Success in the awakening IT jobs market depends on your skills, your attitude – and the area of expertise you bring to the table. I don’t mean configuring RAID arrays, I mean familiarity with a medical or accounting or legal or you-name-it business domain.
Take a look at this NetworkWorld article, “Outlook 2010 IT skills checklist: The vertical climb” at:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/010410-outlook-it-skills.html
The Executive Summary: Vertical industries, like medicine, are going to be the specific drivers of new IT opportunities. Says Denise Dubie of NetworkWorld, “Some vertical industries in particular will see a huge spike in demand for high-tech workers. For instance, healthcare is expected to see demand for 70,000 new IT positions in the next 12 months, according the the Computing Technology Industry Association.”
Yes, that’s 70,000 new IT jobs.
Other critical areas of IT expertise that you can bring to your vertical industry of choice include security and secure networking; open source proficiency; and familiarity with current “hot topics” like SaaS, virtualization and cloud technologies (execs are always looking for smart advice on IT).
The challenge to you (aside from staying current in this frenzied field) is finding an industry or recognizing that you already have experience in one. From there, it’s easy: just memorize the Encyclopedia Britannica of IT and you’ll have it made.