Is there good news for high-tech workers in the coming year? Computerworld seems to think so. They also list the top 4, in-demand, high-tech jobs for 2006.

What Tech Skills Are Hot For 2006?

Developers, security experts and project managers will be in demand

News Analysis by Thomas Hoffman

DECEMBER 27, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) - Whether you're looking for a job or looking to fill one, expect hiring to heat up this year, driven by small but consistent gains in IT budgets. And if you're a job seeker with the right skills, 2006 could be your big year. [Continue Reading]

(Via del.icio.us/tag/career])

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On our worst days, we can sometimes stop caring about our work. We can get so beaten down and tired that the only thing we look forward to is the end of the day. The truly frightening part, though, is that it doesn’t take a horrible day to put your career, or even your entire company at risk. Instead, it is the small problems – the ignored update, the unfixed bug, the “I’ll get to that later” attitude – that brings failure. If you want to have a long career, at a number of profitable companies, you need to worry most about the “one little bug” that could bring everything crashing down. [Continue Reading]



Past mentions of software bugs | Books on software bugs

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I came across these 2 articles in the Delicious RSS feed for career. Both offer some good information that I have touched on in past Career-Op columns.

Developing a Professional Portfolio

RESUME WRITING | How to write a masterpiece of a resume

(Via del.icio.us/tag/career.)

Past columns on Resumes | Past columns on Portfolios | Books on resumes and portfolios

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I had an interesting conversation with a friend and fellow writer the other day that made me think hard about the relationship between computer workers and their clients. After I helped her with a printing problem and explained what had gone wrong she said, "I have a person I usually call for computer work but they just come and fix the computer. I don't know any more after they leave then before they arrived." [Continue Reading]


Past columns on dealing with clients | Books on dealing with clients

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For the love of it all

Working at what you love can be an amazing experience. It can bring a sense of fulfillment and joy that rivals the best experiences of your life. There can be a dark side, though, in getting every thing you want. Some cases involve subtle pressure to work harder, longer, faster, something nearly everyone feels. In others, though, pressure can turn into requirement, suggestions into orders, and your love for your work can be used against you.

Without a life

Recently, EA Games was in the news due to lawsuits filed by their employees. It seems that although the company allegedly required mandatory 72 hour work weeks as it came time to complete a product, they paid no overtime or comp time to their employees. Bubbling resentment finally became too much for some employee’s spouses and they vented their frustration via online forums and email. (See this Google News Search for more information: http://tinyurl.com/4jw4b). These messages attracted more and more stories, both from within EA Games and from a myriad of other companies where similar policies exist.

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Changing careers can be a daunting task. I have had the idea of changing my career on several occasions, but as of yet, I haven't made the big move. This article from WikiHow offers some advice on how to do it when you are ready.

How to Switch Careers

Making a big career change isn't easy, especially if you've got kids to support, a mortgage to pay, and a car to worry about. But if you've got the motivation, you can do it. Here's how.

Link: How to Switch Careers

Books: Changing your career

(Via del.icio.us/tag/gtd.)

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As you probably know, most companies tend to slow down around the holiday season, unless, of course, they are in a business directly related to holiday retail or events. We look forward to this slower pace as we wind down to the end of the year, but you might want to take a different approach this time. While the holidays may not be the best time to look for a new job (See Holiday Recharge, December 1998, http://www.welchwrite.com/dewelch/ce/ce9812.html), you can turn these slow times to your advantage.

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Do you need a last minute gift? Can't wait for delivery? Why not send an Amazon Gift Certificate with an e-Card. This is one gift that will make it in time for Christmas.

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In today’s world, it might seem best to be a cold-hearted cynic about everything you do, but especially about your career. While it might feel like you need to protect yourself from any variety of people out to use, abuse or mislead you, the truth is, if you succumb to cynicism you will be blocking yourself off from opportunities that could be the dream of your high-tech career. While you certainly don’t want to be naïve about your career choices, you do want to remain open to new ideas and projects.

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A great post on the difference between being efficient and being effective. Too often, many tasks get "done", but they get done in a very slipshod, ineffective manner. Are you doing your best work, or simply checking off to-do items?

Doing fast things or doing things fast?

There's a difference between efficiency and effectiveness, mostly in terms of intent. This was brought home to me recently in a meeting with a business partner.

