IT Recruitment in Ireland Jobs Market Review - Q2 2014 - Archer: IT Jobs Market Quarterly Review
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IT Recruitment in Ireland Jobs Market Review Q2 2014 Archer: IT Jobs Market Quarterly Review
Content Guide Introduction 3 .NET developers 4 Java developers 6 Testing & Quality Assurance 8 Business Intelligence 9 Business Analysts & Project Managers 11 Senior IT Management 13 Summary 16 IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 2
Introduction Irish workforces and new tech and finance firms opened offices here. About Archer Archer Recruitment is focused 100% on IT. Ireland's 700+ indigenous software and We are a team of specialist consultants, digital IT companies continue to enjoy each working within a unique IT jobs increases in international business and category. Our mission: to unite the top IT make good on their intentions to create employers in Ireland with the best IT talent. new IT positions (as stated in the ISA Digital Technology Index, 2013). Archer has facilitated successful hires for leading tech, financial, telecom and Q2 demand for IT talent eclipsed that of an software firms. In an automated sector our already busy Q1, with fresh injections of personal approach is what sets us apart. We expertise sought across all IT disciplines. can connect companies with a worldwide The difficulty is, Ireland is not overflowing bank of top candidates that no jobs board with the kind of candidates that highly can reach. selective employers want on their teams. Many of the best people have already Archer people live and breathe IT, meaning secured recent moves, more are being we have deeper insights into how the IT zealously guarded by existing employers jobs market is performing and how and there is a slowdown in the arrival of emerging trends are impacting hiring overseas candidates to fill the gaps. activity. Every quarter, we publish this free Jobs Market Analysis to give you a snapshot Ireland’s IT sector wouldn’t be the of developments in six key job sectors. international sensation it is today if it didn’t have an abundance of great talent. It’s just The IT Economy in Q2, 2014 that a very small proportion of its best The ICT sector is a powerhouse of Ireland’s practitioners ever actively engage in job economy that continues to go from searches. Timing is everything, hence strength to strength thanks to government Archer’s policy of keeping lines of stimuli, unabating FDI, growing business communications open with our candidates. confidence and an explosion in global In a market where the success of standard demand for mobile applications. job advertising techniques is waning our personal approach ensures great roles get As has become customary, Q2 saw further the attention they deserve. new IT job announcements as established global players planned expansions to their IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 3
.Net Developers Attracting great candidates from here on in is going to require serious convincing – or Key Q1 Trends more interviews by video-conference. Calm is returning to the market after a surge of .NET developer hiring in the first Bombarding the best candidates with emails half of 2014. Having expanded their and Linkedin requests is one option. At developer capabilities and bolstered their Archer we have always believed in a more project teams employers are turning their personal approach. At times like these when focus to applying their new talent. top talent is in short supply we do what we Equilibrium has been restored: A market always have done. We pick up the phone. We that started the year with “more roles for talk to otherwise inaccesible people. Sell the fewer candidates” is now one of “fewer promise of your roles. Shape your Job Specs roles for fewer candidates”. into compelling adverts. It may sound counter-intuitive and it certainly involves Candidates that are strong in ASP.NET MVC more effort but the human touch pays off in and JavaScript have the edge – right now, a world of bullet points and automated employers are most interested in specialists communication. in client side ASP.NET development, particularly those with frontend web skills. The more extravagent the Wish List, the Demand is strongest for senior developers more exotic and unattainable the candidate. at the 55-65K salary level. A market high on specialised talent and short on availability calls for a laser-guided focus Employer Insights on recruiting essential skills. In Q2 the After two quarters of churn the .NET smoothest, most successful hires were made market is settling down. Moves made, those by ‘precision employers’, recruiters that had local candidates that were looking for a new identified an exact set of core competences challenge in 2014 are getting down to needed to do a job well, stipped “nice to business. Those that were already settled in have” qualities from their Job Specs and their roles, likewise. Whatever active pool of trained their sights on clearer targets. homegrown talent there was at the start of 2014 has now dissipated into a trickle. Typically, Irish-based overseas talent would have jumped in to fill the void but this pool, too, has become depleted. IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 4
