Recruitment through training programs - a recent practice?

[Toms Liepins]

Hi,

Many are complaining about shortage of Java jobs, in my country - somewhere in Europe - that's exactly the opposite. Online recruitment agencies have loads of offerings, (one recruiter even hunted me a couple of days before I agreed that I would consider applying for one of the positions offered) In the last couple of months I have seen many advertisements for training programs: in essence, one has to attend a 2-week to 2-month Java training program, with prospects of full-time employment if the program is completed succesfully. Some companies (Accenture, some smaller ones) even pay for attending the program. Is this the practice in other parts of the world? We have expierenced a major surge in number of Java jobs here, maybe that's why companies are looking for innovative ways to attract prospective employees?

[K Riaz]

In London there are lots of Java Developer positions, although most of them require at least 2-3 years minimum of solid experience. The salaries are huge, from �40k to �70k. Lots of Investment Banks are looking for J2EE Developers.

[Jeroen Wenting]

Haven't seen that in years, and I am in Europe.
Sure it used to be the case a few years ago when there were 10 jobs for every available applicant but now that the situation is the reverse they just demand 20 years of J2EE experience on top of a master's degree from someone who's 25 years old max just like they did in the early 1990s.

[Eric Lemaitre]

Hi Tom & Kashif !

In London there are lots of Java Developer positions, although most of them require at least 2-3 years minimum of solid experience. The salaries are huge, from �40k to �70k. Lots of Investment Banks are looking for J2EE Developers.

I want to be sure you both are not missing a point or misleading : there are many adds for Java positions but are there many HIRES for these positions ? For many companies pretend to hire so as to be seen as dynamic but don't, it is much cheaper than any corresponding advertisement.

One could say the same for US too, there are lots of adds for Java jobs and so-said shortage with many of them appearing numerous times (monster.com for example), but are these adds real, is there any real shortage ? I doubt much.

Best regards.

[Jeroen Wenting]

Exactly Eric. If one in 10 published openings is a real job it's a lot.
This is especially true for recruitment agencies and government departments (who often have a legal obligation to publish all openings even if they can be filled internally).

[Mike Gershman]

So what is it like living in Latvia?
Do you get HBO?
Do you have McDonalds, Starbucks, and Walmart?

By the way, how much money are they offering?

[Toms Liepins]

So what is it like living in Latvia?

I guess nowadays that's like living in any other place in Europe. Much has changed in the last 14 years

Do you have McDonalds, Starbucks, and Walmart?

Ronald McDonald has been with us for the 7nth year. We do not have Starbucks yet, nor Walmart, altough we have a couple of cafe chains which are extremely similar to Starbucks (wireless internet, etc.)

By the way, how much money are they offering?

I guess that most people would be very happy to work for $20K a year. From the other point of view, everything is very cheap. I don't know very much about prices in USA, but until recently one was able to have his hair cut for some $4. However, prices (and wages) have been rising significantly in the last couple of years.
[ February 01, 2005: Message edited by: Toms Liepins ]

[Eric Lemaitre]

Hi Jeroen !

Exactly Eric. If one in 10 published openings is a real job it's a lot.
This is especially true for recruitment agencies and government departments (who often have a legal obligation to publish all openings even if they can be filled internally).

I would like to emphasize this subject, is there REAL IT shortage or not in US, for if nothing changes together with scholar abandon by US natives and lack of really qualified alien availability through H1B abuses, analysts estimate there will lack some 1.5 million of qualified people in IT field in US by 2010 ?

Best regards.

[Jeroen Wenting]

not sure about the US but you could be right.
Ever more experienced people leave the field as they loose their jobs to offshoring or downsizing and the influx of rookies is drying up as they see no future in the industry and choose other studies instead.

Of course if the offshoring continues at the current pace then in 10 years there won't be an IT industry in Europe or the US, preventing that shortage from manifesting itself.