We discussed several topics that needed the partner's attention. A person in attendance was building a "to do" list for followup after the meeting. One by one she went through and checked off things she felt were "finished". She was obviously very interested in efficiency. However, I felt that many of the items she felt were "complete" were not well thought out or even done well at all. In her mind the work was done and she should celebrate how "fast" she got them done. From my perspective they weren't done at all, and required much more thought and consideration.

[Continue Reading]

(Via Thinking Faster.)

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I hope you have enjoyed this year's Holiday Gift Guide. If you have any other shopping needs, you can use this Amazon Search Box to start the process.



You can link to all the items from the Gift Guide by visiting the links below.

Holiday Gift Guide Items 31-35
Holiday Gift Guide Items 21-30
Holiday Gift Guide Items 11-20
Holiday Gift Guide Items 1-10

Thank you for reading Career Opportunities and Have A Merry Christmas!

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Bothell, Washington, December 18, 2005 — Combining an age-old Christmas story and a bit of high-tech tomfoolery, Friends in Tech (http://friendsintech.com) presents a re-telling of Dicken's classic holiday tale in "A Geek Christmas Carol."

This new audio production, featuring the talents of all the Friend in Tech members and some special podcaster guests, tells the story of Ed Scrooge and his holiday attempt to outsource and offshore every job in his high-tech company. Thankfully, some helpful tech "spirits" intervene and show him that there is more to life, work and Christmas than cutting costs and firing staff.
Listen to the Show

Friends in Tech (FiT), is an alliance of technology podcasters, joined together for the express purpose of cross-pollination, cross-promotion and, most importantly, fun. Producing specials like "A Geek Christmas Carol", and their Halloween show, "The Server Room of Horrors", is an important part of keeping the fun in high-tech and spreading it to all their tech friends. Every FiT member plays a character in the production and several members volunteered to edit and assemble the disparate parts, recorded all over North America, into a seamless show.

FiT Member, Kreg Steppe, the writer for both holiday specials, sees them as a great way to lighten the load of stressed out, high-tech workers.

"Back in October as we were working on Server Room of Horrors, I had so much fun writing and editing that I started thinking about the next special we could produce together. Immediately, Christmas came to mind and knowing so many jaded computer techs, a Christmas Carol seemed like a perfect fit," says Steppe.

"For this production, I took about a week to write it. Once that was done, I posted it to our wiki for all the member's additions and edits. Then recording commenced and we turned to editing the raw audio. I would say it took about 3-4 weeks to put the show together."

"A Geek Christmas Carol" will be released December 18th, 2005 on the Friends in Tech web site (http://friendsintech.com) and also via the FiT podcasting feed at http://www.friendsintech.com/wp-rss2.php. Listeners who are subscribed to the FiT podcast feed will receive the show automatically the moment it is released.

Friends in Tech

Friends in Tech members are regular guests on other member’s podcasts, bringing their unique knowledge, talent and insights to a new audience of listeners. Members also join together to create exclusive content for the Friends In Tech website, including FiT Tips, a collection of short audio hints to help ease listener’s computer life, Retro-FiT, a regular podcast review of all Friends In Tech podcasts.

Despite their common focus on technology, each Friends In Tech podcast provides a unique view of the high-tech world that surrounds everyday life. Member shows include In The Trenches with Kevin Devin and George Starcher (http://kevindevin.com), ChuckChat Technorama with Chuck Tomasi and Kreg Steppe (http://chuckchat.com), The Typical PC User podcast (http://typicalpcuser.com), hosted by Victor Caijo, Career Opportunities: The High-Tech Career Handbook (http://welchwrite.com/career) with Douglas E. Welch, Steve Holden’s Tech Rag Tear Outs and Tech Tidbits Daily (http://technewsradio.com), the Mike Tech Show with Mike Smith. (http://www.miketechshow.com/) and The Digital Experience Podcast with Lance Heath. (http://www.digitalexperiencepodcast.com/)

Listen to the Show

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I was first exposed to these laptop stands at a client's site and I was very impressed. It places the laptop in a more comfortable position, keeps it cook and can make you a lot more productive.

