Future IT job prospects

Chiorino

Hi Folks,

I'm just looking for a bit of advice. What areas of IT would someone be advised to train for at present (what are the growth areas) and what courses would be relevant to these type of positions.

I don't have a huge amount of IT experience so please excuse the naivety of the post. I'm just looking for a few pointers from anyone with experience in the area so I can at least get started on looking in the right place. Thanks.

JJJJNR

Try and get some virtualisation certs, VMware are dominating this area and will be for the foreseeable future..

Chiorino

JJJJNR wrote: »

Try and get some virtualisation certs, VMware are dominating this area and will be for the foreseeable future..

Thanks for that but would you know how to go about this? What would be the starting point in terms of types of third level courses?

veXual

No Third level course will really benefit you in terms of virtualisation. VMware provide their own virtualization qualification VCP (VMware Certified Professional) but it can be a bit costly. I'm not 100% sure how you wuld go about getting it though.

keithclancy

Chiorino wrote: »

Thanks for that but would you know how to go about this? What would be the starting point in terms of types of third level courses?

You need more experience than courses tbh,

New Horizons in Dublin do courses:
http://www.newhorizonsireland.ie/LocalWeb/Ireland/VMware.aspx

Its hard to say what would be good without knowing your interests/what you want.

Eoin

Chiorino - IT is an extremely varied industry with room for people with different levels of technical knowledge. Focussing on very niche areas like virtualisation is a bit pointless if you've not much experience.

What interests you about IT? Have a think about what you would like to do rather than just picking a growth area. Like any other job, IT can be incredibly dull if you're not interested in the area you're working in.

daigo75

eoin wrote: »

What interests you about IT? Have a think about what you would like to do rather than just picking a growth area. Like any other job, IT can be incredibly dull if you're not interested in the area you're working in.

+1 for the wise advice, which I can confirm (personal experience).

irishguy

eoin wrote: »

Chiorino - IT is an extremely varied industry with room for people with different levels of technical knowledge. Focussing on very niche areas like virtualisation is a bit pointless if you've not much experience.

What interests you about IT? Have a think about what you would like to do rather than just picking a growth area. Like any other job, IT can be incredibly dull if you're not interested in the area you're working in.

+ 1

Defiantly pick something you like, if you enjoy it you will find it very easy to get a job and more money.

I can tell you Java development and .NET is big in demand at the moment, but I would only do it if you really enjoy it.

qwytre

Jave always seems to be in demand (over the last few years) followed by microsoft technologies like .Net, SQL Server.

Look, IT will for the foreseeable future be a strong industry because it is so prevalent. Do what you enjoy it IT, thats the main thing.

I would advise that you build up some general business skills too as well as the IT part. IT by itself wouldn't be as valuable as someone with the IT skills plus a good business knowledge. You need to be able to understand the context of IT projects and in time you will probably be guiding IT projects more than just writing code. Its like being a brick layer without knowing the overall house plan.

In terms of skills I would always say database skills (SQL, database design) is the first place to start. Then move onto web based technologies like asp.net. You might then start getting interested in business intelligence and reporting. You'll find out what you like as you go along.

You also have the whole area of mobile apps and social media too if that interests you.

onemorechance

This is a useful website with statistics and trends on "Web and Internet Technology Usage Statistics". It could be useful for you when deciding on what areas and what techologies in those areas, that you may want to study.

http://trends.builtwith.com/

fguihen

One thing I will say for IT in Ireland, a lot of jobs are being outsourced to low cost labour countries. Dev, Support, monitoring, even design are all fields that I have seen outsourced first hand.

To survive in IT in Ireland for the next 20 years you need to be concentrating on getting into a more architect oriented role if you want to remain technical, or a Project Manager role if you don’t like the technical nitty gritty so much.

I know plenty of people will argue this point with me, but I am only commenting on what I have experienced first hand. Ireland will always have the standard IT jobs, but huge quantities of the jobs currently available will be outsourced in 10-15 years time. It is up to you as an employee to work yourself into a position where you are valuable to a company in the internal knowledge that you have, so that you can take on an advisory/architect role who are willing to get their hands dirty if needs be, or be able to manage an IT project ( release, deployment etc) from beginning to end, and know enough to keep it running smoothly.

Dev and Support personell are a dime a dozen in places like India, and they have companies that take up huge campus’s, containing many huge buildings and sleeping quarters for the staff ( one company I am familiar with has workspace for 12’000ish employees, and dorm facilities for 4000. This is just one company of many).

Concentrate on getting specialized knowledge of your current org if you aim to stay there, all the while working on the high level skills that are transferrable between organizations.

That’s my 2c anyway.

tk123

My 2 cents would be security & compliance. Bloody PCI!! :pac:

DublinWriter

Chiorino wrote: »

What areas of IT would someone be advised to train for at present (what are the growth areas)

That's a bit like asking what areas of the medical industry would someone be advised to train for...IT is a big field, generally roles are broken down at the top level as being either technical or business in nature.

As was said before, I think the main growth areas will be in governance (business) and server virtualisation (technical).

Get yourself a niche skill and try and stay out of the generics (programming, BA) as these are being continually outsourced to the third world.