What are the most desirable technical skills? (longish)

[Richard Feldman]

Sent to multiple lists.  Apologies for any duplication.

I am a currently underemployed librarian / information professional trying
to map out a strategy for the next phase of my career.  I identify as a
"techie"; I ran my library school's microcomputer lab while getting my
Master's, and most of my professional work has had a strong technical
component.  I enjoy troubleshooting and solving problems; I also enjoy
writing documentation for and teaching professionals.

Almost five years ago I relocated for personal reasons from Boston, a place
with a lot of jobs for information professionals, to northern New Mexico, a
place with many fewer and less varied such jobs.  Responding to
circumstances, I strayed off my career track to spend almost three years as
a technical writer, then a couple as a freelancer spending part of my time
managing the library of a local foundation and part doing web site
promotion.  I've maintained membership in at least one information
professional society for most of this period and have tried to keep up
professionally by attending local meetings and subscribing to various
e-mail lists.

I am moving toward giving higher priority to getting my career back on one
of my preferred tracks.  Relocating seems likely to be a necessary
condition for this; I am trying to determine what may be others. 

I am used to picking up hardware and software skills that my varied jobs
have required on the fly.  I find software much more fun than hardware, but
I've dealt with hardware when it's been part of my job or when it needed to
be done.

I've contemplated adding to my software or hardware skill set, but have
been reluctant to enroll in, say, a C++ or XML or advanced web design class
without it being clear what I would be doing with my learning once I had
finished (I have found my experience with organized education to be much
more positive when it has been toward larger goals than surviving the class
/ getting my degree).  One of my underlying beliefs has been that my
self-starting and quickness to learn has made me a desirable candidate for
a variety of technically oriented jobs, including ones where I have no or
relatively little experience with the specific tools to be used.  Although
I've had this belief validated by people I've worked with, I'm coming to
look at it as a difficult sell when applying for a job, particularly when
I've spent five years off the standard information professional career
tracks.  Therefore, I'm seriously considering building up my store of
specific technical competencies.  I recently had the thought that it would
be useful to assemble as much anecdotal information as possible as to which
additional technical competencies are most likely to be helpful in
searching for a techie position, whether in a special, academic, public, or
non-traditional library setting (my professional experience has primarily
been in special libraries).

Searching the Web for relevant material turned up Roy Tennant's pieces at
LJ Digital along with a presentation from an ACRL conference entitled,
"Digital Librarian, Cybrarian, or Librarian with Specialized Skills: Who
Will Staff Digital Libraries?"  I'd like to hear specific technical
competencies that either you have felt helped you to get a job within the
last few years or which you have or would particularly look for in a job
applicant if you were hiring.  I'm open to a variety of positions with a
variety of technical emphases, so I'm trying to get as wide a range of
perspectives as I can.

A related question has to do with how best to communicate when applying for
a job that one has these competencies.  How much do people believe in
showcasing them in a separate section of the resume vs. including them
where possible in the job history section vs. trying to bring them out in
the cover letter?

Thanks for all your ideas!

Richard Feldman
rfeldman at ix.netcom.com