Technology Sectors that are Hot or Heating Up Now? 378
unemployedCoder-in-retraining asks: "As a recently "leisured" programmer, I'm very interested in trying to turn misfortune into opportunity. This means using this career discontinuity to bone up on the latest-n-greatest in the hot sectors of the industry, to offer a better chance of a finding another great job. Of course, then one asks: 'What's Hot?' The Telco/Switching sector seems to have flatlined (Nortel and Lucent as examples). Cable and DSL access device and service development seems to be struggling. Wireless 3G networks seem to be having a hard time in North America. And yet, we here that a recovery is underway and that the technology sector as a whole is picking up again. So I ask you: 'Where?' In what sectors? What are the most important new technologies to learn to enhance employability? Somewhere, somebody is hiring or will be soon. What do I and other victims of the slowdown have to know to 'get back in the saddle' in the near future?"
Don't chase trends (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Don't chase trends (Score:2, Interesting)
A few examples are
Hey, the poster asked for interseting job opportunities, right ? He didn't ask for an interesting or valuabble job !
Re:Don't chase trends (Score:3, Insightful)
Today's employer is looking for a well-rounded individual with a diverse skillset that includes a "working knowledge" (which appears to be the 'cname' for "I know of it, and if you give me a book and 3 days to read it, I can convince people who don't know much about it that I'm an expert") of the trends, but also a more traditional background. (ie: systems administrators should know some form of Unix, and be able to fake their way through Windows... Programmers should know C, C++ or another "commonly accepted industrial-strength" programming language... On TOP of that they can know the latest buzzword OS to hit the market, and whatever odd new language has been thrown into the fray.
Having a well-rounded body of knowledge that includes both the 'classics', and the 'top 50' shows that you can be grounded and keep up at the same time.
Optionally, you can follow the path that an increasing number of people seem to be following. Abandon the computer field for a bit. Look into occupations that seem to be suffering from a shortage of qualified workers. (Interpreters, home health care workers, etc.) If you're really at a loss for "what to learn" (there's so MUCH you should never find yourself asking this question.) then you just might find it a relief to get away from this particular industry for a while.
That said--I would suggest that you don't spend much time chasing the trends at all. Bone up on the 'classics', once you get those entrenched in your mind it's a very short leap to figure out where the path leads from there.
-Sara
LOL (Score:2)
Why the hell didn't I think of that?! 8 months of unemployment and the answer is that simple!
Studying what you like doesn't work unless what you like is a current "hot trend". I think this industry requires chasing hot trends, unless you are lucky enough to get "job security" (I heard about such a thing once in a magazine article).
Re:LOL (Score:2)
Studying what you like doesn't work unless what you like is a current "hot trend".
This is simply not true. Being into something that's a "hot trend" will find you with a lot of others. If you don't like it, you won't stand out.
There is always work for people who are good at what they do. An important ingredient in being good at what you do is enjoying what you do.
It's just that simple.
Now, if you can find something that's hot and that you know you really enjoy, then throw yourself into it. Seems like that's going about it backwards, though.
If you still need direction on what to study, all jobs require good communications skills and good organizational skill. You could work on those areas, if you really want to focus on things that will help.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:LOL (Score:2)
Care to name some? I might be in the (horrible, nasty, lowdown) market again in a few weeks. (Temp jobs are easier to find these days. Nobody want to invest in permies right now.)
Besides, there is probably a *reason* they are being snubbed. For example, small companies often like to skip paychecks, making IOU's. Been there done that.
Re:SNIF (Score:2)
The other day i was in a meeting with some CEO of a programming firm with many clients. What they do i follow the TREND. He claimed that ".net will require a lot of $$$ from companies adopting it, and that (they) will be ready for it! Huge profits to be made".
Believe me, you can make lots of money by just following the trend. Companies will adopt
This is just an example. The trend make you eat extra food. On the other hard, you have someone like me, which tries to make sense out of this. End result: they make money and do not help producitivity. I don't make much money and do save money. Yet, they are the heros during the "revolution" and they only care about me when they want to "cut costs".
It's really simple:
STEP 1: adopt whatever crap is on the IT mindshare at the moment. Adopt it fast and act as you believe it's true
STEP 2: PROFIT
STEP 3: PROFIT
This is not the first technology slump (Score:2)
Railroads....not really high tech by todays standards, but it was once "the next big thing." Once there were a lot of railroad companies, then the bottom fell out. A lot of them went away, and a lot of jobs with them. The strong companies survived and went on.
Automobiles...there were once dozens of car companies in the US. Now there are but a handful, but those companies provide tens of thousands of jobs, many of them very high-skilled.
Calculators...The calculator revolution in the 1970's popped up after Intel produced, almost accidentally, the first microprocessor. Initially it was just going to be a calculator-on-a-chip, but later they realized just what they had produced was more than just something that they hoped one manufacturer would use to make calculators. The calculator business grew very big, very fast, and crashed about as quickly.
There is something, skill-wise, in each of those times that workers were able to adapt for later use. Just give it some time and you will notice the door opening for the next opportunity, even though they all appear to be closed for good right now.
Wrong Forum (Score:4, Funny)
.NET (Score:2)
this assumes offcourse that all 5 managers are as brainwashed as possible, but that's probably the easiest part.
Re:.NET === XML (Score:2)
People trying to turn XML into databases and programming languages are missing the mark. XML does not do either of these particularly well. Databases are optimized to be databases, not optimized to fit a certain external format. That would be almost like optimizing a car engine to resemble a Peter Max drawing.
Regarding
All it will do is create a *new* market for K.I.S.S. True, MS might suck up that market also, but they still have to start from scratch and risk all the problems related to being overbearing and mean.
