While employers everywhere continue to clamor to find programmers and webmasters, the kinds of opportunities for information technology professionals cut through typical job descriptions, and across industries countrywide.
As a job category, networking seems to lead the pack, offering the greatest employment opportunities. And, as companies everywhere expand their online services, employers are desperate for skilled developers and web specialists. But, there may be more variety in the information technology (IT) field than you think. Career opportunities abound, depending on the employer, the industry, and the city.
For example, while the transportation companies and professional service companies may need networkers the most, the greatest demand is for network administrators, systems administrators, and network architects. You'll find that finance, insurance, and real estate firms need Internet/intranet specialists more than any other IT professional.
"Companies in the financial services industry are on the vanguard of Internet technology," says Greg Scileppi, executive director of RHI Consulting, a Menlo Park, California-based firm that places IT professionals on a short- and long-term basis in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
"They continue to expand their operations to provide customers a wider range of services, including the ability to conduct financial transactions and access information online," states Scileppi.
At Investors Fiduciary Trust Co., a 600-employee firm in Kansas City that handles investment accounting for mutual funds and insurance companies, IT jobs are divided into three areas: programming, network servicing, and business analysis.
Business analysts need an IT background to be able to make projections as software is added, says Dorrie Holland, assistant vice president of staffing at IFTC, a subsidiary of State Street in Boston. But when it comes to any IT professional, the company always prefers people with more than technology skills and knowledge.
"The broader their view of business, the more value they're going to add to a company," she says.
Employers on the Pacific Rim (California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Hawaii) report a higher demand than the rest of the country for both networking and Internet/intranet professionals. But, the intense need for IT specialists is not limited to that region or those jobs.
Employers across the country also are looking for IT professionals for help desk and end-use support departments, operations, sales and marketing, systems analysis, project management, operations, recruiting, and consulting.
"In today's economy, every business is in the information business," says David Van De Voort, an information technology specialist with William M. Mercer Inc.'s Chicago office. The New York-based company is a compensation and benefits consulting firm.
With the web explosion, says Van De Voort, there is a shortage of people to handle every aspect of web-based, electronic commerce.
"This is not limited to technical webmasters," he says. "People with technical training but broader interests in areas such as marketing, promotion, distribution, and so on, are -- and will be -- in short supply."
Keane Inc., a $1 billion leading IT consulting firm with 40-plus offices throughout the country, hires hundreds of entry-level consultants a year. An intensive training program prepares the consultants for building structured software in a business environment, says Chuck Davis, manager of campus recruiting for Keane.
The training prepares new Keane consultants not only with technical skills, he says, but emphasizes the importance of working in teams and managing their work with deadlines.
"Most of them are functionally hired to be programmer analysts that will help build, manage, or maintain application software," says Davis. "However, they are still required to wear many hats."
Keane provides outsourcing and software development solutions to Fortune 1000 companies, and each client manages information using several different hardware platforms, databases, servers, tools, and programming languages.
When there's a problem, technology alone is seldom a solution. Therefore, Davis says, it is important that Keane consultants have strong analytical skills to help them solve business problems.
"In order to be successful, today's business applications developer needs to be able to effectively communicate with clients, users, and other team members. These verbal and written communication skills are essential in the consulting industry," he says.
At Keane Inc., Davis estimates that consultants will spend about half their time writing code and the other half doing an-alysis, talking with users to define requirements, providing updates for reports or project-related documentation, and contributing to team meetings.
So, although technical skills are required for the job, Davis says, other attributes are equally important, such as flexibility, a motivation and willingness to learn new skills quickly, and a strong business acumen.
One career path that many Keane consultants choose is project management.
"These positions are in high demand and require the ability to manage relationships, plan, meet deadlines, and ultimately take responsibility for successfully completing the assigned project on time and within budget," says Davis.
Communication and writing skills are also key if you want to use your computer science skills to carve a career in sales and marketing -- two areas that recent IT graduates tend to overlook.
The majority of IT jobs at Metrowerks Inc., an Austin, Texas firm that creates software development tools for programmers, involve programming engineers and are heavy on research and development. But, Metrowerks also needs IT professionals for marketing and sales, quality assurance, and technical support.
To be successful at a sales or marketing post, a candidate needs more than a technical understanding. At Metrowerks, that individual needs to be someone who can understand the product technically, has writing skills, and is interested in things that position the product, like advertising.
"They're still dealing with the technical aspect of the product, dealing with the engineers, but are able to look at the industry as a whole and market the specific product within the industry," says Metrowerks spokesperson Tabitha Ethridge.
Also, the company needs IT professionals in quality assurance, she says. "After we've got a product that we think is about ready to ship, we send it through quality assurance, run it through different types of tests, work out any bugs.
"We want to make sure that when it's sitting on somebody's desk that it's not going to make their computer crash or not allow them to do the things that our software does."
For obvious reasons, larger companies tend to have diverse opportunities for IT professionals. At 3M Inc., headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., IT professionals provide worldwide, information-based solutions needed by the company's business units. Jobs include project management, business analysis, design, development, and implementation of information technology solutions. Many of the positions require leadership and consulting skills.
While most opportunities are at its headquarters, some are at 3M's corporate center in Austin, Texas, and some are at manufacturing plants throughout the U.S.
"In these environments, IT defines the technical architecture, designs and supports the technology infrastructure, and develops corporate-wide information system solutions," according to 3M's Careers Web Site. "The business units and plants, in turn develop support systems pertinent to unique staff or business needs."
For these roles, candidates must have a blend of technology, business, and people skills, the company says.
Only an estimated 20 percent of all the IT professionals at Sprint Corp., the telecommunications giant based in Westwood, Kansas, are programmers. There's a tremendous amount of project management for IT specialists at Sprint, as well as a need for systems maintenance, says Sprint Corp. executive Dick Goulet.
And, like other large companies, Sprint relies on IT professionals for internal support to assist the 55,000 employees who have a personal computer on their desks, he says.
In today's high employment environment, the entry-level candidate has some specific opportunities, says Scileppi of RHI Consulting. Job titles include help desk specialist, assisting end users with a general knowledge of a specific technology; implementation consultant, ensuring efficient customer implementation of a company product; and product support specialist, on-site assistance of a specific technology.
"All of these positions are excellent starting points for an IT career because they offer a thorough introduction to all aspects of a company's business technology," says Scileppi.
As advice to those entering the job market for the first time, he says, it's important to keep an open mind. Stay flexible, and do some broad thinking about a potential employer.
Focus more on the company or the vision for technology than the specific role you would be starting in, Scileppi says.
"The job seeker must think strategically," he says, "by choosing a company that places a high level of value on IT -- where that first position could lead to a second and third -- all while increasing his or her knowledge of leading-edge technologies."
DDJ