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The Journal Record

Feb. 25, 2014

17A

Security hot ticket in IT employment, recruiters say

Murphy joins Schnake Turnbo
TULSA Schnake Turnbo Frank has hired Amanda Murphy as account executive. Murphy will work in the firms Tulsa office, but will support clients throughout the region. Murphy was Amanda Murphy community relations director for Camp Fire Green Country. Murphy also worked as a marketing and promotions manager for Walt Disney Co., coordinating promotional events in the Tulsa area. She is a graduate of Oklahoma State University. BY D. RAY TUTTLE
THE JOURNAL RECORD

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EDMOND GS Cos. has announced three new employees and a promotion. Joining the Edmond-based company are Vernon Deas, managing partner; Sabrina Miller, chief sustainability Vernon Deas officer; and Kevin Sloan, director of facilities. Cheryl Dillard was promoted to vice president. GS Cos. is the parent company for GT Clean, Sabrina Miller Encore Professional Medical Services, Isabella Boutique, Homecoming Mens Fashion, Awakening Boutique, Gallery at Kevin Sloan Market Depot, Fit Circle, Ride Four Ever, XChange Merchant Services, GRPFly Clothing, GS Government Services, Contemporary Art Representation Firm, Sourcelab Creative Group and Echelon Salon Suites, Dry Bar and Spa.

TULSA Job demand for core skill sets has remained consistent in the information technology sector for several years, but one area, security, has spiked, said David Izett, director of business operations for TEKsystems in Tulsa. There has been a proliferation of security needs over the past three to four years, Izett said. The area of operation for TEKsystems, which maintains a Tulsa office, covers Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Meanwhile, 63 percent of more than 2,300 chief information officers from 23 major U.S. markets reported that its somewhat or very challenging to find skilled IT professionals, according to a survey by Robert Half Technology. The figure compares to 68 percent in the last half of 2013. It is most challenging to find talent in the areas of networking, security and help desk-technical support, according to the survey. Candidates with specific IT skills are in very high demand, said Dan Dungy, branch manager for Robert Half Technology in Oklahoma City. Most of the candidates I see with very specific skills like VMware, Exchange and Citrix on the infrastructure side are available less than a week between jobs and projects. Its the same for software developers, Dungy said. In the Oklahoma City market, the demand is high for mid- to senior-level software developers, Dungy said. On the security side, were definitely seeing more graduates coming out of technical school with degrees in this area, Dungy said. However, they may have a more difficult time breaking into the security field as many hiring managers prefer candidates who have hands-on experience. For these candidates, we recommend finding a way to gain some real-world experience, either through internships, project work or volunteer work. Unlike the sensational stories about retailers being hacked and millions of credit card account numbers being stolen, Izett said, his clients are seeking security for mobile applications. Mobile business applications are driving much of the demand, Izett said. And generally there is a real strong hunger for relevant just-in-time critical business data. We see more of that kind of thing, as opposed to what we hear in the news. Just-in-time data tracks cash, raw materials, payroll, production capacity, business orders and the status of business commitments, Izett said.

David Izett, director of business operations at TEKsystems, at the companys downtown Tulsa office. PHOTO BY RIP STELL Businesses need to make decisions a lot more quickly today, Izett said. ERP, or enterprise resource planning, has grown; it handles this just-intime data in the marketplace as its pulls data from several databases and allows the end user to look, at a more macro level, at the health of the business, Izett said. So, you are seeing a hunger for database people, software developers, business analysts, project managers and especially network security folks. Overall, there is a shortage of IT talent in the marketplace, Izett said. Look at some of the skills sets just mentioned, there are 49 percent more jobs than there are people to fill those jobs, Izett said. Izett and TEKsystems said there are 70 percent more jobs for software developers than there are people; there are 60 percent more business analysts jobs available than people to fill them and 70 percent more jobs for superior IT project managers compared to the number of available job candidates. Jim Deatherage, the owner of the local Spherion employment office, agreed. There is a lack of talent, Deatherage said. Generally, the demand goes up for this type of talent there are periods when talent is hard to find. Deatherage said he does not see the job gap in supply and demand figures, but in time. It is more about time, he said. We find the people, but it might take two weeks to find the right person, or a month. Deatherage said the demand for IT security talent picked up in the last six to nine months. Overall, IT unemployment is virtually zero, Izett said. Another challenge for IT professionals today is the need for education, Izett said. There are plenty of people coming out of college with the degree, but people have to constantly improve, Izett said.

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