The Top Skills to Watch

Computerworld - You want to spark up your career - but with the ever-changing information technology field, it's hard to focus on an area that will still be in demand by the time you've finished the training course.
So we went to the front lines of the IT hiring field and asked several recruiters what they see as the hottest skills in the months - and possibly years - ahead. Here's what they said.
Gimme web anything
Carl Kutsmode
President
Tiburon Group Inc.
Chicago
What is "the" skill? We (need) people with Java, JavaScript programming, JavaBeans, XML programming, Active Server Pages knowledge - anything Web-development-related. Still hot is business process re-engineering. With all the companies moving to e-business platforms, we need people who can step back and look at what works from the process perspective and make the Web transaction move throughout the business.
What is the demand for it? Ten times what's out there. People are naming their own salaries.
Which companies have the highest demand? Most traditional industries are figuring out how to make their Web sites profitable, so established companies are moving their business models to the Web. Some are operating them as part of the larger company, and others are spinning them off as pre-IPO companies and are (using) stock options to compete with the start-ups.
What salary can candidates expect? It's from $85,000 on the low end, if you've got a year of experience, to $150,000 on the high end, for two or more years.
What type of person gets hired? We look for someone with an overall background - maybe five years or more - in client/server who has moved to the Web. If a year of experience was e-business-oriented, then they can capitalize on that and take top dollar. If they have presentation skills and better people skills, they'll get a position quicker.
Java still steaming
Larry Johnson
Technical recruiter Baldwin Forrester & Co.
San Francisco
What is "the" skill? The hottest thing out there now is Java applications, because so many businesses are setting up business-to-business applications and there are all kinds of e-commerce companies that want to have the latest and greatest for their sites. If somebody has a background in Visual Basic or C++, Java is the thing to learn.
What types of companies have the highest demand? For Java, it's mostly e-commerce companies and companies developing portals and business-to-business applications. For Netscape's Enterprise Server, it's mostly start-ups that want smaller, more streamlined equipment to set up their operations.
What salary can