Germany's still struggling to get into the online education market

Periodically, I simply like to look for jobs in Germany. Not that I need one, but for projects in which I am involved, it is always interesting to see what is available, especially in regard to the various project foci. This time it was e-Jobs, like those whose profiles are being developed in the e-Virtue Project. Being located in Germany, however, I'm particularly interested in how the job market is developing in this sector, especially since the Germany economy, according to its politicians at least, is booming.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed again. I found listings for content developers, for example, in Germany, but at an English site, jobspotting.com. And I stumbled over a couple of online-language-teaching jobs at the German Craiglist site. Needless to say, this is a bit thin.

It would seem that both the Brits and the Americans are still leading the way in this field. Not only are wanted-ads more readily available and more easily accessible, there is a wealth of additional information available for people who are looking to perhaps get back into work or to change their career fields. One example, which I found particularly interesting was a site for work-at-home moms who might be interested in working even part-time. The information regarding the instructional designer was a good place to start thinking about possibilities, to say the least.

It is truly time for the German e-learning sector to get on board. If career information and job or career opportunities are to be found, they should, at a minimum, be found online.

Always in final round and not elected ? Check your soft skills demonstration !

You apply for different recruitments, you are often chosen for final selection, but do not get the job ... One of the most probable issue is that you fail to demonstrate your "soft skills" !

In a recruitment process, as analysed by the e-jobs Observatory in different e-jobs fields, the first step is to eliminate the candidates which technical skills does not fit to the organisation criteria, then in a second step, the final decision is done on transversal skills and mainly on the non formal competences. Miriam Salpeter journalist at US news explain clearly "how it does not work" sometimes ! She proposes 5 decisive issues : Work ethic, positive attitude, communication skills, Time management and self confidence. those issues are not the only one, but as we analysed job market in Europe they are clearly an important issue !

source :  5 Soft skills to showcase in an interview US News/Yahoo news 

New strategy to boost creative growth and jobs

The European Commission's (EC) new strategy, reflected on the Communication on "Promoting cultural and creative sectors for growth and jobs in the EU", aims to increase the competitiveness and export potential of the cultural and creative sectors, as well as to maximise their spill over benefits for other areas such as ICT and innovation. 

The European Commission is calling for a range of actions to promote the right conditions for the cultural and creative sectors to flourish, involving all actors from the local level up to the regional, national and European levels. These actions focus on skills development, access to finance, promotion of new business models, audience development, access to international markets and improved links to other sectors.

More information about the Communication published by the EC on "Promoting cultural and creative sectors for growth and jobs in the EU".

Is there a chance to turn e-skills into jobs?

Aleksandra Nikolova is working on her own internet start-up company. A few years ago, she decided to quit university because she wasn't convinced she was learning any practical skills. "There are lots of young people who are just finishing university, they can't find a job because of lack of experience and they are disappointed with reality," says Aleksandra. 

But there are plenty of young people with excellent skills in programming, design or social marketing. Aleksandra is convinced there is a chance to turn those e-skills into jobs. In her free time, Aleksandra runs a website publicising business opportunities in the digital economy. Her site won an award during e-skills week, a campaign supported by the European Commission whose aim is to promote IT careers for young people. Aleksandra welcomes such initiatives: 

"Young people use the internet mostly for pleasure," she says. "They are searching for normal jobs, things that they find normal, they are not willing to take risks, and everything that is new for them is kind of a risk in their mind. There is, however, a growing number of young people in Sofia willing to take risks." It's now up to this dynamic new generation to show the way using their skills and creativity to turn ideas into reality.

Towards a European Cloud Computing Strategy

Cloud computing represents a paradigm shift away from today's decentralised IT systems. It is already transforming providers of IT services and it will change the way other industrial sectors provision their IT needs as end users, as well the way citizens interact with their computer and their mobile devices. Cloud computing, although in its early days, is already a commercial reality and the adoption rate of cloud computing services is growing.
 
