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Brittany Ballenstedt

Blogger Reporter Portrait for GovernmentExecutive.com Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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Keys to Successful Telework May Already Be in Feds' Pockets

May 1, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The success of this year’s Telework Week event – in which more than 112,000 feds participated – is a testament to the progress federal agencies are making not only to make the workplace more flexible for employees but also to continue operations in the event of an emergency. So what ...

White House, Industry Team Up To Prep Veterans for IT Careers

April 30, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Several private companies are teaming up with the federal government to help thousands of service members earn certifications in information technology before they transition from military service. The new IT Training and Certification Partnership will enable up to 161,000 service members to gain industry-recognized certifications for 12 high-demand technology professions, ...

Telework Participation Skyrockets, Meets Less Management Resistance

April 30, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Mobile Work Exchange on Tuesday unveiled the impact of more than 136,000 employees worldwide who teleworked one week in March. This year’s Telework Week, which ran March 4-8, drew 136,093 total pledges, a growth of 91 percent over 2012 and nearly 3.5 times the number of pledges in 2011. Mobile ...

Feds Want to Innovate, But Most Lack Leaders'Support

April 29, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Despite budget cuts, hiring freezes and three years of relatively flat pay, most federal workers still remain motivated to innovate and improve the ways they do their work. But similar to past years, most feds lack the appropriate support from both their managers and their organizations, according to a new ...

It's Not How Many Connections You Have, It's Who They Are That Matters

April 26, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow What’s more important to you as an IT professional -- the number of professional contacts you have, or the quality of those contacts? In the age of social networking, particularly on websites like LinkedIn, the quality and quantity of having professional job networks can be key in an individual’s overall ...

New Cloud Security Credential Coming in 2014

April 25, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Two organizations are teaming up to create a professional IT certification that combines information security with cloud computing. (ISC)2 and the Cloud Security Alliance will develop the credential, which will build on existing certifications offered by both organizations, including (ISC)2’s Certified Information Systems Security Professional and CSA’s Certificate of Cloud ...

Health IT Salaries Lag Behind Most IT Fields

April 24, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Health IT professionals are seeing relatively flat salaries this year, and many are slightly behind their counterparts in other IT fields when it comes to compensation, according to a new report. The Information Week 2013 Salary Survey of 1,297 health IT professionals found the median annual base pay for health ...

Women Are Narrowing the Gap in IT Jobs

April 23, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Women in information technology jobs are earning roughly the same salaries as their male counterparts, provided they share equal levels of experience and education and parallel job titles, a recent report found. Now, a new report shows that the number of women it IT jobs is also on the rise. ...

IT Fields Rank Among Top Jobs in 2013

April 23, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow If you work in IT, you’re working in one of the top job fields when it comes to areas like salary, work environment and hiring outlook, according to new rankings released Monday. CareerCast.com, a career website, ranked 200 jobs from best to worst based on five criteria: physical demands, work ...

DHS Creates Cyber Internships for Community College Students, Veterans

April 22, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Homeland Security Department on Thursday announced a new honors program designed to draw students to cybersecurity programs at community colleges. The new Cyber Student Initiative, which is part of the Secretary Honors Program announced last fall, is an attempt to engage community college students, including veterans, in cybersecurity work ...