SMEO Blog

Under-representation of cross-diversity in the IT Workforce
Keywords: IT workforce, IT professional skills gap, under-represented groups, virtual social networks.

There's something in the "air" in today's Information Technology (IT)employment environment. You can almost hear it; it's not unlike an ultra high pitch sound of air escaping from a microscopic fissure in an overblown balloon. This analogy of the sound of escaping "air" is nothing less than how IT employment growth is slowing down in these United States. It's a fact: today's IT employment environment has gotten tougher to compete in and harder to create a diversified ITworkforce. This employment situation is defined by two trends:

(1) A more selective behavior by hiring employees for IT candidates which creates more competition for the IT professional. (2) There's a downward spiral in the number of minorities and women in the IT workforce and efforts by IT employers to boost this number are not working.

Downward Market Trend Impacts Upward Mobility Goals of a Diverse Workforce
According to the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), executive searches in the technology sector, "were down more than any sector in the second quarter of 2007..." (McGee, M.K., 2007). The report states a 14 percent drop in executive searches compared to theprevious quarter. The picture being painted is one that finds both job seeker and recruiter faced with difficult times. The IT professional is confronted with a more difficult employment sector whereby her or she must compete with other highly qualified professionals and just as importantly, stand-out amongst this qualified population. This must be balanced with the fact that employers are also looking to diversify their work force. Employers are being hard-pressed to find a qualified AND diversified IT population in which to select appropriate candidates to fill much needed positions within their companies.

Untapped Market Does Exist
There exists a largely untapped and un-marketed population of highly educated and diverse IT resources and it is within the confines of campuses across the nation. The most recent findings report that a high percent of college students are studying in highly technical fields and many are not finding adequate resources to effectively promote their skills and knowledge base. Although there exist many online social and professional networks that provide "direct marketing" between IT professional and corporation, effective marketing should begin while the student is in the final throes of completing their degree - many students may find this a daunting task but the earlier that one markets themselves the better they become as marketers of "self" and the more exposure they gain.

Hurdles Also Exist
One of the biggest obstacles that IT college students find is that they may not have the required experience to work a particular job. An effective way around this hurdle is to promote oneself as a member with team-based skills willing to work in demanding environments to identify and provide IT business solutions. In many situations both the company and the IT professional (recent grad) will find a viable partnership that promotes personal and professional growth for the individual and an excellent return on investment for the company. IT professionals must work toward further education both traditional and self-directed to gain/remain qualified in their respective fields and eventually branch out into new areas for a more diversified skill set. In this day and age of blogmania and online professional networking, it is imperative that soon-to-be and recent college graduates work toward building strong social networks, both online and in the real-world. Recruiters can provide much needed diversified IT professionals through continuing to build upon several mechanisms: building partnerships with academic institutions, internal hires, referrals, web-based hiring, and other recruiting firms.

Why Diversification?
In this time of recession it becomes even more imperative that organizations focus on building a diversified workplace as it improves organizational productivity, creativity, and the better its overall performance due to a more heterogeneous management team. It has also been suggested through studies that organizational problem solving improves among heterogeneous populations of employees. It will be interesting to find out what trend a global recession has on the flight of offshore jobs the U.S. has seen in recent years. The market demand, albeit more competitive, will see many of the reported 100,000 computer software and services jobs that have moved offshore since 2000 (Information Technology Association of America, 2004) returning to America. Out of these 100,000 jobs it is critical that employers attempt to identify and pull-in significantly higher numbers of underrepresented IT professionals. Data shows that a large proportion of the US IT workforce continues to reflect a low level of minorities and in some cases, such as with women it has declined by as much as 185% since 1996! (Information Technology Association of America, 2005).

Employers Are Selective Today
Due to the downturn of the economy many employers have become more selective in their search for IT candidates. There exists a industry recognized "matrix" of IT skills that employers recognize: Hardware/software, programming languages, e-commerce, technical support, website design, database, etc. Due to the competitive nature of today's job market the IT professional must develop skills that separates them from the rest of the IT pool. This can came in the shape of obtaining formal education (or completing that education you have already started), training and certifications.

Final Thoughts
The reality of the issues relating to IT diversification within industry show that in order for both company and individual to succeed there must be a symbiosis between these two entities: companies must continue to strive to identify and pull in a diverse cadre of IT professionals and IT professionals must continue to go that "extra mile" to improve their "hire-ability."

