Posts by admin:
Top 5 Posts of July
August 4th, 2009
If you don’t visit regularly make sure you check out the following posts. The top 5 posts list is based on what you as readers viewed in July. Enjoy!
- Is Career Development a Reasonable Option for Clients with Significant Barriers?
- Helping Candidates with Felony Convictions
- The “Un” Unemployed
- Liar for Hire
- Client Activity Idea: Resume Keywords
Picture by ponchosquealº
Top 5 Posts of June
July 9th, 2009If you don’t visit regularly make sure you check out the following posts. The top 5 posts list is based on what you as readers viewed in June. Enjoy!
The Bricks of Life… and the Glorious Glue that Holds them Together
Critical Mass in Groups
Patterns (Part 2): Accountability
Client Activity Idea: Resume Keywords
8 Rules for Successfully Using Hobbies and Unpaid Work to Get a Job – Part 4 (but here are the links to 1, 2 and 3 as well)
Photo by ponchosquealº
New Media Section
June 24th, 2009
In case you haven’t noticed yet we’ve been adding some new pages to ‘The WorkNET’. Late last week we added a media section that features articles and links that mention WorkNet.
While we are still refining the content and will be adding more information, where appropriate, you can check out what has been uploaded so far at http://www.worknet-international.com/WorkNET/media/
Photo by FaceMePLS
The UK Recession: Why It’s Not All Bad News For IT
March 6th, 2009
by Karl Parkinson
Despite the daily reports of a country in crisis, the recession seems to be having less of an impact on certain aspects of UK PLC, particularly the IT industry. Whereas many markets were overstretched before the recession kicked in, the IT industry was desperately short of suitable applicants, with over 150,000 jobs being advertised per quarter – a sign of a massive skills shortage in this buoyant industry. Although the marketplace has contracted slightly, that shrinkage has been relative and IT is still a robust industry with growth forecasts of 2-2.5% per year. For people with the right IT qualifications and skills-sets, this means that the recession could almost pass them by unnoticed.
Programmers in particular are still in demand, especially those with qualifications and experience in .net, C# and PHP, whilst demand for temporary workers with CNC programming skills is high. C# and .net skills are used for building Windows applications, while PHP is a website programming language. As businesses realise that a high Internet profile is vital to reach an international marketplace, many companies are revamping websites to introduce search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques into their profiles and gain a greater number of online ‘hits’ by increasing their presence on the major search engines. The vast majority of businesses use Windows based technology, so programmers that can work on these systems are guaranteed to be gainfully employed most of the time.
When the http://dot.com bubble burst in 2001, IT was considered to be the ‘bad guy’ of the marketplace, and was seen more of an expense to a business rather than a strategic advantage. Now with a much more stable Internet marketplace that acts more as a shop window for real (rather than virtual) companies, business-based IT strategies are once again being heralded as not just a strategic advantage but an absolute necessity.
The short-term contract market is particularly strong during a time of economic downturn as companies downsize their full-time workforce to survive the worst of the recession but still need IT consultants and maintenance contractors on a regular basis. Although the number of jobs being advertised has declined the demand hasn’t, and industry professionals see this lack of advertising as an indication that IT specialists with established reputations are being headhunted by companies rather than finding work through applying for advertised positions. The growth of Internet business networking sites also means that businessmen and women can ‘cherry-pick’ the best consultants via electronic means rather than through traditional advertising techniques. Online sites that carry CVs and biographies are also becoming a dominant factor, allowing those looking for IT specialists to select the best candidates based on a far more specific set of criteria.
The most important thing for anyone working in the IT field is to ensure that their skills-sets are as up to date and as comprehensive as possible. Continuous personal development has become much more important in the last few years, and those who constantly update their skills and knowledge are far more likely to be attractive employment propositions to a market that can be exceptionally demanding. The IT sector is a fluid and constantly evolving marketplace that seems to bounce back from recession and back into growth far more quickly than other industries. It also transcends international boundaries and good IT specialists can certainly have the pick of the best positions, not just in the UK but all over the world.
Karl has over 40 years of experience in the IT Careers Industry and is Chairman of Computeach, which provides innovative and blended learning solutions to a wide range of customers.
Photo by Dean Johnson
Welcome!
January 22nd, 2009Welcome to the WorkNet International Professional Hub.
We hope to use this area to share ideas, links and concepts that will be useful when working with your candidates. If you would like to share an article for publishing please feel free to send it to, or contact us at:
info@worknet-international.com
Main page “Hello World” photo by Windell H. Oskay, www.evilmadscientist.com
