain expert is another option which can be quite professionally rewarding.
Both my brother and I had IT careers (he in client app development and me in infosec and internetworking), and both of us went back to school. He added a marketing undergraduate and a MBA with a marketing focus, while I added a finance undergraduate and a Master of Science in Economics. For both of us, it was an exceptional career move. He's a marketing information systems manager for a Fortune 500 company, handling most of the IT projects for the different product brands of the company and gets to work with developing them the way he wants for his clients - architecting the solution, developing cross-functional dev teams, etc.
The finance and economics addition to an infosec and networking background has helped me become a dual-domain expert in operational risk management (an area that needs many more experts who understand both IT operations and the whole quantitative aspect). I get to design and develop metrics that help us analyze, track and improve our operations, manage the development of the systems that collect and report these metrics and then evaluate them to assess the company's global risk.
The cool part is if you like to set yourself apart from the crowd, it's a great way to accomplish that. It certainly isn't easy committing time to develop that second domain, and takes very careful job selection to get into a place where you can start using both domains. However, because companies seem to have serious problems communicating between different functional areas (e.g. marketing can't speak IT, and IT can't talk marketing), people who span the gap get very nicely compensated, have significant creative authority and overall get to see their ideas implemented.
*scoove*
Re:The Fields You Love (Score:5, Interesting)
It started off as a specialty position (graphics), and I was well paid for it. But it turned into a position where I was responsible for a lot of other, varied things, like the intra-departmental website, and eventually my grasp of modern graphics technologies started slipping.
Now, because it started off paying so well, I'm still paid well... but now my raises are crap, not enough over cost of living to make any difference. I while I like the company I work for, I hate the location, and would take an equally paying job (adjusted for location) just about anywhere else.
The problem is that when I look at available jobs, the ones that pay even moderately close to what I'm getting now require a specialty.
This really kills me - because I'm sure I could get a great raise here if I threatened to leave, but I wouldn't threaten to leave unless I could follow through on it (I'm not good BSing with empty threats).
So, OK, I'm giving my annecdotal experience, but I find it's true elsewhere. I've had this conversation with my manager and he agrees, and he'd like to see me be able to get back into graphics 100% of the time, but the company won't budget for another programmer (I'm in a unique position here). I like all the things I'm doing, but I wouldn't mind dropping the variety and concentrating on being great at one or two things, I'd still be happy and I'd be able to demand more at a different place.
Re:Job Sites (Score:3, Interesting)
Not as much as you'd think. A good portion of openings I've seen there are from headhunter agencies that put up phony jobs for clients that don't exist. This gives them a pool of resumes to boast to their own clients about.
Out of all the career books I've read, Ask The Headhunter is the one that struck a chord with me. His take on Monster/Careerbuilder [asktheheadhunter.com], while old, still holds true.
Re:Wrong Question (Score:3, Interesting)
I could do any of these things and be happy. I'm one of those guys who would stay up all night when I was a teenager just playing with code on my Atari 400 with the membrane keyboard just to see what I could do. I'm still that way.
But because I do all these varied things, and don't have a concentration on any one technology anymore, I'm not great at any of them. This keeps me locked into my job (more or less), because I won't be able to ask for as much anywhere else.
Before I was married with kids, I could take the high road and say "well, I'll take a pay cut to do what I want." But back then I was a specialist and got a lot of job offers (I liked, and still like, where I am, though). Headhunters used to call all the time. Now I haven't had an unsolicited job offer in like 8 years.
Like I said, I like the place I work (although I hate the location), so I'm not actively looking, but I take a look at Find Your Spot [findyourspot.com] every so often, and wish I could afford to move.
Re:Being a manager... (Score:3, Interesting)
Once you get older and start a family the time that you have outside of work to sit down and learn D++ or Python.Net or whatever gets a lot harder to come by.
If you have the opportunity to learn on the job that's great. But it's not always the case.
Even if it's what you love to do it's still gets harder to find time to do. So moving into management seems like a reasonable step.
Although I'm putting it off as long as possible myself.
Re:Good techies don't necessarily make good manage (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Choose a career you like (Score:2, Interesting)
Personally I think I'd rather lose a hobby than to work every day at a job I hate but that may not be true for everybody.