REFERENCES
1. McGee, M.K. Report: Executive IT Recruitment Is Slowing Down. 2007. Retrieved from: http://www.informationweek.com/news/management /showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201800366, July 5, 2008.

SMEOracle was highlighted @ Killerstartups.com:  

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/smeoracle-com-find-your-job-manage-your-career

SMEOracle (SMEO) is a comprehensive resource for lifetime career management and professional development What Company Is Offering: SMEOracle (SMEO) is a comprehensive resource for lifetime career management and professional development. SMEO believes that when it comes to developing your career and achieving work/life balance, you need to act like a free agent - even if you're a full-time employee of a corporation, government agency or nonprofit institution. You may very well end up in a successful career without much effort, but SMEO thinks you spend too much time working to leave your professional satisfaction to chance. How It Works: SMEO puts you in touch with recruiters and other professionals in your discipline - and helps you stay in touch so when the time is right, your job search will be focused and easier. They provide a wealth of career-related content on topics such as career planning, successful transitions, interviewing and interview attire, networking and resume writing. SMEO also keeps you plugged into the buzz from the executive coaching community and commentary from recruiters and human resources professionals on how they see the market and what they're looking for.

Finally a Network For SMEs!

There is no doubt in the mind of many web-savvy users that social networking sites have made a huge impact in career management and industry hiring practices. According to a major web information company, Alexa.com, social networking sites occupied five of the top fifteen visited websites. A quick search at any of the popular social networking sites (Linkedin, Facebook, and MySpace, etc) will show there are many "super" social linkers who have hundreds (if not thousands) of links within their network. Research has shown that a lower limit of connections makes for better management and more effective utilization of network power.  In reality, there are only so many hours in a day and so many work days in a week.  So, how does one effectively manage their cultivated online network to their professional advantage?

First things first:  online networking should complement existing relationship-building in one's career life. 

There may be a tendency for some to see online networking as a quick means to foster professional relationships online but they fail to realize this function should supplement the age-old skill of face-to-face networking. 

With online networking environments such as LinkedIn, ZoomInfo and SMEOracle, professionals can now extend their reach and not only create online networking sources but also be a valuable resource to other online professionals. 

That's the real power of Online Networking:  empowered professionals providing expertise and feedback to peers and novice alike. 

SMEOracle is such an environment that provides a bridge between professionals and online communities.  SMEs, through SMEOracle,  are empowered to engage in networking that allows for strengthening of existing professional ties and the ability to form new relationships and examine the body of work their peers in a more meaningful way.

SMEOracle is not for everyone but then again the same can be said for other online networks such as Facebook and MySpace.  SMEOracle caters toward the professional who is looking for more advantageous ways to self-promote and network with other Subject Matter Experts.

Finding an online community that will work for you is very easy if you are a white collared professional: 

SMEOracle is your place!

[ See a live demo of SMEOracle's Online Networking Service! ]

Career management requires a very important ingredient that some are uncomforable with -- self-promotion.  SMEOracle not only makes it more comfortable to promote your skills and experience but also makes it very easy process!

SMEO's Professional Highlight feature allows you to promote your talent and skills in a manner very similar to what branding experts use to promote products.  The trick is to create a brand image that conjures images that pop into other people's minds when they think of concepts as, "highly skilled, knowledgeable, and motivated." 

When you are on the job and working within a highly complex and fluid environment there are traditional ways to create a marketable image:  you become more vocal during meetings, ask for higher profile projects and make sure that written praise is placed into the right hands.  "Online marketing" one's self is similar in that you want to ensure potential hiring managers identify you with those same key words and phrases. 

That's where SMEOracle's Professional Highlight feature comes into play.

SMEOracle's Professional Highlight feature displays a randomly picked profile from SMEO's database of available professionals who have bought into this service. 

When higher managers visit SMEOracle they can immediately view your professional profile and then immediately view your details in the current box.  They can drill down for more information and even make contact with you directly if they like what they see.

When the SMEO Professional buys into this feature they will be able to see this feature on the portal home page.  When the owner of a specific SMEO Professional Highlight Ad logs onto the Portal Home Page the system will dynamically show an edit button next to the SMEO Professional Highlight ad.  The Owner of this ad can then make adjustments to the text of the ad and also increase the length of time that the SMEOracle system will show their Professional Highlight ad via their profile's page.

