by Deborah Cristal
There's no argument that today's information technology professionals are in unprecedented demand, but what IT specialty is hottest right now? According to 1,400 U.S. chief information officers surveyed in the RHI Consulting Hot Jobs Report, Internet/intranet development currently offers the greatest job opportunities. In fact, almost one-quarter (23 percent) of CIOs cited Internet development as the leading growth area in their departments. Networking also had a healthy showing, receiving 21 percent of the vote, with help desk/end-user support following closely at 14 percent.
The study was conducted by an independent research firm, which polled technology executives from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with 100 or more employees.
As more companies web-enable business systems, Internet specialists will remain in strong demand. In addition, the growth of consumer and business-to-business electronic commerce is creating a need for experienced professionals with both solid technical skills and business acumen. The job titles most requested within this category include webmaster, web developer and e-business strategist.
Networking - the number two ranked specialty - will remain critical within most IT departments. The expansion of network infrastructures is increasing the need for those skilled in configuring and maintaining corporate information systems. In particular, systems engineers and network architects who specialize in security and bandwidth issues are highly marketable.
The need for experienced help desk/end-user support professionals also remains strong. Companies nationwide are actively recruiting help desk support specialists who can assist with Windows NT migration, enterprise application upgrades and the maintenance of new e-commerce sites. Within the technical support category, CIOs report the greatest demand for help desk analysts and managers.
The seven IT specialty areas experiencing the strongest growth in corporate IT departments, as ranked by CIOs, are:
