The demand for IT professionals and their insufficient numbers are forcing companies to act fast and hire as much people as they can and deal with it later.

This is one of the conclusions you may arrive to after reading the study by Richard Curtin and the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor and Brilliant which is a staffing firm. They worked together this summer to find out the current hiring trends in IT, accounting and finance.

We will focus on the IT where there are some interesting tidbits. For example the open positions for IT professionals are down by 4% to 33% of companies for Q4 2015 compared with the previous quarter. But while there are a bit fewer positions available, which is somewhat normal given the time of the year, the hunger for qualified IT specialists remains.

Most companies have “high percentage of unmet needs”, the survey says. This means that even if they find people to hire, they are not enough or lack vital skills. 22% of the companies in the survey want to hire new people ASAP. Companies just need someone to help them out with their current needs and only then they check out to see if the person is right for the company in the long term.

This is not always a good approach, but in the current situation is one of the only ones. 14% of the companies plan to increase the pace of IT hiring which means this field will remain a hot spot for the time being. Most searched are candidates in the area of technical services, software and database administration, network and communications, data security.

Brilliant and Curtin report that most companies find their staff via recruitment firms, referrals and word of mouth. Online job boards, social media and resumes via the company website also are a way to find new talent. Usually problem-solving, communication and expertise are the things missing in candidates, the companies say.

So, it seems like a good time to sharpen your IT skills, and Coursedot might be the way to do it. Then it is time to search for that new dream job, which can be done by simply browsing the specialized boards or contacting the recruitment agencies. They will take a commission, but will also make finding a more suitable job easier. Then it is up to you to turn your new job into a great one or even a career.

Image credit: Flickr (CC) / Daniel X. O’Neil