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<td>ACM CareerNews Alert for Tuesday, April 19, 2011</td>
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<td>Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:03:35 -0400</td>
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<div class="regtextTitle">April 19, 2011<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://careernews.acm.org" title="Read
current and past issues.">ACM CareerNews</a></div>
<br>
<hr>
<p>Welcome to the April 19, 2011 edition of <em>ACM
CareerNews</em>, providing twice monthly
summaries of articles on career-related topics
of interest to students and professionals in the
computing field.
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#unsubscribe">For
instructions on how to unsubscribe from this
service, please see below.</a><br>
<br>
<em>ACM CareerNews</em> is intended as an
objective career news digest for busy IT
professionals. Views expressed are not
necessarily those of ACM. To send comments,
please write to <a moz-do-not-send="true"
name="CareerNews" id="CareerNews"
href="mailto:careernews@hq.acm.org"
target="_blank">careernews@hq.acm.org</a>.</p>
<!-- Put headlines here -->
<!-- Put headlines here -->
<!-- Put headlines here -->
<h3><b>HEADLINES AT A GLANCE:</b></h3>
<ul type="square">
<li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#1">Silicon
Valley Experiencing New Hiring Boom</a><br>
</li>
<li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#2">Computer
Science Enrollments Rebound, Up 10% Last
Fall</a><br>
</li>
<li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#3">Mentorship
Key for Women in IT, says Collaborate Panel</a><br>
</li>
<li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#4">Yes, You
Can Make Performance Reviews Worthwhile</a><br>
</li>
<li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#5">How To
Know If You're Ready To Move Up The
Corporate Ladder</a><br>
</li>
<li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#6">Turning
Federal Workers Into Successful Teleworkers</a><br>
</li>
<li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#7">How to
Network: Five Tips for Maximizing Your
Meetings</a><br>
</li>
<li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#8">IT
Superheroes Snag New Skills</a><br>
</li>
<li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#9">How
Women Can Advance in Science and Technology</a><br>
</li>
<li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="#10">Educating
Computing's Next Generation</a><br>
</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<!-- The article excerpts go here --><!-- Article
excerpt 1 -->
<span class="bodytext">
<b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" name="1">Silicon
Valley Experiencing New Hiring Boom</a><br>
CNN, April 5
<br>
</b>
<p>
Graduates with science and engineering degrees
are about to enter the hottest Silicon Valley
job market since the dot.com crash a decade
ago. Some recent graduates are even turning
down interview requests from the best-known
companies in the technology world in order to
launch their own Internet start-ups. Not
surprisingly, competition is growing among
Silicon Valley companies to hire the best
young engineering talent. All of this is
leading to a Silicon Valley hiring boom, as
big players expand and medium-sized companies
advertise a steady stream of job openings.</p>
<p>
Despite these signs of a vigorous hiring
environment in the Bay Area, Silicon Valley
still has a 10.6% unemployment rate -- higher
than last month's national average of 8.8%.
However, Silicon Valley produced 1,200 jobs
last month, and its biggest companies are on
track to add thousands more in 2011. Some
high-profile companies are even planning to
double their workforce over the next 12
months. All these rosy hiring forecasts, mixed
with new infusions of venture capital, have
even created talk of another dot.com "bubble"
like the one that appeared in 2000.</p>
<p>
SimplyHired.com, a search engine for job
listings, says that nearly 40% of the 130,000
open positions in Silicon Valley are for
software engineers. Innovations in social
media, mobile and cloud computing are driving
the growth. Even during a recession, Silicon
Valley has been able to re-invent itself.