(Whether the Java approach is "better" in the long run to make up for the longer learning curve is another long, flameful debate. I personally think Sun's API's are rotting crap.)
Re:.NET === XML (Score:2)
as far as the XML not good for databases or PLs, you're right too, but you're missing one more section : data exchange. XML is pretty good at that : you can dunk anything (dunkeable offcourse) into an XML and send it over. The reading side can undunk it and process. Tab delimited stinks at this. So XML is a big leap over tab if you look at it from that perspective.
About the KISS principles, well, the pure existance of MS is the only axiom that keeps KISS alive. If MS hadn't been here, we would never have had a need for KISS. MS incorporates MICM (mae it complex, moronic) into ANYTHING they build.
Re:.NET === XML (Score:2)
I agree that delimited formats needed a few more protocols to make them more robust, such as a header, but unless something is heavily nested, delimited works quite well.
Do you have a specific problem with delimited formats that you can describe?
I am not saying that it is superior to XML, but XML is only an incrimental improvement at best. Not something to bet the farm on. Besides, XML is warmed-over static LISP by some accounts, and LISP existed in the 50's.
Fat ties will be back in style if you hold onto them long enuf.
Re:.NET === XML (Score:2)
XML solves some problems that CDF doesn't, like validation and extensibility. I can add a new field to an XML file without it affecting the receiver, try that with CDF ant the receiver gets very confused.
Then there are all the support facilities like SOAP and so on. They let me write a server like:
public class Adder {
public int sub(int a, int b) {
return a+b;
}
}
Drop that source code in a web service enabled application server and I can send a message to it uusing any SOAP cleint and get my sum back.
Try that with CDF.
Re:.NET === XML (Score:2)
No, just add it onto the end. How is the receiver not being able to handle more stuff at the end different than an XML reader not being able to handle a new tag? That is a bad reader, not a bad format.
I will agree that removing a field in XML is a little easier, but delimited format is already more compact, so you are still ahead size-wise if you leave an empty place-holder.
(* Drop that source code in a web service enabled application server and I can send a message to it uusing any SOAP cleint and get my sum back. Try that with CDF. *)
Send: 2, "+", 3
Receive: 5
Next!
Re:.NET === XML (Score:3, Insightful)
He he.
IMO, XP is a result of object oriented technology not living up to its promise of scalling and simplicity. OO has only created armies of overpaid consultants with 50 different OO methodologies that either don't work, or simply map the world into the author's mind (but nobody else's).
(I will probably get tagged a "troll" for this. Oh well, I have a few points to blow this week.)
oop.ismad.com
Re: (Score:2)
pornography (Score:5, Insightful)
Porn has always made money, and always will. So if your morals are OK with it, go be a gearhead for a porn site or publisher.
I don't remember who said it, but I once read a quote that was along the lines of "The whole of computer science is nothing more than methods for increasing the efficiency of generating, storing, transmitting, viewing, and enjoying pornography." Heh.
Or, to update the recurrent slashjoke:
Re:pornography (Score:4, Insightful)
No my friends, the money is in the back end, servers and such, image viewers... supply the porn indusrtry with what it needs and the money will come rolling in... only down side is you won't actually get to see/touch the naked people.
Re:pornography (Score:3, Funny)
No wonder they call it dirty money.
Re:pornography (Score:4, Informative)
The Step 1,2,3 joke is from a Southpark episode. Specifically, "The Underpants Gnomes".
The original joke was that the gnnomes buisness method was:
Step 1: Steal Underpants
Step 2: ??? (None of the gnomes could remember)
Step 3: Profit!!
Re:pornography (Score:3, Funny)
Step 1: Get market share
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit!!
Which was the business plan of 92% of VC-funded internet companies starting in 1996.
AI (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, there's the danger you'll invent a supercomputer that takes of the world and sends killer robots back in time to kill the leader of the resistance. This naturally would lead to his psychotic mother trying to kill you and you ultimately sacrificing yourself to save the future. Something to think about.
Re:AI (Score:3, Funny)
If your AI predicts that AI is the hot field for the next few years, do you trust it?
Adult Industry (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Adult Industry (Score:5, Funny)
...especially if it vibrates.
Re:Adult Industry (Score:2)
That is not true. In paycheck-poor times one simply pastes new heads on old bodies using a pixel editor. You don't have to pay to get head images. (Cheapskate Geek Tip #74)
Also, I wonder what will happen to the porn industry when people can buy porn simulation software that can generate/render infinate variations? Want 3 mellons instead of 2? No problem! It is hard for real girls to compete with that (except maybe at Chyrnobol).
Re:Adult Industry (Score:2)
Re:Adult Industry (Score:2)
Yes, but one person might generate enough images to put 10,000 other porn workers out of work. It is kind of like how computers put calculator clerks out of business. Supposedly the long-term trend is away from low-tech jobs to higher tech jobs. But, the problem is that they are going to India. I think the U.S. is becoming a Nation of Managers. If you are not a good manager, you are hosed. Low tech gets automated, high-tech is exported to India, so what is left is PHB's to manage everything else.
That one porn software job might be interesting, however. "Boss, I need to study a few more live models to get scene 4 juuuust right."
Reason for overly sunny info (Score:3, Interesting)
So that can help to explain why what you're hearing isn't matching up with reality.
Re:Reason for overly sunny info (Score:2)
People who are currently employed are feeling secure enough in their current position to start spending more, so that's helping to speed the economy up. But companies 1) don't need to start hiring more employees because they can just make the current ones work harder, and 2) hiring someone is a longer-term commitment, and it's not necessarily clear yet that the economy has picked up for good.
long answer...short answer... (Score:3, Insightful)
Longer one:
I can't tell you what...but you can start using your imagination trying to find something that people would use frequently.