The EU needs to become not only cloud friendly but cloud active to fully realise the benefits of cloud computing. Besides allowing for the provision of cloud computing in its various forms, the relevant environment in the EU has to address the needs of the end users and protect the right of citizens. At the same time, it should allow for the development of a strong industry in this sector of Europe.

More information about the European Cloud Computing Strategy

The 10 most demanding jobs in IT

According to Emerson Network Power, the following jobs are the most demanding ones in the IT area:

1. Executive director/administrator
2. IT procurement
3. CIO
4. IT manager/director
5. IT operations
6. Data center manager
7. Engineering
8. IT security
9. Applications/software development
10. Database management

800 IT professionals from the U.S., Asia, Europe and Latin America were interviewed in the course of this study. Those persons represent seventeen work roles and eighteen industries (50 to more than 10,000 employees).

More information about the full article.

Pixelgyar has been labeled by the e-Jobs Observatory platform

Pixelgyar Ltd. is composed of a team of designers and developers focused on Facebook marketing, mobile apps and web design. The Webdesign courses started 2011 january and it is evolving every month.  
Pixelgyar is certificated, gives quality courses, and actives e-professional networks.

All the labeled companies and training institutions
Why should I get the label of the e-Jobs Observatory platform ?

Web Marketers : Is Google better than Facebook for Advertising?

A comparison of the two companies from WordStream, a search marketing management company, suggests that Facebook is a much less effective ad medium than Google.  According to WordStream, Facebook has less reach, and its individual ads are less effective, than old fashioned web advertising, according to WordStream's numbers, which it delivered—naturally—in the form of an infographic.

Most alarming for Facebook: The average click-through rate for an ad on the internet generally is just 0.1 percent. At Facebook, it's even lower: 0.051 percent. Google's CTR is 0.4 percent.  WordStream also makes reference to scope of users that each company reaches,

Facebook: 51% of all internet users
Google: 90% of all internet users

Click through rates: Facebook: 0.051%, Google: 0.4%; Average: 0.1%.   Formats: Facebook: standard display ad, Sponsored Stories.  Google: Text ads, image ads, video text overlay ads, mobile web game ads

More information about the full article.

Tips for Web Designers and Web Content Managers

For professionals of the e-Jobs field that deal with management of SEO, here are some tips from an international software company that can be helpful for your daily tasks :

- keyword research - if keyword has high competition then use key phrase

- content - write content, write it in your own words, google like it

- include key phrases in it for example

- title tag and meta tag

- avoid java and flash

- give alt tag to your images

- validate your site for w3school

- keeping changing content of the site, don’t mess up with keywords or key phrases, add some fresh content, google love fresh content

- SMO - smo plays crucial part, it give massive traffic to your site, which help to get notice by google which leads to get good pr

- write articles- article submission and directory submission is best option for back links, there are paid backlink

- services, or you can take efforts to create back links

- submit your url for search engine, as many as possible, it will help to get traffic

- use google analytics- google analytics is easy to use and help to check your seo success

More information in the source article.

Europe is developing cross-border eHealth services

The European Health Insurance Card is being used in epSOS, a pilot project co-financed by the European Commission, which aims at developing cross-border eHealth services to improve the quality and safety of healthcare for citizens travelling to another European country.

The project consists in developing an eHealth framework and ICT infrastructure that enable secure access to patient health information among different European healthcare systems. This includes making patients' medical records (Patient summary) available electronically and using cross-border electronic prescriptions (ePrescription). The European Health Insurance Card is being tested in the project as one of the tools for identifying patients. It allows holders to provide health professionals with the identification data they need to access the patient's electronic medical record or prescriptions when seeking healthcare in participating epSOS pilot countries - whether as tourists, business travellers, commuters or exchange students, for example. (...)"

