Sharon Florentine

Author Archives: Sharon Florentine

Why you need an enterprise architect

As more enterprises tackle digital transformation and recognize the value of aligning their IT strategy, technology and processes with broader business goals, there's a growing need for talented pros who can reduce complexity, establish solid technology processes and ensure tech's used consistently across business units and functional areas.Increasingly that role is filled by an enterprise architect: someone who can translate a company's business strategy into concrete solutions, design and execute an IT systems architecture blueprint to support that strategy, says Rich Pearson, senior vice president of marketing and categories at technology skills marketplace Upwork.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 steps to ending generational stereotypes

Stereotypes of any kind are harmful to your organization. And generational stereotypes -- millennials are lazy, entitled and needy; baby boomers are cranky Luddites who hate change; generation X … well, hates everything and everyone -- are no different. Perpetuating these stereotypes negatively impacts diversity and inclusion as well as engagement, productivity and morale, and it makes teamwork and collaboration difficult, if not impossible.Some of the most pervasive stereotypes surround millennials; those who are roughly 20 to 35 years old, says William A. Schiemann, CEO of Metrus Institute. Schiemann says he's continually faced with clients' confusion and misunderstanding about generational differences, and the stereotypes that arise from this confusion.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

10 most in-demand tech skills

Trying to land a new job or angling for a promotion? Recruiters and hiring managers are always on the hunt for ideal candidates with just the right mix of tech savvy, experience and soft skills to give their organizations a competitive advantage. But all technology skills are not created equal.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

15 of the highest paying jobs in IT

Technology offers some of the highest paying and diverse jobs of any industry. While traditional tech roles like software engineer and product manager are still in high demand as CIOs struggle to find skilled IT pros, roles in sales, marketing and business development all offer healthy salaries and an alternate path into the industry.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Burnout isn’t budging in the U.S. workforce

Feeling exhausted, uninspired, cranky, unmotivated and burned out? You're not alone.According to a new study from professional service automation company Kimble Applications, which focused on professionals that track billable hours, the majority underreport the number of hours they work. This has broad implications for professions like IT consultants and contract software engineers, as well as attorneys and accountants, says Rob Bruce, vice president of strategy at Kimble Applications.[ Related story: Shattering remote worker stereotypes ] To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Why AI careers can start with a degree in linguistics

A linguistics degree traditionally prepares students for careers in academia, professional writing or translation, but as technology continues to advance, these graduates are finding their skills in high demand from an unlikely place-positions in artificial intelligence.Companies in the AI market are turning to those with linguistic backgrounds to help aid in things like product development and customer service, says Caterina Balcells, chief linguistic officer at conversational search technology company Inbenta."Linguistics is important to better understand users and how they're communicating with a company. If we can develop tech that uses natural language processing to help customers find what they're looking for, then that reduces the need to have a person do that, and it improves customer satisfaction at the same time," Balcells says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Class of 2017 may be in for a rude awakening

The Class of 2017 graduates in just a few weeks and will enter the IT job market, but they may be in for a rude awakening, as new iCIMS research reports that their skills and education aren't aligning with what recruiters and hiring managers are looking for in entry-level talent.The research, the Class of 2017 Job Outlook Report, which polled 401 U.S. college seniors and 401 recruiting professionals between March 6 and 17, 2017, reveals that while 91 percent of college seniors polled think they have the skills necessary to land the job they want, a whopping 98 percent of recruiters receive resumes from unqualified applicants.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Why you need a systems reliability engineer

How can you ensure that the software and services you build today can deliver what your customers and consumers need in the future? If this is a question you think your organization should be asking, then you might need a systems reliability engineer (SRE). SREs are software engineers who focus on the reliability and uptime of applications and services not just in the short-term, but with a focus on scalability and long-term use.Sometimes referred to as "site reliability engineer," or "services reliability engineer," this engineering role is one that's finding its footing as DevOps practices take hold in IT departments, says Jason Hand, DevOps evangelist and incident and alerting specialist with VictorOps. The roles are most prevalent in cloud services, SaaS, PaaS and Iaas companies whose clients rely on them to keep those services available 24/7/365, he says. For organizations that rely on uptime, availability and reliability, an SRE is a logical talent add, as every minute of downtime chips away at the bottom line, Hand says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 leadership qualities to look for when hiring

Leadership qualities to look for when hiringImage by PexelsLeadership isn't confined to the C-suite. Companies increasingly look for solid leadership skills when adding to their workforce, whether the roles are entry-level or executive. Stephany Samuels, senior vice president of people strategy at IT recruiting and staffing firm Mondo, explains which qualities you should be looking for when hiring and how to identify the leaders in your talent pool.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

10 best cities for women in tech

Despite increasing media attention and awareness, the gender pay gap is widening across the U.S., according to new research from financial services research and advisory firm SmartAsset. The pay gap between men and women isn't as pronounced in tech as it is in other fields, but it still exists.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

