High Tech Career

The tech job market seems to be rebounding, at least according to the Wall Street Journal. Pui-Wing Tam writes that hiring in Silicon Valley seems to be picking up, but the demand for new employees is not what you think. It seems that firms now days are primarily looking for employees with increased levels of education or experience. Netflix, one of the companies interviewed, say that most of their new hire engineers have around 15 years experience. That's a substantial increase over the three to five years experience desired only five short years ago. There has also been a shift toward hiring more applicants with masters and doctorate degrees.

All of this shouldn't come as a surprise. While the tech industry as a whole has recovered since the dot-com bubble burst, many of the low-tech jobs that once promised good wages for many workers have been shipped overseas. Companies claim that while these types of jobs have been outsourced, the result has been an increased in positions for more highly trained workers. An example given is the shift Intel underwent when it outsourced most of its chip production while keeping chip design department in America. The company's dominance over the last decade as seen as proof positive that the practice works.

The unsettling fact surrounding this trend is that many of the jobs being outsourced are seen as entry level positions. While the irony is that by eliminating these jobs in the US, it becomes increasingly hard for workers to gain the experience desired by employers. But then again you have to look beyond the Human Resources speak and directly at what hiring managers are looking for. While the "ideal candidate" may have 15 years experience, sometimes managers are willing to take other factors into consideration. It's also true that while a team lead may need a great amount of experience, it's not necessarily a hard requirement for other team members.