Europe is also funding project such as CompAAL that aims to develop qualification profiles for jobs in Ambient-Assisted Living or AAL. AAL specialist skills are needed in many professions, in which the job requirements have changed under these fast-evolving technologies. New skills profiles have to be set-up for professionals from various backgrounds, for example architects building AAL compatible homes, staff of ambulatory home care, and most of all IT specialists in order to enable them to design AAL systems and interfaces, to manage interoperability, as well as to create, manage and moderate social networks.

More informations about "Facilitating access to cross-border eHealth services: a task for the European Health Insurance Card ?" on ec.Europa.eu 

More informations about the EU funded project CompAAL

Web Developer and Online Advertising Manager two of the best jobs for 2012

CareerCast.com ranked 200 jobs from best to worst based on five criteria: physical demands, work environment, income, stress and hiring outlook. To compile its list, the firm primarily used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other government agencies. 

From the 200 jobs, there are several Internet related Jobs in the top 15 of the ranking: Software Engineer, Web Developer, Online Advertising Manager and Computer Systems Analyst.

More information

The Copenhagen Declaration Launched at the e-Skills Week final event

The European e-Skills Week 2012 – a pan-European campaign backed by the European Commission - came to its conclusion last Friday, 30 March 2012, after hundreds of exciting events and activities delivered across thirty-six countries.

As a result, the partners and stakeholders in European e-Skills Week have produced the e-Skills Copenhagen Declaration, which supports the objectives of the 2007 Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions and is a complement to the e-Skills Manifesto.

The Copenhagen Declaration has received the endorsement of thirty eight organisations, and many more will join in supporting the implementation of a grass roots activities to deliver competiveness, productivity and growth to Europe, through a strong commitment to ensuring that all European citizens are equipped to work and participate in the digital economy of the 21st century.

The Declaration is a complement to the latest version of e-Skills Manifesto, which will be published in fully in June 2012 – an interactive version of the Manifesto may be found on line for comment.

Download the Copenhagen Declaration

EMF attended the e-Skills Week stakeholders opening conference

EMF as e-Skills Week stakeholder attended on 19 March 2012 the  e-Skills Week stakeholders opening conference in Brussels. The Conference bought together all stakeholders – such as high-level public authorities, key industry representatives and research organisations - to discuss the current situation and needs of the e-Skilled workforce.

The event featured a plenary session on e-Skills policy in practice, as well as panel debates on the topic of e-Skills with both young people and ICT professionals.

More events and activities are foreseen for the upcoming weeks, culminating in a dedicated e-Skills Week final conference on 30 March 2012.

Get the e-Jobs Observatory Seal of Market Compliance and Certificate for your Internet-related training courses

The e-Jobs Observatory offers the opportunity to Internet-related training providers to have their training courses certified in accordance with labour market-oriented job profiles. By offering certified training modules a training organisation is assured of providing quality training that will help trainees obtain relevant positions in industry.

The Seal of Market Compliance is an attestation to the quality of the training unit and its conformance to actual needs of the Internet-related jobs market. It certifies that the unit meets all the formal requirements set forth in the e-Jobs Observatory Training Guidelines. It may be used by the receiving organisation to market and promote this particular training product.
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CERT-IT a new partner of the e-Jobs Observatory network

CERT-IT, the German accredited certifier in the area of IT and Education has recently joined the e-Jobs Observatory network by supporting the e-Jobs Observatory platform. CERT-IT appear now in the "about" section of the site together with other supporters and will participate in the restricted collaborative working groups of e-Jobs supporters.

If you are interested in supporting e-Jobs please fill in the form.

Internet related job profiles waiting for your comments!

The e-Jobs Observatory invites you to comment the different e-Jobs Profiles descrived on its website to improve the internet related jobs trainning offer in the EU. The sections contains descriptive information about 14 internet related job profiles generated by different initiatives.