According to statistics from SimplyHired.com,
since July 2009 there has been a 245% increase
in openings that have "Facebook" as a keyword
and a 421% increase in "Twitter" job postings
-- evidence that the fast-growing
social-networking sites are creating jobs
outside their own companies.</p>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-05/tech/silicon.valley.job.market_1_software-engineers-job-market-simplyhired?_s=PM:TECH"
target="_blank">Click Here to View Full
Article</a> <br>
<font size="1"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="#top_of_page">to the top</a></font>
<hr>
<p>
<b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" name="2">Computer
Science Enrollments Rebound, Up 10% Last
Fall</a><br>
Computerworld, April 12
</b> </p>
<p>
For the third consecutive year, computer
science enrollments have increased, ending the
significant decline in enrollments that
followed the bursting of the dot-com bubble in
2000-2001. When that speculative bubble burst,
the subsequent shakeout and unemployment in
the tech industry sent enrollments plummeting,
raised concerns that the U.S. competitiveness
would suffer in the long run. Enrollments are
heading up, but are still well below the peak
reached nearly 10 years ago. According to the
Computer Research Association (CRA),
enrollments in computer science programs were
up last fall by as much as 10%. </p>
<p>
The current numbers on computer science
enrollment reflect the changing fortunes of
the industry over the past decade. The dot-com
era increased demand for programmers,
engineers and analysts and prompted many
students to enroll in computer science
programs. At its peak in 2001, the average
enrollment in computer science departments was
398, but by 2007, it had declined in half.
Enrollments now average at about 253 students
per department. The interest today in computer
science careers appears to be a more reasoned
response to a field that seems positioned at
the hub of just about every national priority.
If you want to do work in science,
engineering, health care, national security or
finance, a computing degree can help. </p>
<p>
In terms of graduates, the survey counted
12,500 computer science graduates last year,
compared to 20,677 in 2002. Although the
computer science increases over the past three
years have been healthy, enrollments will not
be going back to an average of 400 per
department. What is motivating students today
to study computer sciences is the availability
of jobs, as well as the impact of computing in
society. Students are intrinsically interested
in computing and interested in computing as a
tool to help them solve problems in other
fields. According to the CRA survey, men
continue to dominate computer science. The
share of women graduates in computer science
rose to 13.8% in 2010. </p>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9215720/Computer_science_enrollments_rebound_up_10_last_fall?source=CTWNLE_nlt_careers_2011-04-12&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+computerworld%2Fs%2Ffeed%2Ftopic%2F10+%28Computerworld+Careers+News%29"
target="_blank">Click Here to View Full
Article</a> <br>
<font size="1"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="#top_of_page">to the top</a></font>
<hr>
<p>
<b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" name="3">Mentorship
Key for Women in IT, says Collaborate
Panel</a><br>
Network World, April 13
</b> </p>
<p>
Mentors can play an important role in helping
women advance their careers within the
information technology field. Mentors are
especially important because women continue to
be heavily outnumbered by men in the
technology workplace and still need to contend
with lingering perceptions about their
abilities. As a result, they need to not only
constantly push themselves forward but also
find someone who can help them. Women need to
take ownership of what they have done and make
sure they are letting people within the
organization know what they have accomplished.
</p>
<p>
For women in IT, it is useful to find someone
to mentor and sponsor them within the
organization. If you have someone willing to
promote you to others, it can be good for your
career. For example, someone could actively
promote you throughout the organization by
talking about the things you can do, becoming
a very strong sponsor for your abilities.
Women who are already in influential positions
need to be willing to sponsor and mentor those
that are just breaking into the field. At the
same time, it's important for women to support
others who are above them in the hierarchy.
Mentoring can be especially useful in
organizations where the women are not
organized into any groups or have any sort of
interaction with each other. </p>
<p>
You can use mentors very strategically, to
achieve different goals. Some might be
executive sponsors, while others might have a
special skill that you would like to acquire.
