IT Job Demand Rises Slightly in October

Not surprisingly, the overall labor market is still quite weak. But the technology job category is apparently a bit of an exception, according to recent data from The Conference Board.

The total number of jobs in all industries and categories posted online across the U.S. dipped in October (83,200 fewer than in September), but there was actually a slight increase in the Computer and Mathematical Science category, with 7,200 more jobs posted online than in the month before. Many of these were actually computer systems engineering positions, which are supposed to be some of the hottest IT gigs of 2010 as far as starting salaries go.

And, if you look closely at the data, you'll see that overall, the tech sector is supposed to be faring better than some other categories that saw a bigger jump in job postings.

For example, while sales and related occupations saw a pretty big upsurge in online employment ads in October compared to September, you still have an average of four unemployed sales people competing for each job posting in this category.

IT is different: There are just over 236,000 unemployed tech workers in the U.S., but more than 409,000 vacancies posted online, making the job market much less competitive – in theory, of course.

But what's it like in practice for those of you who are currently looking for a job? Are you actually seeing that many opportunities, and are they good matches for your skill sets? I'd love to hear more about your job search challenges and the types of roadblocks you're coming across...

In the meantime, check out this list of sites where you can find IT jobs (you might see some you haven't heard of before):

• ComputerJobs.com
• Net-Temps
• Hirenet
• Monster
• DICE
• LinkedIn