OK, the first question Brian and I always get asked is nearly always "hows the market", so we are contributing to an editorialat the moment in relation to contracting. This will probably be abridged for the full release, and made more generic, but if you are interested, here is our full comments on the questions asked:
Editorial Questionnaire:
What characteristics/skills/experience/qualifications are vital for a job in IT Contracting?
The ability to learn quickly and communicate in non technical terms with senior colleagues whom may not have the IT acumen to understand the technical jargon. Certification in the relevant area continues to be a fundamental requirement with most major employers, and a proven ability as an IT contractor to work under minimal supervision. Strong reference’s also remain a key factor to securing future contracts.
Do you see any trends in salaries over the past five years?(i.e. up in certain areas, down in others etc)
Contract rates seem to move inline with technical requirements and economic trends. Employers are paying more for resources which are in high demand. The influx of 25,000 migrant workers per month however has sustained a relatively cheaper labour market in comparison with our close European neighbours and continues to be of benefit to employers, the country, IT salaries, and client retention.
What are the major growth areas in IT contracting?
Oracle Financials seems have had a good lift along with most Oracle requirements, DBA, Developers, and database related applications. Relational database technology in general is still in high demand and should continue to be based on current economic growth. All sectors are showing continued steady growth.
What areas in IT contracting are decreasing in popularity?
Increased popularity of new technologies and software packages leads to slow down in areas such as older versions of SQL, Oracle etc.
What areas of IT contracting to you predict will there be a skills shortage in the next 3 years?
Domestic Oracle Financial consultants will continue to be in short supply, also some of the more legacy areas again will probably reflect the COBOL peak of late 1999 early 2000, these will include, Access, (still in high demand in many sectors), Sybase, Cognos and Hyperion.
In General are salaries for IT contractors increasing/ decreasing or remaining static?
In general trend shows that Salaries are increasing, however slight the increase should continue as long as the market can retain and remain competitive with foreign investment and home grown companies.
Why do you think this is?
Because there is still a lot room for expansion and growth in Ireland, having a knock on effect of continuing demand and increased skills knowledge, 2 years from now should we still be an economy of growth. 300,000 migrant workers will have attained a higher level of English, an expanded knowledge, and new skills which can only demand a percentage of increase. Also IT contractors in Ireland continue to pursue further education, certification and core skills thus enabling them to be at the forefront of IT technology trends.
Would you recommend any courses/ qualifications that IT contractors should consider attaining in order to keep their skills as up to date as possible?
It is of course important to stay on top of version releases, an example being Oracle releases 10g, 11i, and 12i due to come online soon. UNIX and NT platforms inline with RDBMS are changing too and courses in these areas will be an excellent advantage. MS SQL Server 2005 experience is becoming more prevalent in job requirements, so certifications are useful to have.
How much experience should a person typically have in order to break into IT contracting in your particular area?
The underlying reasons that companies have for contract vacancies vary so it is difficult to determine a minimum experience level, and temporary opportunities do arise where candidates with little or no experience can increase their current skill set or where candidates experienced in one area can cross train into other areas. The key thing to remember in these scenarios is that a candidates professionalism, maturity and enthusiasm will play a large part in any hiring managers decision making process.
Any other comments?
The market is performing exceptionally well at the moment so it is a good time to be looking around, especially at contracting. We would strongly recommend that if you are interested in contracting contact the CPL on 6146000 and ask for the Solutions Team or email us in confidence at contracts@cpl.ie.