Careers > Opinions

Now that the election is finally over, all that's left are about a zillion new government appointments. But I know the denizens of Cringeville are particularly interested in one post above all: who the new administration will call to serve as the nation's first CTO.

Rebecca Paddock needed a way to prepare for her move from a test engineer job to a systems engineer position. So, inspired by the 100-day plans US presidents historically use when they first take office, she developed a list of tasks to tackle.

People come and go in your organization all the time. A select few stay for years while others pass through in just months or even weeks. But whether they are lifers or transients, they all leave a digital ghost behind when they exit -- a trail of their interactions with your network and systems.

If Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the State Board of Education have their way, soon every California student will have to pass an algebra test to graduate from the eighth grade.

Today's topic is the question I most often received as an IT manager: "Why can't I get promoted?"

Ask the Programmers Guild that question, and their answer would be an emphatic "yes!" The US-based organization has accused Hewlett Packard of advertising for jobs it has no intention of filling -- at least with US citizens -- on the Idaho Department of Labor Web site.

Timing is everything -- in sports, budget requests, and yes, politics, too. So it is with our collective high-tech fingers crossed that we watch as House Bill H.R. 6049 "Renewable Energy and Job Creation" [PDF] and a Senate amendment -- both of which propose tax credits for R&D in the so-called "innovation" industries -- make their way through US Congress.

Every enterprise needs a robust IT infrastructure in order to function effectively. Infrastructure is the foundation of corporate productivity and success. Many IT groups, however, don't have enough skilled infrastructure staffers to provide the solid foundation required.

The state of today's economy has triggered many economists, job experts and hiring managers to warn of layoffs and hiring contractions, and tech pros themselves have become skeptical about job security and future opportunities. Despite these concerns, the outlook for US employment, particularly in the tech sector, is not as dismal as some fortunetellers would lead us to believe.

With the economy ailing, the US presidential election in full swing and surveys showing cuts in next year's IT budgets, get ready to hear more and more about jobs. People will lose jobs. Evil corporations will export jobs. We will need more jobs. We will need better jobs. Not McJobs.

Would you compromise your personal integrity for $80? How about risk your IT career for $200? Of course not, you say. But you already have -- if you've ever used certification-examination "study materials" from TestKing, Pass4Sure or hundreds of test-preparation Web sites just like them.