Feel free to shift mentors over time. You can
condition others how they look at you, by
taking on - or not taking on - certain
projects and assignments. Such advice comes at
a time when the number of women in IT is on
the decline. According to the National Center
for Women & IT, in 2009, only 25% of U.S
IT professionals were women, compared to 36%
in 1991. </p>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/041311-mentorship-key-for-women-in.html"
target="_blank">Click Here to View Full
Article</a> <br>
<font size="1"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="#top_of_page">to the top</a></font>
<hr>
<p>
<b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" name="4">Yes,
You Can Make Performance Reviews
Worthwhile</a><br>
Business Week, April 8
</b> </p>
<p>
According to John Berry, the head of the
federal Office of Personnel Management,
performance reviews can be improved to the
point where they help, not hinder, career
progression. Building on some of the teachings
of legendary management guru Peter Drucker, he
suggests that, when it comes to setting
employee standards, giving appraisals, and
rating and compensating people, the processes
now in place across the government are no
longer effective. Most importantly, assessing
an employee's performance should always begin
with someone's strengths, not with his or her
weaknesses. The article takes a closer look at
how traditional appraisal systems can be
updated to reflect this fundamental management
insight. </p>
<p>
Among the reforms Berry is calling for the
government to implement are detailed
yardsticks that are objective, aligned to
agency mission and goals, and have true
employee buy-in. The goal is to measure
employees against specific performance
expectations. After all, the federal
performance-management system largely rewards
employees based on longevity in a job. As a
result, there is a lack of transparency and
consistency in how people are evaluated. For
many employees, performance standards are too
unclear and subjective: you don't fully know
what's expected of you or how you're doing. </p>
<p>
The ideal appraisal would ask questions that
zero in on an individual's strengths: What has
he or she done well? What, therefore, is he or
she likely to do well in the future? What new
knowledge or skills must he or she acquire in
order to coax the full benefit from his or her
strengths? This appraisal concentrates on what
people naturally do well. At the same time, it
positions weaknesses so they are seen as
limitations to the full use of an employee's
talents, not as deficiencies that one needs to
obsess over. Just as Drucker had little
tolerance for employees who've been put in a
position to leverage their strengths but then
don't execute, it is the role of the
government to find and remedy any manager who
consistently fails to perform with high
distinction. </p>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/apr2011/ca2011046_719401.htm"
target="_blank">Click Here to View Full
Article</a> <br>
<font size="1"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="#top_of_page">to the top</a></font>
<hr>
<p>
<b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" name="5">How To
Know If You're Ready To Move Up The
Corporate Ladder</a><br>
Glassdoor.com, April 13
</b> </p>
<p> As defined by research firm Gartner,
Generation V ("Virtual") is a way of defining
a demographic group in terms of interests,
attitudes and behaviors rather than age. In an
online environment, age is no longer the
primary factor. Office workers who may rank
low in terms of income, rank or popularity may
at the same time rank high in terms of
reputation and influence online. As a result,
employers may want to think about ways they
can tap into online reputation, prestige and
influence within their workforce. </p>
Seek out the most senior person you know that is
in the position that you aspire to reach and ask
them what jobs they wish they would have become
involved with that would help them to better
prepare. Also ask what skills and areas are most
important to know to succeed in their job. What
you hear back may be the jobs you want to look
out for in the next few years. Then, lean
towards what seems hard and risky. There are
certain jobs that are just harder than others,
or so they might appear at first. It may not be
that they are difficult, it could be that they
are the job that no one wants because others
haven't succeeded or just don't like them. <br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/youre-ready-move-corporate-ladder/"
target="_blank">Click Here to View Full
Article</a> <br>
<font size="1"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="#top_of_page">to the top</a></font>
<hr>
<p>
<b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" name="6">Turning
Federal Workers Into Successful
Teleworkers</a><br>
Federal Computer Week, April 6
</b> </p>
<p>
Despite the passage of the Telework
Enhancement Act last year, efforts to
implement telework policies in the federal
government continue to encounter managerial
resistance. Supervisors and managers have been
less likely to telework than rank-and-file
employees, so they lack the firsthand
experience that could make them better
advocates for home-based work arrangements. On
the other hand, modeling telework behavior
sends a clear message of support and may
provide one effective strategy for efforts to
expand federal telework. With a few
accommodations and the appropriate mix of
discipline and flexibility, federal managers
can even thrive despite the reduction in
face-to-face time with their employees.</p>
<p>
Managers who are undecided about teleworking
should try it and see if it works for them.