Candidate Insights Your ability to bring your achievements and What set apart the candidates that secured CV to life is of crucial importance. Be the best new developer roles in Q2? The prepared to elaborate on any detail – if you simple truth: On paper, very little. On have to spoof then it shouldn’t be on there. “showing you want it”, everything. Success Show Interest. “They won because they were invariably hinged on three attributes: hungrier” is a common refrain in sport. It Appropriate skills, better interview applies to interviews, too. Hungry candidates preparation, greater enthusiasm. Being do their homework, make an effort to be technically brilliant – even proving it in test liked, ask insightful questions and know when conditions - means you are still only one- to listen. If you really want the job, then go third of the way there. for it with a passion. We hate seeing our candidates falter. We coach you, we support you every step of the way but, ultimately, the keys to your success are within you. Our advice remains the same: Know Your Limits. Think twice about applying for a role if you only meet the demands of its Job Spec at a stretch. Employers will not thank you for only revealing skills shortfalls at interview stage. Thinking you have the ability to do something will not be enough to compete with a candidate who has practical commercial experience of doing this thing. Prepare Forensically. Know the stories: Your employer’s and your own. Companies don’t want mercenaries (even for contractor positions). Roles go to people whose research has led to a connection with the company and identification with their values and purpose. IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 5
Java Developers Employer Insights Home-grown Java developer talent has Key Q2 Trends always been scarce. Add ‘mobile The demand for Java contractors has development/UI skills’ to your Job Spec and declined in line with a growing trend for your homegrown candidate base shrinks employers to seek longer term even further. On-the-ground foreign talent to commitments from their developers. fill the void is also in short supply. So where Investment in developer talent is seen as an can you turn to? Archer’s response: We’ve investment in the future of the business. A gone back to renew ties with all the best company’s ability to harness new Java specialists that have ever registered technology in unique ways and delight with us. customers with it is a key driver of competitive advantage. Winning attention Click the Java Developer tab on our and buy-in from mobile audiences is of candidate database and you get access to paramount importance. It is small wonder 1966 top specialists from Ireland and that employers want to retain top overseas. Naturally, the more ambitious of developers and prevent them from going these have upgraded their skillsets since we elsewhere. last checked in on them. In Q2 we renewed numerous acquaintances, discovering buried The rise of mobile is changing the rules of treasure right under our noses (including rare business, disrupting the models of old, proficiencies in frameworks like Angular.js transforming customer behaviour. Adapting and Node.js). Day by day we are unearthing to this new playing field has forced potential fits for new roles that we could not companies to rediscover the adventurous have anticipated and bringing the most spirit of their start-up days. For them, it is ambitious and innovative of our connections important that their new hires share this back into play. zeal to take the business to a new level and are in it for the long haul. As predicted in Q1, the practice of screening via technical assessments/ assignments at Java developers with mobile, front-end and all levels gathered pace in Q2. When web UI skills are in particular demand, as are recruiting UI-focused developers, a growing developers with full stack development number of employers request to see experience and a good mix of server side portfolios of previous work or collaborations languages, web frameworks and web on GitHub. technologies (notably JavaScript, Node.js, Angular.js and similar frameworks). IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 6
The key to successful hires in Q2? Timing. changing at breakneck speed and getting The difference between snapping up a great isolated from advances in tech, cloud-based candidate and losing one can rest on solutions and agile development methods something as mundane as a delay in getting can seriously limit your career alternatives. a second opinion from a manager external Many companies are playing catch-up – they to the process. Java developers know they need developers that technology has not left are in demand, often court multiple suitors behind. The top senior Java roles right now simultaneously and are ready to commit are going to specialists that have shown an immediately to the best opportunity that appetite for continuous reinvention, people presents. The moment you identify a who have gone solo on their own initiative to candidate that you wouldn’t want to lose to become certified scrum masters, iOS/ a competitor is the moment to act and Android developers. New qualifiications are accelerate to the closing phase. the way forward If you cannot get practical Candidate Insights new tech experience in your current role. Mobile development/UI skills are clearly becoming passports to some of the most exciting - and best rewarded – new roles. The younger, new generation candidates that we meet at our daily screening interviews are starting to have mobile web/handset application know-how as a given, to the extent that many bring portfolios of their work to talk through. Mid- and-senior-level developers are taking note and taking action, upgrading their expertise to stay relevant. If you cannot gain prowess in cutting edge skills via your day job, now is a good time to consider starting a professionally certified course and work on some personal projects in your own time. More than ever, developers who have been in settled roles for years run the risk of institutionalisation. The outside world is IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 7
