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Hackers on the Hill (Part 2)

June 1, 2009 – 5:41 pm

Here’s just a follow-up to my original Hackers on the Hill post. In this post, I thought it might be useful to list a few companies that are hiring cyber security and IT professionals in response to the White House’s latest announcement. General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton and Raytheon recently landed large IT and computer security contracts with the Fed. And, in addition to hiring IT types, each of these contractors is hiring to fill a variety of other positions, including administrative, project management, general management, legal, technical writing and finance jobs.

Defense Contractors Hiring

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Hackers on the Hill

May 29, 2009 – 10:48 pm

Today, President Obama is set to announce more details of the new Cybersecurity Chief position, also referred to as the “cyber czar”. The new role will report to both the National Security Council and the National Economic Council, and will be responsible for making government computer networks that store taxpayer, employee and security information, and computers that run stock markets and clear global transactions more secure.

The President has not named any candidates for the position, but there is plenty of speculation about the type of candidate that would be best suited for the role. Many believe the Cyber Czar should be someone from private industry, preferably someone from the cybersecurity industry, but others, citing National Security, believe it should be someone from an intelligence background.

Regardless of whom is ultimately selected, I expect there to be a few hackers on the Hill. Who better to build and guard government networks than the people who routinely figure out how to break into them. And, while the thought of hackers on the Hill may be frightening to some, I see it as a job opportunity for a cadre of really talented computer programmers, cryptologists, network and systems specialists, engineers and those with intelligence and cybercrime backgrounds.

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Apple Opening 25 New Stores

May 29, 2009 – 3:22 pm

Apple plans to open 25 new stores and remodel 100 stores in New York City, Paris, Italy and Germany. These store openings will create new in-store jobs focused on customer training and technical support. The new stores will increase the size of the genius bar by 50% so more Apple Geniuses will be in order.

Apple also continues to hire to fill field and headquarter jobs in customer service, online store management, engineering, tech support, design, planning and sales.

Search Apple Jobs

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New Jobless Claims Drop

May 28, 2009 – 3:45 pm

According to the Labor Department, the number of initial claims for jobless benefits dropped last week to a seasonally adjusted 623,000. This is about 12,000 less than analysts’ estimates, signaling that employers may be cutting fewer jobs.

Unfortunately, the new applicants join the 6.16 million people already receiving unemployment benefits, driving the total to 6.78 million–the largest number since 1967.

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$4.5B For Green Job Training

May 27, 2009 – 4:20 pm

President Obama has earmarked $4.5 billion to create “green jobs” and to train workers for these jobs. The money has been allocated to two taskforces–the Middle Class Task Force charged with improving public housing and a Labor Department task force charged with training workers for “green jobs”.

The Middle Class Task Force will create green jobs by renovating public housing units to make them more energy efficient. The Labor Department task force will train and re-train workers, giving them new skills like solar panel installation and manufacturing and green building. The Labor Department task force has set aside $50 million for training workers in communities most impacted by job losses and auto industry restructuring.

According to a task force report released in February, the green jobs created by both task forces are related to helping the environment, pay up to 20 percent more than other jobs, are more likely to be union jobs and more likely to be held by men, less so by minorities and people who live in cities.

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The European Job Market

May 26, 2009 – 3:08 pm

On a recent flight, I spoke with a woman named Meryl, who was, like so many, lamenting losing her job and wondering aloud what to do next. We were both on our way to Maui–me for R&R, her for a friend’s wedding. My seatmate shared with me that she was considering chucking it all and moving to some fantasy city ala Under the Tuscan Sun. She was considering someplace in the Italian or French countryside, and, perhaps, someplace in Prague. I loved the idea and shared with her how much I cherished my DVD of the movie like a bucket list. We indulged our shared fantasy of packing it off to a fabulous life in Europe for a while.

But, then, me being me and always thinking with my “work brain”, I just had to rain on her parade. I informed my friend that, even if she could secure a visa sans job, and scrounge up the cash for a villa, she might run into a big roadblock–Europe’s job market is no better than our own.

Meryl was shocked and disappointed to find that France had an 8.8% unemployment rate (only 0.1% less than the U.S.) and Italy was at 7.1% and expected to rise to 9.2% by year’s end. Prague, her “also-ran” destination, is looking a bit more promising with a 5.5% unemployment rate.

Once I’d snuffed out her dreams, Meryl was open to other European destinations, as long as they had lower unemployment rates. I showed Meryl a list of the unemployment rates for European Union countries. Given Europe’s unemployment rates, looks like our Under the Tuscan Sun redux is going to be more like Under a Foot of Snow.

U.S. vs. EU Unemployment Rate

United States (8.9%)
European Union (8.9%)

European Countries With Lowest Unemployment Rates

Netherlands (3.0%)
Austria (4.5%)
Cyprus (4.9%)
Slovenia (5.0%)
Denmark (5.7%)
Bulgaria (5.9%)

Source: Eurostat, Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Are There Still Greener Pastures?

May 25, 2009 – 9:35 pm

Interestingly, just as folks are being “involuntarily freed” of their homes and are beginning to relocate to lower-cost markets, many to their home towns, it seems that greener pastures are turning brown. Sure, you can find a city with cheaper housing, but, can you find a job near your cheaper housing? That’s the big question.

If you’re currently searching for a job, you’ve got to be asking yourself, “Are there still greener pastures?”. “Is there somewhere I can move, or commute, to find a new job, or is everywhere just as bad as here?”

The answer is, “Maybe”.

There are a few states with relatively low unemployment rates, a decent number of available jobs and fewer than 3 unemployed people for every one available job. These, Ladies and Gentlemen, are your greener pastures–perhaps the last bastions of job-hunting bliss.

States	Unemployment Rate	# Jobs Available	Competitiveness
North Dakota	4.0	10,700	1.34
Nebraska	4.4	29,000	1.54
Wyoming	4.5	8,000	1.53
South Dakota	4.8	11,100	1.57
Iowa	5.1	34,400	2.21
Utah	5.2	32,900	2.07
New Mexico	5.8	24,700	2.11
Montana	6.0	12,700	2.11
Louisiana, Oklahoma	6.2	41,600,39,400	2.99, 2.60
New Hampshire	6.3	19,100	2.31