Cleared Hot: Career Advice and Veteran Transition News
Is your head in the clouds? Maybe it should be. Cloud computing jobs are on the rise – and that’s not the same old “year of the cloud” rhetoric we’ve heard year after year. A new Gartner report indicates that for CIOs, cloud computing will be the top technical priority in 2013.
Following a survey of some 2,000 CIO executives, Gartner reports cloud computing as one of the top 10 security trends for the coming year, a change that will open new doors for IT security experts and vendors alike. If you’ve got the skills and a security clearance, you could find yourself ushered through those doors like royalty.
It’s not surprising that CIOs are changing their views on cloud computing. The IT landscape is a constantly moving shift of new technologies, social media and the gazillion different devices evolving their way from the consumer market into the workforce. This is leaving IT managers on overload, in a business environment that’s getting more competitive and complicated while also raising the bar for security. For cleared, transitioning service members, this field is a match made in an increasingly cloudy heaven.
As more companies move into cloud-based software and applications, hiring managers are stepping up the hunt for candidates with experience in cloud-based services. The most common job ads placed over the last few months include software, network and systems engineers, Java developers and websphere cloud computing engineers. But the demand will follow for marketing managers, sales representatives and management and research analysts who also understand cloud computing.
While these jobs will be dotted across the country as the year moves forward, the highest number of cloud computing job ads of late, have been in Seattle and San Jose, Calif. Demand is also growing in the D.C., Maryland, Virginia region, and steadily creeping along the map from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to Harrisburg, Pa., and Sarasota, Fla.
Basic qualifications include network architectures and design, software integration and IP networking. Hiring managers also like to see experience in Windows, Cisco, Novell, UNIX and Linux, with certifications that include MCSE, CCNA, CCNP, CCIE or CNE.
Keep in mind this is year four of the “Cloud First Policy,” the government’s initiative to reform federal IT management. As more federal agencies work to overhaul their IT infrastructure, federal cloud-based job opportunities will continue to present a great market for transitioning service members.
Tranette Ledford is a writer and owner of Ledford, LLC, which provides writing, editorial and public relations consulting for defense, military and private sector businesses. You can contact her at: Tranette@Ledfordllc.com.