Testing & QA At Archer we continue to invest in our personal touch to set us apart. The Key Q2 Trends professionals on our register keep evolving; The market continued to favour testers their skillsets, circumstances, value to with automation and, to a slightly lesser employers and connections within the tester degree, mobile technology expertise in Q2. community constantly change. Only a Demand is strongest for test automation recruiter that makes the effort to maintain specialists adept at using Selenium with open and direct contact with past candidates scripting/development experience. The can know where true potential exists off the majority of recruiting activity is occuring at beaten track and what will inspire otherwise mid to senior level; few managerial role unavailable talent to consider a move. openings emerged. There is good news for manual testers – and employers looking for Top candidates always have self- manual testers. A sudden surge in demand actualisation and career advancement at from financial services companies means heart. Attracting a better calibre of tester opportunities have really picked up, right now means presenting a business that compelling specialists to vacate settled sees testing as a critical success activity and roles. and offers opportunities to push the boundaries of contemporary testing The trend for local testers to upskill and technology. Roles in software and app gain certifications (especially ISTQB) development houses have particularly strong continues. Even so, businesses expect their appeal. new talent to conform to very high standards, meaning their plans are often Testers are in demand, so your Role impeded by local skills shortages. The Proposition needs to stand up against the threat of delaying progress is causing best of your competition. In a candidate- employers to widen searches and add driven market, success favours companies diversity to their teams with top quality that approach recruiting as a sprint, not a international candidates. marathon. Those employers that are quickest to provide interview feedback and Employer Insights push the process along at pace are securing The short roster of local tester talent that the cream candidates. existed at the start of 2014 has got shorter. So where do you find the new expertise you need to accelerate and enhance your testing process? IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 8
Candidate Insights Business Intelligence New opportunities continue to materialise for candidates with stong test automation Key Q2 Trends skills / hybrid testing + development As the year has progressed, the BI market expertise. Demand for manual testing roles, has become more candidate-driven. BI though good now, has been flat for some specialists with skills in popular technologies time and new openings are more sporadic. (Microsoft, Business Objects and, in The message: Either you leave your career particular, Oracle) know that they are in prospects at the mercy of market forces demand and can afford to be selective. New outside your control or you upskill. requirements are also emerging for candidates proficient in tools such as The majority of contenders for top roles Microstrategy and Qlikview. appear to have embarked on the upskilling route. Without a certification in ISTQB, ISEB, Businesses are putting more faith in data- Sun Java, Selenium, QTP you can face an driven decisions. The profile of companies uphill battle to get yourself into contention that are in the market for BI analysts is - Time to consider a course? Test changing, leading to constant openings. As specialists that started life as developers technology writer John Naughton notes, are in a great position to secure “Non technology companies are beginning to contemporary roles where testing and realise that failure to analyse the data scripting go hand-in-hand. flowing from their interactions with customers may put them at a competitive The critical thing is not to get complacent. disadvantage”. Don’t rely on your qualifications and technical skills to speak for themselves. Businesses want these new data insights and They might impress on paper, but how they want to get them faster into the hands exactly do you see them being of value of people who can implement them. Which within a different company? means making them mobile. BI analysts with a head for data presentation via small-screen Interviewers expect you to be technically interfaces are in a very strong position. capable – your perceived level of preparedness and commitment is what will Contractors had the pick of the BI roles in set you apart. The most successful Q2. Employers were offering daily rates of as candidates are not necessarily the most much as 550-600 for the best (strong gifted candidates but the candidates that consultants with deep knowledge of a show they want it more. Research pays. particular niche), rising from a strong IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 9
