The IT market has gone through major shifts during the past 10 years, falling from a pinnacle of IT spending and job opportunities to major cutbacks and outsourcing. Technology has changed rapidly as well with the introduction of more techno-creative tools, more complex business models and applications, and a hybrid of project-management skills for monitoring overseas employees. Although Gartner predicts that IT spending will surpass $3.3 trillion in 2008, a 5.5 percent increase over last year, researchers caution that a recession in the U.S. could change this projection. The challenge to IT professionals is how to preserve their careers in the face of a weakened dollar, the disastrous housing market, higher energy costs, and the growing U.S. deficit.
Adding to the conundrum is the fact that as companies outsource jobs to save money, the IT industry continues to import talent into the U.S. from other countries, diluting an already capable team of resources and displacing mostly midcareer American workers who earn higher salaries than their foreign counterparts. Although the U.S. cut back on the issuance of temporary "specialty occupations" H-1B visas, many state governors have petitioned to boost the number beyond its current standing of 85,000 visas. According to the October 2007 issue of Times Online, Sun Microsystems plans to cut 1,500 of its IT workers. Intel projects a 10 percent workforce reduction, and EDS has offered early retirement to 12,000 of its 40,000 IT personnel.
No matter how secure you feel in your job, don't sit back. Jump forward. Here are a few ideas for brightening your career and making yourself indispensable.
Your company hired you for your specific know-how. Have you expanded your original skill set? If you were signed on as an experienced RPG developer for the System i, have you gained additional expertise in other areas such as Java or web-based tools? Perhaps continuing as a developer is not your long-term goal. Have you involved yourself in business analysis or taken on the management of projects or resources? Maintaining your existing IT arsenal is not enough. You must constantly be on the lookout for emerging technologies that can add value to your organization.
Be one of the first, for example, to help your company develop a green data center by learning about servers and server integration as well as heating, cooling, and electrical systems. As you're sharpening your existing wares, be sure to develop this kind of "back-up" skill.
Think of your duties and challenges in the context of your company's big picture. Determine how your projects or solutions to problems can help improve overall business processes. What issues do employees in different arenas face? Team with them to show how something you're working on can positively affect their situations. You'll not only expand your skills, but you'll also gain advocates who will view you as a critical thinker and problem solver.
Another way to venture outside the box is to consider the importance of nontraditional talents. Box office hits such as Ratatouille, Shrek, and Bee Movie required highly skilled IT workers. According to the September 11, 2007, issue of Computerworld, "Every studio — including animation and special effects shops — depends on secure, high-performance, reliable, and scalable IT infrastructures. The architectures comprise multiprocessing enterprise servers, custom databases and applications, massive amounts of networked storage, lightning-fast intranets, and more."
An additional example of a newer field requiring technological expertise is virtualization. You can add to your IT repertoire by mastering, for example, virtualization software that connects hospitals and other healthcare organizations with doctors and patients to help exchange information quickly and securely.
Take the word "obstacle" out of your vocabulary. Become a more positive contributor by thinking of roadblocks as opportunities. Every job, no matter what level, offers its own set of challenges. If you manage a team of developers that needs to produce a web-based transaction processing system and the group members don't think they can deliver what business users want in terms of user interface or navigation ease, help those colleagues brainstorm and evaluate alternative methodologies. This approach not only creates a strong team spirit and sense of ownership but also helps resolve issues before they become problems.
Presenting an alternative to business users portrays the positive image of a problem solver. Saying you can't do something without offering other options makes you a naysayer.
One of the keys to staying alive in any career is networking. You can build and maintain connections through e-mail and also develop your own web page to keep associates informed of your whereabouts or progress. Social-networking websites such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, and Facebook focus on connecting business contacts, and you don't have to pay to use them for simple contact management and upkeep. You can post your profile, résumé, and photo and link to professional associations, blogs, and more. With LinkedIn, for example, you can search for employment and discover how to use your professional network to connect with someone who posted a job that interests you. You can also use the site to establish links with contacts who can forward your requests to their final destinations. Through LinkedIn, you can hook up with someone who is interested in specific topics or skills that you want to know more about. The service also notifies you if your contacts update their profiles (new job, project completion, certification achievement) and when they add new names to their groups, thereby expanding yours.
