IT Insights Blog — Jobs

Business in Utah is booming. Unemployment is 3.7 percent and our population, presently at three million, is growing at a rate of 50,000 a year — a whole lot of them relocating here for the favorable business climate and family-oriented lifestyle. There is also our new nickname, Silicon Slopes, and with more than 4,300 technology companies, it’s easy to see why.

Did you know it's an election year? Not just any election year, mind you. Later this year, U.S. voters will head to the polls to decide whether it's time to Make America Great Again, or whether we're better off seeking to become Stronger Together. Of course, there are still some diehards out there hoping that we might have A Future to Believe In instead of getting Stronger Together, but ... the numbers just don't add up, fellas. At any rate, things have gotten to the stage at which it's temporarily most interesting to speculate about who will be the fallback option for each potential presidency.

A ring made of a precious metal like gold does not come out of the ground in its final shape and with its quintessential shine. The metal first has to go through an arduous refining process, and I’m not talking about any magical forging that takes place in the fires of Mount Doom. When precious metals are mined, they are impure. Gold, for instance, is rarely 100 percent gold when it is discovered. In order for it to be declared “pure gold,” it has to first be melted down and infused with chlorine gas, which separates all other metals from the gold.

There are a lot of unflattering depictions of technical support and help desk employment — and employees — both in the realm of pop culture and in the world at large. The picture of surly geeks, both disdainful of and disinterested in your problem, picking up the phone or logging you into the ticket queue is so ingrained that a lot of people staring at a tech snafu would rather try almost anything else than, you know, ask the help desk for some, uh, help.

To what extent your earning power is dictated by where you live and work is an open question in employment circles. Things are no different in the IT realm, where factors like supply and demand, cost of living, and the pace of industry growth can all play a role in determining the lay of the land. There are doubtless high salaries to be had just about anywhere that you choose to look for work, but it may be easier to find those "jackpot" jobs in some states than in others. You can get a certification anywhere, but that certification may be worth more in some states than in others.