DOD Launched IT Exchange Program

The Department of Defense recently launched its Information Technology Exchange Program (ITEP) pilot, which will enable DOD and the private sector to share IT employees.  The ITEP pilot is not a 1-for-1 exchange of personnel, but rather an opportunity to share knowledge, experience and skills between sectors.

Assignments will range from three months to a year (it can be extended to a total of one additional year).  DOD is particularly interested in those who are skilled in Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, IT Consolidation, Network Services, IT Project Management, Data Management and Enterprise Architecture.

To be eligible for the program, private sector employees must be a U.S.citizen and hold a security clearance.  For more information about the program, visit http://cio-nii.defense.gov/sites/itep/.

If you’re interested in gaining government experience, DOD has the following detail opportunities:

• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Air Force, SAF/A6A (Air Traffic Services), Net-Centric Operations Division,Washington,DC
• Strategic Mobility & Wireless Domain, HQ Army, Office of the Chief Information Officer/G-6, Cyber Directorate, Emerging Technologies Division,Arlington,VA
• Mobility & Wireless Domain, Office of the Department of Defense, Chief Information Officer, Office of Defense-wide Information Assurance Program (DIAP), Arlington, VA
• Cyber Remote Training Development, Office of the Department of Defense, Chief Information Officer, Office of Defense-wide Information Assurance Program (DIAP), Fort Meade, MD or Quantico, VA
• IT Project Management, Visual Information Services Branch, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA),Fort Meade,MD
• Cloud Computing, Department of Defense, Chief Information Officer, Office of theEnterpriseServices and Integration,Arlington,VA
• Cyber Policy, Office of Cyber Policy, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy,Arlington,VA
• IT Project Management-Data Management, DOD Comptroller, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Business Integration Office,Washington,DC

You can find more information about these exchange opportunities at:  http://cio-nii.defense.gov/sites/itep/opp.htm.

If none of these opportunities interest you, but are interested in participating in the pilot, send an email expressing your interest to askitep@osd.mil.

 

President Obama presented Ideas to spur Job Growth

President Obama presented Ideas to spur Job Growth

 

On Monday, June 13, while touring a manufacturing plant inDurham,NC, President Obama presented ideas to spur job growth.  One of the ideas was to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education.  The President said, “Private sector companies are teaming up to help us promote STEM education, to offer students incentives to finish those degrees, and then to help universities fund those programs.  They’re going to double their summer internship hiring.”

This program, if fully implemented, will boast the number of college graduates needed to meet the increasing demand of industry to fill a variety of high-tech occupations.  As we mentioned in our previous post, degrees in STEM is not keeping up with demand.  As this graphic shows from the Department of Education, a push to spur growth in the number of degrees conferred in STEM is badly needed.  Except for biological and biomedical sciences (many students in this field of study eventually pursue a medical degree), degrees conferred in science and engineering has remained fairly flat.  More alarming is the decrease in the number of degrees conferred in the computer and information sciences.  For this reason any program that will encourage more students to pursue a science or engineering degree is worthwhile.

 

The Elusive Candidate, Part 1

The Elusive Candidate, Part 1

In April, there were 13.7 million unemployed people in theU.S.  You would think that with that many number of unemployed, hundreds of applicants will knock at employers’ doors with job vacancies.  Perhaps this is the case for certain occupations, but for positions that require highly skilled and experienced personnel, this is not the case.  We at DC Confidential have seen positions advertised by companies that go begging.

Who are these elusive candidates?  Many are what we commonly refer to as “high-tech” workers, workers who are performing work that is both highly skilled and capital intensive.  Examples of these high-tech workers are engineers, computer network, systems, and database administrators, and scientists.

And they can afford to be elusive or passive job seekers. They are already employed and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that many of the jobs these high-tech workers do will grow faster than other occupations.  For example, the following occupations are projected to grow and add more new jobs over the 2008-18 decade, resulting in excellent job prospects for those who are in them or those who want to be.

Occupation                                                                 Percent change 2008 to 2018

Biomedical engineers                                                                          72

Computer software engineer, applications                                      53

Network systems & data communications analysts                      53

Medical scientists                                                                                40

Biochemists & biophysicists                                                               37

Computer software engineer, systems software                           30

Computer network and computer systems administrators         23

Database administrators                                                                   20

Other high-tech occupations are also projected to increase but to a lesser extent, except computer programmers.  BLS projects the need for computer programmers will decrease by 3 percent through 2018 as software design continues to advance and some programming functions become automated.

Based on these projections, recruiters for high-tech occupations can expect candidates to become just as elusive or become more so.  According to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of people receiving degrees that feed into these high-tech occupations has increased, e.g., engineering, but would still be insufficient to meet increasing demands.  Of special note is the number of graduates in computer and information science:  after an explosive growth through the 1990’s, it tapered off immediately after the dotcom bubble in 1999 and remained flat since then.  Also, many degrees in engineering, science, and math are conferred to foreign students who will not be available to U.S. employers, thus reducing the number of graduates feeding into these high-tech occupations.

If you are one of the professionals who belong to these high-tech occupations, the future looks rosy, indeed.  You can afford to be choosy.  As more and more technology invades our daily lives, you will become more in demand.  Consequently, you can expect your compensation to grow significantly higher than average; and it will, according to BLS.

So now you think it would be a piece of cake to find that “perfect” job that pays oodles of money.  Right?  Not necessarily.  What you can expect is this: because you’re in demand, you will end up with a lot of suitors.  What to do?  Whom to accept?  Which one will make you happy?  Will you now get to work nirvana?  Maybe.

To increase your odds, you may want to consider working with a matchmaker, a talent agent, who will give you guidance and assistance in sifting through opportunities the market has to offer.  This is especially critical if you are a woman: for various reasons, you are generally paid less than your male counterparts.  For the same job.  Even in high-tech jobs where women are scarce.  This just shows you scarcity alone is no guarantee for big money.  So, it may benefit you to have a talent agent who will help you match jobs with your talents and help you negotiate the pay you deserve.

If you are an employer of these elusive job candidates, you too, are in a bind, especially if you are a small company.  How do you compete for this scarce resource?  You may need to look at your recruiting strategy.  It is highly likely that your usual strategy for attracting your other workers will not work here.  The usual ad in the Employment section of a newspaper, or posting on a job board or on company website is now insufficient.  It will be a challenge, but not impossible, to attract job candidates who have the talent, skills, and experience you require.  In our next post, we will provide you with some tips as to how.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!  A heart felt Thank You to our military and their families for their sacrifices to keep us safe and to ensure our freedom.  We remember you and honor you on this special day.

Welcome to DC Confidential!

Welcome to our launch of our new website!  Thanks for visiting us and reading our blog.  We look forward to starting a dialog with you and supporting your job search and/or placement needs.

DC Confidential staff members have a combined experience of more than 80 years.  Our expertise includes human resources management (specifically, recruitment, placement, and job classification), information technology, and marketing and advertising.   We supplement our expertise in certain areas through research and study so that we can provide you with information that is current and will prove useful to you.

In succeeding blogs, we will talk about resumes, the hiring process, the art of job interviews, trends in employment, the latest techniques in hiring, and other topics that we believe will be helpful and of interest to you.  We’d also love to hear your ideas and experiences in these areas.  We will give you tips based on our experience helping employers fill their jobs or helping candidates apply for a job.  And, most important of all, we will provide you with some insights and updates to the various positions we fill.

We will update our blog as often as we can.  Your feedback and comments will also be appreciated.

DC Confidential staff

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