Business News Views & Blues

As I finish up my degree this year - target graduation date, May 2011 - it's hard not to look around and wonder just where I'll find the most opportunity.

It's increasingly clear that there will be a lot of opportunity in health care. That is an industry I am keenly interested in, and I look forward to the class I start next week on the economics of health care. In one of our pre-reading assignments, PriceWaterhouse Coopers predicts that declining overall costs will mask myriad changes: a number of drugs are going generic in the next 3-5 years, employers are switching to higher co-pay plans with co-insurance, and health care firms are investing considerably in IT in order to comply with new government regulations. What was once a relatively staid industry is going to experience some significant structural changes.

The digital economy looks to be continue its dynamism. As Android devices achieve feature parity with Apple's iOS devices, we're going to see an explosion of developers developing for multiple platforms. In my opinion, there will be two levels here: one focusing on the front end user experience - the app on the phone; there is also the back end infrastructure, the piece that the front end ties into, which need not be specific to a device or platform.

We Take the Field

Well, after two years of hard work, I am finally taking the field. Interview season is upon us, and I am applying for jobs within my current company and outside it.

I won't say with whom, but I will say I am drawn more towards executive and consulting functions. I want to analyze problems, develop a solution, and implement. That is what I do now, within the more narrow confines of my technical specialty.

I ought to say that in the past few months, I have built a software distribution method, blocked applications that put the company at risk, and pushed business units to adopt corporate standards. This is on top of business-as-usual work like testing new equipment and serving as an engineering resolution for technicians.

Applying for jobs has been a job in itself: going to workshops, corporate presentations, submitting my resume, setting up informational interviews - it's a lot. There is no doubt i my mind that I have worked harder in the past year than I have since I was in college - where I also worked an almost full-time job.

So wish me luck. I think this will all pay off one way or another. I certainly hope it does.