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Skills that help Canadian IT professionals find work in a turbulent market
What are the skills that will get you ahead of the game in today's tough IT jobs market? Are there key hiring trends and opportunities you can take advantage of? Experts offer candid answers to these and other topical questions.5/4/2009 5:00:00 AM By: Joaquim P. Menezes
While the employment situation in Canada's IT sector is as turbulent as in other industries, there are many "bright spots" that IT professionals can take advantage of, industry watchers say.
"In general, candidates who combine tech expertise with a breadth of business experience will have a definite advantage," noted Dave O'Brien, eastern Canada vice-president, Eagle Professional Resources Inc. in an interview with ITBusiness.ca
See related story and video: Hot skills that get you ahead of the game in Canada's IT jobs market
Eagle is an Ottawa-based technology staffing firm with offices in 10 cities across Canada.
Right now there continues to be a demand for senior business analysts, senior project managers, and systems architects, noted O'Brien, who keeps his pulse on the shifting IT hiring practices of hundreds of businesses across the country.
"Those kinds of positions aren't as vulnerable to offshoring as jobs involving testing and coding."
On the issue of "hot skills" though, there are significant demographic variations, with senior management in various regions across Canada adopting very different approaches.
For instance, in Vancouver and Victoria, where many employers are being cautious and putting big projects on hold, in-demand skills are Siebel, quality assurance (QA), and customer relationship management (CRM), said Eagle CEO Kevin Dee in a blog post.
In Calgary, he said, major projects are also being put on hold and many contractors are becoming available. Pockets of hiring activity here are for roles such as business analysts (BA) and project managers (PM), and people with SharePoint, and LiveLink skills.
"Edmonton's hot jobs are for Oracle, BA, and PM positions." That city, he said, is still seeing many government RFPs for IT positions, but far fewer opportunities are coming out as "live orders."
Regina's IT market is still relatively strong due to government and crown corporations, Dee said. Hiring there remains consistent, with fewer job cuts, and "hot" skill sets include BAs and PMs.
In sharp contrast, Winnipeg is "very slow" with limited investment in new IT projects, and many organizations focusing on maintaining systems and infrastructure.
In-demand jobs within the Winnipeg market include network administrators, help desk analysts, and business analysts.
Page Navigation 1) Turbulent times in Toronto. - Page 12) Contract work getting popular. - Page 2
3) Three reasons for optimism. - Page 3
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