Recruiters and HR staff who visit SMEOracle.com will be able to view your profile.  This exposure increases your image brand and also permits potential hiring personnel to review your experience unhindered and in the unobstructed confines of SMEOracle's online environment.

Remember that in this extremely competitive era of locating and landing the right job you must be savvy enough to use technology for self-promotion -- that's what your competition is doing!

With gas prices at an all-time high, parking rates increasing, and commuting by car sky-rocketing, it is more imperative that commuting distance be a prime factor when job searching. But what factors must you consider when taking into account the distance from residence to work during this period of petro-turmoil?

The most popular choices for those who are already feeling the pinch (more like punch) at the pump have chosen other options to shave down the cost of commuting:

• Riding the Metro Transit
• Park and ride
• Using a pass (get your boss to pay for them!)
• Sharing the drive (carpooling and vanpooling)

For those SMEs actively looking for their next gig there are other options that can be taken to ensure you have a good chance to offset the cost of rising gas prices. (see SMEOracle's unique tool for combating high gas costs when job searching!)

Everyone understands the impact rising costs in fuel have had on the economy. Recent figures show that the cost of white bread has gone up by 67 percent! So, when you negotiate your next job salary be sure to consider asking your future employee to purchase commuter vouchers or order regular passes directly. He may also be able to get passes at a lower rate if they are purchased in large quantity.

It doesn't hurt to ask and in these times everyone is trying to soften the impact of travel costs.

SMEOracle has a Unique Feature to Combat Today's Increased Commutng Costs!

SMEOracle™ MapIt/Google ™ Mashup
Allows you to view jobs from a completely different perspective -- cost in terms of time and gas costs. A must-have tool in this day of sky-rocketing fuel costs! This feature provides critical data on the following factors that should be assessed when job hunting:

Travel Analysis of Distance from Residence-to-Job
Daily Travel: (in miles)
Weekly Travel: (in miles)
Monthly Travel: (in miles)

Fuel Consumption
Gasonline: 0.00 per gal
Daily Consumption: 0.00 gal/$0.00
Weekly Consumption: 0.00 gal/$0.00
Monthly Consumption: 0.00 gal/$0.00

Time on Road
Daily: 0:00 hours
Weekly: 0:00 hours
Monthly: 0:00 hours

View Online Demo

by Staff Writer

SMEOracle provides a wealth of features for both the SME and Recruiter -- many features and services that our competitors do not offer.

SMEOracle is not just a "job board" and it is not just a professional network site that allows you to connect to a lot of people, many you do not know and have never met. SMEOracle allows you to initiate and cultivate a professional relationship with your recruiter. Through the entire process of locating a job (either through our job ads or from initial contact from a recruiter) you start developing your relationship at SMEOracle. This feature that SMEOracle provides via its sophisticated platform is not a gimmick but a real feature that supports both the recruitment effort and the SMEs endeavor to find that perfect job. Below is a listing of the most prominent features that SMEOracle possesses. For a more intimate review you can login by going to SMEOracle.com .

Features

Professional Highlights	Job Search
Who's Viewing Your Resume?	SMEO Online Directory
SMEO Network	SMEO Cargo Space
Message Center	Employer Spotlight
Companies Near You	Job Search Agents
Professional Networking	Map Job to Residence & Cost
Import Important Bookmarks	Resume Management System
Create Your Online SMEO Profile	Recruiter Access to Talent Database
Recruiter Job Ad Purchase	SME Endorsement by Recruiter

The SMEOracle™ (SMEO) team is working on the release of Beta v1.5 and is in need of beta testers to tell us what is wrong and what you think we should do to make the site better!

If you are interested, please contact betatest@smeoracle.com and leave your contact inforomation (i.e. email address and first name). This will enable us to create an account so you can login and start using SMEOracle.com.

The first 25 active beta testers will get a free professional membership account for 6 months.

Let's start testing!

Your SMEOracle Team
http://www.smeoracle.com

Welcome to my new blog powered by Movable Type. This is the first post on my blog and was created for me automatically when I finished the installation process. But that is ok, because I will soon be creating posts of my own!