Tech’s Top 10
The buzzwords are everywhere: “interactive multimedia,” “online computer networks,” “the World Wide Web.” Hitching one’s wagon to these booming fields seems to be a wise career move. But how, exactly, should that be done?
To help answer that question, The Times surveyed career experts, headhunters and people who have already embarked on careers in the uncharted and fast-changing parts of the technology sector. They identified 10 of the hottest tech jobs and offered hints about how to land them.
Some of these jobs are merely cyberspace versions of careers that have been around for years: writers, librarians, artists and security guards. Others exist only in the world of high-powered computers and the global computer network known as the Internet.
These new technology careers have some things in common. All require at least a basic understanding of how computers work and how they work together. Many are so new that the only way to get trained for them is in seminars or on the job. Some are still too cutting-edge for corporate America, which means many of the people who are pioneering these careers must work on a freelance basis.
Here are sketches of 10 technology careers that experts predict will flourish in the next five to 10 years:
Internet security
“It’s estimated that within six seconds of connecting to the Internet, some hacker is doing traffic analysis on your computer to see whether it’s worthwhile to breach your security,” said Humphrey P. Polanen, general manager of the Internet Commerce Group at Sun Microsystems in Mountain View, Calif.
Internet security means more than protecting credit card account numbers as they travel across the global computer network. Hackers can steal corporate secrets or sabotage a company’s software or customer list. Some crooks can even freeload on expensive services such as data storage.
If the Internet were secure, companies could collaborate on engineering and product design via the Net. Investors could buy and sell stocks in cyberspace, bypassing the New York Stock Exchange. Federal Express customers can already track their packages on the World Wide Web, and more sophisticated services could flourish if the Internet were safe for commerce.
To make that possible, electrical engineers and computer scientists are working on encryption techniques to enable customers to safely send their credit card numbers over the network. They are also perfecting authentication systems so merchants and customers can be sure they are doing business with the right parties.
Consultants work as security auditors to help clients assess the safety of their computer networks, then help them develop a security policy. Others are charged with administering the network after a policy is adopted to make sure the network is not broken into.
Education and experience: college degree in electrical engineering or computer science, or strong technical training from an employer, such as the Army
Salary range: $50,000 to $130,000
Estimated current employment: more than 200,000; roughly 10% are working on encryption and authentication techniques
Web page designers
The rise of the World Wide Web has already spawned a popular career for people who design and maintain its “home pages,” the sites that can be accessed by thousands of Internet surfers with a click of the mouse.
Home pages feature text and graphics that visitors can navigate at their own pace. A few sites are starting to incorporate sound, and in coming months they will start to blend in video clips as well. There are already hundreds of thousands of home pages on the Web, and that number will multiply as more corporations add sites to attract customers and promote products.
Most Web designers come from the world of multimedia. However, writers, editors and designers from the print world are also well-positioned to enter the burgeoning field, if they have a bit of Internet savvy and are willing to read through a book with a title like “Teach Yourself Web Publishing With HTML in a Week.”
Internships are a good way to get practical experience.
More complex Web pages will soon incorporate animation and virtual reality elements. A person with experience programming in C++ could easily learn Java or VRML--the computer languages for the fancier programming--fairly quickly, and they “are going to be in huge demand,” said Gabriella Marks, president of a Bay Area-based group called Women in Multimedia.
Education and experience: knowledge of HTML (hypertext markup language) and other useful programming languages (can be learned from books or in short seminars and community college classes)
Average salary: $40,000
Estimated current employment: 20,000
Cybrarians
Cybrarians are the librarians of cyberspace, professional information gatherers who make it their business to know what kind of information is available on the Internet and where to find it so they can retrieve it for their clients.
Some things are relatively easy to find, like the annual reports that companies file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and which are gathered at a particular Web site. But other kinds of information could be lurking practically anywhere, because the Internet is unorganized.
Getting a handle on what is out there is more than half the battle. To keep up, cybrarians rely on computer discussion groups where members share information about useful sites on the Web and other parts of the Internet. Newsletters also help keep people informed.
The Internet Society, an international organization charged with coordinating Internet technologies and applications, is designing a method for standardizing the way Web pages are organized and labeled. That will make the task of fact finding in cyberspace much easier.
Education and experience: formal librarian training or professional experience tracking down industry-specific information
Salary range: low $20,000s to mid-$70,000s
Estimated current employment: at least 15,000
GIS specialists
Geographic information systems, or GIS, is one of the fastest-growing branches of computing. The technology combines information in traditional databases with computer-generated maps, creating a sort of visual spreadsheet.
GIS maps can help motorists find alternative routes to avoid traffic jams or allow forestry experts to track the spread of insect infestations. They will also pinpoint households and businesses that are ideal recipients for specially targeted advertisements. As the power of desktop PCs grows, more people will be able to use GIS software on an even wider array of projects.
The GIS industry draws people with backgrounds in geography, urban planning and environmental studies who have a facility for using computer databases. Computer software engineers will also be drawn to the field to create more programs for GIS specialists to use.
People who design GIS software typically write programs in a computer language such as C or C++. GIS specialists must learn a special language to use that software to create maps and databases.
Education and experience: college or advanced degree in geography, urban planning or environmental studies
Salary range: high $20,000s to $65,000
Estimated current employment: 50,000 to 75,000
Online publishers
As people spend more time logged on to their computers, many online publishers are betting that they will look there for the kind of entertainment and information they get from magazines. That means jobs for writers, editors and layout designers, once they adapt to the interactive format of the Web.
“The real major difference with online publishing is that it offers such a multidimensional approach,” said Kate Farnaday, an assistant editor at HotWired, the Web version of Wired magazine. “You can combine intensive graphics and audio and sound and be much more interactive.”
