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Dayton
Business Journal
Dayton
tech
jobs carry six-figure starting salaries
by Laura
Englehart, Staff Reporter
Monday,
July 2, 2012
As
technology rapidly changes and new products come online, companies have
created
new positions — and paired them with substantial salaries.
From
smartphone applications to cyber security, businesses in the Dayton
region
require skilled information technology workers, and they’re willing to
shell
out hundreds of thousands annually to pay them. Jobs that earn top
dollar at
entry level include application developers, data security analysts,
business
intelligence analysts and user experience designers, according to
Robert Half
Technology .
Career
experts locally say demand for these workers has increased as
businesses have
returned to spending on systems upgrades and try again to keep pace
with market
evolutions.
“Even if
it’s not a job (companies) have right now, it’s a job they’re thinking
about,”
said Brittany Neil, division director of Robert Half Technology in
Dayton.
(Click below
for some surprising jobs that pay six figures.)
While the
demand bodes well for recent graduates in management information
systems,
computer science or computer engineering programs, experts worry the
region
lacks the necessary talent pool to accommodate market demands.
Jobs in
demand
As
technology changes, so do open positions in the IT market.
Smartphones
and tablet computers have opened wide the opportunities for IT
professionals
from their use in the workplace to their ability to reach valuable
consumers.
“Everyone
has an iPhone or smartphone,” Neil said. “If you don’t, you’re left
behind.”
At the same
time, businesses have looked to new technology to glean information
about their
customers. But as more information is stored on vulnerable online
systems and
the everyman becomes more tech-savvy, businesses must defend themselves
against
security breaches.
To reach
customers conveniently in their palms or draw them to Web sites,
businesses
have looked to hire mobile app developers and user experience designers
who
work to make Web sites more customer friendly.
App
developers locally stand to make $74,400 to $107,200 annually starting
out,
according to numbers from the technology unit of Robert Half
International.
“We’re
seeing application developers on the rise because, quite frankly, it’s
not
always the best fit for an executive-level person to sit stationary at
a
computer to read e-mails,” Neil said. “We need applications to be
mobile.”
And as
consumers use those mobile apps and Web sites, companies need analysts
to
organize and interpret data collected from them, which is where
business
intelligence analysts come into play.
“Not only
are (chief information officers) and executives using applications to
get a hold
of devices, those companies need to know how to pull this data to get
to the
CIO,” Neil said. “Everything comes together in that way.”
The
position typically requires a strong background in database technology
with an
emphasis on the use of analytical and reporting tools. Employers
locally pay
business intelligence analysts from $77,000 to $108,000 starting out.
To keep
consumer and proprietary information protected, companies in the region
have
also created positions in data security analysis. These employees stand
to make
an annual $77,900 to $106,300 initially.
Tech Market
Future
Though some
positions (app developer, for example) sound as fleetingly vogue as the
technology that bore them, they have tremendous staying power, experts
said.
Also, most IT workers have the ability to adapt their skills to
whatever comes
next.
The
technology world is a good place to be for workers because demand
continues to
grow, said Jason Eckert, University of Dayton
career service director.
“I think
the IT employment sector is one of the strongest areas in the Dayton
economy,
and if I could grow and graduate 10 times the number of graduates in
IT, I
would be happy to do that,” Eckert said. “From what I see, the number
of both
current and projected jobs exceeds what’s available (in the workforce).”
Despite its
prevalence, however, technology is not a popular career path, he said.
An
emphasis locally on STEM — science, technology, engineering and math —
education would help recruit young students into the profession.
Both Eckert
and Neil said, though high-paying tech jobs are readily available
locally,
recruiting talent for those positions isn’t always easy.
“That’s a
concern of mine — that in order for these really strong IT companies to
stay in
the Dayton area, they have to have enough talent to make it worth their
while,”
Eckert said. “Local schools have a responsibility to cultivate IT-ready
employees.”
But
Dayton’s location helps, Neil said.
“We’re
fortunate to sit in between Cincinnati and Columbus,” she said. “Both
markets
are only about 45 minutes away.”
Still, IT
students flood the career services department looking for help.
“Are we seeing a lot of students come in
for career advising? Yes, but the reasons are different,” Eckert said.
“They’re
asking for help managing the job offers they’re receiving.”
Read this and other articles at the Dayton
Business Journal
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