IT Job market in the UK

There are alot of interesting threads for jobs etc in the USA but I wondered if many of you on here are working in the UK and what your thoughts and experience of the job market are here? I work in the midlands currently but all of the seemingly better jobs seem to be towards London, however the high cost of living seems to neutralise the pay advantages to moving. Where seems best in your opinion?

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Preflux

The job market in the UK is pretty big for IT, but I guess it's dependent on which sector of IT you work in / want to work in. Most of the main jobs are definitely based around London but there's also quite a few in the Midlands / near Manchester. I've personally never had a problem finding a good job fairly local and the field I'm going into requires travel so I'm never based at the office really so my opinion may be slightly biased.

gorebrush

My employer recently announced they are adding 620 to the workforce here in Wales...

As ever, if you are skilled enough, the work will find you...

NinjaBoy

I'm in the East Midlands, I guess the traditional way of advertising (eg via the local and national papers) has reduced a lot, there seems to be a big shift to advertise via agencies and online (job sites, linkedin, etc)...

bertieb

The market is fairly good up and around Manchester and Leeds but quietens down a bit from November until after the New Year. If you head for one of the larger cities and you'll find something.

An awful lot of recruiters out there too of varying quality. I personally couldn't work in London full time tbh, the thought of that soul-sapping cramped commute on that tube every morning and evening is enough to drive me to drink no matter what the salary, but each to their own

Chev Chellios

Thanks all, bertieb that is exactly how I feel about London. I like where I am and my family are settled, it's fairly rural but easy to commute to the bigger cities in the Midlands. I've noticed alot of IT jobs in Birmingham so thinking a commute would be acceptable there for the right role. As others have said Manchester does look ok, it's not that fair or relocating there wouldn't be an issue. Was just interested in how my UK TE buddies viewed things over this side of the pond as all the job talk seems to be in the US of A

Meant to add, doing a lot of Server and sys Admin work which I like but want to specialise more in the network side of things over time. Which certs carry more weight over here, is Network + worth having as a basic oneor better to go down the Cisco route?

bertieb

TBH over here I'd skip the Network+ and go straight for the Cisco path. I haven't seen one role asking for Network+ here and it was never anything I looked for when hiring entry level staff.

Chev Chellios

Duly noted, thanks for the tip. I only asked as my current and previous role used Alcatel kit so no actual work experience with Cisco equipment as of yet but I appreciate a cert and experience with it is a good move!

gorebrush

Network+ is pretty pointless as bertieb says. CCNA for sure!

NightShade03

bertieb wrote: »

I personally couldn't work in London full time tbh, the thought of that soul-sapping cramped commute on that tube every morning and evening is enough to drive me to drink no matter what the salary, but each to their own

This is exactly why I wouldn't take a job in NYC. I couldn't deal with the commute everyday either

yzT

I remember to see many openings close to London in places such as Reading and Guildford.

deth1k

yzT wrote: »

I remember to see many openings close to London in places such as Reading and Guildford.

There still are, Reading is the HUB of IT in UK

Chev Chellios

deth1k wrote: »

There still are, Reading is the HUB of IT in UK

It seems to be the IT HUB but I wouldn't really want to commute there and living costs are higher than alot of the UK too but it might be worth moving

abnmi

What about openings for CISSPs.