The Dice Blog is Moving

We’ve implemented a new platform for Dice News, allowing us to provide our blog, career news, advice, free sample resumes and more in one place. So, from now on access the Dice News blog here.

(And don’t forget to update your RSS feeds.)

Wednesday’s News: IT Security Certification Demand Grows

Orlando Pays to Lure Calif. Tech Jobs to City [OrlandoSentinel.com]

Build a Better Online Persona: Four Steps [CIO.com]

State Pledges $5M for 194 Toshiba Jobs [Triange Business Journal]

More Companies Requiring IT Security Certification [InformationWeek]

TrendMicro Acquiring Third Brigade in IT Security Deal [NetworkWorld]

Conductor Raises $10 Million for SEO Management and Optimization Technology [TechCrunch]

Facebook Opens Up Its Stream API to Developers [TechCrunch]

Oracle’s Pursuit of Sun Gives Rise to Job Anxiety [denverpost.com]

People

Meet the Obama Technology Team [Tech Policy & Law News]

LaidOffCamp Comes to New York

If you’re in New York, out of work and looking – or freelancing, looking for new ideas, new contacts and maybe the opportunity to get away from your desk for a while – check out LaidOffCamp NY, happening this Friday evening and Saturday. It’s free, but you have to register. (Full disclosure: Dice is a sponsor.) You can find details of where and when here, and notes on what to expect here. (LaidOffCamp is based on San Francisco’s BarCamp, so don’t be confused if you jump around a bit between Web sites.) The New York Post’s feature, which provides a good overview, is here.

Says the event’s Wiki:

Panels, workshops, demonstrations, and discussions topics include: The art of interviewing, legal and accounting needs of new businesses, alternative working spaces, budgeting for the downturn, building your personal brand, affordable health insurance, implications of accepting a shorter work week,  unemployment insurance, and becominga freelancer.

Last Week’s Poll

Networks are hot. Are you thinking of getting into them?

• Yes, it’s where I’m starting my career – 27 percent
• Yes, I’m transitioning into the field – 26 percent
• No, I’m happy in my specialty – 39 percent
• No Answer – 8 percent

Take this week’s poll on the Dice front page

Monday’s News: Blogging with Care

How to Blog About A Co-Worker (or Someone Else Close to You) [Penelope Trunk]

HP Plans $100M Colorado Data Center [Data Center Knowledge]

How Retailer Steve & Barry’s Failure Rippled Through IT Careers [InformationWeek]

Looking to Hire an Engineer? 3 Reasons to Forgo the Phone Screening [GigaOm]

Apple Cuts 1,600 Full-Time Employees As Retail Store Growth Slows [ChannelWeb]

People

Confirmed: Former AOL Exec Mike Jones To Take COO Role At MySpace [TechCrunch]

The great Google exodus continues: Priti Choksi goes to Facebook [VentureBeat]

Bill Gossman is social network Hi5’s new chief executive [VentureBeat]

Emtec Hires New Director of Pursuit Management for Systems Division [Emtec - PDF]

Steve Covate Appointed as Aura’s VP of Sales [Aura via BW]

Skype, Coming to an Office Near You

Do you use Skype – the free (or at least inexpensive) VoIP Web-based phone system? If you do, you’re certainly not alone. More than 400 million Skype accounts have been created, and as many as 17 million people are online with it at any given moment. People sure do have a lot to talk about.

Of course, Skype’s main attraction is it’s dirt cheap. That begs the question: Why doesn’t your company start using it? CIO Insight’s David F. Carr has taken a look at Skype implementations in corporate settings, and it’s worth reading before the CIO or CEO in your firm sends you a note asking about the possibility of installing cheap VoIP.

Although Skype and corporate VOIP systems share the goal of avoiding phone company toll charges by routing voice and video calls over Internet-based data networks, they don’t automatically work together. Corporate IP PBX phone systems typically employ a standard called the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to set up calls, whereas Skype uses a proprietary protocol. Now the two worlds will be linked with a new product, Skype For SIP for Business Users, which is entering beta testing.

