Career
Watch
Another Take on the Best Cities for Jobs
» We reported in May that Dice.com had deter- mined that Detroit had the fastest growth in tech
jobs during 2010. Now IT staffing firm Modis offers
its “Top Cities to Find a Job in IT” list. Factors that
Modis considered include the increase in the number of
job openings from the preceding quarter, growing industries in the region and the intensity of the competition for
top talent. Here are Modis’ top seven:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Houston
Washington
Columbus, Ohio
Detroit
Philadelphia
Edison, N. J.
Boston
Retirement Dreams: Shaky
» Asked how confident they were that they would be able to live comfortably throughout their retire-
ment years, 27% of U. S. workers said “not at all.” That’s
the highest rate for that response that the Employee Benefit
Research Institute has
received in the 19 years it
has been conducting the
survey, and well ahead of
the 6% figure reported
in the initial survey,
back in 1993. (If it’s any
consolation, actual re-
tirees are typically more
likely to say that they
are confident they have
enough money to live
comfortably during their
remaining years.) Extra
bad news: The telephone
survey was conducted
before Rep. Paul Ryan
released his proposal
to turn Medicare into a
voucher program.
Q&A
Todd Weinman
A member of the Leadership Develop-
ment Committee at nonprofit IT pro-
fessional organization ISACA discusses
job prospects in the audit field and in IT in general.
What is the outlook for IT jobs right
now? What sorts of positions are most
in demand? The market for IT audit and
governance risk-management and compliance
professionals continues to show strong signs
of recovery. We have finally crossed back over
into at least the low end of a normal market.
Accordingly, we see several very encouraging
trends. Overall, the number of open positions
for IT audit and GRC professionals continues
to increase. Hiring freezes are virtually
nonexistent, the number of open positions
has increased substantially, and we see more
positions being put out to search, which is a
signal of shifting supply and demand.
Public accounting and consulting firms are in a
hiring mode — some aggressively so. I have also
spoken with many chief audit executives who are
anticipating openings in their departments caused
by auditors moving out into the business. This is a
trend that abated the past several years as there
was a dearth of open positions to move into.
Are this year’s new graduates from com-
puter science programs finding work easily?
IT majors still in college would be well advised to
consider a double major or a minor in business
or accounting. This will enable them to transition
into IT audit or IT GRC roles and will better equip
them for leadership positions within IT organiza-
tions. These roles often offer higher compensa-
tion potential, are more insulated from economic
cycles and are much less easily offshored.
