Stories by: Amy Schurr

What type of career opportunity would it take for you to contemplate making a big change? According to the results of a recent survey from Korn/Ferry International, taking an overseas assignment was the most popular option respondents would consider.

Projects such as Philadelphia's citywide wireless LAN kept legislators, lawyers and lobbyists busy at the end of last year, but are also fueling demand for City CIOs in the US. That job title has found itself a spot on executive search firm Christian & Timbers' list of Hot Jobs for 2005.

Job-seeking IT professionals' greatest asset can also serve as their greatest liability, says one career expert.

Premium pay for networking skills is on the rise as executives turn their thoughts to retention, Foote Partners reports. A recent study from the IT workforce research firm finds that an increase in hiring, retention concerns, disappointment with offshore outsourcing and high demand for IT consultants are all driving up skills pay for specific specialties.

IT staffing salaries will increase by as much as 10% to 15% over the next three years, according to a new forecast from Meta Group. These higher wages will devour an even bigger portion of the overall IT budget, with labor costs accounting for more than 55% of an organization's IT spending by 2007.

Telecom departments are increasingly being cast aside as IT departments play a greater role in crafting convergence strategies and making purchases, according to a US study from the Computing Technology Industry Association.

Information security is everyone's business, but that message doesn't always filter up to the highest level of the organisation. New research from Ernst & Young finds that companies should be doing more to safeguard their data.

Job hopping for bigger pay or a better IT job title was a common practice in the boom economy, but executive recruiters are now looking for C-level executives who are committed to the growth of an organization. That's according to the results of a US survey from NETSHARE, a subscription-based executive job site for senior executives earning US$100,000 or more.

When you need to hire an IT worker, nothing but the best will do. If you haven't had to use your recruitment or hiring skills in a long time, a refresher may be in order. I recently spoke with Steve Hall of the recruitment firm Find Great People International for some advice on choosing top IT talent.

Nobody expects you to be able to hire everyone you interview for an IT position, but applicants expect companies to do a better job interacting with them. CareerJournal.com notes that job searching can be frustrating and demeaning because employers generally do a poor job filling positions, which is also a common complaint I've heard from Network World readers.

While I hope you enjoy working with most of your colleagues, at some point in your career you've likely encountered a difficult co-worker -- a slacker, drone, manipulator or tyrannical boss. What they all have in common is they divert your attention from the tasks at hand.