salary

22 traits that make you a geek

Judi Hasson — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:05:59 -0400

Are you the ultimate techie, a real geek in the true sense of the word and at the forefront of innovation and change? So much that was once considered the providence of the geek is now common place with the masses: Facebook, Twitter and other Web 2.0 apps. Add to that smartphones, sites like Digg and Slashdot and on the enterprise front, even open source is going mainstream.

CIO.com, in honor of geeks everywhere, compiled a list of 22 defining traits that may or may not apply to you. Among these telling geek traits: you have a way higher salary than most people your age and spend your money on gadgets and tech toys; your wardrobe consists entirely of T-shirts with messages like "There's no place like 127.0.0.1" and "s/windows/linux/g"; you think that you are a character in User Friendly; you ask someone out on a date because you think you would interface well; your primary method of communicating with your significant other is through texting, IM, Facebook or Twitter even when you're in the same room; and you spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about your avatars and handles.

For more on geeks:
- check out this CIO.com article

Need to keep your staff happy? Try money

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

In tough times and good ones, money talks. A recent survey by Robert Half Technology found that more than a quarter of 1,400 CIOs surveyed say that increasing a person's salary is the most effective way to improve staff morale and retention. Money is always quick and easy bait to keep valued staff from leaving. It may sound easy, but it's getting tougher as times get tighter.

For more on this balancing act:
- See this InformationWeek article

ALSO NOTED: It takes a team to fight a virus; Google downsizes its CIO;

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:59:58 -0500

> It takes a team to fight a virus. Article
> Google downsizes its CIO. Article
> How IT geeks are different than everyone else. Article
> One CIO's tale of a big phone bill. Article
> China not ready to compete with U.S. IT. Article
> Tech and the Democratic presidential race. Article

And Finally... Why the $1 a year salary is a myth. Article

Are you underpaid?

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:59:59 -0500

Salary is always a touchy subject, especially your own salary. But in the world of technology, it's important to keep tabs on where you stand compared to your colleagues. Janco Associates recently reported that 22 U.S. CIOs currently make more than $2 million a year. Janco also reported that the mean salary for CIOs at large companies is now $171,200 to $181,240, which some experts say is still too low. "If you pay your CIO $180,000 a year, you're going to get a clerk," says Paul Strassmann, an IT productivity expert and former senior IT executive at Xerox, Kraft and NASA.

For more on where you stand on CIO salaries:
- See this Baseline.com article

How do you find your next job?

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Have you given any thought to how you will find your next IT job? If you haven't, remember that it's never too soon to start thinking about networking and making contacts. These days, companies are direct recruiting rather than use executive search firms because they have found it's cheaper and faster when they do it themselves. This means you must find time to put out your feelers, get know your community and keep the lines of communication flowing. One of the biggest benefits of this method is that you'll get to negotiate your salary directly with your new boss.

For more on your next move:
- See this CIO Magazine article

How to get a new CIO job

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Okay, you have been in your current job for five years, and there's no place to grow at your current company. Every time you apply for a new CIO job with bigger responsibilities and a bigger paycheck, you come in second, slightly behind the guy who gets the job.

It's frustrating, all right. But you are not alone. There are plenty of people who have experienced the same scenario. You have to make a few changes in your approach to the job hunt in order to land in your next position, hopefully one with a bigger salary and more responsibility. Here are a few ideas for ways to help you get what you are looking for:

Write a different kind of resume. You don't have to include everything you have ever done in IT. A resume is a marketing device to get you an interview with a potential employer, not an oral history of your life.
Make sure your resume is customized for the specific industry you are looking into, not a one-size-fits-all kind of biography. Drop the dates of your experience and education before 2000. The potential employer does not need to know exactly how old you are and it is illegal to ask.
Make sure the resume is only one page. No one will spend time reading more than that.
Use a professional resume writer or a recruiter who specializes in resume redesign. It's worth a few bucks to look more professional.
Make sure you network. A job may come out of the blue from someone you knew well 20 years ago or played softball with when you had the time and no kids.