And now for some brainstorming:
Whatever you do, a good marketing dpt. will make it look better. This is sad.
Not "one" thing there is. Ok, yoda speak, but what i want to get to is that people need to fill gaps in the business...some people do this...some people do that... coding is fun , ok, but if everone only coded, it'd be dull.
Look which
storm's out.
Re:long answer...short answer... (Score:2, Funny)
DON'T!!! before you know it, you'll be pouring hot grits into your widened asshole.
Oh he meant the articles... My bad.
Re:long answer...short answer... (Score:2)
"The most attention" often seems to go to what is the most controversial or bashes Microsoft (which they probably deserve).
BTW, I see a huuuuge gap in remote GUI's over HTTP technology (see Andreeson browser interview topic messages), but nobody seems to care. Businesses keep trying to make HTTP browsers act like VB/Delphi GUI's for biz forms, but the existing standards suck at it.
Why is it that I see a giant market for such and nobody else does? Is it because their DOM+JavaScript skills are hard-won and they don't want to start over? I am missing something?
The remote-GUI issue could serve as a case study for what takes off and what doesn't.
(Sorry to keep bringing up this subject, but it both fascinates and frustrates me.)
Support! (Score:2, Insightful)
Um... (Score:2)
Re:Um... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Um... (Score:2)
So, in the meantime, I plan on continuing to learn the same things I've been teaching myself, and forget about whatever the latest crraze is with the pundits and industry rags.
And yes, maybe if you don't like IT, this indirectly translates to you being unemployed. Lord knows if I were hiring someone, I would rather have someone that liked doing the job they were being interviewed for...
Just like the economy? (Score:2, Informative)
My advice: lay back, have a beer, meet new people and do interesting things with them, and when cash runs out go flip some burgers or something. In a few years time, when things look better, they'll come running for you again.
Re:Just like the economy? (Score:2)
That is not what I hear. I am hearing that the *overall* economy is improving.
However, tech itself is still slow, and so is hiring in general. Hiring is traditionally the last to pick up, according to many analysts.
The problem is that consumer spending is starting to slow, and it was just about the only thing preventing a much bigger slide. If other parts don't start to pick up soon, then everything may slide down together again.
Lowering interest rates can't work any further. The only trick left in the Fed's bag is defecit spending.
If a re-slide happens, time to practice:
"Do you want fries with that?"
Biotech is the future. (Score:4, Insightful)
Sounds an awful lot like the Internet bubble all over again, I know. And in one sense, it is: The high market capitalization of many of these stocks suggests that investors are paying a lot in anticipation of future earnings that may never materialize. It costs tens of millions of dollars and can take five to 15 years to get a drug from the test tube to the clinic--and many drugs simply don't make it.
In several ways, however, this boom is different. The industry is more mature than it was a decade ago, when it last rose and fell. New alliances, new products, and new financing should combine to produce lasting growth in this once-turbulent field. There are some 300 biotech products in Phase III testing, the final stage of human experimentation before seeking Food & Drug Administration approval. The FDA issued 32 approvals for biotech drugs in 2000, a 45% increase over 1999. Sales of biotech products rose from $16.1 billion in 1999 to $18.1 billion in 2000, an increase of 12%. And there were 22 profitable biotechs in 1999, up from 17 in 1997. In addition, there is a distinct lack of bearded linux hippies in biotech, making it a much more attractive market segment to the general public.
Furthermore, unlike many Internet companies, the biotech companies are targeting clear and existing markets. Many Internet companies devised products without knowing whether there were markets for them. Others, such as Yahoo!, aimed for ad revenues that proved far smaller than hoped. Biotech companies don't have that problem: A drug for arthritis or cancer, say, has a huge market. If their drugs work, the biotechs will make money.
Excitement in biotech will likely get another boost when the climate for initial public offerings improves. There are 50-100 biotech companies waiting to go public, says Oronsky. That's where casual investors should be especially careful. Some of today's most promising biotechs will undoubtedly fall short of the hype. Unfortunately, that's one way this boom won't differ much from the last.
Re:Bio-informatics (Score:5, Informative)
The field here is wide open. Lots of university biology departments are spinning off companies to make innovative new sensors, so you can get involved there. Or you can go and manage a Beowulf cluster for a big drug firm. Or anything in between.
Paul.
Dumb Yahoo (Score:2)
Yahoo just seems to be making stupid decisions. I see almost *no* subject-based targeting in their geocities ads. I don't remember a single computer-related ad in my IT-related websites (such as my anti-OO site). It is already classified as a computer-related site in their system.
Further, they are killing thier own "children". They are starting to "clean up" older sites that have not changed, regardless of the number of visitors.
The cost of storing and transmitting webpages will continue to drop over time. (The only cost that might rise is content disputes, like DMCA stuff.)
Thus these two factors:
1. Better targeting ads
2. Continuous drop in storage and transmission costs
Should make things like Geocities viable. True, #2 is long-term, but they could do #1 now.
Re:Biotech is the future. (Score:2)
Another biotech risk (Score:2)
There's a large, general outrage at the overall cost of medical treatment and within specific socioeconomic groups HUGE outrage at the cost of perscription medicines. It's not felt (as much) by the middle class due to their generally good, employer-provided medical coverage.
However, I predict a time in the next 20 years when the cost of medical treatment across the board (doctors, hospitals, medicines, and so on) will be so high that political pressure will be brought to bear to severely regulate the costs associated with medical treatments if not to begin socializing medicine.
