It's always nice to hear good news, but even better when the timing is just right. That was our reaction when we spotted an InformationWeek item about the latest IT hiring trends.
Art Wittman's article, based on an IT staffing survey by the magazine, showed that the top hiring category is ... application development. This was especially timely, with Sprint's 12th annual Open Solutions conference coming up in less than two weeks (October 24-25). Combining the invaluable information and networking for developers that the conference offers with a "hot" job market (InformationWeek's description) makes for a real winner. By the way, you can register here for the conference.
But back to the hiring news. InformationWeek's survey companies anticipate increasing their application development staffing by an average of 10 percent over the next two years, with some companies boosting this staffing by 30 percent or more. And generally, this increased staffing will come through hiring or retaining contractors, as opposed to training or retraining of existing staff.
More good news: The survey also pegged the median income for staff developers at $95,000, about a three percent increase over 2011, so the money's good as long as you stay employed. But that could be the issue, InformationWeek says, describing the field as a "volatile" one. While one out of four of its surveyed companies are hiring more in application development than in any other IT area, almost that many companies say it's the area where they're cutting. Our advice: keep your resume updated and polish your interviewing skills, since you may be hopping around a bit in this environment.
The interviewing skills are only one part of it, and our Open Solutions conference can't really help you with that. But as far as your other skills, San Jose is the place to be. As we mentioned in a previous post, the two conference days are packed with sessions and workshops, networking opportunities, and presentations by top Sprint executives. You can check those details out here.
Since its inception, the Open Solutions conference has been a big part of Sprint’s open strategy, serving as a forum where developers and service providers can get connected with Sprint capabilities and those of our enabling partners. It showcases the latest tools and capabilities from Sprint and our partners. Its mission is to help developers leverage Sprint's openness to create services for consumer, business, and M2M (machine-to-machine) solutions.
Again, you can register here for the conference. Maybe we'll see in you San Jose.
