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| CURRENT SECTION :: Market Reports | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
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It is a conundrum as old as contracting itself: how to advance up the career ladder? With no benevolent employer to provide training and the prospect of advancement, contractors can be pigeon holed, and a CV can suggest capability in one area only. Of course, specialisation can be very lucrative and when searching for technical expertise, employers will tend towards a master in one field over a jack of all trades. But there are also rewards to be had ascending the career ladder and gaining greater managerial nous. Some of the most valuable qualifications, in terms of hourly rate, are those connected to managerial responsibility. In a list supplied to us by itjobswatch of the most lucrative qualifications requested, PMI, PMP and Prince2 feature prominently. They garner average advertised rates of £64.10, £42.30 and £31.30 respectively. The most valuable qualification is an MBA, at £125 per hour, though this implies top end management consultant roles that are different to the traditional remit and interest of IT contractors. The difficulty though is moving from technical to managerial jobs in a field where expertise can prove as limiting as it is lucrative. Derren Bevington, Support Manager with Elan IT, suggests that contractors think long and hard about what they want before investing in project management training. “It’s all about progress and what you want. If a contractor is just interested in the money, then it’s not a good move,” he says. A move towards management should be based on a desire for greater managerial responsibility that can bring rewards of a financial and professionally satisfying nature. Bevington suggests that the best first move is to, “take ownership of projects. When the PM is not around, contractors need to push themselves forward as the number two. Employers don’t often have interims in management roles, but becoming a team leader is feasible.” While some managerial experience can be gained on the job, a formal PM position will not come about without recognised certification. Caroline Edwards, a Director with Harvey Nash IT explains that, “formal project managers will not be taken on unless they have the qualification and track record.” Choosing the right qualification is vital. Bevington notes that, “for IT contractors the best route to get in to management is prince2 or ITIL. ITIL has now become the industry standard for best practice. It was a public sector discipline, but has now moved in to the private sector. A good way is to get in to a leadership role initially and then take one or the other. Which one you take depends on where you want to work. Investment banks all use Prince2. For most others it is ITIL, but the banks seem to have an ‘if it aint broke don’t fix it’ attitude.” The statistics bear him out. While the MBA, generic PMI certification and PMP qualification are the first, second and seventh most lucrative qualifications to have, they appear relatively infrequently in advertisements, the last two appearing in just 0.078% and 0.063% of all advertised roles. While Prince2 (20th on the list at £31.30) and ITIL (37th at £20.50), bring in lesser rates, they are much more commonly requested, each appearing in around 0.5% of advertised roles. It is worth noting that in terms of frequency of request, both are ranked much higher (11th and 14th respectively) and the 2nd most commonly requested skill - Microsoft certification – appears in just 3.3% of advertisements. But both Bevington and Edwards sound a cautionary note to those looking to make the move. “It does happen,” says Elan’s Bevington, “but the main thing against contractors is that they can leave and the firm has to hire again.” Edwards agrees, noting that, “you need to be fully qualified and trained,” to make the leap. Matt Farquharson Feb 16, 2005 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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