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| CURRENT SECTION :: Market Reports | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
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Welcome to this week’s news. I used to be worried about bugs in my code, now I’m worried about bugs in my house. And we’re not talking bed-bugs here. Let’s just say that I have been strongly advised that this week's article should cover contracts in the Security area otherwise they might start “finding” weapons of mass destruction hidden in my daughter’s gerbil cage… or something. So – what is security? Are we talking about someone who blocks sploogle.com (don’t bother going there – you just get redirected to PremiumBabes.com whenever you click on anything interesting – apparently) on the company firewall just when you just feel like a bit of light relief? Or that person who denies you the right to fritter away your working hours getting the latest smilies and messaging your mates with conversations that go like: “LOL IMHO He’s boff. GHTR GNR” or whatever the latest acronyms are. BTW – if anybody knows what “GHTR” or “GNR” (apart from Great Northern Railways”) stand for, let me know. Email address at the end. So, I am grateful to Steve Bakewell for his assistance in getting this week’s stats together. He’s given me some acronyms (seeing as I know nothing about security myself) that might make this week’s article make sense. He’s also sitting opposite my front window in an old Ford Sierra (but he doesn’t know I’ve spotted him yet) with one of those pathetic Gadget Shop night vision telescopes. It’s about as effective as those see-thru x-ray specs glasses you could order from Marvel comics where you thought you might be able to see your teacher’s bra or something. Anyway, back to business. The lesson, although it seems counter-intuitive – is not to put too much detail in your job search criteria. For example, jobs with just the word “security” in the description are doing a lot better than last year. We’re looking at around 400 job postings per month now. Not fantastic, but not bad either. However, if you put in more specific definitions your hit rate is going to plummet – UNIX and security will get you around 10% of the security contracts, Windows and Security will generally get around 20%. The other thing that Steve gave me was lots of acronyms to do with security – MI5, USB, MP3, YMCA, HIV – I lost count. Apparently, some of these are important in the field of security. Unfortunately, CCSA, CCSE and BS7799 are the only ones that have shown any form of interest, and they’ve all been in single figures. The others have hardly appeared. But I guess there are only so many people who can stand listening to bugged conversations with Clare Short. Rates-wise, having CCSS or CCSE would get you a rate above £45/hr. CISSP disappeared from the radar (geddit?) in December last year, but was down to £20/hr by then. For BS7799, rates have been creeping upwards from £20/hr in November last year to just under £40/hr now. For security generally, the rate is around £30/hr. Location-wise, in London there was a leap from 45 postings in December to 145 postings in January 2004. In March there have already been 144 postings and we’ve still got a week to go. In Scotland, after a brief jump in October 2004, security roles have dwindled dramatically. And we’re talking single figures here. Strangely, contracts in the UK generally have risen noticeably from 11 postings in October last year to over 350 last month. This month is looking very favourable too, with over 360 postings so far. Wales has picked up, although a leap from one posting in January to 4 postings this month is not exactly something to get excited about. And Ireland’s even worse. By the way, I haven’t a clue what any of these acronyms stand for (Steve – I’m pulling your leg – can you get rid of the team with the directional microphones who’ve just set up camp in the oak tree in the back garden? They’re disturbing the squirrels). I’m beginning to wonder whether filling your CV with random collections of letters might look good (although, as I stated before, don’t put them in your search string). So your CV could contain paragraphs such as: Now an accredited member of COM with certifications in PLE-Te(A-grade), B.O.ll.(gold standard) and OCKS(currently bronze but resitting the main exam). And I’m sure you’d pass the first stage of the interview. If you’re thinking of becoming the next James Bond, don’t bother looking for contracts that contain MI5 or MI6 in the search criteria. You would get as many hits as England’s effort in last year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Mention GCHQ and you will either be taken away for questioning or, worse, find only one or two contracts. Even putting the word secret gets you fewer than 20 postings per month. But what about the people who protect us from the nasty beasties that can attack us via the Internet? The guardians of firewalls (am I getting a little too LOTRs now?). What can they expect? Well, firewall contract requirements have been increasing, from mid-thirties in September last year, to over 100 this month. Rates-wise, good news. After dropping to £24/hr in December, rates are now back to the £33/hr level that they were in around September last year. What else can I tell you about security? Seeing as every political scandal seems to be called somethinggate I thought I’d see what sort of money was available there. Strangely, as opposed to all the other rates I’ve seen, there was a peak of £43/hr in December last year and yet has now slumped to the same rate as it was in September 2003, which is around £29/hr. I think December was a bit of a glitch because the rest of the sample seldom exceeded £30/hr. Having said that, the growth in demand has trebled in the last six months. So there don’t seem to be as many contracts in security as we might have expected. I think it’s probably because we’re not supposed to know about them. In the meantime, I hope this article has helped. Next week you can look forward to a coverage of contracts for technical authors as well as announcement of an amazing new product that we shall be launching. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at alan.potter@webalertz.com. And remember: you didn’t see me – right? www.webalertz.com Mar 25, 2004 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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