Sarah K. White

Author Archives: Sarah K. White

How millennials are shaping the future of work

Technology is moving the workplace along at lightning speed and not all businesses are ready to catch up. But that modernization is key to the future of work, according to a recent study commissioned by Dell and Intel. Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) conducted 3,801 online interviews earlier this year, speaking with individuals working in nine different markets, including education, government, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, media, and entertainment and retail. They focused on the future of work and what these workers expect from their employers moving forward. "Not only is technology impacting the future office, it's redefining the office and greatly influencing the way we all currently work," says Kelli Hodges, global manager, Mobility at Dell.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to manage the 7 biggest workplace fears

Workplace stress is common, and at some point in your life, it's likely you'll feel the pressure that can come from maintaining a career. Experiencing anxiety at work is ultimately bad for everyone. Consistent anxious feelings in the workplace can actually lead to underperformance and affect the relationship between employees and their co-workers and managers.Scott Steinberg, bestselling author of Make Change Work for You, cites research around the seven common types of fear people report feeling in the workplace. These fears not only stand in the way of professional development, but they hamper creativity, innovation and business growth as well, according to Steinberg.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Why every tech pro should learn to code

Coding is one of the hottest skills on the tech market. According to a recent survey from Burning Glass, programming jobs are growing 12 percent faster than the average. According to the survey in 2015 there were seven million job openings that required coding skills.To discover trends around occupations, skills, credentials and salaries, Burning Glass evaluated its database of 26 million unique job postings collected in the U.S. in 2015. The study found that in the "career track" category -- defined as jobs that pay at least $15 per hour -- the positions that required coding skills paid, on average, $22,000 more per year than those that didn't. But interestingly, coding wasn't confined to programming jobs; it emerged as a necessary skill in data analysis, arts and design, engineering, information technology and science. That's why it might be time to learn how to code -- and if you have kids, it's time to get them on the bandwagon too.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to train new grads on corporate security

Millennials bring a lot to the workplace, whether they're pushing the boundaries of company culture or forcing companies to modernize. But there are a few risks associated with hiring recent grads -- especially if it's their first job in the industry -- and one of those risks is data security.In a recent study from the Ponemon Institute in partnership with Experian, which surveyed over 16,000 people at companies with data protection and privacy training programs, 66 percent of respondents cited employees as the biggest security threat to their company. And 55 percent said that their organization had, at some point, experienced a "security incident or data breach due to a malicious or negligent employee," according to the report.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

How to train new grads on corporate security

Millennials bring a lot to the workplace, whether they're pushing the boundaries of company culture or forcing companies to modernize. But there are a few risks associated with hiring recent grads -- especially if it's their first job in the industry -- and one of those risks is data security.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Lack of VC funding forces startups to think lean

Startups are typically at the mercy of venture capitalist funding, but as of the first quarter of 2016, VCs are pulling back on how quickly they hand over that much-needed funding. According to a report from Dow Jones VentureSource, funding for U.S. startups fell 25 percent from the previous quarter -- marking the largest quarterly decline since the dot-com bust in 2000.It's bad news for startups. As these small companies feel the pressure, they're forced to budget cuts, layoffs and buy-outs as a way to stay afloat amid limited funding. Startups will need to get strategic, says Al Stevenson, a principal with WinterWyman Executive Search's Technology practice.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Businesses struggle to hire workers with cloud skills

Cloud services are becoming the cornerstone of an enterprise's IT infrastructure. However, IT leaders are finding it difficult to not only plan for and implement cloud technology, but also to hire qualified candidates. And part of that struggle, according to a recent study from Softchoice of 250 line of business managers and 250 IT decision makers, is a lack of qualified candidates as well as a general misunderstanding of how to create a successful cloud strategy.“There’s incredible opportunity for businesses if they move to the cloud, but with a lack of skilled resources they are not able to realize those benefits as quickly. At best, this impacts revenue and profit potential in isolation. At worst, competitiveness and market relevance suffer,” says Craig McQueen, director of Microsoft Practice at Softchoice.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT Resume Makeover: How to show employers the real you

Joshua Jacobs, a senior security systems administrator, was once told by a hiring manager that when looking at his resume, he assumed Jacobs was "just another sys admin," but after interviewing him, he realized he was much more than that. That's when Jacobs knew it was time to work on his resume. We heard Jacobs plight and teamed him up with Andrew Ysasi, president of Admovio and executive director of Kent Record Management, who took on the task of reformatting Jacobs' resume to reflect his impressive background and skills.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Don’t let stress and a crazy pace kill your culture

Tech companies have a reputation of being high pressure and fast-paced -- especially startups. That culture can quickly erode morale as employees begin to feel the strain of the long hours and rapid, and sometimes confusing, change.A 2015 study from VitalSmarts, a leadership training company, interviewed 827 tech employees, to look at how culture affects performance in tech companies. The study identified some key ideas around culture and how it can positively or negatively affect the overall performance of the company.David Maxfield, New York Times bestselling author and vice president of research at VitalSmarts, has been conducting social science research around Fortune 500 companies for the past 30 years. Based on his research, he offer these suggestions on what needs to change in the tech world, and how to change it. But if you think improving work-place culture in tech is about building a cutting edge office or offering the best benefits, you're probably wrong.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to hire for the right big data skill set

