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Help Wanted: IT Pros Looking For New-Job Advice

There was a front page story in The Wall Street Journal the other day about how Japan, because of its rapidly aging population, is facing an impending severe shortage of workers. According to the report, 20% of Japan's population will be at least 65 years old by 2006. The United States won't hit that milestone till 2036.

But from what I've been hearing this week from IT professionals responding to our Midcareer Crisis story, you'd think that the United States already has a 20% population of "over the hill" workers. That's because many IT pros much younger than 65 report that the job struggles they've encountered over the last few years make them feel as though they've already been permanently put out to pasture by prospective employers.

In some cases, IT veterans have expertise in a niche technology or possess other rare abilities that would surely be very valuable to some employer--but often the problem seems rooted in difficulties connecting the two parties together.

For instance, one seasoned IT pro--who speaks fluent English and Chinese--says he hasn't had any luck finding an IT job that could take advantage of his bilingual ability. Surely, there must be an outsourcing or other global company that would love to hire someone like him. But what's the best way for an IT pro like that to get noticed by the right company?

Another frustrated IT pro says he'd love to start a new company that hires only IT pros over the age of 40. But that's illegal, right?

There must be dozens of innovative, but perhaps untapped, ways that IT pros could potentially help each other in connecting with new job opportunities.

Have you heard about a company that's hiring bilingual IT experts? Maybe you're not a veteran programmer who happens to speak fluent English and Chinese--but perhaps you've heard about a company that could use that sort of talent.

Besides learning Japanese and moving to Japan, got any new ideas to help fellow IT pros looking for work? If so, I'd like to hear from you. So would they.

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