Alumni Spotlight: Johnny McCann

Johnny McCann, Graphic Design alumnus and also current member of staff!

After graduating from his BA (Hons) Graphic Design, Johnny worked initially as a freelance web designer in Cumbria, before returning to Northern Ireland to work as an IT Technician for Hewlett Packard. This was followed by an art and design placement teaching post back at the University of Cumbria and, when a job in the IT-Services department came up, he decided to change career paths and is now Senior IT Technician (North).

Alongside his job, Johnny enjoys street performing and fundraising for the NSPCC with the 501st Star Wars costuming group. He also fronts a band called Spookshow and organises the annual SOPHIE fundraisers, Labyrinth Ball and Zombie Walk for Carlisle. He likes to help where he can in the community by wearing the Iron Man costume he built to raise funds for children’s causes.

Johnny regularly hosts events and runs a costuming group where the members learn construction techniques in his home/workshop which they have dubbed ‘The Tardis House’ because of its big blue door and ‘bigger on the inside’ nature. On Saturday 18 April 2015 he has set himself his biggest challenge yet; organising and hosting ‘Edencon’, a movies, games and popular media convention to be held at the University of Cumbria’s Brampton Road campus in Carlisle.

Edencon will be a celebration of the best in pop culture, featuring fantastic artists, writers, costumers and crafters. The event will feature arts and crafts stalls, competitions, guest talks to benefit anyone wanting to work in media, including a film industry talk from Honorary Fellow Mally Chung (James Bond, Doomsday, Sherlock Holmes) and a panel talk from several of the most respected artists and writers in the British comics industry including our very own Associate Lecturer in Visual Culture, Nick Dodds. More guests will be announced as the date gets closer. Keep up to date on www.edencon.co.ukor Facebook.

What are you up to now?

Thanks to Joanne from the Alumni team for letting us share these alumni profiles on the blog! Have you got an exciting new job, working on a new project, want everyone to know about your own business, had something published or exhibited? Perhaps you are getting married or had a baby? Whatever your news, we would love to hear about it and share it with your fellow alumni. Visit our share your experiences page to download the profile form if you would like to be included in the next edition of Aluminate or just email us.

testbirds.com – Friday’s Featured Vacancy 30/05/2014

About Testbirds

Testbirds GmbH is an enterprise based in Munich, Germany, that tests apps for all mobile devices (Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry OS) as well as web applications (websites, online-stores, games etc.) by using the concept of crowdsourcing. Testbirds relies in its tests of the above mentioned software on the feedback of a multitude of external experts from different educational and vocational backgrounds bringing a diversity of prior IT-knowledge, personal interests and life experience into your project.

Why sign up?

Fair payment

You can earn money by telling us your opinion about software. The payments are proportional to the complexity of the task. For a regular usability test you would earn around 20 Euros or 15 pounds for example. There’s usually a fixed amount for your test report and additional payment for every Bug (defect) you find. If you find serious technical Bugs, you’ll earn even more!

Flexible hours

When you are invited to a test, you’ll see all the deadlines. It’s up to you, if you want to take part or not. You can choose to test during the daytime or at night at your convenience

You can sign up to become a testbird here: https://nest.testbirds.com/

It’s Not All Doom and Gloom…

Further to the earlier post “What Do Graduates Do?“, the AGCAS Quarterly Survey of Vacancies and Employer Activity suggests a positive trend during the summer of 2011.

Vacancies in IT, retail, marketing, advertising and PR all rose during that period, while the survey also reported increased vacancies from smaller companies, some of whom may have been recruiting graduates for the first time.

At the other end of the scale larger companies, who might have ceased recruitment altogether in earlier recessions, have continued taking on graduates – perhaps to avoid future shortages – although many have reduced numbers and are making more use of internships and temporary posts.

AGCAS reports that the overall picture is mixed as there are still plenty of graduates from previous years competing for posts, but there are some clear signs for optimism.

This will be the last post this year, so here’s to wish all reading this a Merry Christmas and an Employable New Year!

IT Job Market Continues to Improve

Demand for candidates with ICT skills in the UK now outstrips supply, according to Sector Skills Council e-skills.

The latest Labour Market Bulletin from e-skills shows that the number of advertised vacancies for ICT staff rose for the fifth consecutive quarter to a total of 101,000 positions, while the unemployment rate for ICT staff fell to 3.1% as opposed to 8.3% for the workforce as a whole.

This news tallies with the large number of graduate vacancies being advertised recently at cumbria.prospects.ac.uk

For a closer look at the IT labour market, visit www.e-skills.com/Research/Research-publications/Labour-Market-Bulletin to download the full version of the Bulletin.

What are IT companies looking for?

Some answers came out from a recent careers adviser meeting with four major companies:

Technical Skills

SAP / ERP technologies, methodologies such as Agile, languages such as .NET and C#. If you can demonstrate a good grasp of a language like Java you can probably pick up other languages quite easily.

Communication, influencing and the ability to self-market seem to be as important as numerical and technical skills.

Degree Classification

A bit of a split – about half of the companies recruiting stipulate a 2.1 Not very positive about PhD students but a masters in some sort of IT conversion course can be good if students demonstrate passion for IT.

The Growing Potential of the IT Industry

IT enthusiasts looking for a stable career choice should feel comforted by the fact the IT industry has not suffered excessively during the recession. In fact, in many areas it has grown, and this reliance on IT Consultants has led to demand far outstripping supply.

IT is a fast-paced and challenging industry in constant development as it adapts to new technological trends. IT and non-IT Graduates can enter the industry via Graduate Training Programmes or post-graduate training including specialist streams where there is particular growth and potential. New research reveals particular growth for IT services is being experienced in three key areas: 1. Improving security systems 2. Better project management methodologies and 3. Enhanced Infrastructure support.

Specialising in specific streams such as Testing, Development, Infrastructure Support or Project Management through to certification is particularly appealing to companies looking for a high degree of knowledge and skill to fit in with company requirements.

The Association of Graduate Recruiters reports that working in IT currently features in the top five sectors for graduate jobs, along with accountancy, the public sector and law firms. IT recruitment is currently at an all-time high.

If graduates pursue a career in IT, they can expect to earn anything up to £24,000 in their first year. This is £2,000 more than the starting salary in a science-related job and £4,000 better than the average starting salary of £20,000 according to the Higher Education Standards Agency and Workdigital. After a second year in IT, graduates can earn anything up to £27,000, and after their third year the sky is the limit as qualified IT Consultants possess the training, skills and experience to work across various roles in different business sectors across the globe.

Note: This post was based on a submission from Genna Singpo, Communications Officer with FDM Group who have just announced that they will be doubling their graduate intake to 1000 in 2011, thereby becoming one of The Times Top 100 UK employers.