Careers and the Job Market in High Technology

Careers and the Job Market in High Technology and Engineering A talk to guidance counsellors Timothy C. Lethbridge (English) and Daniel Amyot (Français), October, 2005

Topics in this talk • Examples of some of the types of high-tech careers available – Education requirements for the above • Job market prospects – Evidence that there are plenty of jobs! • Programs available at the University of Ottawa to prepare students for high-tech jobs – Differences among fields such as computer science and software engineering Careers in High Tech and Engineering 2

Sample high-tech jobs for which a university degree is needed • Software Developer / Software Engineer – Perform all aspects of software development: requirements, design, programming and quality assurance – Suitable degrees: • Computer Science • Software Engineering • More on the differences later – Programs teach • Mathematics knowledge to ensure students can do proper analysis and abstraction • Programming knowledge (they learn some languages and can easily learn others) • Design knowledge • Knowledge of special techniques and technologies Careers in High Tech and Engineering 3

Sample high-tech jobs for which a university degree is needed • Systems Analyst / Software Architect – Focuses on the high level needs of an application or a business – Suitable degrees: • Computer Science • Software Engineering Careers in High Tech and Engineering 4

Sample high-tech jobs for which a university degree is needed • Computer Engineer / Hardware Developer – Designs some of the following: • Computers and devices with embedded computers – Could include robots, cell phones, vehicles, etc. – More and more electronic devices have embedded computers • Software to run on embedded computers • Computer networks – Suitable degrees: • Computer Engineering • Software Engineering (for some embedded applications) Careers in High Tech and Engineering 5

Sample high-tech jobs for which a university degree is needed • IT Manager / CIO – Has a deep understanding of • the technology • business – Suitable degrees • Computer science with IMS option • Software engineering with management and entrepreneurship option • Computer engineering with management and entrepreneurship option (For hardware-intensive environments) – Also required • Experience in the previous 3 jobs – MBA suggested for the most senior positions Careers in High Tech and Engineering 6

Sample high-tech jobs for which a university degree is needed • Biomedical Engineer – Designs systems that operate in health care, including those embedded in the human body – Suitable degrees • • Biomedical Mechanical Engineering Biomedical Electrical Engineering Biomedical Software Engineering Computer Science with minor or second major in biology, biochemistry, biomedical science Careers in High Tech and Engineering 7

Sample IT jobs for which a college diploma would be adequate • Computer operator, computer technician – Keeps the computers, software and networks in a company running – May do limited programming • Database administrator – Installs databases, grants permissions, and makes sure they are kept running smoothly • Web designer or programmer of small systems Careers in High Tech and Engineering 8

Think carefully about education level • Consider the following about college-level education – Industry is less and less interested in pure programming (college level) – Outsourcing is primarily a problem for those involved in writing code • University degrees are in demand Source: Direction informatique Express, October 2005 http: //www. directioninformatique. com/DI/client/fr/Direction. Informatique/Nouvelles. asp? id=36911 Careers in High Tech and Engineering 9

Topics in this talk • Examples of some of the types of high-tech careers available – Education requirements for the above • Job market prospects – Evidence that there are plenty of jobs! • Programs available at the University of Ottawa to prepare students for high-tech jobs – Differences among fields such as computer science and software engineering Careers in High Tech and Engineering 10

Fortune Magazine: “ 16 Fastest Growing Professional Jobs” Source: Fortune Magazine, March 21, 2005, p. 131. Conclusions derived from data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Increase over the period 2002 -2012 Careers in High Tech and Engineering 11

Ten highest paying university degrees for 2004 -05 (In the US, salaries in USD) And the trend is ever upwards Source: Summer 2005 Salary Survey, NACE, http: //www. jobweb. com/Salary. Info/05_toppdmajors. htm Careers in High Tech and Engineering 12

Trends in the job market & university computing enrollment Careers in High Tech and Engineering 13

Job breakdown 1999 -2004 Source: Comm. of the ACM, Sept. 2005 Careers in High Tech and Engineering 14

CS popularity 1971 -2004 Source: Communications of the ACM, Sept. 2005 Careers in High Tech and Engineering 15

Why is enrollment not tracking projected jobs? • The public does not know about the projections • The public has a deep fear resulting from news stories of layoffs in 2000 -2003 • The public is entranced by the lure of life sciences • IT has lost its ‘cool’ in the high schools • Girls, particularly are affected by negative stereotypes – High tech people don’t really sit behind their desks typing all day! – They have a lot of social interaction with users, customers and other colleagues – Solving user’s problems can be very satisfying Careers in High Tech and Engineering 16

Other evidence that the high-tech job market is strengthening • Industry Canada (2005): – Employment growth for information and communication technology professionals between 1990 and 2004 was about four times higher than overall employment growth in Canada Careers in High Tech and Engineering 17

Other Evidence … • Mercer Human Resource Consulting (2004) – Trained workers in Canadian high-tech companies are earning both more than they did three years ago and more than their peers in other industries – Software design engineers, earned an average of $101, 000 a year in 2004, up from $80, 000 in 2001 – Hardware engineers earned on average $97, 000, up from $81, 000. Careers in High Tech and Engineering 18

Other Evidence … • Computerworld, quoting IBM, 2005 – The potential market for young people with mainframe expertise is expanding as big-iron specialists head for retirement in the U. S. and Western Europe Careers in High Tech and Engineering 19