Also, don't forget the value and fun of face-to-face networking through local user group meetings, trade fairs, and conferences.
Education and training rank among the top benefits that employees seek — and for good reason. In addition to the hands-on experience that keeps you thriving in your work environment, you need to acquire new skills. When IT budgets seemed limitless, companies sent their staffers to pleasant destinations to attend technical and nontechnical courses. Given today's budget tightening and stronger focus on the bottom line, most businesses have shaved their education outlay. Although many companies still offer tuition reimbursement, paying for conferences is another story, as reflected in dwindling attendance at COMMON and the organization's switch from two major gatherings a year to just one.
As alternatives to on-site workshops, webcasts and podcasts have gained popularity and are excellent sources of training if you choose the right ones. Software vendors often produce Internet broadcasts that focus on their products or product category. For instance, if you're interested in learning more about data warehousing, you can visit the websites of data warehousing vendors, many of which offer educational presentations. IBM's site also delivers a variety of webcasts, some live and others available for download on demand. To obtain generic information, you can try other sites such as the System iNetwork, which offers a wide range of classes taught by industry professionals.
In addition to gathering knowledge from online presentations, you can draw from a wealth of available reading material as well. You can purchase books, subscribe to magazines, or find articles that offer information about topics that interest you. For specific answers to particular questions, you can tap user groups, which offer a great opportunity to meet people in the industry and exchange real-life experiences.
If your company doesn't offer an official mentoring program, you can reach out and find an adviser on your own or seek help from your human resources department. You may want to adopt a tutor who can help sharpen your technical or managerial skills. Perhaps you'd appreciate a consultant who has been with your company a long time, knows how to navigate the politics, and can help you with career goals outside of IT. Many younger women like to team with older women who can help them balance work with the demands of family life. The right mentor can make a significant difference in helping shape your career and positioning you for advancement. At the same time, if you have the chance to be a mentor yourself, you should do so. You can have a positive impact on someone else's career and receive a great deal of self-satisfaction to boot.
Is it best to be a permanent employee or a contractor? A college graduate with no hands-on practice would have a tough time finding a contract position. However, a highly skilled, experienced IT technician, whether a developer, analyst, or project manager, might be able to land a project on his or her own. If you have the know-how to be a contractor, consider these issues before you sign on:
Health care. If you're already covered on a healthcare plan through a spouse or partner, you've cleared the biggest hurdle. Although you could get individual healthcare coverage and alternative group coverage as an independent worker, your costs would be significantly higher than if you were insured as a company employee.
Finances and benefits. The rate of pay is often higher for a contractor, but you should determine your financial picture carefully before making a switch. When you are paid by the hour, you do not receive compensation for vacations, holidays, and sick days, nor do you benefit from perks such as corporate contributions to your retirement plan. Many companies that hire contractors require them to provide an average of $1 million in liability insurance. This can cost approximately $250-300 a year. If you are a developer or if the work you do could potentially harm your employer's operations, such coverage is important. What if the portal or website you helped build or the application you just modified ceases to function properly and results in a loss of income to your client? To protect against such a scenario, you need extra coverage for liability due to negligence. The price tag for that is often more than $1,000 per year.
Another thing to consider is whether you want to form a company and perform contract jobs as an employee of your own enterprise or whether you want to work as an individual or a W-2 employee. If you work as an individual, you are responsible for paying your own income tax. Remember also that your earnings from contract work are considered personal income. If you are negligent and are sued, your personal assets may be at risk.
Being a W-2 employee is similar to being a temporary worker, and you may or may not be eligible for benefits. Some companies offer group-rate insurance to W-2 staff members by passing on the entire cost to the employees. It's possible that you could get other small perks, including money for further education.
