The unstoppable rise of tech careers

19 Sep 2015

It’s been a bumper week for tech careers here at Siliconrepublic.com.

The big news was, of course, last Saturday’s (12 September) Career Zoo. The 10th iteration of Ireland’s largest tech recruitment event, Career Zoo 10, drew thousands of jobseekers from all across the world to The Convention Centre Dublin, where they hoped to meet with influential employers and start to build their tech careers.

Siliconrepublic.com was at Career Zoo 10, speaking with employers about what they look for from employees and getting a handle on what the experience is like for a candidate.

Some of the candidates who were unlucky at Career Zoo 10 might have found better luck developing their tech careers during the week, with a series of industry job announcements coming from Cork (Asystec) and Dublin (Tableau and Realex).

Those employers were looking for a broad range of talents and skills, but this week we also heard how very in-demand some particular tech careers are – UX designers and iOS developers.

We heard from someone who has already had success in tech – who moved to Ireland from Italy for that success, in fact – but we also heard a lot about the other end of tech careers: the very beginning.

This week, an OECD report claimed that overuse of tech in the classroom could actually be detrimental to a student’s development. We also heard from Camara Education, which agreed, in part, but said that only highlighting the negatives of using computers in the classroom would do more harm than good.

Sticking with education, Siliconrepublic.com previewed the upcoming Maths Week, which will take place next month, and spoke to Eoin Gill, the events organiser, about how mathematics underpins everything involved in tech careers.

We also took a look at Coder Girl Hack Day, a one-day hackathon taking place in Dublin next month, which strives to get girls involved from a young age in the male-dominated sphere of coding.

And finally, we looked at Trinity Access 21, a programme designed to support students from disadvantaged schools and communities by improving their skills in tech and encouraging them to consider college as a viable option.

For more information on any of these stories, follow the links below.

1. What tech employers want: skills, passion, growth

Last weekend saw thousands descend on The Convention Centre Dublin for Career Zoo, Ireland’s largest tech recruitment event. Siliconrepublic.com spoke to some of the tech employers.

2. Career Zoo: A job candidate’s perspective

Following a visit to Career Zoo in The Convention Centre Dublin, Laura Ennis wonders if passion is the secret to a successful career in tech.

3. 80 data science jobs announced as Tableau expands

Analytics visualisation company Tableau Software has opened its new Dublin office in Ballsbridge, aiming to hire 80 people to join its existing workforce of 40 in the Irish capital.

4. 50 new jobs for Cork as Asystec opens doors

Asystec, an Irish data management solutions company, has announced the creation of 50 jobs at its new facilities in Ballincollig, Cork.

5. 50 jobs for Dublin announced at Realex

Realex has been growing in size since its acquisition last March by the firm Global Payments and, now, the online payments company is to create 50 new jobs in its Dublin office.

6. UX designers, iOS developers in demand in Ireland

The release of the Apple Watch seems to have driven up the need for iOS developers and UX designers, according to the latest Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor report.

7. Technical manager from Italy finds a career at AOL

Roberto Druetto, an associate technical manager at AOL, speaks to Siliconrepublic.com about working at AOL, and about Irish people’s gift for queueing.

8. Tech only effective when combined with good teaching

In what is likely to be an unpopular finding in some circles, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) latest report claims that having technology in the classroom doesn’t do much to help a student’s progression.

9. Camara: technology can help education if it’s done right

An OECD report into negative impacts that technology can have on education has come in for criticism from Irish-based Camara Education.

10. Maths Week returns in October with a bang

Maths Week, a seven-day festival of maths and numeracy, returns next month as the world’s biggest event of its size.

11. Coder Girl Hack Day, a music and gaming showpiece

A new one-day hackathon is running in October, with gaming and music programming among the projects to be dealt with. But it’s just for girls.

12. Trinity Access 21 yields ‘exciting results’

Results from the first year of the innovative Trinity Access 21 programme, which supports greater use of technology and collaborative learning in secondary schools, and tackles educational disadvantage, have been announced.

Looking for tech jobs in Ireland? Check out our Featured Employers section for information on companies hiring right now.

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Main image via Shutterstock

Kirsty Tobin
By Kirsty Tobin

Kirsty Tobin served as careers editor of Silicon Republic from 2015 up to August 2017. When she was younger, she had a dream where she started and won a fight with a T-Rex, so she’s pretty sure she kicked butt at this, too. Passions include eating all the cake, watching more TV than is healthy and sassy comebacks.

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