Current feel for the IT job market?

malachi said:
I was in one IT job for nearly 10 years before I moved to another country. Even the recruiter said "why was you in that job for so long?!?! That's unusual"
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I'm coming up to ten years in my current company - have progressed though a lot of roles in that time but have started looking at my options recently and my time in service hasn't come up once as a negative, a couple of places have been really enthusiastic about it as they would prefer someone who will hang around for a while rather than disappear in 2 years.

Having said that though - moving every 2 years is a decent way of progressing up the paygrades and into more senior roles if that's something that floats your boat. I know people that have done that and are on far better money than me despite having a lower skill set.
 
mid_gen said:
I haven't done a cert in 15 years, I'm a principal programmer.

In my current field (game dev), all that matters is experience.

I do have a few Business Objects and Oracle certs from way back....but they aren't a necessity in all fields!
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Games programming is kinda specialised though isn't it.
 
OspreyO said:
Games programming is kinda specialised though isn't it.
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It is, lots of specialised fields around. No-one cares about certs in the programming world though. Maybe the IT side of things where what matters is your competence at using someone else's software, but making software? I wouldn't bother.
 
mid_gen said:
It is, lots of specialised fields around. No-one cares about certs in the programming world though. Maybe the IT side of things where what matters is your competence at using someone else's software, but making software? I wouldn't bother.
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Not even the Infrastructure side is cert-focused, sure there are lots of certs, but unless your at somewhere who want to attain certain partner status they're pretty much never required. People get so focused on doing the certs that they have to adapt to the way the vendor wants you to tackle a problem which invariably is never the way you need to tackle or resolve a problem in the real world.
 
Throrik said:
Not even the Infrastructure side is cert-focused, sure there are lots of certs, but unless your at somewhere who want to attain certain partner status they're pretty much never required. People get so focused on doing the certs that they have to adapt to the way the vendor wants you to tackle a problem which invariably is never the way you need to tackle or resolve a problem in the real world.
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Indeed....software engineering is about problem solving, and no amount of certifications or exams will help you on the front. The only way to learn is by doing.

The stuff I had to learn for my Oracle certs....yawn, never used it. What did I spend my time doing when using Oracle heavily? Re-writing PL-SQL code to work around bugs in the Oracle engine, mostly!
 
malachi said:
Ah OK, trying to go down the security route. I'm an IT Systems Engineer and I do abit of everything. Only have Sec+ cert at the moment, will do CCNA Cyber Ops next year once my Azure certs are done.
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If you’re doing your Azure certs and want to get into security, do the cybersecurity expert exams and focus on cloud security. It’s worth a fortune, you’ll be well into six-figures if you’re even half decent at it.
 
Worthy said:
If you’re doing your Azure certs and want to get into security, do the cybersecurity expert exams and focus on cloud security. It’s worth a fortune, you’ll be well into six-figures if you’re even half decent at it.
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That's what I will probably go for. Currently earning six-figures (not UK salary) but I know I can go higher plus its something I have an general interest in. Not something "oh, I just do that because it pays well"
 
Throrik said:
This is my only reason for not going into security :D it literally bores the pants off of me, but I could earn so much more at the moment.
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:D Yeah, it depends which side you want go on red or blue side.

Azure, MCSE, MCSA, Sec+, ITIL and VMware CP-DCV 2021 are my certs. Looking at what to tackle next after my last few Azure certs.
 
malachi said:
:D Yeah, it depends which side you want go on red or blue side.

Azure, MCSE, MCSA, Sec+, ITIL and VMware CP-DCV 2021 are my certs. Looking at what to tackle next after my last few Azure certs.
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Do some business & IT interlock type certs. Microsoft offer them, they are a real eye-opener and if you are in a management position they give you the "yeah but" answer to why some Qs seem daft.
 
