A recent Monster.com report found that the SF Bay Area is a key area of the country targeted for high job growth in the second half of 2011. So what are the hot jobs and skills recruiters are looking for? No surprise tech jobs lead the pack, and several Bay Area recruiting agencies offered their opinions on what they are looking for.
Lakshmi Raj, co-founder of San Mateo-based Replicon is targeting Sales, Product Management, and User Design professionals. Lakshmi knows how challenging the Bay Area job market is. According to Lakshmi, “As a Canadian based company that is new to the Valley, we are competing with well-known brands for similar talent. The average candidate who gets an offer from us already has 2-3 other offers.”
Mitch Kocen, Assistant Marketing Manager of BAJobs.com sees a similar picture. “We’re seeing the biggest increases in biotechnology and consumer electronics, though education (both facility and staff positions) is making a stronger comeback this summer than it did the same time last year,” Kocen said. Kocen also noted that procurement/logistics is experiencing exploding growth opportunities thanks to recent changes in shipping technology.
Scott Davidson, Managing Director of Modis commented, “The toughest jobs we are sourcing are in web development, data warehousing and business intelligence.” He noted that technical skills in Interaction design, Visual design, Ruby, Python, or Flex – combined with Java, Oracle or SAP integration were high on his list of needs. Davidson sees more companies loosening recruiting budgets in order to expand their search for good people.
Sunil Phatak of Akraya also faces challenges. Looking at limitations in immigration policy as impacting the resource pool, Phatak is concerned with emerging skills. “The demand for candidates trained in Kintana, a new portfolio management tool, and Times Ten, a database tool, is rising in Silicon Valley, but there are few candidates trained on the specifics of these tools,” Phatak said.
The bottom line for job seekers is that the job outlook is bright. Broadcasting your job interests can be as simple as connecting with local recruiting firms looking to connect you to the right opportunity.
Source: Examiner.com
