IPv6 transition driving demand for networking jobs
The looming transition to IPv6 is making busy work for IT recruiters.
Businesses and government agencies are racing to upgrade networks and Web sites for the transition to the new Internet Protocol and scrambling to hire a limited number of network architects and software developers with IPv6 experience, reports InfoWorld and Dice, the IT job board.
A search for IPv6 jobs on Dice returned 155 posts, the same search on Simply Hired returned 1,436 posts, but many are duplicates.
The approaching deadlines and pressures driving IPv6 hires:
- Content providers such as Yahoo and Time Warner, carriers like AT&T and Verizon, and network equipment vendors like Juniper and Cisco are currently expanding their IPv6 offerings.
- U.S. Federal Agencies must adopt IPv6 on their public-facing websites and services by September 2012.
- CIOs in every industry must upgrade their public-facing websites in the next few months or risk being unavailable to new devices that ship with IPv6 addresses.
- World IPv6 Day, a 24-hour test of sites and networking equipment, is June 16.
From InfoWorld:
Lisa Donnan, executive vice president of cybersecurity solutions at Command Information, says demand for the firm's IPv6 training classes is up 100 percent over last year among both commercial and public sector organizations.
"CTOs, CIOs and CISOs are now having to deal with, Do they have the right talent in their organizations to address IPv6?" Donnan says. "The short answer is they don't. It is complicated and, unlike Y2K, not a calendar event."
InfoWorld spoke to some of the IT pros with IPv6 experience on their resume who said they receive frequent calls from recruiters and "network engineers with IPv6 skills are now boasting about them on their resumes."
For those who don't yet have IPv6 stamped on their resume, Dice offered this advice:
Although there's no certification for IPv6, IT professionals can learn the new structure through books and online resources or by practicing their skills in a virtual environment. There's already a dedicated website that offers presentations, videos and a community forum where IT professionals can share information. If you have funding, Cisco offers a five-day class that covers design considerations, security, configuration principles and configuring IOS devices for IPv6.
To establish yourself as a knowledge expert and thought leader, start a local working group, lead a discussion forum or blog about your transition experiences. If you volunteer to teach your co-workers, it will force you to learn the new protocol and your company may pay for your training.
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