December 8, 2020

Leaving School? Reasons to consider a career in tech

7 min read

Finishing school is a huge achievement and also an exciting opportunity to have some freedom on where to take your life as an adult.

But with the excitement of finishing school, so to can a feeling of pressure. It’s likely that you’ve been asked a number of times “what are you going to study?”, “what are you doing next year?” – for many, it can feel like the stress of school is just replaced with the expectation of having something else – be it study, work or otherwise.

The reality for many school students, is that they aren’t actually certain what they want to do after school. And that’s okay. This is a time in your life where you’ve got so many options – this is a good thing. But deciding on which option to pursue is hard. Knowing what motivates and interests you is a good place to start. Just take care not to write yourself off from certain industries. We’d suggest doing some research into all fields before you make a decision.

You may discover career paths that are unexpected, but ideal for you. And remember – it’s common for us to have 3-4+ careers in our adult lives, so you’re never stuck.

Everyone should look into technology as a career path

As an IT recruitment agency we’ve hired a huge variety of personalities into different roles in New Zealand’s tech sector. We know first hand how different the present IT industry is to that of 20 years ago. Walk into a digital agency or tech team and you’ll be met with a breadth of cultures, ages and personalities.

You may be wondering ‘what would I do in the tech industry?’. We’re here to tell you that if you have any of the following traits, you could be exactly the person a future employer is looking for:

Good at problem solving
Critical thinking
Lead or facilitate groups of people
Love for human communication
Creative flair
Eye for design
Mathematical, statistical or science skills
Presentation skills
Good at listening and understanding a particular challenge
Writing ability
Process-driven

These are just some qualities that we see shown by the candidates we place into roles – at all levels of seniority.

The era of being tied to a computer for 8 hours is starting to disappear for many jobs in the sector, where emphasis is put on people, collaboration and communication.

So, here’s some reasons why you should consider a career path in technology:

It’s changing constantly

Technology is changing every day. This keeps it an exciting field to work in where there’s always new skills to learn. Our planet is going to rely more on technology to help solve big humanity challenges such as the environment, hunger, disease and social problems. Innovation in the sector can have massive impact on our society.

You’ll see changes in the industry like:

Coding languages evolving to complete different tasks
Hardware advancements like faster computers and new classes of device
Artificial intelligence playing a bigger role in business
Methodologies for working (such as Agile) to make IT better
Crossroads of other industries like arts, environment and entertainment with technology, all with unique challenges and opportunities.

It’s true that many industries go through big changes if you stay in them long enough. But none move quite so quickly as tech.

There’s a big demand for talent

New Zealand is short on IT expertise available for jobs. This means better pay and more choices. Virtually all businesses have a need for tech talent so if you train in this field it’s unlikely you’ll have trouble finding a well-paying job. Read our article about 10 of the top IT career paths that will get you hired.

We’d always encourage students to chase their passion in work. If that passion crosses over with something applicable to the tech sector you may be able to earn doing what you love. And remember, tech’s universal reach to all industries means you can combine hard skills acquired through experience and/or study and apply these in an industry that you’re truly interested in – we see this happen regularly with our candidates!

You can travel with IT skills

New Zealand isn’t the only country with a shortage of IT talent. In fact you can be confident that should you relocate to places like the UK, Europe, Australia or America, gainful employment shouldn’t be far away. Chances are that some travel features in your plans for your 20s. If you’re able to gain skills and some experience at home, your ‘Overseas Experience’ might not have to be done on a shoestring budget!

Many travellers will map out their destinations based on where they can pick up contract work, working in different environments. Here not only valuable work experience is gained, but life experience as new work cultures are encountered.

And hey, if you love your employer in New Zealand (and they are flexible), you may be able to keep working in some arrangement for them as you travel. Check out our article on remote working.