Link: Targus PA241U Podium Coolpad

Link: More laptop stands

See also:

#34 Tamrac 5273 Expedition 3 SLR Photo Bag and More photo bags
#33 Logitech 980158-0403 Internet Chat Headset and More computer headsets
#32 Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott
#31 Casio Disc Title Printer
Holiday Gift Guide Items 21-30
Holiday Gift Guide Items 11-20
Holiday Gift Guide Items 1-10

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One of the hazards of writing a column on careers is that some people might begin to think that you have all the answers and that your career is perfectly on-track. Regular readers of Career Opportunities, or listeners to the podcast, have probably already realized, though, that I , like everyone else have my own career demons to face. Many of the columns I have written over the years have spawned directly from my own personal career struggles. I use my writing to gain a better understanding of my own career and, hopefully, get you thinking about your career, as well.

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Just as I mentioned earlier in the gift guide, every one of your electronic devices should have a protective case. It only takes a moment of inattention for your new toy to end up as a very expensive brick. Here are several options for protecting your camera, digital or otherwise.

Link: Tamrac 5273 Expedition 3 SLR Photo Bag

Link: More photo bags

See also:

#33 Logitech 980158-0403 Internet Chat Headset and More computer headsets
#32 Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott
#31 Casio Disc Title Printer
Holiday Gift Guide Items 21-30
Holiday Gift Guide Items 11-20
Holiday Gift Guide Items 1-10

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On December 18, 2005, Friends in Tech will release its holiday production,

A Geek Christmas Carol



Listen to the Trailer

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2004 Approaches

There are times when we all might wish to get a small glimpse of the future. Then again, we might not be very happy with what we see. Thank goodness we can only make suppositions and guesses about the coming year, otherwise we might not want to face it at all. Regardless of whatever comes your way, though,, here are a few thoughts to help you in your high-tech career planning for 2004 and make it the best year possible.

The bottom of the hill

While we will probably continue to see layoffs in the high-tech job sector, it appears that things may bounce back within the first few months of 2004. If the economy rebounds even a small amount, this will drive the need for more high-tech workers. If this falters, job gains/losses will probably be much the same as they are now.

Continue Reading



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The Working Smarter blog has this enlightening post on trust that I think you should all read. I have written about trust in the past and still find it an important issue to re-visit on a regular basis. Like the writer of this post, I too have suffered when I ignored my gut feelings and decided to work with someone I though might not be as trustworthy as I had hoped. DOn't fall into the same trap. Trust your intuition.

Career-Op: Trust from November 30, 2001 - Text and Audio

Other Career-Op articles that mention trust

A matter of trust

There have been some instances in my life when my gut told me something that I ignored and I lived to regret. Most of those instances have been times when my gut was telling me that the person I was working with, or selling to, or partnering with, was someone I could not trust. In almost every instance my gut proved right, and I was left wishing I had listened to my gut instincts.

(Via Thinking Faster.)

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Check out this is great article, with great reader comments over at Creating Passionate Users. I chimed in with my own 2 cents and you should, too.

With my 7-year-old son, I believe in exposing him to as many different ideas, jobs, careers, hobbies, sports, etc as possible.

If he shows any interest in a particular activity, I support him. If he doesn't show an interest, I don't sign him up for something just because I think he should do it.

I figure that the more activities and concepts he is exposed to today, the better decisions he will make in the future.

Career advice for young people?

Would you encourage your kids to take up programming? Would you discourage them? Engineering? Architecture? Science? Medicine? Music? Design? Art? Social work? Writing? What advice would you give to a 14-year old today?

(Via Creating Passionate Users.)

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I am sure you have heard the expression, “sometimes you need to take the bull by the horns,” and other such euphemisms about taking action. While these sayings are definitely clichés, like all clichés they hold a bit of truth within them. There are times in your high-tech career, when you need to (insert your favorite cliché here) in order to insure that your career keeps moving forward, no matter what issues you might be facing.

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With the growing popularity of voice chat clients such as Skype, Gizmo and AOL Instant Messenger, a good headset is a must-have add-on for your computer. It gives you the best sound quality and cuts out extraneous noise. It also leaves both hands free so you can take notes or research information during your conversations.

Link: #33 Logitech 980158-0403 Internet Chat Headset

Link: More computer headsets

See also:

#32 Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott
#31 Casio Disc Title Printer
Holiday Gift Guide Items 21-30
Holiday Gift Guide Items 11-20
Holiday Gift Guide Items 1-10

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Retro-FiT, the podcast review for Friends in Tech, looking back on the week of December 9th, 2005.

