JOBS IN HARDWARE -5

I. Love-Hate

What's Great

A Worldwide Market
With technology reaching most of the way across the world, products are sold and talent is recruited from around the globe. As a result, a job in the software or hardware industry could include travel, either for months or for a day. And even if you don't go, you'll probably meet people who do and might invite you, if you're nice, for a visit.

Diversity
The culture of the hardware industry tends to be more socially liberal than those of more traditional industries. That plus the above-mentioned worldwide market adds up to a workforce that is not only a good mix of male and female but is also composed of a wide variety of nationalities and colors.

Flex, Not Face, Time
The important thing is that the job gets done and done on time. When it gets worked on is not always management's top concern, so most high-tech companies offer options such as flex time, telecommuting, and the like.

What's to Hate

Lost in the Shuffle
For many people, this will be their first serious job out of college or graduate school, and the switch from being a student to being just another worker in a corporation of hundreds of thousands may come as a shock. It's true that there may be more opportunities for both advancement and important work at a larger company, but along with that often comes the loss of a sense of place or perspective.

Taking Out a Contract
One way corporations are cutting their expenses is to move what used to be in-house jobs to contract positions—this means, on the one hand, that it might be easier to get into a desirable company as a contractor, but these positions often lack benefits and any sense of security. Also, the general trend means that companies are looking to get rid of people rather than hire.

Learning to Love CPU Cycles
Although we're going through an exciting time in terms of the way we use computers, the computer hardware industry is (and has always been) a highly quantitative field primarily concerned with an endless array of specifications. If you aren't fascinated with how these machines work, the work can seem rather dry—not just for technical staff, but also for marketing professionals, whose work partly involves translating specs and other technical data into more accessible language.

II. Major Players

Top 20 Computer Hardware Companies, by 2005 Revenue

Rank Company Revenue ($M) 1-Year Change (%) Employees
1 IBM Corp. 91,134 –5.4 319,926
2 Hewlett-Packard Co. 86,696 8.5 150,000
3 Hitachi, Ltd. 84,365 3.6 323,072
4 Sony Corp. 66,912 –7.2 151,400
5 Toshiba Corp. 54,264 2.7 165,000
6 Dell Inc. 49,205 18.7 55,200
7 NEC Corp. 45,298 –3.7 147,800
8 Fujitsu Ltd. 44,284 –1.9 150,970
9 Canon Inc. 31,836 –4.5 109,434
10 Cisco Systems, Inc. 24,801 12.5 38,413
11 Ricoh Co., Ltd. 16,868 0.1 75,097
12

Xerox Corp.
14,826 0.3 58,100
13 Apple Computer Inc. 13,931 68.3 16,820
14 Seiko Epson Corp. 13,759 2.8 85,647
15 Sun Microsystems, Inc. 11,071 –1.0 31,000
16 EMC Corp. 9,664 17.4 26,500
17 Seagate Technology 7,553 21.4 43,000
18 Acer, Inc. 7,036* 52.2* 6,560*
19 NCR Corp. 6,028 0.7 28,200
20 Western Digital Corp. 3,638 19.4 23,161
*2004 numbers.
Sources: Hoover's; WetFeet analysis.
Job descriptions and tips
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Key Jobs

Junior Engineer
This entry-level position is the foot soldier of engineering. You're not so much coming up with ideas as implementing solutions developed by your superiors. Still, this is an important first rung to a more specialized, higher-paying engineering position. This job category can also include software programming, which involves writing the code built into the hardware system. Salary range: $40,000 to $55,000.

Engineer
The middle ground between junior engineer and system architect, this position encompasses about 95 percent of the engineering workforce. Salary range: $55,000 to $85,000.

Systems Engineer
This position typically is filled by an engineer who combines technical expertise and strong people skills. A systems engineer, who must know the technology inside out, assists the sales staff in managing the relationship with the potential buyer. An SE is sometimes paired with an individual salesperson, sometimes with a team of salespeople. Salary range: $75,000 to $105,000.

Technical Support
The technical support staff fields the never-ending barrage of questions from businesses or consumers who recently purchased a product. With computer companies trying to use top-flight customer service to set themselves apart from the pack, tech-support positions are becoming increasingly important. A technical background helps in this position but is not a prerequisite for employment. Patience, and the ability to soothe the confused and frustrated, matter far more. Salary range: $25,000 to $65,000.

Technical Writer
This is an excellent way for those of you with non-tech backgrounds to break into the computer industry. A technical writer is responsible for translating technical concepts into readable prose for user manuals and other types of documentation. Salary range: $35,000 to $85,000.

Marketing Communications Associate
This position is suitable for those with strong writing, communication, and people skills. You'll help with events, public relations tasks, and press conferences and coordinate the publicity materials in various media including online and print. After gaining a few years' experience, you might move on to a sales or marketing associate position. Salary range: $30,000 to $65,000.

Product Manager
As a product manager, you're a key player in coming up with product ideas and working with engineers to make them a reality. This position requires some grasp of technical matters, the ability to build consensus and teamwork, and a knack for spotting-and anticipating-market trends. Most of these jobs require an MBA or comparable experience. Salary range: $80,000 to $130,000.

Financial Analyst
Financial analysis in computer hardware companies can take many forms: numerical analysis for production planning, industrial operations management, or general finance and accounting. In some cases, an analyst evaluates other companies as potential merger or acquisition targets. Depending on how the analyst position is defined, an MBA may be necessary. Salary range: $35,000 to $90,000.

Sales
The demands of this job vary widely depending on whether you sell PCs, large servers, or mainframes, and on which markets you're selling to. In some instances, significant travel is required; in others, comparatively little. You'll always have to learn, quickly and completely, your product's technical specifications, but training and support are usually provided. Salary range: $25,000 to $80,000 or more, depending on commissions.

Getting Hired

Your job search in the computer hardware industry will vary widely depending on the type of technical expertise you have. There are basically two types of job seekers in high tech-technical people and everybody else (or, depending on whom you ask, marketing people and everybody else).

* If you want to be a marketer, you'll have to present yourself as a quick thinker, a good communicator, and someone who has a true affinity for or interest in the technology world. An ability to translate technospeak into English may also be a real plus, depending on the position.

* For technical people, employers want to see tangible related experience (or, for recent grads, a degree or relevant coursework in computer science or electrical engineering), strong analytical skills, and some affinity for the rigid structure of most computer companies.

* Whatever avenue you take into the world of computer hardware, you'll do well to come across as someone who is excited and energized by change. Employers also look for self-starters with the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously. Despite the rigidity of computer hardware companies' management structures, you're not going to get a lot of handholding on the job. You'll need to impress upon your potential employer that you can take a project and run with it.