The economy is slow, as we all know. But the technology field seems to be handling it a little better than some fields. According to AOL Jobs, approximately 1 in 7 of the new U.S. jobs created in January this year was a tech-related position. In fact, they say that tech jobs were the highest in January than they have been in the past five years, and that “tech firms have been hiring at sustained levels since February 2012, creating more than 132,000 jobs since that time.” They also make note of a new graphic released by Schools.com detailing areas of expected job growth, requirements, and more.
According to the graphic, 5 of the top 15 U.S. careers listed in the U.S. News & World Report’s “100 Best Jobs 2013” were technology positions. (They also had a list of their top technology positions too, which I covered in a previous article if you wish to review.) The graphic also states that based on a recent Computerworld.com survey, the IT executives that plan to hire in 2013 are 33%, which is 4% higher than it was in 2012.
However, as another AOL Job writer, Daniel Burrus, notes, “Changes in the education and workplace landscape not only impact job seekers, but educators and employers as well. It's estimated that by 2025, we could have 20 million jobs without enough qualified people to fill them.” Technology is changing at a must faster rate than it did in previous generations (a brief history of which I discussed in a previous article), so being able to adapt to the change has become increasingly harder to handle. So while we may see many jobs disappear more quickly, we should also find many new positions redefined and organized for the latest in technology. So it goes without saying that staying ahead of the curve and keeping up with the newest tech is important.
As mentioned in previous articles, you must be keenly aware of the changing tides around you. Look down the road where your position is heading. Do you do a repetitive task? Do you have a specific pattern of tasks that you do most every day? If so, it may be that advanced automation or intelligent systems could replace your tasks in the future, “if they haven’t already,” Burrus says.
So, look around and ask yourself "what types of additional training and skills would be beneficial to you and your current strengths, to give you longevity in the ever changing tech world?" Do not wait for the day to come when you find your skills already obsolete, but always watch for new areas to learn and move into to keep your skills fresh and applicable for your career. When looking for a job, note some of the requirements even for those related positions you may not be as interested in (maybe you are not interested because you are underqualified), and consider what it would take to gain some of the skills for those positions. Any types of new skills like that can be of great benefit in rounding out your ability to be more desirable to a new employer.
Image courtesy of Digitalart - Freedigitalphotos.net
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