[singlepic id=861 w=320 h=240 float=right]Job seekers in the IT sector should have certifications as proof of knowledge of current operating systems and applications. CED Solutions provides the opportunity to many thousands of students annually to obtain training including Microsoft Certifications, Cisco Certifications, and many other computer training classes.

Silicon Valley companies are swooping in and scooping up potential employees in a frenzy of hiring not seen since the Internet bubble of a decade ago.

The tech industry is beginning to resemble an economic Nirvana as established companies and start-ups alike hire aggressively and court prospective recruits. The competition is so fierce, many employers are dangling goodies such as iPads, nifty cubicles, shuttle service and meals to harvest top talent in engineering, social media, website and product design, data crunching and analysis, and management.

A surge in tech hires in California could portend an upturn for the larger U.S. economy, says Jesse Harriott, chief knowledge officer at online job site Monster.com  .

Nationally, 148,000 tech jobs are expected to be added by the end of 2011, says Sophia Koropeckyj, an economist at Moody’s Analytics. Between the second quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2010, during the economic swoon, 308,000 tech jobs were lost.

“It is an incredibly competitive marketplace for (tech) talent,” says Square Chief Operating Officer Keith Rabois, drawing a comparison to the dot-com mania of the early 2000s.

Since he joined the mobile-payment service eight months ago, the company has grown to 80 employees from 25. By the end of this year, it should have a staff of 150. Square is snapping up engineers and designers who it believes are candidates to eventually start their own companies, says Rabois, an early employee at PayPal, LinkedIn and Slide.

Fueled by the tech sector, California alone added nearly 100,000 jobs in February, tech jobs here in the city are closing in on the record 34,116 of 2000, the zenith of the Internet bubble. San Francisco had 32,180 tech jobs last year, says an analysis by real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle. In 2004, there were 18,210 tech jobs. The percentage of tech workers here was 17% in 2010, vs. 14% in 2000, according to the analysis.

Nationally, tech job listings soared about 30% in March and in February, from the same period a year ago, according to Craigslist. It did not provide specific numbers.

For non-tech companies, things aren’t as bullish. Many are sitting on cash instead of hiring. rrreducing the jobless rate there to 12.2% from 12.4% in January, according to a California Economic Development Department report last week. By Jon Swartz USA TODAY http://ee.usatoday.com/Subscribers/