Author: Amanda

The demand for contract and permanent skills has seen some extreme changes with Microsoft skills topping the tables for both contract and permanent skills according to Certes’ 4Sight Q1 2016 skills review.

SQL skills for both contract and permanent have drop considerably and have both been replaced with Microsoft. Both also see a rise in popularity in HTML . In contract, Java and JavaScript have decreased in demand, but permanent sees CSS and ASP.NET taking the place of C# and SQL Server respectively.

Cyber security continues to be a skill with the highest increase in demand for the permanent sector while Office 365 pushes ASP.NET WEB API of the top spot for highest increase in demand for the contract sector followed closely by Cyber Security.

Not much has changed for sectors with the highest demand as Banking and Retail remain unchanged. However E-commerce for both sectors has been overtaken by Telecoms for Contract and marketing for permanent.

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According to a survey from Regus, IT workers in the UK are putting more time and working outside of their usual hours.

The survey which asked the opinions of over 3000 people states that “Over two thirds of UK professionals (69%) are required to work outside of their regular office hours” and this has increased to what it once was five years ago. 72% of the worker also say that “fixed hours are no longer suited to their duties” so in order for deadlines to be met, working over is essential and this can be seen further in the rise of worker working remotely (76%).

For workers in IT, the 9 to 5 day is a dying concept and no longer suits them as issues need to be seen too as soon as possible to ensure that all systems are working correctly. Richard Morris, UK CEO of Regus explains “The fact that so many UK workers [are] finding that ‘regular’ hours no longer suit their roles, should prompt companies to embrace flexible working practices”. Richard Morris continues to say that flexible working hours has a “strong impact on the productivity and wellbeing of employees” which could see a decrease in IT workers stress levels.

Data is the key to success and many companies are looking into data to make decisions. According to Raconteur, data is playing and going to continue to play a huge part in the years to come. Currently, Big Data assists companies to make faster decisions with evidence to back it up and can enable more accurate decision making in the process.

In the near future, we can see that personalised marketing to a companies customer base and the prediction of future market trends will be an enormous benefit from Big Data and Data Analytics.

If Data is used correctly, companies can lower risks and in the next three years, Data Analytics is going to have a huge impact on technology, media and telecoms.

 

 

Source: Raconteur

This quarter’s Certes 4sight IT staffing review has shown that the IT Management sector saw the most increases in Certes employed consultant rates and permanent salaries.

The highest increase seen was for IT Directors, who saw a £10,000 increase in average salary from £87,000 to £97,000.  IT Managers, Helpdesk Managers,  Project Co-ordinators and Technical Authors also saw increases in average permanent salary.

 Elsewhere in the review, Infrastructure roles saw the most increases in Average Contractor Daily Rate with the largest increase seen in SQL, which rose from £340 to £363 per day.

 To find out more about the latest IT rates and salaries, and the most sought-after skills, sign up to receive Certes’ 4Sight quarterly review. 

The latest Certes 4Sight IT staffing review has revealed notable increases in salaries across IT management roles in particular.

Average permanent salaries for IT Directors, Programme Managers and Systems Architects have risen to £85,000, £75,000 and £62,500 respectively. Typical Certes employed consultant daily rates for these roles have also increased to £675, £545 and £410.

Growth has also taken place across infrastructure roles, with daily rates in the Application Support Analyst field rising to £315 and permanent salaries for IT Security Consultants increasing to £57,500. 

In development roles, Sharepoint, Java and C# professionals are all commanding higher rates and salaries, with the biggest increases seen for C# contractors rising to £360 per day and permanent Sharepoint roles now carrying salaries of £52,500.

Find out more about IT salary rates

To find out more about the most sought-after IT skills and the latest rates and salaries, sign up to receive Certes quarterly 4Sight review https://www.certes.co.uk/about-certes-it-careers/it-salary-and-rates-4sight

We have been giving tips aimed at candidates on how they can prepare for interviews, whether it is preparing for interviews over phone/video or advice candidates should take on board when at an interview. The interview process is a scary and even if the candidate is prepared, being in that situation can still make even the most qualified candidate quiver in fear.

You have already seen the candidates CV and they have blown you away with their accomplishments and qualification. You have contacted them to come in for an interview to find out more about them. They come to the interview on time, dressed professionally, greeting you, firm hand shake and after the general small talk is out of the way it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty. At this moment the pressure of the interview is taking its toll on the candidate and the candidate hasn’t put their best foot forward. This can cost them the position.