average rate of 350–400. BI is a valued, of how business works and a forensic high-status function right now. Skills are interest in exploring all aspects of operations prized and counter-offers are inevitable. (everywhere there is an opportunity to save Any employer that wants a top-performing costs or more efficiently delight customers). BI analyst on their team must be prepared Most technical BI skills are transferable. New to match the best rates on the market or technologies are learnable. A track record of experience upward pressure on the initial positive bottom-line impacts, cultural fit, salary offer. design thinking, magnetism – these are qualities that separate the best from the Local candidates have a slight edge but this rest. is diminishing. The shortage of available expertise and resistance from companies So what are the key catalysts that keen to hold on to their candidates is encourage top BI specialists to move? In prompting employers to hire internationally general, they gravitate to companies that where talent is more plentiful and plan- have put their faith in data. If you can offer stalling bidding wars are avoided. more interesting projects using the latest technologies, show greater commitment to Employer Insights actioning BI insights, or provide opportunities Once a company has invested in BI software to collaborate with like-minded professionals the challenge is finding the right people to then you will be a strong rival for their harness it. There is a natural temptation to attention. But you need to act fast; time is give disproportionate weight to the of the essence. Keen today can be gone technical skills of BI candidates when what tomorrow. is equally important is their ability to pinpoint overlooked business opportunities, Candidate Insights sell change at boardroom level and create Q2 saw a host of BI professionals make engaging visual interfaces for data the transition from consultancy to reporting. The big push right now is to find industry. Conditions are ideal right now specialists that can go beyond using data for candidates that want to shift career for post-mortem analysis of past actions track. BI Consultants have something and use it to predict the future. that clients want but that not all The best BI specialist for your business Industry BI specialists possess: business need not necessarily hail from within your skills. Employers need BI specialists that industry, or even have an IT background. can convince upper-level managers to What is key is that they have understanding IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 10
embrace data, champion operational Business Analysts & Project changes and drive company-wide Managers adoption of new methodologies and Key Q2 Trends reporting tools. Technical skills alone There is an emerging twin-track trend in the will only take you so far in the current market for business analysts. One group of market. BAs is showing an appetite to trade-off security for spending power, leaving But technical skills remain critically permanent roles to avail of higher important, and top employers are contracting rates. The other group is taking looking for them in abundance. the alternative route, capitalising on a drive Generally, they are looking for evidence by important employers to make certain of deep proficiency in multiple tools in a contracting roles permanent. Demand for BAs of either persuasion is healthy right now. particular BI stack (preferably their chosen one), if not more than one BAs that are ready for a good permanent stack. They want people with more than career move are being offered a choice of a working knowledge of various BI top roles by the Irish-based international products, people with the architectural, financial services institutions. Regulatory and development and design know-how to compliance projects in the insurance and graft end-to-end solutions. banking sectors continue to demand inpourings of resources – and BA skills. Many The best roles are going to those BI downsized financial services firms, though analysts that employers perceive as trading well again, are persevering with small having what it takes to positively permanent teams and shoring up expertise as necessary with BA contractors. Only the impact results. They are impressed by fixed term contract market has shown any people that can show tangible evidence sign of slowdown – there are simply too of how they have saved a business many other good alternatives to choose money, revealed overlooked market from. opportunities, cut the time for a BI project to deliver, won internal support Project Managers don’t have quite the same or championed change adoption. level of career choices, though prospects are good. Some of the best opportunities are for Project Managers that have experience with IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 11
