Since Searchability launched in 2012, it has always been a key priority for us to deliver a great service for our clients and candidates, and as a tech digital recruiter that often means sharing our insights and offering advice to the people we work with. We are constantly helping clients who are desperate to find and engage tech talent amongst areas of low candidate availability and niche skill-sets, and when you combine this with the difficulties businesses are facing from the COVID-19 pandemic it can become even harder to fill those urgent vacancies. We asked a few of our Searchability recruiters to share their insights around some of the “tough tech” in their specialisms, and this week we spoke to Gabbi Trotter to share her thoughts on the Automation Testing market, with some local market insights from the North West UK too. You can view the video below, or scroll to the bottom for the top takeaways.
Tough Tech Take-aways:
What’s happening in the market now:
- Almost a 50% drop in automated testing job adverts since the pandemic
- Mixture of candidates being wary of moving in an uncertain market from the pandemic, and others becoming open due to uncertainty with the organisation they work for
- The majority of roles and candidates (in the North West) are in Manchester, making roles in Cheshire harder to fill as many don’t want the longer commute, we have also found roles outside of the City have offered lower salaries
- Average salary for these roles (North West) is approx. £48K, ranging anywhere from £35K-£55K DOE
Where to find candidates:
- With less candidates looking it’s important to get inventive – being active in the tech community is key
- Gabbi co-runs Ministry of Test Manchester and QA Beginners Club which are both great networks
- For junior roles look at those who graduated from John Moores Uni, as they are one of a small handful of Uni’s that have a full module on Software Testing in the CompSci degree
What’s motivating automation testers:
- The ability to work from home, and knowing they won’t be forced back to an office until its safe, is very important to many right now