Profiles:

• Digital animator /2D-3D specialist
• Digital Media Designer
• e-Learning Designer
• Internet e-Comerce specialist
• Internet Hotline Operator
• Online Community Manager
• Usability specialist
• Webmaster
• Web and multimedia master
• Web content manager
• Web content / multimedia developer
• Web designer
• Web Marketer
• Web Seller

Initiatives:

-The EQF-Code project. The EQF-Code project aims at transferring and applying the European Qualification Framework and e-Competence Framework to Multimedia professions in the field of Content Development.
-The EQF i-Serve project. The EQF i-Serve project aims at helping training organizations to develop trainings that correspond to the needs of the industry and are based on emerging knowledge, skills and competences description standards that guarantee comparability across Europe. The profiles are based on the e-Competence Framework of CEN.
-The Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS) under the EUCIP programme. EUCIP creates confidence in a pan-European skills standard for ICT Professionals, helps to close the IT skills gap, and increases the labour market value of certified practitioners.
- CompTIA TechCareer Compass, a worldwide Information Technology (IT) repository for resources critical in attracting, training and developing properly skilled IT workers.

More information

Work 3.0: How The Employment Model Needs to Change

According to Gary Swart, the CEO of oDesk, the fast-growing online workplace where eContractors are currently earning more than $300 million a year, the traditional employment model has dramatically shifted and evolved. The “regular” job market may never make the comeback that so many job seekers hope to see, and this makes people anxious.

Boundless Opportunities:

The new employment model is here: Work 3.0. In it, work is on demand, virtual and remote — and it is just getting started.

In the Work 3.0 model, people are no longer limited to the jobs available within commuting distance. Graphic designers in rural Tennessee have the same access to jobs as graphic designers in New York or London. This elimination of geographic boundaries can refresh perspectives and development in new and interesting ways. It also means that individuals have the freedom to choose which projects interest them most, as well as when, where, and how often to work.

The Future of Work 3.0

Online work continues to grow by 70 percent year over year, and the technology that supports it continues to improve. In 2012, it is predicted that more than 6 million online jobs will be posted, representing more than $1 billion of work performed via the Web.

More: http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/04/work-3-0-how-the-employment-model-needs-to-change/

https://www.odesk.com

European e-Skills Week stakeholders opening conference 19 March 2012, Brussels

The Stakeholders opening conference of the European e-Skills Week 2012 will take place on 19 March in Brussels, Belgium.  It will bring together all stakeholders – such as high-level public authorities, key industry representatives and research organisations - to discuss the current situation and needs of the e-Skilled workforce.

The event will feature a plenary session on e-Skills policy in practice, as well as panel debates on the topic of e-Skills with both young people and ICT professionals.

Venue:  European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
Address: Jacques Delors Building, JDE 62 (6th floor), 99 rue Belliard, B-1040
Time:  19 March, 10.15 - 19.30
Click here to register

Cloud computing entering the job descriptions of a range of non-IT positions

The last findings from Wanted Analytics show an enormous surge of cloud computing-related hiring over the last three months of 2011. During this time, employers and staffing firms placed more than 10,000 job ads that included requirements for cloud computing skills and experience. More than 2,400 companies posted job ads during this 90-day period and hiring demand grew 61% year-over-year.

Computer Specialists and Programmers are most commonly required to have cloud computing experience. However, as cloud-based software increasingly impacts additional areas of business, other fields are more commonly required to understand and work with cloud-based applications. Other jobs that most often include these skills in job ads include Marketing Managers, Sales Managers, Customer Service Representatives, and Cargo and Freight Agents.

More information

Sustainability Systems Developer - one of the ten green jobs for the next decade

Massive investments in clean energy promise to keep farmers, urban planners, and green-tech entrepreneurs in business for the next decade. The profile of Sustainability Systems Developer has been listed together with other 9 non IT profiles as one of the ten best green jobs for the next decade!

The green economy needs a cadre of specialized software developers and engineers who design, build, and maintain the networks, as well as developers familiar with open source and web 2.0 applications.

More information