3 Questions to Ask When Planning Your Next Career Move
Practical considerations to take into account while you’re looking at retraining options
Over the past few weeks, maybe you’ve been hearing the B-word (rhymes with ‘exit’) so many times that part of you now switches off when you hear it. While it’s a crucial consideration for every UK business this year, all the discussions we’ve had seem to conclude that nothing is certain.
The same goes for a potential upcoming global recession — even experts in the field have no idea what could happen. These two factors make for an incredibly uncertain year ahead.
We have been reflecting on Makers’ role during this time of upheaval. As always, our mission is to accelerate careers of tech professionals by integrating education and employment.
Yet at the start of this year in particular, it’s a good time to discuss what makes a career stable during volatile times. Perhaps part of the answer is to observe where the market is headed and to follow what is likely to happen, instead of solely focusing on current events.
There are several questions we’d recommend anyone ask themselves.
1. Is this industry growing?
There has never been a better time to learn how to become a software developer.
For those unfamiliar with what a software developer actually does — their role be defined as the creative mind behind a computer program. Some developers build applications while others work on systems.
Software is still eating the world. For many businesses digital transformation is a necessity, not a luxury, regardless of the economic situation. The demand for software developers is a very strong, long-term trend that should not be affected by Brexit.
We know that top technical talent in the UK is always in high demand. BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT published a report for digital leaders in 2018 examining the capabilities needed in IT organisations in the near-future.
Top priorities for roles on the increase? Business transformation and organisational change, as well as roles in change management, transformation consultancy, business analysis and cybersecurity.
Other growing areas included mobile and application development, the internet of things, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
2. Who is hiring?
Taking a global outlook — U.S. News & World Report has recently ranked the job of software developer as the number one job across all fields of work.
Due to the ever-increasing presence of technology across our lives and industries, employment of software developers is projected to grow 24 percent from 2016 to 2026 (much faster than the average for all occupations).
Large companies in the IT sector include Capgemini, Cognizant, Google, and Microsoft, some of which are Makers hiring partners. Our other hiring partners include major telecommunications companies like Vodafone.
Yet software developer jobs aren’t limited to IT fields. We have helped with hiring in technical talent in other sectors such as:
- Retail — with major retailers such as Tesco;
- Public sector — with central government agencies;
- Financial services — with J.P. Morgan and Santander (video below).
3. How can I increase my employability?
Learning more is the key to earning more. Yet so many training providers don’t see employment as their duty. At Makers, we offer a job offer guarantee. We’re confident that if you are accepted at Makers, complete your training and put a genuine effort into looking for a job, you will be successful.
In fact, you will be refunded in full if you don’t get an offer of a software development job after the course.
If you’re an EU student, according to the current information plans of the Home Office, if you finish the course before 2020, you will still benefit from the same working regulations as EEA citizens do now, which means that the job offer guarantee will be upheld for you, even without having a pre-settled status in the UK. (For more on this please see our FAQ section here.)