Data science is a hot new industry, but what skills and background do you need to break into the field? Essentially, data science, data engineering and data analytics are broad -- and sometimes ambiguous -- terms that describe a litany of skills and job titles in the world of data analytics. "The title of 'data scientist' is broadly applied within different organizations, making it difficult to provide a complete and noncontroversial list of required skills. At a high level, a data scientist needs a mastery of the tools and techniques to access, transform, analyze and leverage the data of their organization," says Kyle Polich, principal data scientist at DataScience. If your company is looking to hire data scientists or analysts, it's important to know what you're hiring for. Data jobs often encompass a lot more than just data; there are people specifically dedicated to each stage of the process from collecting, to warehousing, to analyzing and to using that data to transform the business. Ultimately, a good data strategy relies on a number of qualified individuals who can write algorithms, manage and collate data, interpret the data and communicate it to key stake holders. Data warehousing Warehousing data is a Continue reading

Measure your employees’ results, not their time

If you think money will make your employees happier, you might be wrong. Many workers report they value autonomy over anything else. Of course, you also need to ensure your employees basic needs are met at work. But from there, the data suggests that if you instill trust and freedom in your workforce, they will thrive.Irv Shapiro, CEO of DialogTech, is a strong believer in employee autonomy, and it's something he practices at his own company. "Unless your business sells services by the hour, it makes little sense to measure your employees by the hour. Instead employers should measure their employee's success by the results they produce."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT talent biggest roadblock to digital transformation

A global study from IDT, conducted in collaboration with SAP, surveyed 81 executives (65 percent of which identified themselves as CIOs) and found that 80 percent of businesses cite digital transformation as a priority. However, according to the report, only 35 percent of respondents said their business actually had a "clearly defined digital transformation strategy."Although digital transformation is important to businesses, companies are still dragging their heels on developing a strategy. One thing that might be holding businesses back the most is hiring, according to a study from The Hackett Group. The study found that for midsized and large businesses, one of the biggest roadblocks with digital transformation has been actually finding and sourcing talent with the right skills.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Millennials are shaking up workplace communication

Millennials are now the largest generation in America, and as they work their way into the corporate world, they are driving change in business communication, says Jeff Corbin, CEO and founder of APPrise Mobile, a provider of mobile communication apps."As the workplace evolves and millennials continue to comprise the vast majority of the workforce, the importance of communicating and engaging with employees has never been more important. There is definitely a shift taking place from 'old school' and legacy communications solutions like email and corporate intranets to newer, more mobile friendly tools," Corbin says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 reasons the Surface Pro 4 is fit for the enterprise

Many manufacturers have been vying for the title, " best enterprise hybrid tablet" since the release of the Apple iPad Pro and Samsung TabPro S. However, none have managed to live up to the Surface Pro 4, which was quickly hailed as one of the fastest adopted enterprise tablets soon after its release, and it recently surpassed the Apple iPad Pro for sales in the U.K.It's popularity is no accident Microsoft has spent years tirelessly improving its hybrid offerings, and that work has resulted in an ideal hybrid enterprise device. Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 has a lot going for it in the corporate world, and it and become a great option for any IT department looking to transition to a hybrid tablet device. If you're thinking of getting a Surface Pro 4 for business, here are the top five features of the Surface Pro 4.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to prepare to interview for a temporary position

Temporary jobs are on the rise. According to research from CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialist Intl., nearly three million people are employed in a temporary job with a projected 173,478 additional temp jobs expected to open up from 2016 to 2018. The study found that 47 percent of companies plan to hire temporary or contract workers in 2016, and just under 60 percent of that group also plan to consider transitioning temporary workers to permanent employees at some point. Tech jobs are at the forefront of temporary work, with computer service representatives, computer user support specialists, software developers and application developers expected to see the most growth in contract jobs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

How millennial tech grads should tailor their resumes

You’ve recently graduated and now it’s time to start applying to jobs -- but what skills and experience should you highlight on your resume? To help you decide, CompTIA released the results of its 2016 IT Industry Outlook report, which surveyed 673 IT industry companies in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., and found that millennials have certain skills businesses are clamoring for in the coming year.“Recent grads have grown up in an age of evolving technologies, particularly the Internet Age. They’ve not only developed a unique way of problem solving and critical thinking, but they are also acutely aware of new technologies that may increase operational efficiency in a business,” says Gene Richardson, COO of Experts Exchanges.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How millennial tech grads should tailor their resumes

You’ve recently graduated and now it’s time to start applying to jobs -- but what skills and experience should you highlight on your resume? To help you decide, CompTIA released the results of its 2016 IT Industry Outlook report, which surveyed 673 IT industry companies in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., and found that millennials have certain skills businesses are clamoring for in the coming year.“Recent grads have grown up in an age of evolving technologies, particularly the Internet Age. They’ve not only developed a unique way of problem solving and critical thinking, but they are also acutely aware of new technologies that may increase operational efficiency in a business,” says Gene Richardson, COO of Experts Exchanges.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to find undervalued tech talent

Andrew Filev, CEO of Wrike, a company that offers task and project management tools, takes a unique approach to recruiting talent. While some companies might go after the most desired talent on the market, Filev prefers to hire the undervalued players, and foster their strengths to create a well-rounded team."'Island of Misfit Toys' is a nickname some of our team gave themselves one day at lunch when they were reflecting on how different their career backgrounds were prior to joining Wrike. These are people who landed at Wrike either without a lot of experience, or with an abundance of experience unrelated to their current positions -- often in jobs where they lacked challenge and growth. Since starting their careers here, they've become key players on our team and many are now in roles as team leaders or program managers, and are also big cultural assets in the company," says Filev.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

1 … 3 4 5 6 7