Create your own job

I do a lot of thinking about work, jobs and the economy, both at the macro scale and particularly in Albuquerque. I know a lot of skilled people, of many persuasions, who have been out of work for a year or more. And I also see a barrage of demand for IT people, application developers, security pros, network techs both guru and apprentice, help desk galore, and do I know any web people? And virtualization people, and on and on and on.

What puzzles the hell out of me about all this is the disconnects, on several levels. I long ago discarded the idea that I needed someone to create a job for me. What I’m always looking for is work. There is a massive superabundance of work, more than will ever be accomplished in the history of humankind. So I take the opportunities that interest me, and refer out or turn down the rest. It works. And it’s perfectly clear why: I constantly watch the IT market, and educate myself on my own incentive and at my own expense to do the work in demand. You can do it too; just pick a skill set and start developing it.

Where is the demand? It’s easy to find. Read this Computerworld article, “9 Hot IT Skills for 2012”:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/358381/9_Hot_Skills_for_2012?taxonomyId=14&pageNumber=1

App development, project management, networking, help desk, business intelligence, data center, Web 2.0, security and telecom: there are entire worlds within each of these areas. All they require is technical curiosity and motivation.

Come on people, this is America! If you’re unemployed it’s time to cram for certifications and study new web tools. Take classes, if you can, or buy books and study, study, study. Then don’t look for a job; create your own.