Similar motivations may explain the appeal of foreign labor. If an employee's presence in the United States depends on keeping his bosses happy, that gives management an edge that it does not have over other workers. Hot fields promise lots of openings, which is why career guidance writers love them. But this is a poor way to make career decisions. People are much better off choosing to do what they enjoy and what they're good at, preferably both.
Hot fields have other pitfalls for the unwary.
Another neglected characteristic of IT job markets is that because they are very large and present to at least some degree in virtually all employment sectors, they are also quite diverse. The frantic pace of Internet startups or prestigious software houses such as Microsoft and Oracle has a tendency to capture public attention and to define what the entire IT marketplace looks like, but this is illusory. Many large employers of IT talent represent more mature market sectors such as consulting, banking, manufacturing, government, and insurance. These types of employers are willing to look at a wide range of job candidates and may pay more attention to building long-term careers for their employees. A larger point is that the IT job market cannot be accurately described by any single set of characteristics.