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What makes a job hot?

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By BOB WEINSTEIN

Published: November 18, 2007

A job is "hot" because some authoritative source said so. "Authoritative" is the important word here. Therein lies the problem.

When the economy is good, the "hot" and "best" lists never stop coming. Under the umbrella "hot" and "best" categories, count on lists in every industry — best IT jobs, best restaurant jobs, best financial-services jobs.

Another popular category is the best-paying-jobs list. They are our favorites, which is why they get big play in print and on television and Web sites. We get a vicarious thrill from stories about big earners. Look at the frequent sound-bites spotlight about what superstar actors earn when they make big-budget movies.

IT managers' top salaries pale in comparison with what Hollywood's icons are banking, yet they're nevertheless of great interest to people in the field.

The fact that only a tiny percentage of the working masses earn annual salaries exceeding $100,000, and that the lists serve little purpose other than to make for entertaining reading, doesn't seem to bother anyone.

Recently, staffing firm Robert Half Technology, IT research firm Foote Partners and Web site Salary.com released the eight hottest IT management jobs today and for 2008. Hot IT management jobs were defined by "how in-demand these positions are today and for 2008 at large and midsize companies."

They include: 1. Director, business technology, $143,934 to $180,280; 2. Vice president/director, business application development, $120,831 to $156,795; 3. Vice president/director, SAP program management, $119,567 to $154,337; 4. Web security manager, $110,483 to $141,777; 5. ERP project manager, $82,149 to $148,622; 6. Manager, IT security, $98,547 to $126,460; 7. Manager, Web systems, $95,775 to $127,836; and 8. Project manager, data warehousing/business intelligence, $94,768 to $121,321.

Did these salary figures make your day? Did this list tell you anything you didn't know?

Most career-builders know what the big-paying jobs in their fields are. If they don't, they're doing something wrong. They also know that geography plays a major part in determining salary levels. A senior project manager or software developer in Los Angeles or New York commands a much higher salary than his counterparts in Mansfield, Ohio, or Boise, Idaho.

Who churns out the "best" and "hot" lists and surveys? The big-name headhunters (Korn/Ferry International); outplacement firms (Drake Beam Morin); staffing firms (Robert Half International); consulting firms (Gartner Research, Forrester Research); and, fairly recently, niche job sites like Dice.com have gotten into the act as well.

I've saved the best for last. There also are big-budget industry surveys produced by trade associations such as The Entertainment Software Association (representing companies that publish video and computer games for video-game consoles and personal computers) or the Information Technology Association of America (a trade group for software, IT services, digital content and systems integration). They spend a fortune publishing impressive industry studies and forecasts.

How credible is information released by an association that is paid by its members to lobby for it and create a favorable public image? You might as well take as gospel a report about the state of the drug industry published by a drug-maker such as
Hoffmann-La Roche or Merck & Co.

What's troubling about this constant barrage of "best" and "hot" lists and "definitive" industry surveys is that we believe them. Maybe it's because we're suckers for numbers, and surveys are full of numbers and percentages. Nobody bothers to look at the size of the survey sample or read the fine print explaining the criteria for choosing the sample or how the numbers were calculated.

Many studies or surveys are based upon tiny survey samples that hardly represent a national picture. But don't think that these lists and surveys don't cast an unrealistic image of an industry or field for high-school and college students or anyone considering its career possibilities.

Instead of churning out annoying "best" or "top" jobs or companies lists, why not "best" low-paying jobs with career potential?

Isn't it time we got off our high horses and present a realistic picture of a field? Unless I'm hopelessly out of touch, don't most people start off at the bottom and work their way up the career ladder?

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