You can (sometimes) work from home – or a cafe

Speaking of remote working arrangements, IT is a sector that can often provide flexible working arrangements. While some high security businesses or roles require you to be on site, other roles enable offsite working. If you’re the type who gets more done by parking up at the local cafe with a laptop, you may find a job with good pay that allows this in the tech space. Often design, UX and content writers will opt to do this if possible – you never know where the next bit of inspiration will strike!

There’s so many options for growth and development

It’s common for IT professionals to start in one place – say junior developer, and end up in an entirely different role, such as a business analyst. The great thing about the tech sector is that all experience you gain in the past will be useful for your current position. Consider a project manager with 3 years experience as a front end developer designing websites in their past. They will have a first hand understanding of the challenges encountered in web design and be able to apply this to project planning and problem solving. New Zealand’s IT sector is full of these stories, as individuals move through their career journey, finding roles that pique their interest and make use of varied skill sets.

If you are someone who doesn’t like the idea of staying in the same role forever, remember tech is pretty well guaranteed to give you a variety of roles.

The skills in tech are transferable

If you go down the tech route, be it development, design or otherwise, know that if you decide to make a career change you’ll be taking skills with you into the next adventure. Just some of the experience we see transfer well to other industries include:

Business and commercial skills – budgeting, planning, forecasting, revenue etc
Project planning
People management
Team collaboration
Innovative problem solving
Design and customer experience
Eye for details and troubleshooting

Beyond these, the experience an IT professional gains through career often exposes them to the inner workings of different industries, sometimes planting a seed to move into these directly.

You get to work with great people

As much as we enjoy them, the old Dilbert cartoons about office cubicle life are no longer a reflection of the typical NZ tech environment! Kiwi tech teams are made up of all sorts of people and there’s usually some pretty entertaining personalities to boot. You’ll work in some pretty fast paced environments, so it’s important to have the support and positive attitude of others around you. When you’re still learning, you’ll rely on the help of other experience tech types to hone your skills.

Many of our employers we work with have built some incredible workplace cultures, and that’s largely down to the people in their team. Many co-workers have gone on to become lifelong family friends, and some even start businesses together.

Are you interested in learning more about your opportunities in tech?

If you’re interested in learning more about studying technology, our friends over at careers.govt.nz have a handy tool for searching out qualification providers for any area you’re interested in. Need some advice about which area of IT to focus on? Why not get in touch with our team?

Absolute IT

November 11, 2020

The Canterbury Tech Landscape

6 min read

In September 2020, Absolute IT released our Christchurch Regional Report, based on surveys conducted with job seekers and employers at the start of the year. This report offers plenty of fascinating insights into the motivations, opportunities and mindset of our IT/digital sector down in the South Island’s most populated city.

So, what are the takeaways from this report? What can job seekers do to find the best roles and meet the needs of a dynamic Canterbury tech market? We cover that all, right now.

The jobs that are in demand with little supply

While there’s a healthy demand and supply for software developers in Christchurch, there’s other areas where employers are desperate to find good talent but have struggled to find it. These areas include Digital & Cloud skills, Architects and most interestingly, Agile.

Those with digital and cloud skills like data security, artificial intelligence, DevOps, integration, serverless architecture such as that made possible with AWS should consider investigating roles within Christchurch, as based on our research there is a big disparity in the need for, and availability of high quality talent.

Business Analysts, with their critical thinking, assessment and communication abilities are still highly sought after, with our employers surveyed placing this skill demand as 3rd on our top 10 list. While not the same gulf of demand vs. supply as Digital & Cloud skills, Job Seekers’ skills indicated less availability of BAs than the market may necessarily need. What to take from this? Anyone with a BA background looking for a new role is encouraged to look around in Christchurch’s tech sector.

The Agile Opportunity

Agile is a skillset consistently in demand across New Zealand, albeit in the top 10. While a few years ago this capability demand was at its peak elsewhere in the country, Christchurch has seen Agile’s demand in 2020 skyrocket into the top 3 skills needed by employers.

