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Considering a job in IT? We've covered some of the reasons that perhaps you shouldn't and what could be done about them. But there are plenty of good reasons to consider a career in IT. For example: good pay, better than average job prospects and the chance to work with cutting edge technology. However, there are a few things you should know before you get into the industry. ZDNet's Jason Hiner has compiled a list of 10 dirty little secrets you should know about working in IT.

We frequently write about enterprise mobility and how it's enabling remote work. But we don't spend much time on the implications of mobile technology on the personal lives of workers. Reading Ben Kepes' recent essay on the subject, I had a thought: should enterprise software start tracking workers time and locking them out if they work too much?

A lot has changed for Rypple, a startup focused on helping employees get feedback, since we first covered it in June of last year. The service has rolled out several new features and closed another round of funding. We caught up with Rypple to find out what's changed, and talked with Rypple customer Rackspace to find out how service works in practice.

According to the IT Employee Confidence Index, a survey conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by IT staffing company Technisource, IT workers are more confident in the economy than they have been in the past three years, and 37% are planning to look for new jobs in the next 12 months.

For a lot of us, the Internet has made it possible to work from anywhere and connect to work at any time. Without a doubt, this 24/7 connectivity is both a blessing and a curse. According to a new survey by web conferencing firm InterCall, 30% of workers in the U.S. who use technology to do their jobs feel the need to stay connected to work 24/7, even during weekends, breaks and holidays. One in two workers also say that taking time off is becoming increasingly challenging.

We all know that young folks use the social Web for personal purposes, from keeping tabs on family members to sharing party pics with friends. And yes, as we reported more than a year ago, they even use the social Web - gasp! - while at their places of employment. But they're also using more tech for work-related tasks, including interacting with customers and vendors and forming or strengthening new and existing partnerships.

According to a 5,595-person, 13-country survey from tech consultancy Accenture, since this generation has grown up with daily doses of technology in one form or another, "They don't see bright lines between work
and personal, virtual and physical, sanctioned and prohibited. It's not, 'Would you approve this, boss?' but, 'Whatever gets the job done.'"

Distributed teams. Virtual work. Placeless offices. Whatever you want to call them, groups who work from geographically separate locations are more common than ever.

Despite how widespread this mode of coordinating work has become, there are those still wondering just what tools are absolutely crucial to making a distributed team work. Here's a list of the four types of applications you'll need, and some examples of the popular places to get them.

A June survey released by Facetime, makers of a gateway appliance for managing Web 2.0 applications, revealed the growing popularity of social networking applications in the workplace. Out of 1199 survey respondents, all IT professionals, there were more who felt that social networks played an important role in the business world than those who didn't. What's more, it appears that the IT folks are now seemingly okay with providing access to these networks behind the firewall - even for those who don't approve of their use!