Whatever the details of the government’s public spending cuts turn out to be, one thing already seems certain: the market in contract jobs is virtually certain to get a lot more competitive. And if you’re an IT contractor feeling the prospect of a chill wind drawing over a shrinking market, you might do well to heed some advice from the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET): upgrade your qualifications – fast.
The online technology news website, V3.co.uk, has just reported on the IET’s re-launch of a qualification it first introduced last year aimed at stimulating the IT market and enabling more contractors to obtain a widely recognised award. The award, issued by the respected Engineering Council to Information and Communications Technology Technicians (ICTTech) demonstrates that a high standard of skill has been attained in core areas such as software or system installation, maintenance, operation, hardware, administration, security, incident/change/problem management, fault diagnosis and fixing.
The IET’s own research suggests that, of the 400 UK companies it surveyed, 45 per cent were not planning to add any new IT staff during the next year. Where recruitment plans were in place, 51 per cent of employers insisted that they’d be looking for highly qualified people to fill the vacancies. The blunt fact is that, in these competitive times, employers will appoint those with visible qualifications to their name. Experienced IT veterans in the world of contracting may regard this new ICTTech award as a mere bauble which says little about real experience and aptitude; but in today’s climate, it could well be the bauble which lands you a plum job.