A poor interview could mean that the interviewer could miss out on an amazing new employee. To prevent this from happening employers should take it on themselves to remove the tension from the interview.

Interviewers can take easy steps to accomplish a calm environment for an interview.  One such step is letting the candidate know what the interview will entail (additional interviewers, interview format, discussion topics). This will give the candidate time to prepare and remove some of the stress as they know what expect.

If more people are attending the interview you have already notified the candidate. You should also introduce the candidate to the other interviewers before the interview begins so the candidate can familiarise themselves but try to keep the additional interviewers to a low number. There is nothing more stressful than being in front of an audience. A small intimate interview group will allow for the conversation to flow easier and the candidate will not feel as if they are being scrutinised from every angle.

We already mentioned making small talk with the candidate. This plays a bigger part than you think. Before they even meet, your candidates mind is going a mile a minute. The small talk will relax the candidate, make them feel welcome. Treat the candidate as a guest. Once the conversation is going try not to stop it abruptly and begin the interview, this could remind the candidate that they are in an interview and reality could come crashing back down on them. Instead, try to seamlessly intertwine the simpler questions you have ready within the conversation and ask the more difficult questions as you go along. This eases to candidate into the interview and by this time the candidate should feel at ease.

Examples of question topics to start with are:

  • Asking the candidate to introduce themselves
  • Interests/skills
  • Jobs on CV
  • Roles in previous jobs.

These questions are those that candidates can answer easily and freely.

There may be times when you have multiple interviews back to back or other prior engagements and you may be running over schedule. The worst thing you can do is rush the interview. This will increase pressure that you have tried so hard to remove. Don’t pay attention to the clock, pay attention to the candidate. The whole purpose of the interview is to find out about them. Show them that you are interested in them. Also take time for the candidate to ask you questions.

When finishing the interview, end it how you began. Conversation, inform the candidate of the new steps, a firm hand shake and see them out.

Removing the stress from the interview environment will allow the candidate to be them self and will see the person that they are and if they are the perfect match for your role.

Based on research from Broadband Genie, the public view is negative surrounding smart cities and the possible privacy threat they could pose to citizens. Could the awareness raised on Data Privacy Day change this perception?

New research by Broadband Genie suggests 69% of the British public are concerned with the privacy and security implications surrounding smart cities.

In addition, 67% said investment in smart city technology is a waste of public money. However, just 10% were aware of the smart city initiatives being rolled out across the UK.

Broadband Genie put forward freedom of information requests to councils across the UK to understand the scale and types of initiatives being rolled out. It found smart city programs are wide-ranging, with everything from public Wi-Fi, smart bins, anti-drowning systems and smart traffic controls being implemented.

Councillor Frank McAveety, Leader of Glasgow City Council: “Glasgow is at the forefront of the innovative use of data in the UK, and this was recognised when the city won the £24million award from the UK Government for the Future Cities Demonstrator project. We use data to make the lives of our residents, businesses and visitors easier and simpler and recognise its importance now and in the years to come.”

Despite the benefits of smart city technologies, security experts claim public concern around security is justified.

Cesar Cerrudo, chief technology officer at IOActive: “I’m very concerned due to the current adoption of many insecure smart cities technologies. Most technologies are being implemented without any security testing, putting smart city services at risk of cyber attacks.

“Threats of cyber attack are very real; there are plenty of possibilities for cyber attacks on cities around the world. It’s just a matter of time that attackers decide to do it.”

Rob Hilborn, Head of Strategy at Broadband Genie, says: “Smart technologies clearly have a big part to play in the future of UK cities, and are set to have a positive impact on many citizens, homes and businesses.”

“However, it’s important we don’t overlook the security and privacy concerns surrounding this technology, especially given the increasing risk of attacks to infrastructure. Councils and government are going to need to get the public on-board with this technology for it to be truly successful in the long term.”

Ultimately, the survey of 2,030 people discovered that many believed smart city technologies were a waste of money and were cause for concern when it comes to privacy and security.

As Data Privacy Day approaches (tomorrow) this conclusion should be cause for concern. If the public is overwhelmingly and legitimately concerned with privacy boundaries in a smart city, does it suggest a general scepticism to the sharing of information – the lifeblood of many organisations?

Indeed, one of the most effective ways of keeping data private is to be mindful of what individuals access and share while connected to public Wi-Fi.