What's this got to do with biotech careers? Biotech right now is hot as a sector because of the promise of developing amazing new treatments that are proprietary, patentable and licensable for HUGE profits. However the money will dry up quickly if government begins to socialize medicine.
web services (Score:3, Interesting)
i know it sounds like a trendy buzz-word but i think it's here to stay and some seriously cool stuff will start to happen soon (look at Google).
at any rate, if you can walk into a potential employer and say 'I can convert your current software into a remote API for access by your clients in a multitude of languages' I think you have a pretty good shot at a job. at least, this is what I would be trying to learn if I had time.
Oh, and being able to throw around 'SOAP' and '.NET' a lot doesn't hurt too much either ;)
Re:web services (Score:4, Informative)
i know it sounds like a trendy buzz-word but i think it's here to stay and some seriously cool stuff will start to happen soon (look at Google).
The web is dead [xwt.org].
I didn't create this tech but I am using it to replace shitty HTML+Jscript+prayers+sacrifices web-based interfaces. There are some other guys like XWT too but XWT is simple, straightfoward and fast. It essentially projects UIs -- do you forms locally (on the client machines) but all your business logic sits on a server where it belongs. Talkes XML-RPC and SOAP. Very cool. Way way way better than what I would call traditional "web services."
Re:web services (Score:2)
But I am getting the feeling Web Services is technology that is nice to have but not necessary (at the moment). People are fighting other battles.
I honestly think the IT industry is going to go back to "traditional" programming and skip the other stuff. It seems to me that IT is in a contraction phase. And that is resulting that software is going to be moved to Java and the
After that who knows? But definitely software is entering a boring phase. So if you want excitement go west young man, go west!
Novely Websites, The Trend of the FUTURE.... (Score:4, Funny)
IsMyJobHotorNot.com
slashdotted (Score:2)
IsMyJobHotorNot.com
The site seems to be slashdotted already. It's so bad the hostname is'nt even resolving.
Re:slashdotted (Score:2)
Gleaned from the world's most idealogically sound domain registrar [gandi.net]:
Re:slashdotted (Score:2)
And if you score poorly, there is always layofflounge.com (a real website).
Bioinformatics (Score:2, Informative)
One word (Score:3, Insightful)
Biotech? (Score:5, Interesting)
It is something I would like to get into: I live in Phoenix, and the city is trying to get something going here called the "International Genomics Commission" (IGC - the "C" part I am hazy on) - basically a huge research lab for biotech, etc - so far, it is seemingly being sucessful. Anyhow, I haven't got a chance in hell of possibly getting onboard "early", so to speak, because not only do I not have a degree in any bio science area, but I don't have a degree at all (ok, I take that back, I do have an Associates, but from a tech school - read: Near Worthless). All I do have is 10+ years of professional experience in software development and database applications - but I am not sure that will count for much, at least at this point in time.
Another area to consider: Alternative Energy Research - I am not talking solar, etc - but more on funky engine and prime mover designs, etc - I am seeing more of this stuff crop up all over the place.
Re:Biotech? (Score:3, Insightful)
Bioinformatics is *NOT* "just data-mining". Certainly, data-mining of genetic information is one aspect, but its far from being the whole field. There are lots of really interesting problems besides just "how do we deal with this huge genome..." Protien secondary structure prediction, tertiary structure prediction, computational pharmacokinetics (and biomolecule docking problems) etc... there is just *so* much more to the field than data mining.
The other thing is that this is only going to be "hot" for a limited amount of time. Bioinformatics is here to stay, but right now its on a huge trendy upswing. Drug companies are throwing millions of dollars at it in hopes of developing an 'in silico' drug testing lab... sooner or later they are going to realize that there is still a LOT of basic science that needs to be done before this happens. People working in bioinfo in industy are getting some pretty ludicrous salaries these days (yes I'm jealous... I'm in academia), but it ain't gonna last. Like any other flavour of the week there will be a huge bursting of the bubble, followed by a nice levelling off.
If bioinformatics *interests* you, then I would highly recommend pursuing it. Its a very rewarding area, and it offers you the opportunity to work with people from many different disciplines. But if you are on the "Bioinformatics == $$" bandwagon... you're going to end up dissapointed.
Re:Biotech? (Score:3, Informative)
Not quite. That is a part of it, but there is more to it than that. For example, an experimental technique called microarray analysis was developed in 1998 for finding expression profiles for thousands of genes at once. Companies manufacture "chips" with thousands of spots on them, and each spot has a specific piece of probe DNA on it, chemically bound to the chip substrate. You take a biological sample with unknown mRNA, attach a dye to the mRNA, and expose the chip to your sample. The unknown dyed mRNA hybridizes only to the specific probe sequence that one spot on the chip has. You then rinse the chip, put it in a fluorescence scanner, and whammo, you know the intensity of mRNA concentration (i.e. the level of gene expression) in your sample for thousands of genes in the genome. Just doing this for one or two genes used to be a lot of work. Repeat this procedure with a bunch of chips (mitosis phase, day of treatment, patient, etc.) and you have an immense pile of expression profile data to sift through! But somewhere buried in there may be a good lead for a drug target that can be teased out with the right statistical algorithm. So a niche market exists for good gene expression analysis software, which is what my company makes. There exist only a few customers for software like this, but they're all biotech and pharmaceutical companies (and some universities) for whom the cost of the software is trivial. We have a large market share built up by word-of-mouth. So life is pretty good right now for us.
Bioinformatics doesn't automatically mean easy money. The field has already seen companies fail (e.g. DoubleTwist). And it seems like everyone and his brother is trying to form a dot-com style bioinformatics startup. I personally know two guys who are busy launching startups that are bound to fail. The time to start a bioinformatics startup was 1998-1999 during the dot-com boom. Now it's too late. Being in a trendy field won't save you if you have no product to sell.
I know there are a few books available on the subject (including one by Oreilly).
