如果你现在是或即将进入IT行业，那我相信这篇《 Hot Skills, Cold Skills》绝对值得你一读。作者根据多个研究机构的调查，得出结论，进入2010年，那些只会单一语言编程或测试，以及文档支持工作的职业者将会面临竞争力下降的危险，而那些具有多种跨IT技能的复合型人材( versatilist)会变得非常抢手。原因无他，”Several culprits include changes in consumer behavior, an increase in corporate mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing, the proliferation of mobile devices and growth in stored data.” 虽然此文很明显是基于对美国IT劳动力的预测与分析(文中提到”The nuts-and-bolts programming and easy-to-document support jobs will have all gone to third-party providers in the U.S. or abroad”)，但对于中国的IT从业者来说同样具有相当价值的参考及借鉴。根据IT领域的不同，作者对热门及冷门的职业进行了如下划分：
商业领域
热门：
* Enterprise architecture [企业架构师]
* Project leadership [项目领导]
* Business process re-engineering [商业流程重组]
* Project planning, budgeting and scheduling [项目计划与预算]
* Third-party provider managers [第三方提供商经理]

科技基础设施与服务
热门: * Systems analysis [系统分析]
* Systems design [系统设计]
* Network design [网络设计]
* Systems auditing [系统审计]
冷门：
* Programming [程序开发]
* Routine coding [特定代码编写]
* Systems testing [系统测试]
* Support and help desk [支持与帮助台]
* Operations—server hosting, telecommunications, operating systems [操作员]

安全
热门： * IT security planning and management [IT安全计划与管理]
冷门： * Continuity and recovery

存储
热门：* Storage administrator [存储管理员]

应用开发
热门：* Customer-facing application development [面向客户应用开发]
冷门：* Legacy skills

Internet
热门：
* Customer-facing Web application systems [面向客户网页应用系统]
* Artificial intelligence [人工智能]
* Data mining [数据挖掘]
* Data warehousing [数据仓库]

Business Intelligence
热门：
* Business intelligence [商业智能]
* Data warehousing [数据仓库]
* Data mining [数据挖掘]

对自己职业发展感到迷茫，或是希望在IT方面有一番作为的朋友，建议仔细阅读这篇文章，结合自己的性格与兴趣，为自己制定一个清晰的发展计划。千万不要再说做IT没前途了