What's going on in Houston? "The variety of industries available here makes it an incredible market for IT professionals," says Rachelle Davis, branch manager of Sapphire Technologies for the Houston region." Virtually every company in Houston has to utilize IT professionals in some capacity, so there are good career opportunities and an excellent range of companies from which to choose."

Unsure of where to look? Try energy, health care and software development. Houston had nearly 43,000 workers in IT occupations, about 2 percent of the total workforce, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The software development sector alone employs around 24,000 workers. According to the Greater Houston Partnership, employment in computer systems design has grown more than four times as fast as total employment in the business and professional sector.

When it comes to energy, more than 80 offshore operators have Houston offices. More than half of those are headquarters. In fact, Rignet, a firm specializing in offshore rig communications, is the city's fastest-growing company, according to Inc. magazine. Energy operators such as Energy Workspace and Transenergy are located in Houston, and many other familiar names have a local presence, including HP, IBM Global Systems, BMC Software and ADP.

Health care is led by the Texas Medical Center, the Baylor College of Medicine Technologies, and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Office of Technology Development. To get even more ideas, visit the Houston Technology Center, which maintains a list of more than 150 tech companies that it has helped since 1999.

The fourth-quarter IT Hiring Index by staffing consultancy Robert Half Technology found that 13 percent of Houston CIOs planned to make new hires during the quarter. At the same time, the quarterly Manpower Employment Outlook Survey reported that from October to December, 29 percent of the companies interviewed planned to hire more employees, said spokesperson Claudette Hilliard.

Though Houston had a strong second quarter on Dice, job listings there took a 4 percent tumble during the third quarter. Today, more than 1,600 jobs are posted for the city. It's currently a tighter market than Dallas and Austin, two other Texas cities that Dice analyzes in its local market reports.

Do you have the skills Houston needs? "The most consistent demand in Houston continues to be for skilled Microsoft .NET developers who have a thorough knowledge of the software development life cycle and have proven success working in team environments," says Sapphire's Davis. "Demand is also very strong for skilled database and data warehousing professionals, systems administrators with knowledge of storage and virtual server systems, and well-rounded project managers with a solid IT background."

Of course, anything can happen. "Companies complain about not finding enough qualified staff, yet many are the first to terminate and outsource that very staff during downturn quarters," says local IT expert Andy Ross. "I would suggest any professional moving to the Houston area make it a priority to build their professional networking skills to discover work opportunities, and not assume their present work role will be a permanent deal."

Beyond Houston, Texas remains a dynamic technology environment. According to the 2007 AeA Cyberstates report, venture capital in Texas was up 28 percent in 2006, to $304 million. The state remains the second largest cyberstate by tech employment, with a payrol of $33.6 billion. There are 22,500 high-tech establishments in the state. Of the 50 states, Texas is second in engineering services with 81,400 jobs, second in computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing employment with 21,700 jobs, and second in semiconductor manufacturing employment with 35,100 jobs.