Outlook for MS Access Developers

[joeserrone]

Hello Everyone,
As you might know I work for the Banking Industry which has been hard hit with the current US Economic crisis. As of today I still have my job (knock on wood) but dark clouds are always on the horizon. So, I wanted to see what your thoughts were regarding the Job Market right now when it comes to people with MS Access Skills, if you recently were in the Job Market how did you effectively market yourself as a MS Access Developer, what set of skills were the employer looking for?

I wanted your input in the event I need to start job hunting.

Thanks

 

[GaryPanic]

well from my point of view
my Access Knowledge (which is quite limited as many will know -lol) is secondary to my actual trade,

its a useful tool , and also helpful that I know what can be done (I might not know how its done) and this i cantake with me should the need occur

For what its worth this depression (in my opinion) will be short and sharp
there are glipes of small recovery happen (UK ) - but for every positive they are being wipe out by the negatives --once the companies that do hit the wall stop then i think there will be a gradual recovery - and i don think that business in future will have a hard time getting finances - (for the next 4-5 years at least)

 

[Ron_dK]

..... your thoughts were regarding the Job Market right now when it comes to people with MS Access Skills, if you recently were in the Job Market how did you effectively market yourself as a MS Access Developer, what set of skills were the employer looking for? ......

Interesting question Joe.
Back in 2007 I did some sort of study since the Manager asked me why they
would use MS Access and I came up with the following data :

2007 Situation in Europe relevant to ERP system ( Enterprise resource planning) or MIS ( Management Information systems)

Small companies ( some 20 or less employees)
Estimated 25 % using Acces or a combination of Access with MySQL etc. 50% is using Excel and related programs.

Medium size companies ( between 50 and 250 employees)
Estimated 5% using Access ( with ODBC compliant) as their ERP, some 10% using Acces ( stand alone) to manipulate data retrieved from Company legacy system ( SAP, Baan, Oracle, etc)

Large size companies ( 250 and above employees )
Estimated 1% using Access ( with ODBC compliant) as their ERP, some 10% using Acces ( stand alone) to manipulate data retrieved from Company legacy system ( SAP, Baan, Oracle, etc)
SAP used as the ERP sytem > estimated 45% of fortune 500 companies worldwide.
Oracle used as ERP > estimated some 35% of Fortune 500 companies worldwide.

Please note that the above is far from complete and some of the data may
have considerably changed now in 2009.

So, back to your question, I would say, change your focus on SAP ( or Oracle) rather than MS Access, since that will keep you in business for many years. Whereas one , as a SAP consultant, can earn quite a good income.

 

[Mike375]

Interesting question Joe.

Small companies ( some 20 or less employees)
Estimated 25 % using Acces or a combination of Access with MySQL etc. 50% is using Excel and related programs.

My observation in Australia would be similar and with a lot of small business having "bits and pieces" and for that reason I think Access is tops for the self employed developer. A lot of the Excel stuff is real easy to knock over.

 

[joeserrone]

Hi Ron,
I agree with you that Oracle is the way to go if you want to work for a large Company and start getting some real Money in your pocket. But what I noticed is that at least in the U.S. is very expensive for Employers to send their employees for specific courses on developing Oracle Databases. Usually they like to hire people with Oracle experience already under their belt. For the average Joe is nearly impossible to pay those course prices. I looked into Oracle once but my employer didn't particularly want to invest in my education so I really never pursued it further. Anyone else has had my same experience with Oracle? I don't know of any good materials out there that is available without paying an arm and a leg for it.

Another thing I noticed since I work for a large National Bank here in the U.S. is that many times the Banks use Oracle or SQL Server as their primary databases but it is not always utilized in smaller division levels. For example my division only has MS Office installed so MS Access is the best option for Database driven Application. Now if my boss wanted to purchase licenses for Oracle it would be very costly to do that it would take large funds from the department. So in synthesis Ron, Fortune 500 companies might say we use Oracle as our Database infrastructure but you might be surprised how many departments and smaller areas within that Organization do not have the budget to afford purchasing licenses for their users so Access become a cheap and useful tool to work with for their needs.

 

[Fifty2One]

The best anyone can do for themselves these days is to get some marketing skills for themselves so they are capable of selling themselves. This is especially true for anyone who has been employed for the same company for 15 years or more as you are the expensive asset. Pensions and benefits which were the norm 15+ year back are no longer industry standard at the entry level for careers so many larger companies are looking at packaging off the expensive asstes and replacing them with the more affordable newer and recently trained versions.
A working knowledge of the structure and architecture of Oracle, Baan, SAP, or even smaller dbs like AccPac are valuable tools in order to sell yourself to a prospective new venture in business or employment. Working knowledge can be sought in less expensive classes then going for the full acreditation. Do not expect an employer to cover the course costs up front - those days are gone or are being phased out as the job market fills with persons who already have these tools in their skill set.
I have always made the effort to stay the best in what I have to offer and always keep a plan b and plan c for employment opportunities, even while I have a so called stable job. One of the assets I have to offer is Microsoft Office, large and small companies use features and are oblivious to the fact many departments have discovered MS Access as a tool to manage localized data from larger databases.
You still need to learn how to sell yourself, especially if you are well over 35 and have felt that a career meant 30 years at the same employer and a pension and gold watch is waiting for you at retirement...

 

[Ron_dK]

Fortune 500 companies might say we use Oracle as our Database infrastructure but you might be surprised how many departments and smaller areas within that Organization do not have the budget to afford purchasing licenses for their users so Access become a cheap and useful tool to work with for their needs.

One of the assets I have to offer is Microsoft Office, large and small companies use features and are oblivious to the fact many departments have discovered MS Access as a tool to manage localized data from larger databases.

That's what I meant with :

Estimated 1% using Access ( with ODBC compliant) as their ERP, some 10% using Acces ( stand alone) to manipulate data retrieved from Company legacy system ( SAP, Baan, Oracle, etc)


Side note 1:
I just found this ( UK only) :
http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/sap consultant.do

Side note 2:

I worked for a large Oil company in the Netherlands , where SAP was the main ERP system and although I'm not in IT, I developed a couple of Access Db's, which helped me and the group to do weekly/monthly/yearly statistics on what we produced. These access Db's are still in use and many told me it's a real asset.
Much to my surprsie I was contacted not that long ago, to help my former employer out with some difficult SAP issues. Go figure

 

[fuzzygeek]

Our local community college(Central New Mexico Community College) offers Oracle courses...I took three for $30 each. NC has a great community college set up. Suggest that they offer courses. If you don't want an entire semester for a course, our Univ of New Mexico offers, through their extension program, the same Oracle courses, but they cost $1K each and take about 4 weeks. Encourage the schools to start the courses (if they can find certified instructors).

 

[joeserrone]

Wow that is a great Deal in New Mexico! Thanks for the info... anyone has anything similar?