How a job candidate’s experience affects your brand

The internet is forever. Memes, Tweets, blog posts, PR wins and gaffes -- once published, these things won't ever go away. Nowhere is this fact more important than on employer review sites, where candidates and employees turn to share their thoughts, feelings and personal experiences interacting with a company, says Dan Schawbel, research director at Future Workplace.The research, "The Future of Recruiting," from Future Workplace and HR and social media recruiting technology solutions company CareerArc, surveyed 1,054 total respondents, including 616 employers and 438 job seekers, and showed that 61 percent of job seekers visit a company's online properties first before applying; a 17 percent increase from 2015.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Salaries for storage, networking pros continue to rise

While 2016 saw U.S. tech salaries remain essentially flat year-over-year, key skills, especially in the areas of storage and networking, did warrant increases, according to the annual tech salary report from careers site Dice.com.Their recent survey polled 12,907 employed technology professionals online between October 26, 2016 and January 24, 2017. The survey found that, overall, technology salaries in the U.S. were essentially flat year-over-year (-1 percent) at $92,081 in 2016, a slight dip from $93,328 in 2015. However, there are some notable exceptions across the country and for specific skills areas like storage and networking seeing increases, says Bob Melk, president, Dice.com.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Do you really need a CEO?

When Shawn Moore co-founded website design and content management software company Solodev in 2007, he knew he didn't want to take on the role of chief executive, and neither did his co-founder. So, the two followed conventional wisdom and hired on a CEO. But it soon become clear that they'd made the wrong decision -- because they didn't know what to do with him."Typically the founder becomes the CEO, and that's fine for some people, but in my case, I'm a software developer and a product guy. I like to get my hands dirty and work on actual products and drive them into the market. But when we were meeting with VCs and investors, they were all saying, 'You have to get a CEO,' but once we did, he quickly just became the chief sales guy. We weren't at the point yet where going public and needing the CEO to communicate between the board and shareholders was necessary, and we had a sales guy already, so for us as an early-stage, bootstrap company, it didn't make sense," Moore, now Solodev's CTO, says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How company culture can make or break your business

If there's one big lesson to be learned from the recent revelations about ridesharing startup and Silicon Valley darling Uber's culture, it's this: Culture can be a four-letter word if it is ignored. Culture can be a four-letter word if is toxic. And toxic cultures kill more businesses than recessions. And it is liable to kill Uber too, says Steven L. Blue, president and CEO of Miller Ingenuity and author of American Manufacturing 2.0: What Went Wrong and How to Make It Right.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Pajama-wearing remote worker stereotypes shattered

A recent satirical piece in the New Yorker played the stereotypical remote worker for laughs -- disheveled, disoriented, starved for human contact, still in his pajamas after who-knows-how-many-days. Unproductive, he calls 911 for help. While it's hilarious -- and for those who work from home, there's certainly a few grains of truth buried within -- new research from Future Workplace and Polycom might finally put to rest the perception that remote workers are lazy, anti-social and unproductive.The report, The Human Face of Remote Working, polled 25,234 employees across 12 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Japan, the UK, India, Singapore, Germany, Russia, France, Australia and China. Of the respondents, 55 percent held managerial or higher job titles; 58 percent are responsible for care in some capacity and 68 percent are parents. The study found that despite the remote working stigma of laziness and isolation, remote workers are more empathetic, desire human connection and pick up the phone more than their in-office counterparts.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 soft skills employers should be looking for in tech talent

Forget experience and hard skills -- tomorrow's best talent will need soft skills, and it's fact that sourcing and recruiting pros need to be prepared to address."From our own LinkedIn research last May, we know that, of 291 hiring managers we surveyed, their employers struggle to find candidates with the right soft skills for 59 percent of their open jobs, and 58 percent said the lack of soft skills among candidates was 'limiting their company's productivity,'" says Jennifer Shappley, senior director of talent acquisition at LinkedIn at a presentation at SourceCon, held earlier this month in Anaheim, Calif.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Build candidate personas to help you hire the right talent

If you're trying to improve your ability to attract top talent without sacrificing your commitment to diversity and inclusion, consider using a "candidate persona" strategy.The concept is similar to creating "buyer personas" in marketing, says Maren Hogan, CEO of Red Branch Media, in a session at SourceCon, last week in Anaheim, Calif."A candidate persona is a fictionalized representation of your ideal hire for a specific role. This should mostly be based on data, but it also requires a bit of intuition and even some guesswork. Think about who you are looking for; who is this person? What do they do with their days? What are their primary concerns, inside and outside of work? What hobbies and activities are important to them? What's keeping them up at night?" Hogan says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How AI, machine learning will impact tech recruiting

Artificial intelligence and machine learning already make a huge impact on the way we watch movies and television, shop, and travel, but how will these new technology advancements affect you as a sourcing or recruiting professional?It all comes down to being able to quickly analyze huge amounts of data and make decisions and predictions based on that, says Summer Husband, senior director, data science, at Randstad Sourceright, in a presentation at SourceCon, in Anaheim, Calif, last week.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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