And remember, getting the next CIO job may not be as hard as getting your first CIO gig--it may be even harder.

For more on selling yourself for a new CIO job:
- Check out this CIO Magazine article

Warning: Social networks cost you plenty

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

There are many tools available for CIOs to make their jobs more efficient and effective. And there are plenty of pluses that come with the growth of social networks, which provide employees on the job with a way to communicate quickly, reach out to the world and get the information they need. Email, instant messaging and blogs have become a fact of life and can help workers do a better job and collaborate with colleagues who may be far afield. But there is the strong possibility that employees will become distracted and lose productivity by using these tools for personal, not work-related endeavors.

In a new report, Basex estimates that social networking may be the problem of the year for 2008, and that the lack of productivity may cost the U.S. economy $588 billion. "Information Overload: We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us," said Basex analysts Jonathan B. Spira and David M. Goldes. The report claims this kind of detour eats up 28 percent of a worker's day, resulting in the loss of 28 billion hours of productivity. The $588 billion a year assumes a $21 per hour salary for knowledge workers.

While you cannot stand over a worker's computer station all day, there may be ways to discourage employees from spending time away from their work. You might block some kind of technologies or lay down the law and issue a few rules, remembering that they always can be broken. Like everything else in this new world of technology, training the staff to do it right may be the best defense when the work clock is running.

For more on workplace perils:
- See this eWeek article

Did you get a raise this year?

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:59:56 -0400

Money counts for CIOs. They're making more money than ever before and the job is growing in importance at many companies. CIO Magazine released its 2008 "State of the CIO" report after surveying nearly 600 executives from companies of all different sizes. More top IT executives hold the CIO title and more report to the CEO. No matter what size the company is, the job is growing in responsibility and salary. For companies with less than $100 million in revenue, the job is now paying $148,300, up from $138,200 the year before. And bigger companies are paying more than that. Firms with revenues of $100 million to $999 million are paying $213,500, up from $184,000. The largest companies with revenues of $1 billion or more are paying CIOs $344,400, up from a healthy $281,900 a year ago.

For more on salaries:
- check out CIO Magazine article

Preventing employee turnover

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:01:36 -0400

Increased demand is leading to a real shortage in IT personnel. That means CIOs have to work harder than ever to retain good employees. The first step is instituting a program aimed at preventing employee turnover. An effective program includes examining your company's compensation structure and determining whether you're underpaying key employees. Financial incentives, such as salary, spot bonuses an financial awards based on performance are powerful motivators to stay put. But money isn't everything. A good plan also includes enhancing the work environment by providing training or professional development and offering flexible schedules. Also, try to make sure your top performers have interesting and challenging projects, which keep them motivated.

For more about retaining valuable employees:
- read the article at Optimize

Related Articles
The value of accolades for staff retention. Report
Staff retention without overspending. Report

C&L: A way to lure in the female techie

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:01:31 -0500

There's an interesting poll out this week from the recruitment firm IT Job Board which claims that nearly 50 percent of female IT staffers are putting off having a family due to work pressure and workplace issues such as lack of childcare. I find the statistics a bit startling given reports that more enterprises today are looking to hire female techies to boost workplace diversity. One stat from the survey that should catch an IT hiring manager's attention is that two-fifths of female IT professionals polled would take a lower salary in exchange for onsite childcare. Clearly, such a work benefit would prove a huge hiring and retention factor in this tight labor market, though I don't think anyone should have to take a cut in salary for such a perk.

If you missed last Wednesday's Career section, you can always click on over to our archives where you have free access to all of the career news we've printed in the past few months. Here are some recent announcements regarding career moves:

Don Lyons is VP of operations for Emerging Health Information Technology.

Ira Hobbs has announced he is retiring from his role as CIO at the U.S. Treasury Department.

Gerry Weaver is the new CIO for the state of Indiana.

The new tech leader at Comcast Cable is Andrew Baer, who has been named CIO.

Christopher & Banks Corp. has tapped Steven Danker as senior VP of IS and strategy.

Carlos Barreio is the new CTO at BabyUniverse.