Question for you guys. I'm finally getting to play around with Azure more in my new role. I'm trying to learn as much as I can. So I'm following a few Azure based blogs and watching some YouTube channels. My department is expanding rapidly so there's lots of projects in the pipline. My ultimate aim would be to get to Cloud Engineer level then go into contracting. I am starting to create configuration policies and get more into the nitty gritty of Azure. Do you have any tips on what's best to learn to get me in the best position to get a Cloud based role in say 2 years? My current company is SAAS based as well. They use AWS also but not as much as Azure.
 
Brumboy said:
Question for you guys. I'm finally getting to play around with Azure more in my new role. I'm trying to learn as much as I can. So I'm following a few Azure based blogs and watching some YouTube channels. My department is expanding rapidly so there's lots of projects in the pipline. My ultimate aim would be to get to Cloud Engineer level then go into contracting. I am starting to create configuration policies and get more into the nitty gritty of Azure. Do you have any tips on what's best to learn to get me in the best position to get a Cloud based role in say 2 years? My current company is SAAS based as well. They use AWS also but not as much as Azure.
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You are basically doing what I am doing right now. I work with Azure but not as Cloud Engineer in my official job title, still IT Systems Engineer with Azure working being most of that.

Best thing to do is get some Azure certs behind you, such as the Azure Administrator Associate then maybe Azure Solutions Architect Expert cert after that. At least then when you go into contracting you have certified qualifications for clients to take you seriously.

Do some self studying, book the exam and pass. I have been doing this for a few years now. I'm currently working on the AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions exam to get the Azure Solutions Architect Expert cert. Then will move onto the Hybrid Azure certs to help clients migration from on-prem to cloud or keep their environment hybrid.
 
An interesting article has shown that the majority of automated CV sifting systems reject people with >6months gaps between jobs. If that's the case your employability after 6month falls close to zero.

Interesting given the government has stated there's a shortage of people for roles - perhaps it's artificial given the automated systems are failing the investment for people to find jobs?
 
NickK said:
An interesting article has shown that the majority of automated CV sifting systems reject people with >6months gaps between jobs. If that's the case your employability after 6month falls close to zero.

Interesting given the government has stated there's a shortage of people for roles - perhaps it's artificial given the automated systems are failing the investment for people to find jobs?
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Most people I know come up with excuses for their gaps, e.g. freelancing, contracting, startup idea development, etc to bypass automated filters.

I did find it amusing that someone asked me about a gap that I had about 7 years in the past.
 
NickK said:
An interesting article has shown that the majority of automated CV sifting systems reject people with >6months gaps between jobs. If that's the case your employability after 6month falls close to zero.
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I doubt the shortage is artificial, similar issues with tech recruitment in the US too etc..

If you can explain the gap then you could still fill something in on the form if you’re worried about that, that should satisfy the automated system.

How big is the gap? If you have a gap of 24 months (not sure if it might be 18 months at some places) then there are special returner schemes at various employers for experienced hires. Goldman Sachs started doing this a while ago and IIRC trademarked the term “returnship”. Basically you get a sort of internship/job trial for grownups for say 3 or 6 months, paid at a decent rate more like your old salary and then they might offer a full time role at the end. It’s aimed originally at mothers who’ve taken a career break for child care but isn’t exclusive to women and could just as well be used by anyone who has looked after a relative or simply taken a sabbatical.

AFAIK so long as you previously held a “senior” (used loosely) role then you can perhaps more easily return to a similar one in banking, insurance, tech etc.. via one of these schemes.
 
HACO said:
Most people I know come up with excuses for their gaps, e.g. freelancing, contracting, startup idea development, etc to bypass automated filters.

I did find it amusing that someone asked me about a gap that I had about 7 years in the past.
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I've taken time in the past to develop new ideas pre-seed etc but this time I had to sort out the build we started when covid hit. Either that or get divorced.

Talking to a recruiter last week the gap and the reason for leaving the old job (they closed my base office, sold the company and fired myself with others under 2 years of employment yet paid my performance bonus). Try really don't give a hoot if you have some time off for a good reason and that wasn't a problem.
 
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