The O'Reilly book has some good information, but keep in mind it is mostly targeted toward the biotech researcher (the end-user) and not the programmer who is developing tools for biologists to use. It tells you how to use the software that's already out there. They have a Perl book out too, again targeted at biologists. There is a lot of string manipulation in bioinformatics. But there is also a lot of numerical analysis which is not exactly Perl's strong suit. In theory, a biologist who understands statistics well and knows how to do his own ANOVAs and clustering can probably do everything he needs to do with Perl and Excel. Thankfully for us, most of the people with expression data to analyze are not quite as industrious as that.
The main problems with "breaking into the scene" is most positions, when offered, require you to have some kind of science degree (biology related, generally) - even though it is just data-mining.
First of all, like I said, it usually isn't just blind data-mining, there is also some intense numerical analysis. Second, if they've got a clueless HR dept. who demands that programmers have some sort of bio degree, they're completely Dilberted and going under soon anyway so it's no big loss to you. A general biology background is easy to pick up. If you skim through a college-level textbook and learn how DNA/RNA works, what open reading frames, promoters, and introns are, you're basically all set as far as that stuff is concerned. You'll still need to learn about how to interact with the messy public databases out there (GenBank, Homologene, UniGene, LocusLink, Gene Ontology, etc.) that suffer from missing or incomplete data and/or non-unique identifers. You also have to cope with the lack of data format standardization in the industry and the proliferation of oddball formats to be parsed. Familiarity with all that stuff is much more important, and a biology degree doesn't help you much with it. And good programmers are way too rare for us to be picky about who's got a bio degree. Of the programmers here, not a single one is a biologist (actually, all the programmers here have physics and EE backgrounds). If you interview here we won't even talk to you about biology. We ask people simple programming questions, like how to raise two to a small integer power (to generate a bit mask, for example). You'd be amazed at how many people immediately convert the 2 to floating point and call pow().
Defense is way up (Score:3, Insightful)
as for the pure, pure computer area -- i think people are returning to the "core business". (chip wise)
LCD is another area;
wireless is picking up a little steam (look at how many DSL routers there are!), as well as other marginal stuff -- HDTV, PDA, etc...
cellphone and pda integration is considered to be inevitable by some -- so cellphones are not "flatlining", they are just not exploding as they were before.
at the same time digital imaging (cameras / miniDV camcorders) are sparking a huge thing within flash market -- look how the size have doubled time and again: imagine how much $$ of R&D / engineering went into that
home entertainment (xbox / ps2 / cube) is also kinda hot -- sony expect to sell a LOT of ps2s by christmas -- and ppl are gearing up for that too.
there are a couple more -- can't think of them off the top my head though
Like in The Graduate, but different. (Score:2, Insightful)
Small Business (Score:3, Informative)
I am not in the consulting industry, but I believe there is quite a lot of business to be had by aproaching the right small companies with the right plans. If I were "leisured" at the moment, which I am not, in addition to looking for a real job, I would aproach some small businesses in my area with "solutions" to get started in e-commerce, or e-customer service. My mechanic, who can barely use a mouse has just setup a site, and plans to offer information about his high quality used car inventory. If you had a simple turnkey site for a market like that, there is a decent living to be had. Now kep in mind, you probably cannot charge the $95 an hour you used to get. However, there are many low end turn key systems to be sold. 40 dealers/mechanics at $1000 a site would be the equivilent of an entry to mid level programmer in my market. How many small mechanics, or used car dealers are there in your area? Used cars are just an example, I am sure you can come up with more on your own. It helps if you have an "in" with at least one business of the type you intend to go after to get your foot in the door.
Anyway, if I had a few weeks ahead of me where my employment was uncertain, I'd identify a market like that, and go after it. This is also a market where open source can be used to your advantage if you approach the situation correctly.
Hope I have gotten some thoughts going,
-Pete
Small business == slim margins (Score:2)
Now, that's as a consultant. Consulting implies a certain amount of custom work, which is what kills you in the smaller businesses. If you could develop some product that's useful to a lot of small businesses, then you might have some potential to make money at it. Think of something like quick books, a product that lots of small companies use, that's relatively cheap but is sold in large enough quantities to be profitable.
So, what you need to do is identify a need in the market. The trick is not inventing the next big thing, it is simply finding an unaddressed need. You've probably stumbled accross a few of these in your past work; meeting people who are doing things a complex way because they have no idea there's a better way. Find those things and provide solutions to them.
The thing that's different though in developing a product is that you, as the "leisured" programmer are taking on the risk of it. If you are billing somebody by the hour, if something goes wrong, you can still eat. If you make some product and nobody buys it, you are screwed. This means that, in addition to being able to develope software, you need to have the talent or be able to hire the talent necessary to sell your product to people.
Web services. (Score:5, Insightful)
I just hired four new developers at my company, so I will give you some pointers for actually getting in the door once you have found a company to interview for:
#1 - Accept the fact you'll most likely make less money than your last position. Times have changed in most markets. I hired for four positions and had 150 resumes (not counting the throw them in the trash right away kind). Lots of people I interviewed were looking for salaries that were gone with the 1999 dot com frenzy. Don't mentioned your MBA or Masters in CompSci fifty times, either.
#2 - Don't accept less money than you're worth. With #1 being said, don't short sell yourself either. Companies are getting away with murder when they hire right now because the market is so bad for those out of work. You want to come across as someone who is WORTH every penny you ask for. How to do this? Focus on things at your previous jobs that increased efficiency or saved your company money. As an example, someone I hired told me about how they cut their company's bandwidth costs by 30% by installing a proxy that used mod_gzip on everything going out. Companies will pay for people who will not only save them money, but FIND them ways to save even more money.
