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As we make observations about the IT Consulting and Application Development areas, as well as our clients’ industries, we’ll report it here, in white papers, videos, slide presentations and webinars.

Finding work in a down market.

Where are the IT jobs in this recession market?

The recent Wall Street downturn would tempt a lot of IT workers to switch to any other field other than banking. The stream of depressing surveys predicts shrinking IT budgets and shrinking career opportunities.

On the other hand, a close evalaution of hiring and placement firms who specialize in IT displays an upbeat feeling about the market.

Without a question, the IT sector is volatile and likely to suffer from a decrease in capital investment, a prediction echoed by consulting firms such as Gartner and Forrester Research. Companies will still want to optimize their existing systems and will still be hiring with an eye toward that goal.

It seems that the that lower-level IT skills may be outsourced, but the higher-level IT positions will remain in-house. Keeping them in-house is cheaper for employers than hiring consultants, and keeping them in-house makes it easier to hire from within, often a less expensive proposition than finding an outside candidate.

He adds that anyone looking for an in-house IT position would do well to consider whether the job provides any hands-on training or experience in new technologies. For the foreseeable future, such training and experience is the best way employees can pick up new job skills without paying for them. However, due to shrinking IT budgets, employers are not as willing to pay for employee classes.

The strongest hiring areas are likely to be in-house. Companies are keeping spending down, but they have to maintain and utilize all the systems they already have. The core areas like networking administration, tech support, and database management will continue to be strong.

Recession-proof tech jobs

While there is no exact science available to indicate recession-proof areas, a few areas are hot: software design and development, networking and systems administration, software implementation analysis, testing and QA, and database administration.

We see a lot of opportunity in these areas:

Virtualization: The technology is largely perceived as a cost-cutting measure, so IT managers facing smaller budgets will be looking at it more. We're not seeing a slowdown in that space.

VoIP and wireless technologies: VoIP is perceived as another IT measure where a modest initial outlay will produce a strong ROI, It is ripe for anyone who's on the project management track in IT. For those who are experienced, there's opportunity to get into the wireless space.

Systems upgrade and maintenance: These areas require strong help desk or desktop talent. There are openings for jobs that require a combination of those skills.

Data warehousing and data analysis: Anyone who can work with data and build industry-specific reports is in demand. We're seeing a technical side and a functional side where candidates understand the business facets of the reports.

Web 2.0 technologies: The demand for people who know AJAX and Ruby on Rails is strong.

Do not underestimate your non-technical skills

Work on what are often called the "soft skills," such as user interaction, dealing with difficult people, and working well in a team environment. A lot of companies are putting emphasis on these skills because they know tech skills can be picked up through training. You've got to have people inside your building who not only know the technology, they know how to make it work with people. In fact, many companies are reconsidering outsourcing because the interpersonal skills that are part of nearly every IT job are better found in-house.

Your last option: Wait it out