Do they elaborate on the 'other' industries? Would have thought that car, estate agents, mortgage advisers, banking, coffee retailers, electrical retailers and construction would be in a rather crowded pole position?

Agreed. That report, right there, is bollocks. The industry that my company services (Commercial Real Estate) is being absolutely battered - and the same definitely goes for the building industry - many of my mates are tradesmen and are unemployed. As for financial services, well the less said about the state of that industry the better.

Not paradoxical at all... there may be a buncha newbies flooding the IT sector, but that doesn't mean they're qualified to do squat else but read from a script until they gain experience. Staff != skilled staff.

Unfortunately in a few months I'll be one of those non-experienced newbies flooding the IT market... Wish me luck!

And, eventually, you will gain those valuable skills that can only be gained through experience. You'll likely do fine, Pheonicks... your posts are well-written and logical, and you seem to have the desire to succeed.

Thank you, I appreciate the encouragement. Somedays it just feels like all there is is negativity about the IT industry; not exactly what I'm looking for when I'm sinking $1000's into a scholarly education on top of certifications.

If I didn't see anything positive about the IT industry, I'd have gotten out long, long ago.

Well it was a bit more positive at our Job Night event the other night.

A Director from The IT Job Board was there and it wasn't all doom and gloom.

I'll post when her presentation goes up on the Dorset BCS website so you can all have a read.

But did anyone actually get a job?

Without sounding like a total tosser, societies such as RICS, BCS and others all have vested interests and will not dare spout out the realities of life. If they did then people will ditch them in droves.

Very soon all it will come down to is a) can you do the job and b) how cheap can you do it for. Certs, memberships and all the other bollox of the past 10 years will amount to nothing. Even the Free Masonary cannot escape the realities of what is going on...so what hope do other VI groups have?

The negativity boils down to the fact that CERTAIN PARTS of industry had been leveraged to the point that it is simply over-subscribed and saturated. IT Support - something that anyone can do apparently - is a good example. The days of being called by and agent, interviews the next day and job offer within hours are over. The situation is obvious to me in that:

* my daily jobs emails from job sites now contain one or if any IT Support positions
* I get a twice a week email from CW jobs advising that I'm missing out on thousands of jobs???
* This time last year I used to get at least one call a day from an agent...now I get one call a month from an agent who is fishing.
* Salary and contract rates are now a lot lower then this time last year.

Yes the recession is affecting the market BUT employers are now wise to the over subscription hence why they can offer lower wages and bypass agencies. This is happening in all industries. One could say that the 'worm has turned'.

It wasn't a recruitment event so, no, no-one got a job.

The event was aimed at all local IT professionals whether BCS Members or not, to discuss the current IT employment market, areas in demand and skills required. All those who attended have indicated they felt it was an extremely useful event and we had a good cross-section of people - Members, non-Members, employed / unemployed, contrcators, agencies, training companies etc.

There was no hidden agenda and the realities of life were most definitely spouted !

Whilst I understand your view I do not share it (each to their own) and there will always be regional variations in the economy across different sectors.

Yes I forgot to add that it was just my opinion. Agreed on each to there own. Cheers UKDarkstar

Ditto tbh. Agree 100 %

A family member is a recruitment consultant specialising in the Accounts sector in Central London and he was saying that the market has changed massively.

A year ago a Graduate with a decent degree who had been at a practice to achieve there ACA (not sure on the time frames for this, but he indictated within a year or two), would then command at minimum £45K per annum more like £50K. Now they are lucky to get £35K for the same position.

Make yourself more employable and you won't have any issues.

Of course the recruiters immediately agreed to a 15% salary drop also in line with the market ?

I expect the recruiters were quick to upskill and make themselves more employable ?

Of course its not hard to upskill when you don't have any skills is it ?

Phrase Pot calling Kettle Black mean anythin to ya ?

He is paid a percentage of whatever he gets for the individual going for the job. The more he gets the candidate the more he earns. Therefore he has a vested interest in getting the maximum possible!

Right now he has to place more people to keep himself on the same money. Thats how it works in the UK, not sure about the US.

Edit: Forgot to mention he also stated that they are getting over twice the amount of applicants for every position. Simple supply and demand from the companies highering point of view.

Ditto again.

With many agencies the percentage cut can vary, so it can be in the interest of the agent to play both ends and widen the middle.

Many agents would also rather place more candidates for less rather than put in extra legwork to earn one candidate a higher salary.

I seriously doubt the numbers of tranined accountancy candidates and positions changes by much year on year.(small sample).

I know how you feel, I also spend money on a scholar education and I'm also doing cert's on top in an attempt to give myself an extra 'edge' towards others. But I have to say that while I'm at school I do notice a huge difference in how people are driven to sucseed on the job market, cause most simply aren't, they learn what they have to learn to get there education done and not a dime more. Hopefully that difference will come through in job interviews in a few months.