There are plenty of Software Development jobs in Ireland
Yes, it’s true there are plenty of Software Development jobs in Ireland so why is there difficulty in filling them?
Let me take an example of the type of software development positions open, our fictitious client is looking for a .Net software developer, > 6 yrs experience, working in .Net Framework 4 in the Telecoms industry. Today’s well paid IT jobs have like any other job, a criteria to be met when analyzing a suitable candidate’s job application.
1. Relevant Years Experience
Our clients are generally looking for an average experience of between 4 & 7 years practical development experience (Some are looking for 12+ years experience within a certain discipline). Degree time does not count..
2. Relevant Technology
Another criteria can be based on the specific technologies that our clients are looking for, it could be open source or proprietary, depending on what your chosen field specializes in
- Java – Open Source
- .Net – Proprietary
You rarely get an overlap in these technologies with a candidate, most of the time you’re either Java or .Net..
3. Relevant Industry
This is one of the final high level criteria’s that our clients look for, so you have the right amount of experience, technology but, are you familiar with a specific industry?
E.G.
- Finance
- Telecoms
- Airline
- Government
So to illustrate my point let’s compare two professions, the first a doctor, and the time it takes to become a doctor, roughly, degree 5 years, 2 years residency, 2 years specialty, that’s a total of 9 years to become a doctor in a specific area e.g. oncology, dermatology, etc.
If I compare this to our clients requirement above for the .Net software developer, degree 4 years, 6 years practical work experience, that’s 10 years to fill full my clients requirements, a year more than it takes to become an oncologist and although my comparison is a little disproportionate, it’s there to illustrate that the current software development vacancies require highly qualified/experienced professionals and there are a finite number of resources in the market that have this skill set (And the vast majority of them are already in high paying jobs)
So my client has 3 options, pay more money to attract the candidate, look internationally or lowering the job spec requirements, sometimes none of these are an option!!
What has exasperated the current predicament was the dot.com bubble that turned a lot of students off computer science courses between 2002 to 2005/6 and instead decided to go into construction based courses, during this entire period IT jobs market has been robust, computer science graduates coming out of today’s education system are being snapped up but it will take a few more years before they will be able to full fill my requirement for experienced software developer roles..
So in finishing, there are a lot of high end Software jobs out there but a shortage of relevant experienced/qualified candidates..
JOHN POWER