Listen to what all the Friends in Tech podcasters were talking about his week

Listen

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This ebook in PDF format holds some interesting quotes, many of which will get you thinking about your work and career. Some quotes provide links to further information from blog posts by the author. Download it and then take some time working through each quote. I think you will develop more than a few new ideas on how to make your job better.

66 priceless pieces of business advice by Curt Rosengren

Worthwhile reader Scott Ginsberg (you know, the guy who has worn a nametag for the last five years) has 66 priceless pieces of business advice he wants to share with you. No really, they're priceless. As in free.

Scott put a fun e-book together called 66 Priceless Pieces of Business Advice I Couldn't Live Without that will cost you zip, nada, not one thin dime to download.

How about you? As Scott asks over on his blog: "What's the most priceless piece of business advice you've ever received?"

(Via Worthwhile.)

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There are times in your life and your career when you have to have certain conversations. Fierce Conversations gives you the guidance and tools you need to make these conversations, in fact, any conversation, as useful and powerful as possible. If you have trouble talking to family, friends and co-workers, this book can help you to understand not only how to hold fierce conversations, but also, why you need to be a fierce communicator in everything you do.

(from the Career Opportunities column, Summer Reading List, July 11, 2003)

Link: Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott

See also:

#31 Casio Disc Title Printer
Holiday Gift Guide Items 21-30
Holiday Gift Guide Items 11-20
Holiday Gift Guide Items 1-10

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If you would like to see what web sites I am bookmarking, you can subscribe to my Delicious links and see them as they happen.

To view them on the web, visit these links:

Career Opportunities Bookmarks

You can also subscribe to an RSS feed for the Bookmark list at:

Career Opportunities Bookmarks

Enjoy!

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A single-purpose tool, indeed, but if you find yourself cranking out lots of burned CDs, this might be a great idea. Much like the office labelers you find on many desks today, this printer prints directly onto blank CDs. Maybe with this I would finally be able to tell what is on my discs since I can't read my handwriting.

Link: #31 Casio Disc Title Printer

See also:

Holiday Gift Guide Items 21-30
Holiday Gift Guide Items 11-20
Holiday Gift Guide Items 1-10

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Anyone who knows me personally, also knows that I am rarely seen without a cup of coffee in my hand. I love to drink it, make it, use it in cooking and I even found a wonderful bar of soup that included ground espresso.

If you know a coffee geek like me, and who doesn't, check out this coffee-themed calendar for 2006. There are images of equipment, cups and more. You can read the story of its creation at RohDesign.com. I regularly read this blog and love what they have to say about art and design.

Link: #30 Coffee Calendar 2006

Link: Read previous post on RohDesign

See also:

#29 Planon DocuPen DPEN-R700
#28 Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
#27 E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation
#26 Belkin Tunecast II FM Transmitter
#25 Classic Computers of the Past 2006 Calender
#24 The Complete Book of Spirits
#23 The Art of the Start
#22 Palm Z22 Handheld
#21 Speck Products ToughSkin for iPod and Find a Speck Cover for your iPod model

Holiday Gift Guide Items 11-20
Holiday Gift Guide Items 1-10

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In this video available from Google Video, makes me wonder what some companies are thinking when it comes to computer support and the way they treat their customers.

The video shows "Chief Inspector" and Geek Squad founder, Robert Stephens telling a story of a computer that was "eating CDs". Anyone in the tech field probably understands immediately that the user was inserting the CDs into a slot in the case and not into the CD drive. It doesn't happen a lot, but some poorly designed cases make it easier than others.

Stephens closes the video with the line, "That will be $100, ma'am."

Ouch!

Did he actually charge the woman for the "service" call? Experience has shown me that many people would.

I can tell you what I would have done, though. I wouldn't have charged the client a cent.

Money lost? For now, perhaps, but I can guarantee you that the next time this person, or anyone they knew, needed computer help, they would call me. Over the lifetime of the customer I would end up making much more than the initial $100. Over my years as an independent consultant, it had been proven to me again and again. If Geek Squad did charge the woman, they took in $100 that day and yet lost thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the client.

You don't build your business by charging an hour for providing a 10 second answer. All you do is tick people off and drive them to your competitors -- people like me.