The first decision managers need to make is
what kind of telework schedule fits their
needs. A full-time telework arrangement might
not be ideal for managers. They should outline
how they're going to work in a remote
environment and consider what about their
routine is going to change and what will stay
the same. They should also seek online
collaboration tools that can support and
enhance the telework experience. Those
preparations will help managers establish
clear expectations for themselves and their
employees. Managers also should be willing to
test their telework arrangement for a few
weeks and reassess their situation often to
make sure it's working. </p>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://fcw.com/articles/2011/04/11/feat-telework-managers-get-onboard.aspx"
target="_blank">Click Here to View Full
Article</a> <br>
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<p>
<b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" name="7">How to
Network: Five Tips for Maximizing Your
Meetings</a><br>
CIO.com, April 6
</b> </p>
<p>
Ford Meyers, a career coach and job search
expert, shares five tips for making sure that
both parties at a networking meeting walk away
happy. When you're involved in a job search,
meetings over lunch or coffee with contacts in
your network - and with your contacts'
contacts - can help you uncover job
opportunities or lead you to people who work
at desirable organizations. Depending on how
you approach these meetings, your networking
will be either tremendously productive or a
waste of everyone's time. You want to prepare
in such a way that your contact doesn't walk
away wishing he could get that 30 minutes of
his or her life back. </p>
<p>
The first way to optimize your networking is
to make sure the meeting is not one-sided.
Assure contacts up front, when requesting a
meeting, that you want the encounter to be
mutually beneficial. Job seekers who set the
expectation up front that they want to give
back to their contacts get more out of their
networking meetings than job seekers who
don't. Second, have an agenda. Before you even
request a meeting with a contact, you should
know exactly what you want to get from
speaking with this person. Your agenda might
also include a list of questions that you'd
like to ask your contact or a list of
companies you're targeting in your job search.
Send this agenda, along with a one-page
professional bio, to your contact before your
meeting. </p>
<p>
During the meeting, find ways to respect
everyone's time. Since you set up the meeting,
you have to run it the same way you'd run a
meeting at the office. Without being overly
formal, you do have to kick it off, keep it on
track and make sure you touch on everything
that you need to address. Finally, make sure
that you follow up. Don't neglect to thank
your contact for his or her time after the
meeting. Use the thank-you e-mail as an
opportunity to ask your contact for his or her
feedback on the meeting you held. When you
land a job, make sure you share the good news
with your contacts, and tell them all that you
couldn't have done it without their help.</p>
<br>
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<p>
<b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" name="8">IT
Superheroes Snag New Skills</a><br>
Computerworld, April 4
</b> </p>
<p>
Layoffs and hiring freezes have left many IT
professionals with new tasks and additional
responsibilities. Savvy IT workers are pushing
past the negative vibes and learning to see
opportunities in this rough economy. They're
gaining new skills and raising their
visibility as they take on roles that once
would have gone to others. There is always
opportunity in the midst of change in an
organization. That's an important dynamic for
people to know. The prospects for job growth
are real, even if IT budgets are stressed and
workloads are high. Companies still need to
get on with technology projects, and employees
who are willing to accept new responsibilities
in order to get those projects done can
advance their own careers in the process.
That's because these high-octane workers are
able to build relationships, become experts in
specific technologies and demonstrate
leadership skills that they didn't have a
chance to showcase during better economic
times.</p>
<p>
For IT workers looking to get ahead, it's not
just about working more hours, it's also about
preparing for the future. In Computerworld's
2011 Salary Survey, 44% of IT professionals
said that taking on new tasks in their current
positions is the best way for them to advance
their careers and earn more money. Indeed,
many IT workers are looking ahead to better
opportunities: 40% of the respondents said
that they expect to be promoted to a
higher-level position five years from now.
People who are capitalizing on opportunities
in today's work environment will find
themselves well positioned for advancement
when the job market starts to expand. Display
a good work ethic, fulfill your
responsibilities, and demonstrate the ability
and willingness to help achieve the overall
goals of the organization. </p>
<p>
To stand out in the crowd, IT workers are
taking on roles and responsibilities that they
didn't have prior to the downturn. As a
result, they're learning new and valuable
skills. While companies may not be able to
hand out big raises, they hope to provide more
recognition when the economy recovers in
earnest. If employers do not understand and
reward the extra effort that some employees
are making, they ignore them at their own
peril, because they'll be the first to go.
