2009 IT career survival guide: How to change tech tracks
Although changing careers in tech is not easy, it can be done, career pros say
Follow @infoworldIt's not easy for IT professionals to make a wholesale switch to a different technical discipline to reap the benefits of a hot skills market -- say, moving from a job as a systems administrator to a Java developer. "It's very difficult, because those two things just don't go together," says Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology.
But that's not to say it can't be done, say Spencer Lee and other IT labor experts. For example, a systems or network administrator could take online or classroom courses to hone his Web development and systems lifecycle management know-how.
[ InfoWorld has put together a special package of stories to help tech workers through the current tough times. Among the highlights:
* Slideshow: Where IT jobs are headed
* Special report: 2009 IT career survival guide
* Special report: Where the tech jobs are overseas (and how to get one)
* Special report: Tech workers under fire
* Special report: IT and the financial crisis
* Get sage advice on IT careers and management from Bob Lewis in InfoWorld's Advice Line blog and newsletter. ]
"If you can go to a supervisor and say, 'I'd like to move into a Web development role. I've learned some PHP, AJAX, and other skills.' Employers are interested in hearing from people who have shown that type of initiative," says Spencer Lee.
In fact, Web-related skills were among those garnering higher-than-average pay raises in this year's salary survey. Other hot skills included security and data management. (Read about other hot skills for 2008.)
Given current cost constraints, most employers have fewer resources available than they once did to retrain IT workers in different technical fields, says David Van De Voort, an IT workforce specialist at Mercer.
Still, there are opportunities for go-getters who are interested in reinventing themselves for potentially higher-paying roles. For instance, IT staffers who work for the city of Suffolk, Va., can pursue three technical certifications of their choice each year and receive 75 percent reimbursement "with no questions asked," says Tisa Knight-Chandler, a network coordinator there. Knight-Chandler has taken advantage of the program this year by upgrading her Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer 2000 certification to an MCSE 2003. She's also pursuing a master's degree in information systems.
