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IT Positions Some of the Toughest Jobs To Fill In US
coondoggie writes "Forty-nine percent of U.S. companies are having a hard time filling what workforce management firm ManpowerGroup calls mission-critical positions within their organizations. IT staff, engineers and 'skilled trades' are among the toughest spots to fill. The group surveyed some 1,300 employers and noted that U.S. companies are struggling to find talent, despite continued high unemployment, over their global counterparts, where 34% of employers worldwide are having difficulty filling positions."
While interpersonal skills are important, in many jobs I've had there is WAY too much emphasis put on them. I personally believe this is because it is a skillset that a manager can understand while the non-technical types don't understand the technical competence. For certain I.T. people and programming-types it's much more important, IMHO, that they understand the technical side as 95% of their job should be in front of the computer (this is excepting support personnel that have to deal with the public). I've seen quite a number of work situations where it is the other way around.
Management are finally discovering what experienced IT staffers have been warning them about for years- failure to invest in training and mentoring entry-level staff will result in shortages over all levels of skill in the future.
Skilled staff are not a commodity. They are not widgets that can be easily replaced. Moreover, the attrition rate for the IT field is high- I am one of 4 people I know among my extended group of friends with more than 20 years in the business who are still working as non-management. Everyone else has either changed professions to something else, or is in management.
The unemployment rate for IT staff in my region is less than 3%. I stopped trying to get requisitions for new staff to train up years ago when I realized that until their pants are on fire, management at most companies simply won't understand that it can take three to five years to train up a good IT staffer, provided the will and funding are there to do it. So, this new "news" is not a surprise to me, and I've taken a more laid back approach as I've realized that there isn't any purpose to changing some peoples' minds about the growing staff shortage. As of now, I'm enjoying the ride, letting people call me and determining where I'm going to have to argue least about pay.
Don't forget the ageism thing. Shocked no one mentioned this.
Must have 25 years Java experience... and the unwritten rule is be under 30.
Sometimes ageism shows up in ridiculous combos, where the only way to get that combo is to already have that specific position, or be about 60.. and they only hire kids under 30.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Sorry, I don't buy your argument.
If you strike possessing security clearance from the listed of mandatory requirements, and change it to "must be able to obtain a security clearance", your field of candidates will open up. Yes, you will have to pay for someone to get cleared, and that is not cheap, but there is an acute shortage of information security practitioners as it is.
The reality is IS pro's with TS/SCI clearance command a premium due to the insatiable demand from the U.S. Government and firms that do business with the same.
I've bought specialized software from some small home-grown companies of 3-4 programmers with at least 50% of the programmers being H1b. Yes it isn't evidence, but it does happen more than you think.
Bingo! This is why I quit doing corporate, I got so damned tired of being looked at as this money sucking leech and being expected to fix a bazillion wrong things with no damned money and little help. These bean counting pricks act like you can keep those POS PCs forever, that nothing ever breaks down, and that ANY money IT asks for is a waste. Now with work conditions like that, is it any damned wonder that nobody wants the fucking job?
Now I work with consumers and small business and while the pay isn't as good you know what? They are ACTUALLY GRATEFUL for the job you do! And they will actually LISTEN to your suggestions without looking at every damned thing as a way for you to "waste money", not to mention they don't call you 24/7 and expect your ass to jump like a frog on a hot plate. Fuck corporate IT, it is one of the shittiest jobs I have ever worked! Between the bad attitudes, the fighting for every penny, the long hours, the PHB bullshit, frankly I'd sit on a street corner with my acoustic and a tin cup rather that do that God damned job again!
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Don't resent people with MBAs; they perform an important role in understanding business -- especially finance and accounting.
As an accountant I can confirm "MBAs" don't know shit about finance and accounting.
MBAs were created because people highly skilled in one thing eventually get promoted into upper management, which requires a whole new bunch of skills and knowledge which they've never needed to learn before because it was never relevant before. It's a very broad, but very short course where the intention is to teach just about enough for them to get the gist when someone competent in a particular field (e.g. the senior accountant or head of marketing) is talking about things in the board meeting. This means they get taught at a very high (i.e. strategic) level and not fundamental basics.
The problem is that the arrogant ones then think they've got the super-smarts and try to "get creative" with something when they have no grasp of the fundamental concept. Seriously, some of these guys think they have a much better idea about specialist areas after a couple of weeks on an MBA course than guys who have a decade of higher+ learning and decades of direct experience.
What you want an MBA for is the newly-promoted director of engineering who's been an engineer all his life, knows everything about engineering and just needs a crash-course on the crap the other guys are talking about in the board meetings.