Companies can try to recognize employees who
put in some extra effort, by preserving as
many perks as possible, both large and small.
Organizations may be able to cherry-pick top
talent that's undervalued elsewhere. </p>
<br>
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<p>
<b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" name="9">How
Women Can Advance in Science and
Technology</a><br>
MentorNet Newsletter, April 2011
</b> </p>
<p>
Women are still facing obstacles to career
advancement within science and technology
fields. According to experts dealing with
these issues on an everyday basis, there are a
handful of effective solutions for overcoming
these hurdles in the professional world. For
example, creating a stronger, more appealing
"brand" for science and technology could
attract more candidates. In addition, there
needs to be greater emphasis on
female-friendly education, more emphasis on
diverse hiring practices, and changes to the
underlying culture of organizations. </p>
<p>
Task force participants at the Wall Street
Journal's Women in the Economy Conference
emphasize how important it is to re-brand the
science and technology fields to attract more
women. One top recommendation is to glamorize
technology, make it a cool field for women to
want to go into. Another suggestion is to have
more female role models in media and in the
news to captivate women's attention to the
fields. It is also vital to offer compulsory
classes in science and technology in academic
institutions. These classes are great way to
catch and retain women's' interest in science
and technology. Academic institutions should
also create a greater supply of internships
for women in these fields. </p>
<p>
Technology employers must find ways to recruit
and retain women in their workplace. There
needs to be a long-term strategy for women
wanting to stay and continue working at their
companies. It should be the employer's
responsibility to oversee women's advancement
in science and technology. Finally, there
needs to be an emphasis on diverse hiring.
Every candidate pool and interview panel
should include women. This would entail more
women being hired and being successful in
science and technology.</p>
<br>
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<p>
<b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" name="10">Educating
Computing's Next Generation</a><br>
Communications of the ACM, Vol. 54 No. 4,
April 2011
</b> </p>
<p>
Robert B. Schnabel, chair of ACM's Education
Policy Committee and Dean of the School of
Informatics at Indiana University, shares his
thoughts on how we can better educate the next
generation of computer science graduates.
Policymakers and educators must emphasize that
computer science knowledge and skills are
among the most essential ingredients of a
modern education, since they provide the
foundation for modern competency in many
others fields ranging from sciences to
communications to entertainment. Computer
science knowledge will enable the next
generation to create, not just consume, the
next wave of computing innovations. At a time
when the current and projected demand for
computing workers far outstrips any other area
of STEM, educators and policymakers must act
quickly to address this imbalance between
supply and demand.</p>
<p>
The Education Policy Committee was founded in
2007 to provide greater direction to the
nation's educators and policymakers. Unlike
other sciences, such as physics or chemistry,
the study of computer science only dates back
about half a century. This means that, while
the higher education system adapted fairly
quickly to the existence and importance of CS,
the K-12 system has not. Over the past decade,
the U.S. has seen significant declines in the
number of K-12 CS courses, the number of
students taking the CS advanced placement
exam, and the number of undergraduate CS
majors. In addition, the participation of
women and underrepresented minorities remains
low at all levels.</p>
<p>
While the U.S. is the initial focus, computing
education is a global issue and many positions
of the Education Policy Committee have global
applicability. Since its founding, the EPC has
achieved some significant results, including
co-sponsoring the 2010 report "Running on
Empty: The Failure to Teach K-12 Computer
Science in the Digital Age," which examined
the extent to which CS education is
incorporated into current state education
standards and to what extent states allow CS
courses to count as a graduation credit in a
required or core subject. The EPC has also led
the development and implementation of CSEd
Week; led development of the Computing in the
Core coalition in order to elevate the
national profile of U.S. K-12 CS education.
The EPC has also held numerous events,
conferences, and meetings with government
policymakers to raise awareness of CS
education issues and commented on various STEM
education studies and policies to assure full
attention to CS.</p>
<br>
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