Tracy Arthur
Mark Feffer
Chris Miller
David Spark
Kevin Studer
Why Contractors Like Certifications
Tech consulting is as much about running a small business as it is about technology. That means taking risks and getting involved in marketing, financial management, and all those other details that go into making sure everything runs smoothly. In terms of marketing, one aspect that consultants seem to value is certifications. Forty percent of them say obtaining a certification helped them land a new gig. That’s about 10 percentage points higher than their colleagues working in traditional roles. Want… continue…
November: Colleges See More Computer Science Majors
Dice IT Market Report: The Computer Science Pipeline Grows High school seniors are showing renewed interest in Computer Science as an undergraduate major. And why not? While most of the economy remains stagnant, computer science grads are getting hired at good salaries. Carnegie Mellon expects to receive 4,000 applications in the area this academic year, though it will only accept only 400 and enroll about 140. That’s up from 3,500 applications in 2011 and 3,200 in 2001. Other schools report… continue…
October: Positive Outlook for Technology Jobs
IT MARKET REPORT Observers say 2012 will be a good year for IT employment. InfoWorld, for one, thinks it’s a great time to be in IT. It notes Gartner’s claim that global IT spending will rise by 7.1 percent, higher than its original estimate of a 5.6 percent increase. And a recent survey by the Society for Information Management reveals that boosting productivity and cutting costs will be the No. 4 priority for CIOs in 2012. Why is that good?… continue…
Pushback on Candidate Credit Checks
A number of companies have been checking job candidates’ credit histories before formalizing an offer, a practice that seems particularly troubling when the economy’s running on one cylinder. Now, there’s some pushback: A coalition of civil rights and advocacy groups have petitioned TransUnion, one of the country’s Big Three consumer credit services, to stop selling information to employers. Using credit histories to screen job applicants, the groups said, can trap the jobless and disproportionately burden black and Latino candidates. They… continue…
How to Make a No-Win Situation Worse
When Ortho-McNeil told a woman to, essentially, stop mourning her daughter during working hours, it won its legal case, but may have lost in a wider sense. Cecilia Ingraham worked for Ortho in New Jersey when her daughter died of acute lymphocytic cancer in May 2005, during her junior year in high school. Eighteen months later, co-workers approached HR with complaints about the “memorial” Ingraham had set up on her desk — a picture of her daughter and a pair… continue…
Words Fail: The ‘Who Gets Fired Next’ Contest
Here’s a lesson in what not to do that’s so obvious, you only need to know the facts. Bill Ernst, owner QC Marts, a small chain of convenience stores in the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois, faxed his employees to announce a new contest: Guess The Next Cashier Who Will Be Fired! ‘To win our game, write on a piece of paper the name of the next cashier you believe will be fired. Seal it in an envelope… continue…
Balance Is More About Smudges Than Borders
“Work-Life Balance” has been a topic of discussion for years. Certainly the workplace has evolved to a point where most people’s dedication isn’t questioned simply because they work at home occasionally, so they can get to a parent-teacher conference or a volunteer board meeting. All but the most rabid workaholics will adapt their schedule when necessary to accommodate some kind of family event, from birthday to funeral. Companies, too, are less judgmental. Though many seem a bit disingenuous (Wall Street… continue…
Why the Grass May Be Dead on the Other Side of the Fence
Years ago, a friend who worked for The Wall Street Journal’s Startup Journal told me that a great chunk of his usage came from corporate Internet addresses. Folks were browsing through all of those stories of success and imagining their own escape from the world of meetings, cubicles, bad coffee and continually re-circulated air. Though few would actually quit their jobs, it was fun to dream about it. Business porn, we called the site — along with magazines like Inc.… continue…
Five Ways To Overcome Objections to Telecommuting
Telecommuting doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore. Even the term is becoming becoming archaic as the number of people working from home increases. Yet some companies are still gun shy about allowing employees to work outside of the office, fearing they’ll be harder to manage, or less productive and engaged. But there are real advantages to allowing people to telecommute work at home. If you’re trying to convince managment to give it a try, or expand the number… continue…
How To Schedule Your Day to Keep Yourself Sane
My cousin MJ is something of a whirlwind. He juggles phone calls with meetings with the real work that needs to get done in order for his company to grow. (He’s an IT consultant and value-added re-seller, with three or four people working for him.) It all seems disorganized, and more than a few people try to figure out how he gets so much done. True, he works long hours — but don’t we all? Even beyond that he manages… continue…
