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What you Need to Consider Before Changing your Career

Changing career takes a considerable amount of commitment and determination. If you feel that you want to change careers, ask yourself these 10 questions to see if a career change is right for you… What Do You Want? Self-assessment is the first step in making any big life decision. The only way to make an informed decision about a career change is to learn about yourself first. Understanding you and your work-related values, interests, personality type and aptitudes will help you know exactly what it is you want. Do You Have What It Takes? If you’re interested in pursuing a new career, you need to do your research. Look at the job market, understand what hiring managers want, what the expectations are and the skills you need. It is important to recognise what is expected before diving right in. It’s important to note that you may also be expected to work unpaid, in an interning capacity, until you gain enough experience. What Can You Offer? If you choose this new career what exactly is it that you can bring to the table? Do you have transferable skills or industry knowledge? If not, you may need to return to education before you can move into this new field. Who Do You Know Who Can Help? Even though you want a career change, the network you’ve made in your current role could help. Look at who you know and see if anyone has advice in the industry you’re interested in. LinkedIn is a great place to start. Is There Long-Term Prospects? Can you go far with this career? Changing career is a big step and you need to figure out in advance if it is worth it. Ask yourself where you see yourself in 5 years with this career and 10 years and so on. If the career path isn’t clear, you may need to reconsider. Is This A Good Time? Timing is everything. You need to take a look at where you are in your life and decide whether changing careers is feasible. It’s a huge commitment, so you need to be sure the timing is right as well as the career. Is It Affordable? Changing careers may involve taking a pay cut. You could have 10 years’ experience working, but if it’s not in the field you’re going into you can’t expect to be on the same salary. Can you afford to earn less or even nothing at all, because you may be required to do an unpaid internship? This is probably the most important question of them all but it’s important to remember that higher earnings don't necessarily mean job satisfaction. Do You Have Your Family & Friends Support? Having the support of your family and friends can be crucial in succeeding with a career change. Having that bit of encouragement can really help. Also, it’s important to listen to the people close to you. If your family and friends aren’t being supportive of your decision, you may be making the wrong one. Are You Willing To Return to Education? Qualifications aren’t everything but they are important to hiring mangers. If you don’t have transferable skills and industry experience, returning to education may be the only way to move into a new career. Are Your Expectations Realistic? Weigh up the facts. Can you really do this? Talk it through with someone you trust. Sometimes when you really want something it’s easy to get carried away in excitement. Don’t rush into it and make sure the change is possible. Transitioning to a new career is difficult, but if you are confident it’s the right decision for you and you persevere, you should have no trouble succeeding.

IT Jobs - Market Overview 2018

“Technology job sector in Ireland to grow by 23% in 2018.” Thoughts on the Market Java/Scala 2017 was a busy year in the world of development in Ireland. We saw more companies fully embracing forward-thinking methodologies and technologies such as microservices architecture, continuous deployment with cloud-based infrastructure (Azure, AWS etc.), following a test first approach within heavily agile environments. There has been continued growth in functional programming with Scala, F#, Clojure, Haskell, Elixir and Erlang heading the list. There has also been a big spike in businesses incorporating artificial intelligence and all the possibilities it brings; machine learning, natural language processing and cognitive analytics for example. It will definitely be interesting to watch throughout 2018 to see what can be achieved! Many companies are moving traditional full-stack development roles towards working closely with frontend teams, with many java developers learning some of the ever popular JavaScript frameworks such as AngularJS. The difficulty for employers throughout 2018 will be much the same as 2017 – attracting top talent! With many companies looking to scale up their operations, competition continues to be fierce leading many companies to look outside of Ireland for top talent. With many companies recognising the importance of the candidate’s experience throughout the hiring process, we expect to see a massive decrease in what can be painstakingly lengthy application and interview processes to increase efficiency and chance of securing the talent they need. IT Security/IT Risk/IT Audit As technology led environments in the workplace grow, so too does the cyber security risk of that company. Now more than ever, a company’s brand depends on its performance and conduct in security risks and data breaches. These advancements along with the imminent GDPR regulations should place information security at the forefront of any business’ priorities. IT risk and compliance are at an all-time high in demand with the impending GDPR regulations. Companies are now revising their IT risk and compliance policies to ensure they are not in breach of any data protection regulations given the severe financial and reputational implications this would have. As a result, there has been an increase in the demand for IT security managers, IT auditors and IT risk specialists, who can review a company’s policies and procedures and design an airtight security strategy. GDPR expertise is now probably the most sought-after skillset in the Irish job market. Infrastructure With more and more companies investing in their IT infrastructure to upgrade systems and avoid any ‘down-time’, we are seeing a rise in IT infrastructure engineer positions moving towards project-based work as well as BAU support for both internal and external clients. Product Multinational product companies are keen to focus on EMEA market, and Dublin is often their first choice. Due to that, they need reliable, capable and motivated product managers and product owners to support their products and develop new ones. As the number of product companies grows, product professionals will be in high demand in 2018. Microsoft/.Net The development market is fast changing, therefore candidates and clients need to be able to adapt. As a result, .Net candidates will again be in demand for 2018. Clients are looking for candidates that are experts in their domain and who can bring added value to their team and company. Mobile & Gaming With creativity at an all-time high, the Irish gaming industry is thriving. Allowing candidates to combine their passion for working with ground-breaking technologies with their love of gaming, we are seeing a noticeable trend of more and more candidates moving towards this area. From award-winning freelance game makers to multinational companies, Ireland has now established itself as a hotspot for gaming. Further to this, Ireland has hosted international events such as Games eXpo, PlayersXpo, and GamerCon showing our strong standing on an international stage. As a result, 2018 will see an increase in not only traditional game developers but also new hybrid roles including gaming mathematicians, sound engineers, game producers as well as gaming project managers. Data With a global movement towards data intelligence, Ireland is now a world leader in big data, machine learning, AI, fintech, and cloud computing. Companies can no longer expect to compete on a global platform without exploring their data in depth. Furthermore, smaller organisations are beginning to catch the “big data bug” after realizing the potential behind the information they already hold. We are therefore seeing an increase in roles within this area, from BI analysts to data engineers, ETL developers to big data developers. There also seems to be a rise in not only data science positions but also in data modelling roles. Web Development The expectation of what a website should do is growing. Developers are being asked to build very complicated things very quickly and have them work very well and very fast. Companies that are asking what the trends are today are already behind the competition, companies need to be asking what the trends will be tomorrow. The demand for skilled developers will continue to rise as companies continue to outbid each other in order to keep good talent. This, in turn, will continue to drive up market salaries and competition across the market. QA With more and more software companies choosing Ireland as their base of operations, the job market for IT professionals is booming, in particular, the need for QA engineers has never been higher. Companies are investing hugely in their QA teams and we will continue to see this rise going into 2018. Business Analyst We are seeing an increase in the number of business analyst positions that are becoming available. Project Management The job market for project managers is also increasing. Employers are looking for project managers who are coming from a business analyst background and have the ability to be hands on. Salaries In a market that continues to be heavily candidate led in 2018, we expect to see a further uplift in salaries across the year for all levels of experience. Candidates can expect to receive multiple offers as well as counteroffers from their current company. This will focus attention on overall benefits packages as well as career prospects within a company. Top Tip for 2018 Demonstrate a willingness to explore new technologies. With many companies seeking to explore the latest options, hiring managers are increasingly looking for candidates who have a similar outlook. Looking for an IT job? Check out our latest jobs here