the top-tier consultancies and strong Candidate Insights project-based backgrounds. Competition for Q1 was open season for BAs and PMs that these openings is intense. There was were on the hunt for daily-rate contractor positive news for PM contractors in Q1 as roles. Q2 was different. The hiatus in the average daily contract rate increased permanent hiring that lasted several slightly. successive quarters appears to have ended. Employers are focused on growing their Employer Insights businesses again and are looking for Business analysts are confident about the professionals to commit full-time to jobs market and are demonstrating a executing future plans. marked eagerness to explore new roles and even alternative forms of employment. For many specialists made redundant during Candidates are also returning from the UK, the crisis contracting has provided a new Canada and Australia, eager to get back to lease of life. Rates have been good and work quickly and put new skills and fresh rising, projects diverse and upskilling, perspectives into practice. The supply of working arrangements flexible. Forced to actively available local talent rarely gets this become contractors out of obligation, many good. have revelled in it and transformed their market value. Now that permanent That isn’t to say that these specialists will alternatives are becoming available again the jump at any role that comes their way. question is, do you continue contracting Many have been through chastening, life- indefinitely or do you capitalise on your altering redundancy experiences and have present worth and seize the opportunity to found the contractor life to be an eye- secure your future? opener; liberating and skills-enhancing. The current crop of BAs are very self-aware, Employers continue to show a distinct conscious of keeping themselves challenged favouritism towards BAs and PMs that have and staying on top of the latest shown a propensity to deliver results in the technologies in order to build their personal same sector. A truly exceptional candidate brand equity. Permanent roles, in particular, from outside the industry might earn the need to offer a clear career development luxury of being showing the ropes but this is trajectory and flexible conditions in order to rare. Most businesses are looking for proof interest top perfomers. of achievements that will engender immediate trust from stakeholders and rally everyone to support new courses of action. IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 12
Transferable experience is vital, then. But Senior IT Management even a CV brimming with the right Key Q2 Trends experience might still leave you short of Senior appointments picked up in Q2. securing the best roles. More than ever, Sustained economic recovery is firing up qualifications count. Post-degree, industry businesses to drive forward again after years certifications are seen as a gauge of your spent on the defensive. Firms are bouncing commitment to leading the way in your back, fitter and bolder than ever, having specialist field. A Business Analysis/Project lowered costs and adopted more efficient Management certification is on the way to practices. Now they need fresh, expansion- becoming a prerequisite. minded managerial talent to build on these The opportunities for a BA/PM specialist to steadier foundations and go on the counter- make a strong, positive career move are attack. better than they have been for quite some New senior roles are emerging across all IT time. The key to you going places: Your CV. industry sectors. Companies are growing Don’t think that changing the dates on an again through expansion, acquisition and old one will work. Every different role outsourcing. They are racing to stay in the demands a unique CV. Your CV for a game by using new technologies in contracting role should read differently to pioneering ways. They are amassing one for a permanent position. You should staggering data of unprecedented scale and always revisit your experience and choose richness. They need new leaders and accomplishments that uniquely qualify you visionaries to keep business on an even keel to excel in the new role. And don’t sell and sailing forward. yourself short - Take into account that the average BA/PM CV now runs to 3-4 pages. For now, the greater opportunities are Help this specific employer visualise a arising at manager and senior manager level, better future with you on their team and it though there have been several top CXO will pay dividends. vacancies, too. Life & Pension/Insurance firms are exhibiting strong demand for IT specialists at every level and need senior talent to ensure new people gel and generate synergies. Banks are actively looking for senior people for contract and interim roles. Telecoms companies have consistent requirements for specialists to IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 13
step in and spearhead short-to-medium Our connections might be happy with their term projects. The manufacturing industry lot but it is often the case that they have has also been driving efficiencies and need connections that fit the profile you are after. new senior heads to ensure they capitalise. Our old school, verbal communication approach is continuously unlocking rich new In all industries, employers are showing a seams of referral talent that grow by the marked tendency to favour candidates from day. These are people that have been doing within that sector with experience in a like- great things beyond the radar and are for-like role. primed to move to further fulfil their promise. Employer Insights Opportunities for senior managers to take The important thing is to seize opportunities. on new challenges have been limited in See the potential in close-fits rather