Smart people are still in demand! (Score:5, Interesting)
Smart people will always find work. I've bounced all over the IT world...support, sysadmin, design and architecture, and it's really hard keeping your skills truly sharp. Someone who's truly valuable picks a few key areas to get really good at, and knows _something_ about the rest. If you're a network guru, learn a little about the machines you're connecting. If you're a systems genius, learn enough about databases to realize your DBA is BSing you.
Take the latest fads...SOA and security. You can learn everything about these two areas, but what happens to all that knowledge when it becomes a commodity? When the execs realize SOA is just a rehash of centralized computing with some XML and the web thrown in, where will you be? Keeping yourself open keeps you employed.
I learned through a really tough experience that management was not for me 2 years ago. Technical people generally don't make good people-managers. It's not lack of social skills, but management is a completely different job. You will never touch a machine again. You will be in meetings, answering e-mails, making phone calls, and "separating the kindergarteners" when they get into conflicts. If you burn out on technology, then it's an excellent career path. Otherwise, don't let people convince you it's a good move. Rememeber all the bad bosses you have/had? Just like some people aren't suited for IT, they're not suited for managing either.
One good overspecialization example I like to cite is OpenVMS system administrators. OpenVMS is still in active use, but it's really declining. Truth is, it's easier to write new applications to run on Linux/Windows Server than to pay for expert system administrators. One of the first IT jobs I had before moving on was VMS support. I don't know how DEC trained these guys, but they're some of the best, most vigilant admins I've ever seen. However, finding a paying job working with those systems is getting harder. I world love to have that kind of sysadmin in the Linux and Windows world I work in, but a lot of them are totally specialized and don't want to learn new systems.
One other thing...outsourcing is here to stay. If you're a developer, become a crack genius developer so you can get the contract jobs rewriting outsourced code that doesn't work. If you're a procedural system admin, become an operations wizard that designs systems that don't randomly blow up. In short, truly earn your money!
Re:The Fields You Love (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:My Faustian deal (Score:3, Interesting)
I was a developer for 10 years before I decided to work as a DBA exclusively. When I developed I was always the DB "go to guy" because it was always something that interested me. I wanted to make sure what I delivered performed well and the DB was a big part of that.
I enjoyed software development immensely but I got tired of the death marches and feature creep. One of my CEO's was nicknamed "Two Week Pete" because after visiting a customer he would always promise some 6 month feature in 2 weeks. I still develop software but just the 'fun' stuff mostly personal and open source projects. I'm the only DBA here that has Design Patterns and OO Software Engineering books right next to my SQL references.
While there is a lot of minutae involved in keeping a large DB instance running, generally my requirements are "We need an instance to support X amount of load and we need it by date Y". When I was a software developer I enjoyed producing elegant code. Now that I'm on the DB side I am responsible for producing elegant solutions which include hardware, software, and services. Yes, when its bad its bad. I usually have a couple of bad weeks a year where I get little to no sleep. I use the 'off time' to keep things running as smoothly as possible and try to reduce the episodes of nightmare performance.
It has been good to have a taste of both sides though. There are a lot of developers that are clueless about the DB side of things and a unfortunately a higher percentage of DBAs that have no idea what goes into developing a decent client or middle tier.
-- Dave
Networking (Score:2, Interesting)
Get your MCSE and Cisco Certifications, and go for networking. You will be treated like crap, expected to work extended hours without the benefits of overtime pay, but you will secure yourself a job.
Focus less on webdev. Focus more on application and Intranet dev. HTML is being taught in gradeschool, most high schoolers can do Flash and know how to use photoshop, but how many do you know that know
Just because we all love Linux inside and out does not mean that everyone uses it. The last few companies I have worked at have been Microsoft houses, and now I work at a company that also has some Apple stuff. Make sure you know your Windows Server 2003 and Apple XServ
Similar but different (Score:3, Interesting)
It turns out these are really different skill sets - one set cranks out code, the other set knows metrics, process, etc, still technical but not the things most rank and file developers obsess over.
That being said the main requirement for being a good technical manager is still being a good manager. I've had managers who had no technical skills, but the ones who knew how to evaluate, metricize, and develop processes specific to the task at hand were better.