DOT NET! Job Stats tell a tale!

I was looking at www.jobstats.co.uk, this is a fantastic
site that reveals a lot about changes in the UK Job
market. These changes are likely repeated elsewhere but I
have yet to find a site that gives statistics in North
America.

Firstly take a look at the chart showing the total demand
for staff. In September 1999 it was about 10,000 peaking
at 18,000 in March 2001 after which it declined
exponentially but seems to have leveled out at 4000
current advertised positions. This overall pattern repeats
itself throughout the statistics including a reduction in
hourly rates.

Now take a look at the chart for the Dot-NET Skill. Not
surprisingly this chart is exceptional showing a steady
increase from 30 in 2001 to 140 now. So to all you people,
who have become recently certified but can't find .NET
work, I say just be patient, your day in the sun is
coming. If this chart keeps moving up employers will not
be able to find enough candidates with experience and will
start hiring on the value of certification.

There is one problem however. The Dot-NET Skill is rated
at 28 per hour versus Java at 35 and J2EE at 36. Demand
for J2EE seems to have started to move up recently with
160 currently open positions. Demand for Java is still
flat with 400 open positions.

It would seem then that the demand in the Dot-NET Skill is
coming from new small scale projects with limited budgets
and has not yet progressed to large scale commercial
projects requiring team work and methodologies. The
business press indicates that this will change in due
course, for example a large insurance company recently
acquired another one and immediately put all the Mainframe
development on hold. They also decided to terminate their
outsourcing arrangements and bring all development back in-
house. Their plan is that all new development will be in
DOT NET. They have seen the benefits compared to J2EE
including a very big performance advantage and
internationalization.

Something else that you can see in the Statistics is that
demand for some Job Titles has moved up relative to the
rest. The demand for the Analyst Programmer title has
dropped precipitously while the demand for the Project
Manager title has remained somewhat steady.

In fact what the stats don't tell you is that these days
there is an increasing demand for multi-skilled people.
For example DOT Net technical strength combined with the
project management skill. Thus if your scars have grown
longer with age and you are about to sex up your CV, I
suggest placing a big emphasis on project management. You
might also think about gaining certification in some of
the PM Methodologies.

 

So what?

Surveys tend to inaccurate, in same cases, wildly so.

BTW, It should be possible (or rather law) for companies who
interview people who have clearly 'sex up' (i.e. lied) their CV, to
claim back any expenses incurred because of the waste of time that
person put the company through.

 

It never happens Kline! I remember a project some years
ago, the highest paid person was also the biggest waste of
space. His only talent was writing a sexy CV. In the end
the boss lady had to admit she made a mistake and sacked
him.

These are the sort of people we compete against when we
apply for jobs. It's like the agents that you also
despise, the most successful ones are not those that
actually know enough to be able to vet applicants but
rather those that are good at pulling the wool over
everyones eyes.

 

In the end

Naturally she was fired too, or at least reprimanded, and the whole
candidate review process overhauled.

Fortunately it's over twenty years ago since I had to applied for a
'job', I don't think I will ever have to do that again. 'What did you
say boss? I'm fired!!!'

The company I work for do not need a recruiter to 'vet applications',
they are quite able to do that themselves.

 

Fortunately it's over twenty years ago since I had to

So did you end up as a Master or a Servant?

I am not an expert in Common Law but I did touch on the
subject in business school. If someone is applying for a
permanent job, this falls under the Common Law of Master
and Servant. This law protects the employer by assigning
intellectual property rights and protecting the employer
from the employee going into competition with the employer.

On the other hand this law protects the employee by
guaranteeing payments due including termination payments
and protecting the employee from various claims that might
arise during the course of employment.

Thus after the contract of employment commences it becomes
difficult for the employer to sue the employee under
Common Law Torts.

Prior to the commencement of the contract it might be
possible for an agent or employer to sue an applicant for
false statements in a CV, but commercial Tort law is
somewhat weak in this respect, for example if someone
damages your car you can sue for the repair bill, but
generally not for the consequential economic loss (the
cost of the hire car while yours is being repaired).

Checking out claims made by job applicants is a cost that
must be borne by the employer alone.

I have been in that position myself several times managing
very large development projects. I would look at the
claims made by applicants in their CV's, do some research
then grill them on the subject matter. For example if an
applicant mentioned something like reduction to third
normal form, I would stop them there and ask them to
explain the normal forms in detail.

 

Don't listen to Kline Sphere,

He's an idiot...