than recent years. Faced with a sterile jobs hold out for exact-fits that might never market, most simply banished visions of materialise. In a market that isn’t flooded exciting career moves from their minds and with great available candidates you must be got on with making the best of what they prepared to act when you unearth one. Being had. The fact that so many managers flexible about the package and working withdrew active attention from the market conditions helps. As does expediting the means there are fewer available candidates hiring process. Ambitious senior managers than you might expect now that demand scent growth and are after a share of it – has sparked to life again. There is no time to lose if you want to benefit. Recruiting a senior manager today tends to involve convincing people in settled roles to Candidate Insights reconsider their options. It is certainly no The market for senior managers really longer a case of “announce a role and they opened up in Q2. Employers across all IT will come”. Few will find you (Advertising via sectors started to have some exciting job boards or Linkedin has limited reach and permanent and contract roles to offer. Even impact). You, or rather Archer, need to find software houses that tend to nurture them. We know where to look, given that management talent from within were we know hundreds of the best specialists on opening roles to the wider business the market. But attachment to a team you community. The inward-looking strategies have steered through recession can be essential to surviving recession appear to be strong and you need a special proposition giving way to more open, expansive to entice these people to jump ship. IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 14
approaches. Businesses need to change course and they need new thought leaders to make it happen. The gung-ho growth practices of yesteryear are out. The fast-talking, instinct-reliant, self-centred manager of caricature is not what companies are looking for. Businesses want next generation managers that are reflective, data-driven team players. Candidates, take note. Succeeding in your next interview will depend as much upon how you listen as what you say. We continue to despair at seeing strong candidates miss out simply because they haven’t prepared to listen. An interview is intended to be a dialogue, not a monologue. The more you reciprocate your interviewer’s interest and identify specific ways in which your experience can be of value to them, the better the connection you will make. Spend the entire interview talking up your achievements and you are unlikely to suggest an aptitude for the kind of modern leadership that businesses seek. Demand for senior managers is gathering momentum and hiring activity shows no sign of a summer pause. Employers are bullish about bolstering their teams to hit the ground running in September and shift business up a gear ahead of 2015. While other candidates are packing their flipflops Q3 could be your perfect opportunity to get your feet under a new desk. IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 15
Summary Top candidates, likewise, are looking for commitments that align with their ambitions The quantity and quality of career and aspirations. A new role must ofer the opportunities for IT professionals on the promise of taking their career to another ground in Ireland increased for the second level if it is to convince them to leave a quarter running in 2014. Workforce secure, well-paid job. In Q2 the best expansion, rather than vacancy filling, is the candidates signed for companies that key catalyst for much hiring activity and offered collaboration with like-minded new technological advances are inspiring talents, better technology, Agile working whole new Job Specs. practices and greater autonomy/ decision- making power. Employers are looking to augment their IT expertise across all specialisms and pay After a busy Q2 we anticipated the usual grades, from junior developer right through annual lull in holiday season hiring. But to senior manager. If anything, there is a switching off talent/job search for the greater demand for mid-to-senior-level summer can mean leaving the coast clear for know-how. After an extensive period in a canny rival to gain a scarce edge and in recession-proofing survival mode firms are 2014 that is not going to happen. Here’s to seeking fresh leadership impetus to drive a non-quiet Q3 as Archer continue to pull renewed growth. out all the stops and keep making perfect Though contracting remains popular there is matches. a growing inclination for employers to seek permanent commitments to their new post- Call Josh Linton/Sam Perrin crisis visions. Technology can be replicated; Visit www.archer.ie talent less so. When employers find verablly and visually articulate, idea-rich, technologically creative people they want to retain them, extend their transformational impact. Regardless of role duration, interviewers are probing for signs of identification with their business values and personal investment in their goals. It is imperative that candidates research thoroughly and show real interest. IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 16
Archer Specialist Recruitment 2 Westland Square Pearse Street | Dublin 2 01 649 8500 | www.archer.ie IT Jobs Market Ireland Q2 Review | 17
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