Salaries for Co-op students (2005) • Statistics for SITE students: – 1 st work term: about $500 per week – 2 nd work term: about $600 per week – 3 rd work term: about $650 per week – 4 th work term: about $700 per week Careers in High Tech and Engineering 20

Other evidence… • Bill Gates urged the smartest minds on Canadian campuses to work in computer science and consider a job at Microsoft Corp. , promising them that the information technology revolution has only just begun. • “Software is the place where the action is. It's an area that will continue to generate jobs, ” he told students at the University of Waterloo. Source: The Globe and Mail, October 13, 2005 http: //www. theglobeandmail. com/servlet/story/RTGAM. 20051013. wgates 1013/BNStory/National/ Careers in High Tech and Engineering 21

Other evidence… COOP @ u. Ottawa Careers in High Tech and Engineering 22

Other evidence … COOP @ u. Ottawa • Fall 2005 – 100% SITE students placed! – There were 30 more positions than there were students! Careers in High Tech and Engineering 23

There have been some layoffs in 2005 • Hewlett-Packard: 14, 500 jobs – 10% of their workforce – Half of these were in: • Technology maintenance, human resources, finance, etc. • IBM: 14, 500 jobs – Out of 359, 000 jobs – Mostly in Europe – According to spokespeople, most of the people concerned had already left Source: Direction Informatique Express, 27 juillet 2005 Careers in High Tech and Engineering 24

Hiring announcements … • From the last u. Ottawa career fair: – Communications Security Establishment (CSE) • 200 -300 positions per year to fill (in Ottawa) for several years – Accenture (IT consultants) • At least 500 positions to fill this year in Canada, 100 for new graduates. • SAP Labs Canada announced plans in June to double its workforce with 100 new software developers who will work at its R&D center in Montreal • MD Robotics is looking to hire 20 -40 new people soon • Even IBM has been hiring (in areas where it needs to grow) Careers in High Tech and Engineering 25

What about ‘offshoring’? • Large numbers of companies are outsourcing software development to offshore locations (India, Eastern Europe) • But: – The total market is rising faster – Only some of the most mundane programming is being offshored – Jobs that generally stay here include • IT management and Analyst postions • Jobs requiring interaction with the customer (requirements, large-scale software engineering, UI design, etc. ) • Jobs in the more innovative industries • Jobs in the public sector • Jobs in smaller enterprises that would find offshoring too complex Careers in High Tech and Engineering 26

What to advise students who are interested but skeptical • Study computing, but broaden your knowledge – Combine it with a minor, or option in a related field – Particularly consider business options – Register for co-op programs, such as at the University of Ottawa • Browse the web for evidence about the job market! • Be aware of new trends in universities – Multidisciplinary studies – Employers are more and more interested in those with masters degrees Careers in High Tech and Engineering 27

Topics in this talk • Examples of some of the types of high-tech careers available – Education requirements for the above • Job market prospects – Evidence that there are plenty of jobs! • Programs available at the University of Ottawa to prepare students for high-tech jobs – Differences among fields such as computer science and software engineering Careers in High Tech and Engineering 28

Programs in the Faculty of Engineering (B. A. Sc. ) Civil Engineering Mechanical Engineering Chemical Engineering Coop Management Coop School of Information Technology and Engineering SITE Computer Engineering Management Coop Software Engineering Coop Management B. Sc. Computer. Management Science. Coop (B. Sc) Careers in High Tech and Engineering 29 Electrical Engineering Management Coop

Differences among computing disciplines - 1 • We teach three main computing programs – Computer Science: For students who want to develop applications and underlying technologies – Software Engineering: For students who want to focus on large software system requirements, design and architecture, plus project management – Computer Engineering: For students more interested in hardware issues and low-level software • Job prospects for all are good, but in the long run the software fields are more promising • In the following tables ‘+’ refers to cases when the student takes suitable electives Careers in High Tech and Engineering 30

Differences among computing disciplines - 2 Computer Science Software Engineering Computer Engineering Programming Computer hardware HIGH MEDIUM MED-HIGH MEDIUM HIGH Software design MED-HIGH + LOW HIGH MEDIUM LOW + HIGH MEDIUM LOW Electronics Databases Careers in High Tech and Engineering 31

Differences among computing disciplines - 3 Computer Science Software Engineering Computer Engineering Networks & MEDIUM + communications MEDIUM + HIGH Web technology User interfaces Project Mgmt. Algorithms Other common electives MEDIUM HIGH MEDIUM LOW LOW + LOW MEDIUM + LOW + HIGH AI, Graphics many others Careers in High Tech and Engineering 32

Differences among computing disciplines - 4 Computer Science Software Engineering Accreditation Professional designation CIPS ISP CEAB (CIPS? ) CEAB P. Eng Flexibility to choose electives Management option Other options HIGH MEDIUM LOW Information Mgmt & Mgmt Sys Entrepreneur. Major/Minor Biomedical Careers in High Tech and Engineering Computer Engineering 33 Mgmt & Entrepreneur

Computing technology: A year combined with other disciplines • Computing technology is a scaled down version of computer science – Certain core courses in 30 cr (1 year) • We offer: – A minor in computing technology for Arts, Social Sciences etc. – Combined computing technology programs that in 5 years give you an engineering degree and a computing technology degree. Careers in High Tech and Engineering 34

For more information • Tim Lethbridge – associate-dean@genie. uottawa. ca – (613) 562 -5916 • Daniel Amyot – damyot@site. uottawa. ca – (613) 562 -5800 x 6685 Careers in High Tech and Engineering 35

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Questions? Careers in High Tech and Engineering 37