Is it harder these days to hire skilled lawyers, accountants or tech pros?

To combat a "chronic" skills shortage, CIOs should look to engage more independent, middle-aged contractors who, while wanting to work on their own terms, are good value and don't come with the artificial demands of Gen-Y workers, says a former CIO turned consultant.

IT professionals are more likely to rely on personal and word of mouth-based referrals when searching for a new role rather than turning to social networking sites, according to new research.

Strength-based recruitment, collaboration and diversity are vital for employee success according to a panel of IT leaders and psychology experts.

Jobvite, a maker of recruiting software, released the results of its third-annual social recruiting survey this morning, and the findings underscore the many reasons job seekers need to incorporate online social networking into their job searches.

As CIO and senior vice president of innovation, technology and service operations for Aetna, Meg McCarthy's responsibilities extend beyond IT. Her employer is a leader in the U.S. health insurance and benefits industry, with more than 34,000 employees and $35 billion in revenue. In addition to her tech duties, McCarthy oversees real estate, procurement and service; leads the informatics group; and runs ActiveHealth, an Aetna subsidiary in New York.

Whenever CIOs start talking about how to attract a new generation of young people to IT, the conversation tends to run in predictable circles.

Social networking service LinkedIn is free, but if you choose to upgrade to a paid account, you have access to additional features. What are the four top advantages in updating your account?

Diversity (or lack thereof) in IT has been a hot topic in the news and among our clients in recent months. And it's true: IT departments are notorious for their lack of diversity, and the problem is only getting worse. Over the past few years, the number of women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) in IT has been dropping steadily. CIOs and other IT leaders can follow these simple steps to attract and retain women and URMs into their IT departments.

Ever since the Internet made applying for a job as easy as uploading or e-mailing a resume, hiring managers and HR personnel have had to contend with volumes of applicants for jobs. To help them screen all the resumes, they've turned to recruiting software and applicant tracking systems that filter candidates' resumes based on how well they match the job description. In fact, by 2004, 90 percent of the top 500 U.S. employers were using recruiting software, according to Human Resources Leader.