Oh, and by the way, if you are telling "stupid user" stories about your clients, your "stupid" clients will eventually find out. Especially if the video is posted on Google.

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There are many factors that can limit the success of your high-tech career. You can lack basic skills or opportunities to use the skills you have. You can live in an economically depressed area. You might even have personal health issues. Even these issues, though, are nothing compared to the 3 most insidious limits we place upon our own careers. As with many parts of our lives, our biggest obstacles are often those we create for ourselves.

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Steve Pavlina has great post on taking action to fix things around you. I don't always do it, but int he past I have found myself breaking up a fight between 2 women, in the middle of a BUSY intersection, after a fender-bender, comforting an elderly women and providing some basic first aid after she was broad-sided, at speed, right in front of me. I have helped people look for their dogs and cats. I have jump started cars for folks.

If you see a problem, why not fix it, in any way you can. Heck, even reporting graffiti or potholes to your local authorities helps out.

Why not you? Why not me? Why not everyone? It makes everyone's life a little bit better.

Why Not You?

Are you one of those people who notices the problems of the world and says one of the following:

• Somebody ought to do something about that.


• Where are the people that are supposed to be handling this?


• Surely with all the tax dollars being spent, somebody is in charge of fixing this.


• Why doesn’t somebody do something about that?

Why not you?

If you feel a strong urge to see a problem fixed, then why not act on it? Surely your whining and complaining isn’t helping, is it? (continued)

(Via Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog.)

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This could be an interesting way to quickly get image into your computer, although a digital camera works pretty well these days, too. Someone who deals in a lot of 1 page documents and such could find this very beneficial, though. Simply swipe it down the page and the image is stored inside the device. When you return to your office, connect the USB cable and download the images directly into your computer.

Link: #29 Planon DocuPen DPEN-R700

(Found on the Fast Company 2005 Gift Guide)

See also:

#28 Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
#27 E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation
#26 Belkin Tunecast II FM Transmitter
#25 Classic Computers of the Past 2006 Calender
#24 The Complete Book of Spirits
#23 The Art of the Start
#22 Palm Z22 Handheld
#21 Speck Products ToughSkin for iPod and Find a Speck Cover for your iPod model

Holiday Gift Guide Items 11-20
Holiday Gift Guide Items 1-10

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Slashdot has this excellent discussion on one high-tech workers experience when he submitted his resignation. More and more these days, while you are polite to offer a 2-weeks notice, very few companies will take advantage of that time to gather the knowledge you have built. They want you out the door as soon as possible in order to avoid any issues with deleted data, etc. Of course, it is never fun to be made to feel like a criminal, but it also protects you from any accusations, as well.

My advice? Be ready to walk out the door immediately after you hand in your resignation. This doesn't mean it will happen, but you need to be ready for any eventuality.

I have written about submitting your resignation in a past Career-Op article, The Right Way to Resign.

Computer Jobs -- How to Resign Professionally? MikeDawg asks: "I submitted a letter of resignation yesterday, and today I'm at home posting stories to my weblog and Slashdot. I gave my employer two weeks notice, and almost immediately, I had my accounts disabled, and my permissions revoked on all the computers at my work, which makes me unable to do anything in my position of being a 'Systems Analyst/Systems Administrator'.

(Via Slashdot.)

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If you haven't had a chance to upgrade your Mac to the latest version of Mac OS X, then put this Tiger in your tank. (I guess using that phrase really dates me, doesn't it.) This link is for the Mac OS X Family Pack, allowing up to 5 installs so the whole family can join the fun. There are also single user version available.

Link: #28 Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

See also:

#27 E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation
#26 Belkin Tunecast II FM Transmitter
#25 Classic Computers of the Past 2006 Calender
#24 The Complete Book of Spirits
#23 The Art of the Start
#22 Palm Z22 Handheld
#21 Speck Products ToughSkin for iPod and Find a Speck Cover for your iPod model

Holiday Gift Guide Items 11-20
Holiday Gift Guide Items 1-10

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Some days, your life as a high-tech worker can seem to be an endless parade of people who want nothing more than to make your life difficult. I am here to remind you that not everyone is out to treat you this way. While you may run into a few difficult people in the course of your career the majority of your customers and your peers will be decent folk who suffer from the same problems you do. Sometimes, though, we can forget all that and begin treating everyone as the enemy, regardless of their actions.

Continue Reading

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