The technological landscape, and the way in which people are using the web, has undergone a dramatic transformation. People have adopted social media in their millions (Facebook recorded 900 million users worldwide this week) and are now spending much of their internet time on social networks. In response to this shift in behaviour, many companies are looking to follow consumers and market their products directly to them through social media channels. As a result, an entire new industry has been developed, and people with the knowledge of how to reach people through social networks are finding that they are very much in demand with employers.

There is however a great deal more to social media marketing than knowing how to set up a Facebook page or how to write a tweet. Professional digital marketers need to be able to plan strategies that actually get results and build a community of loyal followers on the web that will act as advocates for a brand. They also have to be able to show how a company can reap a measurable ROI (return on investment).

For those with digital marketing skills, a world of opportunity has arisen from the many companies looking to increase their online visibility and market to potentially millions of customers across the World Wide Web.

A private practice accountant is more likely to see greater variety in terms of the businesses they audit and assist. In most large private practice accountancy firms, specialisation within a certain industry or sector is common. However, the accountant will still be dealing with different businesses and rising to the challenge of helping them increase productivity and reducing their tax burden. It is this variety which appeals to some people.

The in-house accountancy specialist, on the other hand, will immerse themself in the books of their employer and will be part of a team dedicated to working towards a common aim. The dedicated concentration and depth of work in the affairs of a single company is what appeals to many that follow in-house accountancy as a career.  Many also enjoy working as part of a long-term team, rather than visiting many different companies in the course of their work.

Whether an accountant chooses to work in private practice or in-house, both options can lead to a rich and rewarding career.

Much of the growth in employment is being driven by a booming information and communications technology sector (ICT). The ICT market in the UK currently generates £140 billion, equal to 12% of GDP, and employs 600,000 people. The UK has become a clear market leader for IT jobs in Europe because of the sophisticated consumer base which adopts new technologies quickly, combined with a highly skilled labour market.

The UK’s advantages in IT have firmly established it as the European market leader in ICT, and research carried out by Microsoft suggests that 2,500 new businesses and 78,200 new jobs in IT could be created as early as the end of next year.

One of the biggest growth areas within the IT sector is in the provision of Cloud Services, following indications that small and medium sized businesses are going to utilise cloud storage solutions. Currently 18% of enterprises are plugged into the cloud, but this is expected to rise to around 50% by the end of the year. It is forecast that half of all companies’ new IT expenditure will be geared to cloud solutions by 2015.

The figures cast some doubt over the common assumption that it is the public sector which is bearing the brunt of the government’s austerity measures, in the battle to get national debt under control. However the figures, although revealing, do not tell the whole story, as they show average pay rates and not direct comparisons between comparable jobs in the two sectors.

One potential explanation for the widening gap is that many former public workers are now on a private contract basis for doing essentially the same jobs but employed through agencies or private firms on a contracted basis on lower rates of pay. The ONS offered several other possible explanations for the gap, including the fact that employees were generally older in the public sector and salaries usually increased with age, and that the public sector had a greater proportion of skilled jobs.

Neil Carberry, a director of the employer’s organisation, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), claimed that regardless of the methodology it was ‘clear that public sector pay is still considerably higher than pay in the private sector’. He went on to stress the ‘need to ensure that public sector salaries reflect local labour market conditions, by putting pay decisions into the hands of individual employers at the local level’.

Traditionally, a higher proportion of Scotland’s economy has depended on the public sector than in other parts of the UK. In terms of public expenditure (as a percentage of GDP), the difference between Scotland and the rest of the country is substantial; 48.8% in Scotland against 43.9% in the UK as a whole. However in terms of employment, although the gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK is narrower (23.2% in Scotland as opposed to 20% in the whole of the UK), public sector employment is still of vital importance to the country.

There is no doubt that public sector cutbacks will hit Scotland hard, and many analysts have expressed the fear that the private sector in Scotland will not be strong enough to compensate and drive the growth of employment, particularly in light of the uncertainty over the independence referendum. However, there are signs that the private sector is more than capable of taking the extra strain.

The results of the Bank of Scotland Purchasing Managers Index for February revealed that the private sector was producing jobs at the highest rate for four years, with the blossoming financial services sector leading the way. In addition, there have recently been a number of high profile announcements, including an increase in investment for pharmaceuticals firm GlaxoSmithKline in their Scottish facilities in Montrose and Irvine.