This is bad news for smart city advocates as the future city will run on these Wi-Fi connections. At the moment, not all public Wi-Fi is secure so things that seem innocuous like checking a bank balance online or doing a bit of online shopping can expose sensitive financial data.

“Public Wi-Fi hotspots continue to pop up everywhere including train stations, airports, cafes, and shopping malls,” said Shane Buckley, CEO at Xirrus.

“While they offer convenience, ease of use and speed, these hotspots still remain riddled with problems like unencrypted connections, availability and performance problems, and inconsistent requirements for sign-up. In our recent survey 91% of respondents believe public Wi-Fi is not secure, but 89% use it anyway”.

Buckley did offer some practical advice to avoid a privacy scare: “When connecting to public networks, ensure that the SSID name and method of encryption are exactly as advertised by the provider; do not enter credit card details or other personal information on the provider’s network unless you are using a secure personal network (no shopping!); and make sure public networks have device-to-device communications turned off.”

Securing public Wi-Fi will be essential in changing public perception about the safety of smart cities. As to the report from Broadband Genie, it suggests that not enough has been done to raise awareness to the public about the importance of smart cities. They will help improve people’s lives through connectivity and efficiency concerning particularly: transport, healthcare and education.

 

Source: InformationAge

In this quarter’s Certes 4sight review the Infrastructure roles sector saw the most increases in permanent salaries, with the highest increase seen for Oracle Applications with a £5,000 rise in average salary fro £50,000 to £55,000.

 Other roles that saw a significant increase in permanent salary were Helpdesk Manager, Systems Architect and Oracle roles, whose salaries also rose on average by at least £5,000.

 Elsewhere in the review, development roles saw the biggest number of increases in the Certes Employed Consultant Rate with the largest increase seen in PHP, where the daily rate increased from £252 to £298.

 To find out more about the latest IT rates and salaries, and the most sought-after skills, sign up to receive Certes’ 4Sight quarterly review. 

According to an article from computerweekly.com  “Cyber security roles account for 14% of UK-based IT jobs” and the demand for IT professionals in cyber security roles are still rising.

The last few years have experienced many global companies being targeted and attacked, compromising thousands upon thousands of sensitive customer details.

In 2014 Sony had been victims of a DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack that struck Sony’s Playstation Network where millions of gamers could no longer access Sony’s online service and details of Sony Pictures employees and their families, e-mails between employees, information about executive salaries, copies of unreleased Sony films, and other information were leaked.

On August 2015, Carphone Warehouse underwent a severe cyber attack where up to 2.4 million customers’ names, date of births and bank details were compromised

Ashley Madison an ethically questionable dating site is the newest company to be in the limelight as a result of a massive security breach that saw around 37 million customer details being released out into the open.

The change to a more digital business environment involves an enormous amount of sensitive data being collected and thus companies are in constant danger of data breaches. Companies now more than ever are in need protection against this inevitable threat.

Although cyber security is a dilemma that can affect every businesses online defense, there is a currently global shortage of cyber security experts. The demand for cyber security experts is in such huge demand that some companies are offering over £100,000 per annum for someone to improve their online defense.

The UK is aware of the skills shortage and the demand for cyber security professionals has encouraged universities to offer degrees in cyber security with Staffordshire University, City University of London and Lancaster University being three of the 42 UK universities offering related cyber security degrees.

 

Cyber security resourcing at Certes

At Certes we’re seeing a steady increase in demand for cyber security skills and this sector looks set to become a challenging one for skills – with shortages already appearing, and rates consequently soaring.  It’s a good time to plan your cyber security resourcing for the coming quarter to be ahead of the war for talent.

The last couple of months has been full of uncertainty. After the results of the EU referendum, no one knew how this would affect the IT job market. There have been speculation that it would have a negative effect on permanent demand as “employing contractors [may be] more favourable over permanent staff” as employers would not be in a long term relationship with the employee and depending on the outcome, changes can be made with little to no disruption.

 

REC’s chief executive Kevin Green says “Businesses are highly cautious about committing to new hires. Economic turbulence following the vote to leave the EU is undoubtedly the root cause…[and] we’re now seeing the added problem of individuals deciding to stay put rather than change jobs in the current environment.”

 

 

With the decision of Brexit made, we can see that the effects are showing. June saw a slowdown in demand with an index score of 52.8 (score over 50 shows growth over the previous month) compared to May’s 55.0. July sees some improvement and could quell any particular fears that many may have had prior to June’s referendum decision.