#3 - Be assertive, but not forceful. People who call me every two days to follow-up annoy the heck out of me. It sends a signal that you're desparate and don't have other options. Definately send an E-mail thanking the person for an interview with a couple BRIEF thoughts. If you call back more than once and don't hear back, don't waste your time chasing the job.
#4 - Focus on MY needs, not yours. I don't want to hear about how you are really heavily involved in open source, or have this web site you help maintain on the side that gets uber traffic. Things like that spell distraction to me. Review the Web site or product catalog of the company you are going to interview for. Do a Google search and read recent press on the company. Try to get an idea of what challenges the company is facing and apply your past project experience directly to that.
#5 - Dress and act appropriately. Don't show up in a suit unless it's an executive position and you're in an area of the country that requires it. Being overdressed makes you look out of place, and tells me you haven't been in circulation or interviewed much. Comb your hair, take out those nose rings (unless you're a graphics person, haha), and ask questions. If you don't understand something you're asked, say so. Nothing is worse than watching someone try to fake their way through an answer.
#6 - Base the business on the numbers and the market, not the Herman Miller chairs. Our office isn't super deluxe. It's pretty spartan, just a couple floors of cubes and Costco desks, tables, etc. But we're profitable for over a year, have over three million users, have positive growth, and have been in business on the net for over six years. You won't find a good job that will last if a company spends more on their office than their payroll.
#7 - Avoid the startup...This one is more of my personal experience, but most people I know are sick of hearing about startups. Hearing someone works at a startup in most cases sends up warning signs. You're better off working for a smaller, established company that is challenged by it's growth and needs quality people. You'll learn a lot more when you don't have to worry if your paycheck will be coming next month.
Just some thoughts from the front lines of a smallish Internet company in Seattle...Hope this helps!
Case
Re:Web services. (Score:2)
#1 - Accept the fact you'll most likely make less money than your last position.
#2 - Don't accept less money than you're worth. With #1 being said, don't short sell yourself either.
How do we, as developers, get a good hold on this? Should we put any stock at all in those online "salary comparisons" that say a person with job X in market Y makes $Z?
Part of my problem is that I'm relocating to a new market with a significantly higher cost of living than my old place. So I don't know if I should be asking for about the SAME as my last position, figuring that the market difference will make that "lower," or go even LOWER than my old salary and live like a peon.
That, and how does the salary requirement influence you? Do you require it on resumes/monster searches, and just toss out the ones that have unreal demands? Personally, I'd rather just interview and then discuss what a reasonable salary would be if it seems like a good fit.
Re:Web services. (Score:2)
Salary comparisons online lag pretty far behind the real job market. The data they are using is always at least six months old, and I'm sure many of the online sites are using data older than that.
A better source would be cost of living comparisons between cities. That will give you a starting point. I relocated from the East coast 3.5 years ago to Seattle, and that's what I did.
Part of my problem is that I'm relocating to a new market with a significantly higher cost of living than my old place. So I don't know if I should be asking for about the SAME as my last position, figuring that the market difference will make that "lower," or go even LOWER than my old salary and live like a peon.
The employer lives there, and they know what it costs to live there. So don't feel bad about asking for more than you "feel" worth in a market like that. Just make sure it's in live with how much you were making over the cost of living at your old position.
That, and how does the salary requirement influence you? Do you require it on resumes/monster searches, and just toss out the ones that have unreal demands? Personally, I'd rather just interview and then discuss what a reasonable salary would be if it seems like a good fit.
I've asked people to submit salary requirements with resumes, but honestly less than 5% of people are willing to do that. Usually the last couple questions in an interview I ask to get a handle on a "range" that someone would be comfortable with. If someone says their low end is, say, 90K and they have only a year or two of experience, that's a pretty good indicator it's a waste of my time (when hiring entry level positions, especially).
I think it's important people be honest about their expectations. You don't want to waste your time if you can't make $x, but you aren't qualified for $y. So say you'd like to make between $x and $y and then you'll arrive at $z.
Again, I'm not suggestion you shouldn't earn enough to feel happy and comfortable. I'm saying that to get that kind of salary in this job market, you need to sell yourself well.
A good tactic is to ask for a real world problem they are facing right now, and give them your 30 second "from the tip of my tongue" solution. If the person interviewing comes away from it with a couple new ideas it will help get you in the door.
Good luck!
Case
Re:Web services. (Score:2)
Thanks for your thoughtful posting. I'm curious whether you mean you are seeing lots of growth now, or you simply mean you are predicting growth. I have not seen much growth yet. Of course, it depends how you define web services, but I'm talking about opening up a company's data to its customers via services written using serverside J2EE or
There's certainly a lot of interest in web services, and some very large companies are promoting it as the next big thing, but I wonder how much of that interest has been realized in terms of broad based investments by customers. According to the Gartner Group [webservices.org], by the year 2004 Web services will be the primary method of delivering corporate software solutions. That's a pretty bold statement.
Regarding your job interview advice, your advice is pretty sound, except:
#5 -
That's possibly true in certain places but it's a very bad rule of thumb. Better to always wear your best suit. Do you really want to work at a place where people look down on you for being well dressed? How silly.
#6 - Base the business on the numbers and the market, not the Herman Miller chairs
You don't always know where the furniture came from; my brother's medical clinic has these $5000 leather sofas that he got for like $300 each--slight damage in delivery or some such, and he's got an eye for bargains. Personally I'd be put off if they didn't have decent ergonomic chairs and keyboard holders; it's such a good investment. I might still take the job and then lobby for (or just bring in my own) better equipment, but nonetheless it's not a good sign.
#7 - Avoid the startup
Well if we all did this, what a boring world it would be. Startups are a great opportunity to learn all about business, which the typical tech person doesn't necessarily get working at a larger company. Plus, you get to do more stuff, e.g. if you're a database programmer you might also be involved in installing and admin'ing the databases until the company got big enough to hire a dba. It's all in what the individual is seeking, and the original question was about trends to jump on, not how to find a stable boring position.
