Crystal Umbrella

PAYE umbrella contractors supplying the IT skills market might wish to take heed of recent advice proffered by a leading recruitment specialist on how to clinch the best work placements.  Professionals in IT contracting are widely respected for their technical expertise, but according to Richard Nott, the Website Director of specialist IT recruiter CWJobs.co.uk, this is fast becoming a criterion to be filed under ‘necessary but insufficient.’

Even though there is a significant shortage of IT expertise in the UK at present, IT professionals need to have additional ‘softer skills’ to do well in contemporary businesses.  Mr Nott elaborated on this by noting the new shift toward a ‘much more modern way of working,’ which he believes is demanding good communication skills from IT professionals as well as technical knowledge.

Referring to what he called ‘agile methodology,’ Mr Nott explained that it was now incumbent on IT professionals to develop ’softer’ communication skills in the organisations they work within,  as they are increasingly called upon to negotiate effectively with the commercial part of the business  to deliver the IT projects the company actually requires.  Today, the conventional model of an IT technician ‘sitting in the corner bashing out code all day’ is outmoded; today’s companies require people who can translate that code to the business end in plain, straightforward language and deliver required projects in time with business needs.

IT contractors working through umbrella companies might need to start purging their speech of techno-babble as a matter of urgency.  Those with the softer skills Mr Nott identifies may well find themselves securing the best placements.

During this current economic downturn, most employers have been cautious regarding regarding the hiring of staff. However, recruitment consultants Badenoch & Clark are warning employers that if they do not act on hiring new employees now they could find that they miss out when the economy turns around.

Managing Director of Badenoch & Clark, Neil Wilson, warned that too many employers have a ‘wait and see’ approach in terms of riding out the current economic storm and this is continuing despite economists providing positive predictions of an economic upturn.

He said, “This is understandable at one level, but employers do need to start thinking about their resource requirements for when the upturn comes or risk being caught out. There are some employers who see the current economic difficulty as an opportunity to attract professional talent that might not normally be available to them.”

Mr Wilson continued, “Professionals in demand include commercially minded accountants, business analysts, programme and project managers, IT specialists and compliance/risk management experts.”

He predicted that the second half of 2009 would see the demand for professional staff to fill temporary contracts grow in line with the predicted turnaround in the UK’s current economic difficulties.