Is IT Consulting a Viable Career Path?

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To paraphrase Charles Dickens, it is the worst of times. Budget cuts, layoffs, salary freezes — if you’re lucky — there doesn’t appear to be much good news on the job front, and IT is no exception.

But while full-time positions are being lost every day, IT jobs experts say there is a silver lining and there are opportunities available, most notably, in consulting. Many companies find they still need to get projects done, but now they’ve got to be more creative, especially since, in many cases, remaining staff is too bogged down with day-to-day work.

“Even as ‘our clients’ tighten their belts, they are still moving forward with projects, but perhaps not on a full-time basis,” said Dave Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology, a staff consulting and search firm in Columbus, Ohio. “Now I may bring in a consultant for five or six weeks and it may cost me less and I accomplish that work on a project basis.”

Willmer adds that “It’s more prevalent than in the past” to use consultants.

Consulting isn’t the only way to go — many companies are also looking to turn away from the overhead of fixed costs like employees, to outsourcing for certain services, noted David Foote, CEO and Chief Research Officer of Foote Partners, a consultancy that analyzes IT wages and hiring data.

For example, Foote points to the fact that there are probably more managed security services positions now than five years ago; an area that traditionally gets outsourced.

Where the Jobs Are

In terms of geographic regions, one area with growth potential is the North Carolina corridor, he said. “The combination of Charlotte/Raleigh area specifically, is strong and has continued to be in past few months for overall IT projects for consulting and full-time hiring in the areas of virtualization, web-based projects and VoIP, as well as in traditional areas like PC technicians and help desk,” said Willmer.

Another area of opportunity can be found in Houston. Although Willmer says it’s not a growth area, he adds that Robert Half continues to see interest in those project areas as well as in all areas of IT consulting.

David Van De Voort, a principal at Chicago-based Mercer, an international Human Resources consulting firm, maintains that geographic region isn’t as important as certain vertical industries, and sees military and defense contractors as “areas of strength” for IT personnel right now. While these types of firms are spread throughout the country, Van De Voort said there tends to be a strong concentration of jobs in southern California and Washington, D.C.

As for tech skills that are still in demand, Van De Voort sees a market for workers who have expertise in what he calls data management or data systems development. “We’re in an era of very strong focus on data mining, repurposing data and data having a strategic purpose for the business, not just for IT,” he said. “There are lots of multiyear projects that continue to be ongoing related to the strategic use of data and data mining.”

Article courtesy of IT Career Planet