As you settle into the New Year, thoughts often turn to your career as you take stock of where you are and where you want to be. In recent weeks, Network World has published a whole raft of careers-related articles that (hopefully) will help clarify some of your thoughts, the nut being that adding business-savviness to your repertoire will take you a longer way than just relying on your technical know-how. Here are three articles that could provide the wisdom you're looking for.

* 12 IT skills that employers can't say no to 
In this article, writer Mary Brandel outlines what eight experts - including recruiters, curriculum developers, computer science professors and other industry observers - say are the hottest skills of the near future. Among the skills on the list include:

- Machine learning: The ability to design and develop algorithms and techniques to improve computers' performance.
- Mobilizing applications: We've been hearing about this need for years, but apparently now is the time when companies are crying out for people who can extend business applications, such as ERP, procurement and expense approval to mobile devices.
- Open source programming: Apparently open source is coming back in a big way (we didn't know it had left) and people skilled in Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP will be in high demand.

You can view the entire list here. What's more interesting are the reader comments to the article, which reveal the true frustrations and beliefs of IT pros in the field. One CIO laments the inability of some tech pros to possess "basic communication skills," while another reader working for a large financial firm comments: "... an MBA to go with your CS degree is going to help as it is not a matter of sitting in the closet anymore writing code but conducting meetings and working on true business problems." Read the comments in full and join in on the discussions here.

* Take home more tech pay in 2008
Writer Jason Snyder suggests honing your project management skills will help to prevent your job from being outsourced in 2008. He suggests that purely technical positions are vulnerable and that IT execs should combine their technical know-how with business expertise. Consistency is another watchword - as in being consistent as an overachiever than excelling in fits and starts. Also, volunteering for projects no one else will touch will also get you noticed - in a good way.

Jon Brodkin is senior writer at Network World.