This means users at their desks can call out via Skype for 2 cents/minute to any phone in the world, and calls will be free to other participating Skype users. Think of the savings.

What Would You Do to Save Your Job?

Would you rather take a severance package and go on unemployment, or take a pay cut to save your job? How about a furlough or unpaid vacation? A recent survey sponsored by consultancy firm Work+Life Fit found 94 percent of adults employed full-time would prefer a pay cut or reduction in hours rather than lose their positions entirely.

Some specifics, as reported in CIO:

• 78 percent would adjust to a compressed work week.
• 59 percent would accept additional unpaid vacation or up to two weeks of unpaid leave.
• 48 percent would share their job with a co-worker.
• 47 percent would work fewer hours for less pay.
• 41 percent would change their employment status from a full-time to contractor.
• 41 percent are willing to work the same amount of hours while taking a pay cut.
• 31 percent would take an unpaid sabbatical of one month or longer.
• Only 5 percent would prefer a layoff over the above.

Did I hear someone say American workers aren’t flexible?

The News: Even the Boss Gets a Pay Cut

Entrepreneurs Cut Own Pay to Stay Alive [WSJ]

If Microsoft profit is still in the billions, why cut jobs? [Seattle P-I]

What San Francisco/Silicon Valley can learn from the Twittering company: Zappos
[Scobleizer]

Yes, We’re Talking Mainframes [InformationWeek]

Writing Winning IT Plans in a Recession [CIO Update]

Geek Pool Party at Citrusbyte [lalawag]

Because it’s Friday and we all need inspiration.

The Technology Generation Gap at Work is Oh So Wide [ReadWriteWeb]

People

3PAR Appoints VP of Engineering [ReadWriteWeb]

Does a Long Layoff Make You Damaged Goods?

People who are laid off have reason to fear that with each passing day, the widening gap in their employment history makes them less attractive to potential new employers. No one likes to have a hole in his or her resume. If that hole starts to grow uncomfortably big, are you doomed?

Not really, says Fortune’s career advisor Anne Fisher,  who checked in with several recruiters to get their opinions. As it turns out, when unemployment rises, employers cut potential new hires a break.

“In this market, six months is nothing,” one recruiter tells Fisher. “This is unprecedented. In the dot-com implosion, for example, lots of managers got laid off — but many other industries were still strong, so there was someplace for those people to go.You have to take a long-term view and expect that it may take you a full year to land the job you want.”

Fisher has found some polls to bolster her perception. One says that executives can now be unemployed nine months before it even begins to hurt their marketability. Another says that 10.1 months is how long most senior managers have to job hunt these days. Recruiters tell her is also always a mistake to jump into the wrong job simply out of desperation. That will lead to short stays in jobs, and that will make your resume look even worse.

The special advice for IT employees, of course, is not to fall behind on trends and technologies. It’s especially important in this field to stay up to date in your field, so even if you’re sitting home all day, keep reading those trade journals, industry blogs, and white papers.

Google Profiles as a Job-Hunting Tool

Google’s new profile service could be an important tool for job seekers. Recently unveiled by the Web giant though they’re still being “worked on,” the profiles allow you to present yourself, in your own words and reflecting your own priorities, in Google’s search results.The good news: Your profile shows up on the first page of results. The less good: It shows up at the very bottom of the page.

Placement aside, you should care about this. At a minimum, you can show off your academic and professional credentials by treating the profile like an online resume. Though it’s not really set up to be formatted like a resume, it’s a tool to reinforce the image you’ve tried to present through cover letters, resumes and interviews.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t look up people online nowadays. At the very least, you have to plan for prospective managers to find your profiles on LinkedIn or Facebook, as well as in old news items you may be in, or references to you in the profiles of friends or colleagues. If you’re really smart, you’re tailoring your online presence to be a part of your professional persona, using social networks and a personal Web page to hammer home your message of talent and professionalism.

Also, you can’t ignore the fact Google’s profiles are part of… Google. As they gain traction – and given Google’s sheer presence, I think they will – managers, HR folks and recruiters are sure to scroll down to find the profile for each candidate they vet.