We Want You

IT consultants may be used to provide strategic guidance to clients with regard to technology, IT infrastructures and enabling major business processes through enhancements to IT.

They can also be used to provide guidance during selection and procurement as well as providing expert technical assistance, and may be responsible for user training and feedback. IT consultants may also be involved in sales and business development, as well as technical duties.

• The job is mostly office-based, working as a member of a project team. You’ll often be based on clients’ premises.
• The dress code is formal for visiting clients and meetings, but is otherwise relaxed.
• The work may be stressful and fast-paced, particularly when client deadlines need to be met.
• Travel within the working day to clients’ sites is often needed, and overnight absence from home is frequently required. 

Qualifications

You can enter IT consultancy work with any degree, but in particular the following subjects may be useful:

• business studies;
• computer science/software engineering;
• electrical/electronic engineering;
• information systems;
• mathematics;
• other science/engineering disciplines.

Skills

If you want to enter IT consultancy work, you need to show:

• leadership ability;
• communication and interpersonal skills;
• teamwork skills;
• a logical approach to problem solving/analytical skills;
• the ability to learn quickly;
• confident decision making;
• presentation skills;
• excellent customer service skills;
• good organisational skills to prioritise heavy workloads;
• the ability to communicate technical information to non-IT clients and colleagues;
• flexibility and adaptability;
• time management skills.

Professional development

On-the-job training and in-house courses are usually combined to develop technical and business skills.

Organisations may offer training in a variety of programming languages and the principles of systems analysis, as well as project management and specific business software. They may also provide courses to develop personal skills that enhance client interaction, such as communication, leadership, conflict resolution, and sales and presentation skills.

Formal training is more likely in larger companies than in small ones, where on-the-job training may be more typical.

Many large companies run mentoring schemes and tailor training opportunities to individual members of staff and the projects they’re working on. Such schemes ensure that new members of staff are exposed to a variety of working environments and systems.

Your duties as an IT consultant will vary depending on the nature of the project, but may include:

• meeting with clients to determine requirements;
• working with clients to define the scope of a project;
• planning timescales and the resources needed;
• clarifying a client’s system specifications, understanding their work practices and the nature of their business;
• travelling to customer sites;
• liaising with staff at all levels of a client organisation;
• defining software, hardware and network requirements;
• analysing IT requirements within companies and giving independent and objective advice on the use of IT;
• developing agreed solutions and implementing new systems;
• presenting solutions in written or oral reports;
• helping clients with change-management activities;
• purchasing systems where appropriate;
• designing, testing, installing and monitoring new systems;
• preparing documentation and presenting progress reports to customers;
• organising training for users and other consultants;
• being involved in sales and support, and where appropriate, maintaining contact with client organisations;
• identifying potential clients and building and maintaining contacts.

Web developers build and maintain websites and web applications. Although their work usually focuses solely on the underlying software and databases (known as the ‘back end’), some web developers work on the interface and visual design (the ‘front end’), while others combine both (‘full-stack development’).

In an agency or as a freelancer, a web developer’s job is to create products that meet clients’ needs. The work can be particularly varied with many projects to work on simultaneously and lots of meetings with clients to discuss their requirements and update them on progress.

In all cases a web developer’s primary task is creating reliable and high performing applications and services, which can be accessed over the internet. Job titles vary according to the focus of the role.

To apply for the role of Software Engineer, you should have some or all of the following:

• PHP, NodeJS, MySQL, PostgreSQL, AngularJS, Amazon Web Services,
• WordPress/Joomla/Drupal Development experience
• A Bachelors degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• Proven software development experience in PHP.
• Proficient understanding of code versioning tools, such as Git.
• Experience with traditional databases, such as MySQL, Postgres, etc.
• Minimum 1 – 2 years experience

Bonus Points:

Show us your code – share your Github username or other projects.

The day-to-day work of a web developer varies depending on whether they work mainly for clients or in-house for an organisation, but most roles include:

• writing code in one or more programming or scripting languages, such as PHP or JavaScript
• planning and prototyping new applications
• designing the architecture of the components of an application
• deciding on the best technologies and languages for the project
• testing sites and applications in different browsers and environments
• problem solving
• fixing bugs in existing projects
• testing new features thoroughly to ensure they perform the correct task in all cases
• running performance benchmarking tests
• reviewing colleagues’ code
• building and testing Application Program Interfaces (APIs) for applications to exchange data
• researching, incorporating and contributing to Open Source projects
• meeting designers, developers and project staff for progress updates
• gathering requirements from clients and users
• learning and testing new technologies, frameworks and languages
• staying up to date with new trends and advancements in web development
• building and maintaining databases
• refactoring and optimising existing code
• documenting code so other developers can understand and contribute to it
• attending and speaking at web development conferences and workshops
• designing information architecture within an application or website.