Continuing ICT education is becoming more important in the labour marketplace
NEW figures have revealed that there are now more than 8,000 job vacancies in Ireland for people with computer skills, according to ICT Ireland, which represents the high tech and information and communications technology (ICT) sector for IBEC. For anyone wanting to fill one of these vacancies, some form of certification has now become a basic prerequisite.
The most common certifications held by IT professionals are vendor specific, and most of these would be Microsoft related, according to Ross Bolton, sales director at training company SureSkills. "Every IT person needs to have Microsoft certification and we are still seeing a strong demand for courses in that area. The service-management qualification Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and the security-related certifications from Red Hat are also quite popular."
There has been significant growth in the ITIL certification here over the past three or four years, according to Ruaidhri McSharry, managing director of training company CTI Effective Service Management (Ireland). "ITIL allows auditability and provides a framework to ensure proper processes are followed. We have noticed growth in demand of between 25-50pc in the past six months." The ITIL course takes three days.
From an employer perspective, McSharry notes that there is a heightened expectation that the certification staff achieve is relevant and contributes a recognised result. The push towards increased levels of useful certification across the IT profession is driven by employers and individuals alike. Those working in the field are choosing to take courses to enhance their positions within companies, or to enable them to change jobs.
"Any employer recruiting IT staff uses certification as a benchmark for them getting in the door. Lack of certification can hold people back, " Bolton notes.
Certain certifications can catapult IT professionals forward in their careers. For example, only a handful of people in this country have Cisco certifications as they involve a lot of work and are expensive. One of this rare breed is Oumar Dakissia, recently appointed Cisco Network Specialist at Complete Network Technology, a leading network service company.
It took Dakissia three years to acquire his Cisco qualifications, which he says definitely drove his career.
"Without certification, the companies that employed me would not have been so interested." Prior to joining Complete Network Technology, Dakissia combined the roles of architect with that of IT engineer in the construction industry in Tokyo, Japan, working on a range of high-profile projects.
Jim Friars, chief utive of the Irish Computer Society (ICS), agrees that certification makes all the difference when employers are assessing candidates.
"Employers are always going to look for something that quantifies and verifies a sand the higher up you go in IT the more they will expect specific certifications."
ICS has recently introduced SCert, which is an overarching programme that enables individuals and organisations to profile, validate and certify their job roles and skills as ICT professionals, to a consistent and recognised standard. It takes a day or two to complete and costs 200. "There are currently 1,000 people involved in this external validation process. We aim that 10,000 people will have completed it in the next year.
The more people that are involved, the easier it will be to identify skills gaps in the economy."
More courses Another recently introduced ICS certification course aimed at closing skills gaps is EUCIP, the European Certificate for Informatics Professionals. The objective of the programme is to offer certification of IT competence at an intermediate educational level to ensure a common standard, which is accepted by industry, government and public organisations. EUCIP will increase the labour market value of certified IT practitioners, says Friars.
"In view of the decline in the numbers of students opting for careers in IT, EUCIP can offer added value to IT qualifications through its pan-European dimension.
The fact that EUCIP, which is a professional entry-level qualification, is standardised across Europe gives holders an attractive and versatile certification, which will allow them to apply for IT jobs all across Europe, and allow employers to recruit internationally also."
About 100,000 people are employed in the IT area in this country, and of this amount, roughly 35,000 are working in software-related jobs. Each year, a total 45,000 people complete ICS programmes, although a significant proportion would be at the user end. Several thousand complete professional certification courses, says Friars. "It is critical that the IT profession defines itself. It needs to be tightened up.
There is not enough transparency in job roles. SCert is a mechanism to validate the profession."
COMPANIES TAKE ON COLLEGE STUDENTS
High-tech companies are to give crucial work experience to students during their FInal two years at college under a new initiative announced at the end of May. A process of interviews for applicant students has already started.
This new internship programme is a joint initiative between ICT Ireland and the Higher Education Authority. It is designed to create a pool of graduates from a range of hi-tech disciplines for the ICT sector and will involve over 50 students spending two days a week in paid employment in the high-tech industry over two years.
ICT companies taking part in this programme include: Intel, Hewlett Packard, Xilinx, Ericsson, Orbiscom, Ocuco, Pramerica Systems and SAP Ireland. ICT Ireland would also welcome participation by other companies in the ICT sector.
The pilot stage of this programme will start in October this year, with over 50 students participating. Students taking part in the programme are studying electronic engineering, physics and computer science in Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin City University, NUI Maynooth, Institute of Technology Tallaght and Institute of Technology Bladstown.