-Terry
Re: dressing for the interview (Score:2)
The best advice I ever got (from a recruiter) is to try to take a look at how their own people dress, in advance - and copy their style.
(If, for example, you see most of the employees dressing casually - with only management in a suit and tie, then you're probably fine just dressing up with a plain shirt and tie, and no suit. That is, unless you're applying for one of those management positions.)
Much depends on the age of the people interviewing you, IMHO. I've been to places where the dress was quite casual - but the management was made up of older people who expected that all interviewees would show up in a suit and tie, and freshly polished dress shoes. Anything less told them you weren't the type who "goes the extra mile" to make a good impression, and that was a negative.
This one's heating up real hot... (Score:4, Informative)
Just north of Washington DC area there are almost 200 companies that are working in the bioinformatics area s. Subject knowledge is good of course but even better is knowledge of Perl. O'Reilly even has 2 books Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics [oreilly.com] and Developing Bioinformatics Computer Skills [oreilly.com]
Then there are companies that are doing lots of work regarding facial recognition.
Hope this helps.
See this slashdot story... (Score:2)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/05/27/00252
Much of the comments from that story apply here.
:^)
Ryan Fenton
Wireless Broadband Internet (Score:3, Insightful)
People are starving for inexpensive, easy to setup, wireless. Some day we'll be able to just slap a $20 antenna on any suburban rooftop and log onto a network. Until then, there are a lot of people looking for "solutions". Move fast if this excites you. Entrepreneurs [geekspeed.net] are already moving on it.
If this doesn't turn you on, exploit fears of terrorism. That could include surveillance, security, privacy issues, encryption... anything spook-related.
Of course, you'll be lucky to get something you actually like in this economy.
Video Games (Score:2)
Security (Score:2)
The future is so bright I need a radiation suit (Score:2)
Oh sorry, you meant coding?
Work on up-and-coming Big Free Software Projects (Score:3, Interesting)
As people continue to see the light and increasingly prefer Free Software, and want to keep their data in a more open system, projects like this should skyrocket in use, and people that know them well should be more valuable.
Who told you things are looking good? CNN? (Score:2, Offtopic)
In case you hadn't heard, Taiwan's chip fabs have gone renegade and are pushing the ultimate limits of nanotechnology in a period of months rather than the twenty years drawn out schedule set by IBM. I'm talking about the 65nm fab being built in Singapore as we speak. See the last few months of EETimes if you want some scarry stories. Yeah, that was nanotech, it went by so fast you hardly even saw it, eh?
While investment bankers are being charged with corruption, Wall Street is below where it was before the Gulf War and Israel is loading nuclear cruise missles onto a fleet of submarines in an effort to beat India and Pakistan to the headlines of being the second nation in history to use nuclear weapons for offensive purposes.
Who is suggesting to you that things are suddenly going to rebound?
Oh, did I mention that Taiwan students have stopped attending the TOEFL in vast droves and are now going to grad school in mainland China instead of the US? So much for that strategic partnership. And you can guess what this is going to look like a few years down the road when the chips market has been totally commoditized and relocated to mainland China and Taiwan has de-facto reunified by popular consent from within Taiwan. Americans are going to be like --when did everything suddenly change? Well guess what, it's changing by the minute and much of it is the seeds of bitter fruit that we Americans have ourselves planted with decades of irresponsible government that has allowed the sickness of monopoly to put our economy in grave danger.
I suggest you look outside of anything that has to do with software or hardware for money. For entertainment though --hey don't touch that dial babe. PCs are the entertainment value of choice and value is what we're all going to need lots of.
Government Work (Score:2)
Oh, and the job is interesting.
Take the advice of Dogbert: (Score:3, Funny)
Dogbert: "Set your alarm clock to go off every hour. Keep a big vat of 'Jell-O' by the bed. When the alarm clock goes of, stick your head in the 'Jell-O' and yell, 'Boy, I'm tired!'"
Ratbert: "Thanks!"
Dogbert (thinking): "Beware the advice of successful people; they do not seek company."
Seven Years of Highly Defective People, p. 137.
Security would be a hot thing... (Score:2)
Do Some Open Source & Brag (Score:3, Insightful)
Basically, find a module on CPAN that is neglected, or look for some idea that hasn't been done elsewhere, work on it and post it to the web, and get your claim to fame!
Another great idea is to help out with the CJAN (sourceforge has the project) and bone up on your Java skills, converting ideas from CPAN into Java and posting them on some kind of CJAN site. You'll
Some other ideas:
- Don't be afraid to brag on the resume,
- practice answering the top 50 interview questions believably, with good and truthful answers,
- post your resume on lots of job boards,
- create a kickin' homepage,
- find old documents like howto's that you've written that are generally usefull to everyone and post them on your page,
- don't forget to wax your car! It's summer!
-- KevinThe Problem with "Hot" Jobs (Score:3, Interesting)
I personally work in embedded systems development. While the pay may not be at the top of the curve, you will not find a more challenging area nor will you find a brighter group of developers. The best thing is that your skills are kept sharp for when the industry heats up again (i.e., You can do what on a 486 with 128K of memory?).
Copy protection (Score:5, Funny)
Copy protection seems to be a growth industry at the moment.
john
The Next trends (Score:2, Insightful)
I look around and I see this sort of stuff:
3D gaming/interaction (3D physics, 3D modeling, AI programming, heavy interactivity)
Bioinformatics (All that lovely gene stuff, Getting that stuff to work with standard hardware, etc.)