Finally, if you choose to form a company such as an S-Corp or LLC, you can bill your time to your enterprise and pay yourself whatever portion you deem reasonable. You will have to pay state and federal business taxes and file paperwork as needed. You can do it yourself or hire an accountant to help. One of the greatest advantages of being an employee of your own business is that you can protect your personal assets. Also, you can enjoy certain tax benefits.
Whether to work as an employee or a contractor eventually becomes a matter of personal choice and comfort. Some people prefer a no-hassle guaranteed paycheck, whereas others fancy the individuality and career control they can experience as an independent. If you are an employee, you have the full support of an organization — from sales to marketing to human resources. As a contractor, you are a one-stop shop for everything; however, if the business that hired you has to make cutbacks, you would likely be the first to go.
Companies that use overseas resources extensively, particularly for large projects, often opt to operate with two parallel managers, keeping one of them at the onshore base. You may be able to play a role in situations such as this, particularly if you are in tune with the cultural characteristics of partner companies or are fluent in their language.
In addition to project management, another job that's difficult to send offshore is business analysis. Experts in this field are needed to forge the gap between business and IT. To do so, analysts must understand the company well and have strong communication skills. If you possess knowledge and experience in this area, your chances of remaining employable in the face of offshoring are better.
Finding people in other countries with skills in languages such Cobol or RPG and in Java development is fairly easy. Most outsourcing firms team with Microsoft, IBM, SAP, Oracle, and other companies to train their staff members in application production. Although organizations can readily locate technical ERP skills overseas, it is prudent for them to use onshore resources for their functional needs. Your opportunity as an employee lies in having practical expertise as well as a good understanding of your business operations so that you can help ensure the right design and configuration for your ERP system. If you are purely a technical ERP resource, you can add to your marketability by moving toward techno-functional capabilities.
Another way to remain vital to your organization is to possess creative as well as technology expertise. Experience shows that it is advantageous to keep creative resources onshore to help develop rich Internet applications. To become a techno-creative talent, you should learn how to use new front-end generation tools.
Finally, although most companies outsource projects to existing firms in other countries, some eventually build their own offshore operations. You may be able to play a role in this type of development, particularly if you've been with your employer long enough to know the business and the application systems well.
Being able to work from home is one of the most-requested perks by employees, particularly those with long commutes. Although the positives are numerous, being a remote staff member can also be disadvantageous. A study conducted by Korn/Ferry International notes that 61 percent of executives believe that telecommuters are less likely to advance in their careers as compared with employees who work in the office. This belief may be due to an impression that teleworkers are less motivated, or it's possible that the out-of-sight, out-of-mind theory is behind it. The study also reveals that most executives will likely choose company leaders from among those who remain on site.
The type of work you do plays a role in whether operating from home can be damaging to your career. If you're a developer, the out-of-sight, out-of-mind concept applies more readily. Don't forget that your job would have a much lower price tag if someone in another country were doing it. When you work off site you still give your company the benefit of your skills, but you're not learning as much from your colleagues and not absorbing as much about ongoing business operations. You could eventually lose your leverage and become a commodity. Finding the right balance of time in the office and time away is critical to remaining an integral part of your IT team.
Following the dot-com bust, many IT professionals left the field in favor of alternative careers with more stability, albeit at a lower rate of pay. Some left the IT sector but returned in a different capacity. Many former executives gave up their corner offices and high salaries to get more involved with day-to-day business and project-management activities. The market today is hot for young IT graduates, with incomes reportedly averaging approximately $53,000. This is largely due to a decrease in the available resources in the pool. Although the number of IT graduates is expected to decline for another few years, the demand for fresh, young talent will keep rising. Fear not, though, if you're a mid- or late-career professional — IT still needs you. If you strive to make yourself more and more valuable to your organization, you can keep your career bright and successful.
Nahid Jilovec is a System iNEWS technical editor who has been in information systems consulting for more than 25 years in a wide range of industries, with a focus on e-commerce. You can e-mail her at jilovec@yahoo.com [2].
Links:
[1] http://systeminetwork.com/author/nahid-jilovec
[2] mailto:jilovec@yahoo.com