I am a Java recruiter specialising at present on graduate-entry levels roles. I have noticed that the software market has picked up dramatically and with this the demand for graduate talent has increased.

Large multinationals and home grown Irish companies are committed to hiring software (Java/C#) graduates. Companies are keen to attract degree educated candidates who have strong coding (Java, C, C++ or C#) skills. They are looking for graduates who completed interesting final year projects and java graduates who are passionate about technology. On a personality level my clients are seeking candidates who will be responsible, motivated, driven and hard working developers. Communication skills both written and oral are a prerequisite.

Over the past month I have been actively trying to attract software graduates and it is apparent the Irish market has a skills shortage in this area. Software graduates with the strong Java coding skills are extremely hard to find! My thoughts are this shortage is an effect of low intake number to software courses 4 years ago when many school leavers chose to complete courses that leaned towards the property driven economy at the time. Additional to this Computer Science courses tend to have high dropout rates.

The war for software talent is intense on the Dublin market at the moment with agency recruiters and in house recruiters battling for the best graduate talent.

I am currently working on a number of great Java/ C# graduate roles and graduate programmes. If you are a graduate of Computer Science/ Computer Applications/ High Performance Computing/ Digital Media Engineering who is keen to pursue a rewarding career in software development please get in touch. Marian.Garvey@cpl.ie or Call (01) 614 6044

How to be found if you are a good Web Developer and interested in opportunities but want to be subtle?

Looking back on Web Developers that I have positioned into companies, I was interested to see where I had found most of the best Web Developers that my company portfolio wanted to hire. The various mediums where Web Developers can subtly have their CV’s or portfolios up are Google, LinkedIn, Monster.ie, Jobs.ie or registering with a Recruitment firm. There is an uncertainty that Developers will be seen by their managers hunting around for new opportunities, but this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case.

When putting your profile up on Linked In you are certainly ensuring confidence as only you will have access to your account and but by hiding your connections you will ensure that nobody will be able to see if you are connecting with Recruitment agencies or other companies.

Google is also a great way of highlighting your CV online without the appearance of actively looking. We have excellent search strings now that can find Web Developers in specific areas such as Javascript, PHP, CSS or AJAX, then we can also look up where you are currently living and match it to some suitable companies within an easy commuting distance of your home.

By registering your details on Jobs Boards you are indeed flagging that you are on the market. Your phone is undoubtedly going to hop off your desk if you are working so do expect this. Often it is helpful to mark on your CV that you would only like to be contactable via email or by telephone after office hours or in your lunch break.

By registering with a Recruitment firm you will often receive calls just to see where you are currently working and if you are open to a move. Often good web developers can be busy during the day but I would urge you to contact the recruiter back as you may find yourself 2 months later sitting at a desk in a challenging environment, working on much more leading edge technology and earning a larger salary.

Interestingly, in my experience most Web Developers I have positioned into companies have come in via LinkedIn or through our database here in Cpl Jobs, which is unsurprising as there are over 2000 PHP Web Developers alone on the Cpl database. So if you are open to a potential move and not necessarily looking it would still be definitely worth your while registering on LinkedIn or on www.cpljobs.ie. By all means don’t be afraid to let us know that you only want to be initially contacted by email. See below some Salary Increases in Quarter 2 2011 through Belinda.Bielenberg@cpl.ie.

Salary Increases for Web Developers:

In Quarter 2 of 2011 it has been noted that the following were some examples of Web Developers and PHP Developers’ Salary increases from being placed through a Specialist Recruiter.

Candidate 1: Web Developer c.3 yrs experience Mysql and HTML – €42k – €48k, plus Pension and Health.

Candidate 2: PHP Developer c. 2 yrs experience PHP, Javascript, AJAX – €35k- €38k, plus 10% Performance Bonus and Health Insurance.

Candidate 3: Web Development Manager 7 years experience PHP – €75 – €80k, plus performance Bonus.

Candidate 4: Web Designer 1 years experience CSS, HTML  –  €27k – €33k.

Candidate 5: Flash Developer 3 years experience Flash – €45k – €52k, plus Pension and Health.