Careers and the Job Market in High Technology and Engineering

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Careers and the Job Marketin High Technology and
Engineering

• A talk to guidance counsellors
• Timothy C. Lethbridge (English) and
• Daniel Amyot (Français), October, 2005

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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/
  DirectionInformatique/Nouvelles.asp?id36911

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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

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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

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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/SalaryI
nfo/05_toppdmajors.htm
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Trends in the job market university computing
enrollment
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Job breakdown 1999-2004
Source Comm. of the ACM, Sept. 2005
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CS popularity 1971-2004
Source Communications of the ACM, Sept. 2005
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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 dont really sit behind their
  desks typing all day!
• They have a lot of social interaction with users,
  customers and other colleagues
• Solving users problems can be very satisfying

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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

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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.

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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

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Salaries for Co-op students (2005)

• Statistics for SITE students
• 1st work term about 500 per week
• 2nd work term about 600 per week
• 3rd work term about 650 per week
• 4th work term about 700 per week

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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/RTGA
M.20051013.wgates1013/BNStory/National/
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Other evidence COOP _at_ uOttawa
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Other evidence COOP _at_ uOttawa

• Fall 2005
• 100 SITE students placed!
• There were 30 more positions than there were
  students!

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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

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Hiring announcements

• From the last uOttawa 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 RD 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)

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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

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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

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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

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Programs in the Faculty of Engineering
Engineering (B.A.Sc.)
Mechanical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Coop
Coop
Coop
Management
Management
Management
School of Information Technology and Engineering
S I T E
Electrical Engineering
B.Sc.
Software Engineering
Computer Engineering
Coop
Computer Science (B.Sc)
Coop
Coop
Management
Coop
Management
Management
Management
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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

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Differences among computing disciplines - 2
Computer Science Software Engineering Computer Engineering
Programming HIGH MED-HIGH MEDIUM
Computer hardware MEDIUM MEDIUM HIGH
Software design MED-HIGH HIGH MEDIUM
Electronics LOW LOW MEDIUM
Databases HIGH HIGH LOW
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Differences among computing disciplines - 3
Computer Science Software Engineering Computer Engineering
Networks communications MEDIUM MEDIUM HIGH
Web technology MEDIUM MEDIUM LOW
User interfaces LOW MEDIUM LOW
Project Mgmt. LOW HIGH LOW
Algorithms HIGH MEDIUM LOW
Other common electives AI, Graphics many others
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Differences among computing disciplines - 4
Computer Science Software Engineering Computer Engineering
Accreditation CIPS CEAB (CIPS?) CEAB
Professional designation ISP P.Eng P.Eng
Flexibility to choose electives HIGH MEDIUM LOW
Management option Information Mgmt Sys Mgmt Entrepreneur. Mgmt Entrepreneur
Other options Major/Minor Biomedical
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Computing technology A year combined with other
disciplines

• Computing technology is a scaled down version of
  computer science
• Certain core courses in 30cr (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.

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For more information

• Tim Lethbridge
• associate-dean_at_genie.uottawa.ca
• [phone]
• Daniel Amyot
• damyot_at_site.uottawa.ca
• [phone] x6685

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FULFIL YOUR AMBITION
Design
P L A Y
I m a g i n e
A c c o m p l i s h
Discover
V I s u a l I z e
I m p l e m e n t
DREAM
Be creative
Construct
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Questions?