BuilderAU released a recent article titled Developer skills outlook 2007: What’s hot for employers. There are a few things to take away from the article, that seem to apply not only to Australia, but elsewhere.
“The biggest issue that we see generally speaking is that the overall skill level of the developers is not where it needs to be,” said Jeff Pope, Asia Pacific vice president for Agitar Software.
The general idea of skills shortage. And its not that there’s a shortage of people in the market, the universities and TAFEs are churning them out by the dozen; its the lack of highly-skilled people. So where should aspiring IT people aim to spend their passion and hone their talents and ambitions in 2007?
It would seem that it’s in the Java and C# markets. Web 2.0 hasn’t taken off in Australia yet (probably because of the lack of ubiquitous availability of the Internet), but its an emerging market and Internet-based companies will be pressured to have lots of JavaScript-goodness.
And FOSS fans, don’t worry, you’re not left out: the LAMP jobs are a calling as well.
“There will be an increase in the number of companies using MySQL, PHP, and Linux as it gives them control over the development cycle and total costs, and reduces some of the sunk costs,” Manzoori said. “Developers with skills and passion in these areas should consequently be in demand.”
Average salary survey for 2006
Remuneration is always a key motivator, and Hays has released their annual salary survey. Junior testers are expected to start off at a little more than a full-time checkout-chick at Coles!
In Part II of their article, which circled around certification, there are some interesting points to take away from it as well. About how motivated, quick learning, and finding new information quickly, are key things a good developer needs. Having a string of papers or titles behind one’s name might not necessarily be the best solution, as experience is also valued over paper qualification. This is where Australia, clearly differs from Asia (in a good way).
Just under two more months till 2007 is here. If thinking about training & certification, especially in the open source arena, I can heartily recommend the LPI, and the MySQL 5.0 Developer & DBA certification, mainly because of cost (you can get an LPI proctor to give out the papers, to save even more). If you have a bit more coin, one of the Red Hat offerings are bound to be useful too.
Here’s hoping you have a prosperous new year, in getting that dream job and dream salary (maybe thanks to your newly developed skills).
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