Many HotWired employees once worked at advertising agencies, computer companies, print magazines and newspapers. Nearly all have college degrees and a strong interest in computers.
Some publishers will launch Web sites that have no companion in the print world. Tripod, for example, is a cyberspace-only “publication” geared toward college students that offers an array of articles about health, lifestyle, travel and money management.
Education and experience: work experience in a comparable field in print, plus an affinity for computers
Salary range: $20,000 to mid-$40,000s for writers and editors, $70,000 for system engineers
Estimated current employment: no reliable estimates
Multimedia designers
Producers of CD-ROM games for education and entertainment will be an engine of growth in the multimedia industry. Although the odds of success are stacked against game developers (even more than for aspiring movie directors), companies will continue to churn out ever more technologically sophisticated products, including games on the new digital video disc format, said Trisha Gorman, co-author of “Careers in Multimedia: Roles and Resources.”
CD-ROMs will also become important marketing tools for direct-mail advertisers seeking to introduce potential customers to their products. They will be used to train everyone from airline pilots to bank tellers, and they will drive interactive information kiosks that serve the public. Specialists in compression technology will be needed to distribute bulky multimedia programs over the Internet.
Game testing is a good, albeit low-paying, way to break into multimedia. Testers look for technical bugs, spelling errors and other problems to make sure a product is ready for release. But there is no standard way to get a foot in the door. People come to the industry from all kinds of fields--usually with a college degree--and they spend their evenings taking extension classes at community colleges to keep up to date with the latest technology.
Education and experience: mostly on the job, plus community college courses to learn how to use the latest software
Salary range: $40,000 to $60,000 on average for game designers and CD-ROM developers; low to mid-$20,000s for game testers
Estimated current employment: 10,000
omputer Graphics Designers
The field of computer graphics design is poised for a major expansion as personal computers become more powerful and the Internet takes off.
The entertainment industry will continue to employ computer graphics designers who use sophisticated machines to design title sequences, special effects and high-quality animation. Corporate America will also hire graphic artists who can use desktop publishing tools to prepare multimedia presentations.
Although the bulk of computer graphics designers will design for print media such as community newspapers and corporate newsletters, the demand for people who can design images for television, CD-ROMs and Web sites is expected to explode.
Most of the people coming into the industry have backgrounds in fine arts and take classes to learn to use the latest software and computer design techniques. Knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXpress is considered essential.
Education and experience: degree in fine arts or design, plus continuing education at community colleges to keep up with the latest software
Salary range: mid-$20,000s to $45,000
Estimated current employment: 70,000
omputer Network Builders
As computers play a greater role in companies, so too will the architects of the networks that link them together.
Network builders examine the needs of a particular company, then design a system to suit those requirements. They decide how the computers should be connected and how data should flow among them to minimize response time and costs.
They also design links between companies, such as a manufacturer and one of its suppliers. Some write the protocols that allow the networks to talk to each other, while others focus on maintaining the “fire walls” that prevent unauthorized access to company information. Although the number of companies that have connections with each other through the Internet is still very small, “it’s growing like gangbusters,” said Joe Cardenas, a vice president at Oracle Systems Corp. in Redwood City, Calif.
Computer network builders typically have a college degree in computer science, although a computer technician with strong work experience can graduate to the world of network architecture. Those who specialize in fire walls often have an advanced degree and command higher salaries.
Education and experience: college degree in computer science, although some have advanced degrees and some are trained at technical schools
Salary range: usually between $40,000 and $80,000
Current estimated employment: about 50,000
SAP Specialists
One company taking a radical approach to computer networks is SAP, a German firm with U.S. headquarters in Wayne, Pa. SAP’s systems integrate every piece of a company, from personnel to accounts payable to manufacturing. Its basic network design is adapted to suit corporate customers.
Once a SAP system is fully installed, a company needs to devote between four and 15 people to maintaining the system. They will typically attend five weeks’ worth of classes where they learn how to manage the system and program in its unique computer language.
“Anybody with knowledge and training in SAP can have any job they want anywhere. The list of companies that need them is unbelievable,” said Betsy Collard, program director for the Career Action Center in Palo Alto.
Demand for SAP systems--and the people who can manage them--is expected to increase 20% to 30% a year, company executives said.
Education and experience: college degree in computer science, work experience in computer network systems
Salary range: $60,000 to $110,000
Estimated current employment: 63,000
Financial Information Technologists
The amount of information that banks and Wall Street investment houses grapple with to make financial decisions is mind-boggling. One way they get a handle on the information is by making computer models.
For example, Wells Fargo & Co. and other banking firms have devised computer models for risk-profiling that allow them to pre-approve loans for cars and homes.
And Wall Street investment firms use computers to help produce models that tell them when to buy or how to trade complex securities such as options, futures and hybrid bonds.
The process starts with people who have advanced degrees in mathematics, physics and other analytical fields who develop the equations the firms use to model the market. The equations are then delivered to a corps of computer scientists and electrical engineers, who integrate them into the firms’ computer systems. They also write programs to help traders calculate the value of a portfolio and how risky it is.
In addition to making models, information technologists make sure the data is processed in a consistent way. They also maintain databases of things such as stock prices and research reports on corporations.
Education and experience: college degree in electrical engineering or computer science
Salary range: $70,000 for newcomers, $100,000 to $200,000 for seasoned employees
Estimated current employment: more than 1,200
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Top 10 Jobs
* Computer graphics designers
* Computer network builders
* Cybrarians
* Geographic information systems specialists
* Internet security
* Online publishers
* Multimedia designers
* SAP specialists
* Wall Street information technologists
* World Wide Web page designers
