Talk to your average recruiter, and you're likely to hear that companies are no longer willing to give IT workers the star treatment. That's no surprise, considering the slowing economy and a greater pool of workers available due to layoffs.

But then there's the wireless space. Charles Moore, president of Active Wireless Executive Search Group in South Daytona, Fla., says one company recently paid him a recruitment fee of $140,000 to find a single executive: a chief operating officer for a wireless vendor. Another company spent $750,000 to find just four staff members.

If you've figured out that wireless is hot, you've figured right. And getting exposed to a technology that's fairly new can be a wise career move for IT workers.

Entry-level wireless programmers can earn $45,000 to $55,000 a year, and programmers and architects with a few years of experience can earn as much as $150,000, according to recruiters.

"It's always a good career move to be on the cutting edge," says Dexter Taylor, a New York-based wireless architect and contractor. But Taylor warns that IT workers should also beware that there's a "good amount of hype" in the arena as well.

Taylor, who has been working as a contractor for a year, previously worked as a senior technologist at New York-based consulting firm Razorfish Inc. Taylor says he entered the wireless fray because he "saw pretty clearly that the number of wireless devices is only going to grow."

And wireless projects present more opportunities than just developing applications for cell phones, says Taylor. They could involve developing software for mobile devices used at the point of care in hospitals, for instance.

In many cases, IT professionals with experience in Web development or networking can easily make the leap into wireless, says Evan Crawford, executive director of the center for e-transformation at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Crawford says Children's Hospital sends its staff to obtain wireless certification training to learn new skills.

People who want to work for wireless carriers can come from a variety of backgrounds, says Moore. For example, someone could leverage experience at an e-commerce company, a bank or an Internet service provider to get a job as director of billing and fraud systemms at a wireless carrier.

"You can transplant someone like that into a wireless environment. The concepts are still the same," he says.

But firms that sell wireless infrastructure are looking for individuals who have worked specifically on wireless projects or at a telecommunications firm, says Moore. Wireless infrastructure providers deliver the radio base stations and software that allow the devices to talk to one another.

Acquiring the Talent

Because the wireless market is so new and constantly changing, many end-user companies have chosen to outsource wireless application development. Clearly, some leading companies, such as Memphis-based FedEx Corp., develop applications in-house. But most end users keep a few database administrators and programmers to "manipulate software" rather than actually develop it, says Moore.

Organizations such as Winston-Salem, N.C.-based bank Wachovia Corp., the Washington Redskins football team and Toledo, Ohio-based Owens Corning have chosen to outsource wireless development rather than develop it in-house.

Alan Griver, chief technology officer at wireless Internet provider GoAmerica Communications Corp. in Hackensack, N.J., says it's hard to "find really talented developers with a thirst to learn something new."

His recruiting strategies include attending industry trade shows and writing magazine articles. Often, high-caliber applicants respond to his writings and engage Griver in conversations about the wireless industry. He taps those individuals for interviews.

"A thirst for knowledge is key, since the wireless industry is changing every four months," Griver says.

He also allows his team of about 50 developers the option of telecommuting. GoAmerica developers live inNew Jersey, where the company is based, as well as California, West Virginia, Texas and Washington but visit the main office once every four to six weeks. "It's important that you have strong project management and source-code control," Griver says.

Moore says telecommuting in the wireless industry is growing at a pace of 80% or more per year. For example, a company with five telecommuters last year may have nine or 10 work-at-home wireless programmers or architects this year.

Allowing that kind of flexibility may be the best way to attract top talent, he says. For example, one of Moore's clients in Little Rock, Ark., recently hired an IT professional who lives in Boston.

"If you're from Boston, can you see yourself relocating to Little Rock? That would be pretty difficult," Moore says.

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