And the final processes of Businesses going online with ERP, and B2B and B2C interfaces combined. Lots of companies are getting very tech heavy, looking for ways to cut costs, and leverage their current tech investment to the max. Sadly, this will ultimately wind up with lots of people getting laid off.
And those are three pretty heavy areas I see. Of course, as a tech person, especially a programmer, you need to sit down and think really hard how much longer your skills are going to be relevant. That age-35 discrimination stuff is probably creeping up soon, so it might be worth looking into Project management, or being a technical manager, which we all know there needs to be more tech savvy managers, especially managing a tech department.
And that's my guess.
Here's some areas I suggest (Score:2)
- Security - Learn how to hack, then how to prevent hackers, you'll be in demand.
- P2P - Decentralized computing, not filesharing stuff (don't piss of RIAA), but collaborative productivity amongst teams
- Web services - Vendors are telling people they need it, creating demand, and you can supply it
- Grid computing - Too many unused PCs out there in the Internet and in companies, find ways to leverage them
- Bioinformatics - Not sure if there are a lot of jobs, but it's an exciting new area, but most seem to require some life science background as well
- Embedded - Lots of open jobs in this area in Orange County, CA. We are making more and more gadgets that all need customized software
- Portals - I'm not talking about Yahoo/Lycos/Excite here, I'm talking about linking and integrating disparate systems in companies and their partners into 1 common portal, better learn Java's J2EE and JCA
In essence, anyway or anywhere you can make people (especially in comapnies) more productive and profitable you'll be in a hot sector.One word, Benjamin... (Score:2, Funny)
Now you have the chance... (Score:2)
Seriously.
Stay above the Fray (Score:2)
Learn how technology applies to businesses, then make that your business. In the world of business, people that understand technology and business issues are rare, valuable commodities. Managers who've got tech and business cred are more valuable that you'd ever understand.
Think of it this way: would you rather be the guy that hand-coded the unified password repository, or the guy who's team of people defined and implemented company-wide technology standards, and created a stable computing base for the next 10 years?
The answer, of course, is the first one!
But still, it's a much different feeling to say "Wal-Mart kicked the cr*p out of everyone because of the logistics system we came up with is the sh*t." than it is to say "I single-handedly delivered a php-based dynamic website in 2 weeks."
In short, ignore the technology, and concentrate on the business end. You'll be more useful, and you won't worry that your skills are eroding.
Computer Games (Score:3, Interesting)
Downsides are that it is very competitive, only 10% of games released make money. It is very difficult to make headway in the industry unless you work for a publisher or a well established software house.
Re:Computer Games (Score:3, Insightful)
Mobile Robotics: The Next Revolution (Score:2)
Mobile Robotics: The Next Revolution [marketresearch.com]
I wouldn't believe that article - too much hype (Score:2)
I mean really, listen to the tone of this quote:
" In the next three to five years, intelligent networked mobile platforms and manipulators will permeate the fabric of our society just as computers do today."
Be wary of anyone advertising to know the future, especially when they predict enormous growth in their own sector of buisness.
That said, I do think there is a good future in mobile robotics in general, but if you're looking for "hot" jobs right now it's ridiculous to look for opportunities in that industry. I've yet to hear of a company aside from military robotics, Activmedia, or iRobot that needs genuine mobile robotics people. Sure there are AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) for factories and such, but that technology is so large that I don't think it stands a chance in the home market. (Maybe their software would be helpful though?).
Well, my $.02.
ERP and CRM seems to be a hot ticket too.... (Score:2)
Personally, I think both of these types of software packages are just "fads" right now - but they cost so much for corporations to implement that they easily justify hiring an additional person to keep them running.
If you're one of the few people lucky enough to have received some training (or hands-on experience designing forms or supporting) either ERP or CRM software, you're missing out right now if you don't leverage it to get a good-paying I.T. job for the next couple years. After that though, don't be surprised if this stuff fades away again.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Best job security (Score:5, Funny)
"Be an undertaker, kid. No matter how bad things get, you will always have customers."
Fibre Channel industry (Score:2)
A better question... (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm quite aware the Midwest is years behind the rest of the planet in everything except antique automotive storage techniques, but I am willing to relocate. Where should I go?
Re:A better question... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:A better question... (Score:3, Informative)
Juneau or Anchorage Alaska. The state gov is almost always hiring tech workers (esp programers), and there's loads of private sector work too. The cost of living is a bit high though. Just my two cents.
Here are some links:i fieds-bi n/classifieds?portal=&temp_type=detail&property=JU NEAU+AK&classification=EMPLOYMENT&maxrec=30&date=t odayo bsByTi tle?OpenView
http://classifieds.juneauempire.com/class
http://notes3.state.ak.us/WA/postapps.nsf/J
Maskirovka
Wrong question (Score:3, Interesting)
I see so many programmers coming up these days whom I describe as "tool-junkies." They are programmers who know how to solve problems with one library collection, one integrated compiler suite, and nothing else (and, yes, I am referring mainly to Visual Studio, but there is a Java "tool-junkie" culture too -- Java programmers who can't work outside of their only IDE).
If you find yourself using a library without the slightest inkling of what must be happening in that library it should send warning flags up in your head. You should be able to write anything any other programmer could write. If you can't imagine how to even begin, you may be a tool-junkie. (Note that I am not saying you would have to write it as well as any other programmer -- obviously skills vary -- but you should have some idea how to tackle the problem, because you should have seen and solved something like it before. Genuinely new techniques are extremely rare. For the most part in programming you are making a symphony of familiar tropes, not breaking new ground.)
Learn fundamentals, not buzzwords, and maybe you won't find yourself looking for another job involuntarily.
Re:technology or sectors? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:My recommendations (Score:2)
If you're Larry Ellison, you're one big opening.....