Agile doesn’t feature in the top 10 list of skills held by job seekers in our survey, so this disparity should present an opportunity for professionals looking to enter into the market who do possess the necessary skill set. Interestingly, project manager skills in the region far outstrip the demand according to our employers surveyed. While having some fundamental differences to traditional PM roles, there is a possibility that a segment of project managers could have some experience or interest in building out their Agile skills. A pivot towards this non-linear, short burst style project management could open up more career opportunities.

Jobs with plenty of competition

Broadly, the tech industry in New Zealand doesn’t have enough experienced talent to go around. This is great news for those that do have the skills but makes it hard for businesses to progress at the rate they’d like. From our research, it was apparent that in almost all cases, there is as much demand if not more than the supply. The closest example of a 50/50 was in software development; a giant field consistently first in the list of demands and skills. In fact, the only example in our top 10 lists of supply outshining demand was the aforementioned Project Manager skills. This isn’t to say that there are no project manager roles available, but rather the options an employer has for this role is likely far greater than a systems architect for example.

It’s important to note that finding people management is no problem at all for the Canterbury IT sector, with management reported as the third most abundant skill by the workforce (and not even featuring in Employers’ top 10 skills list). More intermediate roles like helpdesk and admin also show as readily available, while Employers seemingly need more advanced, specialist roles filled.

Overseas talent not an option until things change

Before 2020, employers had the option of overseas talent to fill gaps in capability not available domestically. With the events of this year however, this has not been an option. Homegrown talent has the potential to be nurtured into these more senior roles, drawing upon existing experience combined with deliberate upskilling. For example an experienced Systems Engineer may have many of the elements needed for an Architect role, and, with the right support and time investment, have the potential to land the job.

At the time of writing, there’s no certainty as to when the world’s IT talent will be able to visit and move to New Zealand again. For now, Kiwis should make the most of the shortage, building their knowledge out as quickly as possible and keeping an eye on job listings in the region.

Employers need resource for their projects and growth

Our research of Employers told us that the main motivators for hiring new staff included 33% touting new projects and 20% with increasing IT demands of the business. This is very encouraging for the tech and digital professionals of Christchurch, as employment to resource these needs typically represents market growth (vs. replacement of departing staff).

This resource isn’t confined to permanent hires, with 26% of employers planning on engaging contractors to meet their needs. The advantage of a contractor hire for Employers is the expected immediate productivity given their experience and specialisation in a particular discipline. This reduces training and overhead cost, and de-risks the hire for the employer, being a hired resource for a very specific task, project or time period.

Job seekers – open your mind to the possibility of contracting, especially if you have expertise in specific areas. While there’s more to think about like paying your own tax and stringing together enough work over the year, the hourly rates can be excellent – although it’s worth noting the median contractor rate for tech in Christchurch is $85/hr – $11 under the national median of $96/hr.

Stability in tech and digital income during 2020

There’s a lot of ways people are describing 2020 – and stable probably isn’t one you’ve heard. So it might sound a bit surprising when we say that of all the industries to work in, IT is among the most stable in New Zealand (although not without its own challenges of course). IT and digital is a big part of the answer to a new world that demands remote communication, health & safety and continual improvement to our everyday lives.

The stability of the tech sector in Christchurch is clear from the salary levels maintaining or increasing through 2020 across roles.

Christchurch’s tech community

Living and working in Christchurch as an IT professional? You can connect with others in the industry through associations and meetups. Building a network of contacts at events like these is one of the best ways to become known and learn about the businesses that make up your local industry. You can get involved in a local hackathon – which doesn’t just introduce you to others, but showcases some of your expertise on a practical problem to solve.

The region is home to countless Kiwi companies’ head office, and the home of many global brands too. And if you’re looking to upskill with formal training and qualifications, the area offers excellent tertiary study options, too.

Looking for IT work in Christchurch?

If you’ve got tech skills that are in demand, our team can help find you roles in the Canterbury region – the perfect job might not be far away! Find out more about our Christchurch office here.

Absolute IT