Eyes and Ears on the IT Marketplace

Here in ACU's School of Information Technology and Computing we are continually striving to keep our eyes and ears on the IT marketplace. This is all in an effort to keep our ideas fresh, our curriculum relevant, and our focus market-driven.

A couple of items were recently posted on the InformationWeek website that are worth noting. The first one, posted on March 3 in the Global CIO series, is titled "Hiring for IT Jobs Holds Up." The article reports on the results of the most recent Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index, a survey of 1,400 CIOs, suggesting that IT hiring will increase in the next few months. The article indicates that individuals with experience in network administration and Windows administration will be in particular demand. Of course, these kinds of indicators don't always translate into jobs for new grads with 4-year degrees; but they do tell us something important about the marketplace as we recruit students to our school.

The second article, which also appeared in the Global CIO series back on February 23, is titled "Microsoft Hopes to Train 2 Million in IT by 2012." This program is part of Microsoft's Elevate America program. The company intends to offer free online training in basic technology and Microsoft certification programs through partnerships with state and local agencies, nonprofits, and community organizations. Clearly Microsoft won't do this just to be altruistic; but it is definitely a sign of the times that the demand for IT skills is certainly far from dead.

Ah, Spring Break

For those of you out there in real-life business-land, I realize that the concept of Spring Break is a little foreign. Here in the hallowed halls of academia it is a welcome sign of relief from the relentless paper chase. After this short pause, it will be an all-out assault for about 2 more months, and then it's over. It's really amazing how quickly 16 weeks can pass.

Lots of good things happening around campus in conjunction with ACU's iPhone initiative. Last week the university hosted a fairly substantial conference to highlight its accomplishments in this arena. ACU continues to get good press and garner lots of accolades for its efforts to incorporate the iPhone into the educational paradigm. AT&T and Apple continue to be willing and appreciative partners in the effort.

For our part the iSchool continues to look for ways to get students directly involved in applications development. We want them to become involved early in their careers, but they often don't have the necessary skills until they have been around for a couple of years, and many of them enjoy playing with the phones more than programming for them. We are open to suggestions about how to crack this nut.

More Good Job News For IT Professionals

We're still continuing to see lots of strength in the IT job market, despite the continuing bad economic news. This link from CIO Insight is a few months old (and the worst job cuts have been since then), but it tells a pretty good story about what's out there:

http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/Workplace/IT-Employment-Workforce-Reach-Record-Highs

This week I also read where IBM is sending some of its folks offshore instead of laying them off. That's a whole other bag of worms.

Orient Express

Just got back from another trip to China where we are trying to recruit students for the iSchool. There are 5 million students in China waiting to get into college, and no place for them to go. The existing facilities are all at capacity. Visited a school called Guangzhou Auto College that was started from the ground up in 2006. They already have 6,000 students (1,500 more than ACU, and it has been existence for 102 years!), with 10,000 expected next fall. In the last 4 months they have started 3 new dorms, and they are already just about finished. Four to six students per room (and we're not talking an American style apartment here!). Anyway, there are lots of Chinese students interested in an American education. I frequently hear griping in the US about the quality of our educational system; but in China they think it's great.

If you've read Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat, you may know that he has a new book out called "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" (sort of in response to growing concerns about climate change). When you're in China, you definitely get a glimpse of his point, because there are so many people. On the other hand, you also come to appreciate first-hand what an economic dynamo China is. It's a pretty amazing place!

Hoping to have several more good Chinese students, both undergrad and grad students, join us in the iSchool next fall. The ones we interviewed are eager to come, appear to be able to afford it, and have great quantitative skills.

What recession?

Yes, it seems there is more bad economic news every day; but honestly, there really doesn't seem to be a let-up in employers seeking good IT personnel. The word out of Microsoft this past week seemed shocking ... the first major layout in its history. Yet, companies here in good old Abilene (and surroundings) are still recruiting hard and fast for IT folks. Perhaps it is just this part of the country, or maybe it is just smaller, independent businesses. Regardless, there are still jobs to be had. Good jobs. And quite a few of them.