Within the financial sector, fears are increasingly being voiced that public and media pressure will lead to problems for the banking industry. Public outcry over bonuses, fed by politicians searching for easy sound bites, recently led to RBS CEO, Stephen Hester declining his £930,000 annual bonus. Pressure on bonus pay outs has grown across Europe with the EU advocating a cap on bonuses to a maximum of twice annual salary and the on ‘golden hello’ payments.

The current pressure on bonuses is however giving rise to severe misgivings within the banking industry and fears that bonus restrictions will ultimately damage competitiveness and lead to recruitment problems. Many within the industry believe that bonus restrictions will inevitably lead to significant salary increases as institutions compete for the best staff. This may lead to some banking operations becoming uneconomical due to significantly increased basic salaries. While big bonuses grab headlines, they are linked directly to performance and therefore justified on results, whereas large salaries will have to be paid regardless of performance.

Both Prime Minister David Cameron and leader of the opposition Ed Miliband have expressed concerns about banking bonuses, but recently industry figures have started to urge caution on interfering in the market. Labour peer and entrepreneur Lord Sugar has warned that ‘bank bashing’ by politicians could further depress the industry, which is struggling for stability following the recent years of crisis within the financial sector. He warned that restrictions on the banking industry could lead to talented personnel leaving the sector.

It can be notoriously difficult for companies to find and retain good junior accounts staff, which can cause problems because often, employees who fulfil this role are like duck’s feet; paddling away furiously below the surface so the corporate body can move serenely along.

The difficulty for many companies with high volume trade is that the role requires a certain type of person – someone who is capable of organising incoming and outgoing transactions in an orderly and structured way without getting flustered, but also understands the urgency of processing quickly. Failure to fulfil these requirements can either create a hideous mess that is difficult to sort out, or lead to the department falling hopelessly behind as ongoing transactions start to back up. A quick and organised mind is the key for a member of staff in this kind of role. The ability to focus on details to ensure accuracy is particularly important.

Obviously companies are looking for reliability in all of their employees, but it is particularly important with junior accounts staff. While accountants are universally the butt of jokes around boring and unconventional personalities, the stereotype is not something that stands up to examination in the real world. Nevertheless, during work hours, accountancy staff who are dependable and consistent are highly prized, and this is something that candidates for junior accountancy jobs should always bear in mind when preparing their CVs.

Buoyant economic data released on 4^th April suggests that the UK is likely to avoid slipping into a double dip recession. Figures from the latest Markit/CIPS survey showed that Britain’s services sector has grown consecutively for the past 15 months, expanding by as much as 0.5% in the first quarter of 2012. The wide ranging services sector accounts for about 75% of the British economy and is widely considered as a key driver of economic growth. The survey also reported growth in the manufacturing and construction sectors, which suggests that the economy as a whole is more robust than was thought just a few months ago.

However despite the growth of the services sector as a whole, the financial and banking sectors are still behaving cautiously, resulting in limited city job opportunities. Many financial institutions have undertaken restructuring and job cutting programmes to cut costs and ensure that they remain profitable and competitive in the more demanding business environment. According to a report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, the City cut 27,000 financial jobs in 2011 and there are still deep concerns about the future. There are fears that the Euro zone crisis may erupt again, and while conditions remain uncertain, most companies are adopting a conservative approach to job creation.

The availability of a pool of skilled experienced workers in the sector, following recent large scale redundancies in the industry, mean that those looking for career opportunities have to demonstrate exceptional qualities. On the other hand, there are excellent prospects for companies to add talented people to their payroll.

The decisive fact in the decision of legal companies to establish a Belfast base has received support funding by Invest Northern Ireland, a regional development agency. The agency has offered Axiom up to £1.1million spread over an eight year period. The firm has also received a substantial award from the Department of Employment and Learning which could total up to £500,000 for skills development.

Last year A&O, one of the big five ‘Magic Circle’ law firms (and the seventh largest in the world), received £2.5million for establishing a major legal support services centre in Belfast. In return, the firm intends to provide up to 300 legal jobs by 2014.

The new Axiom centre will employ 15 lawyers immediately with plans to provide over 100 legal jobs by 2014. The Invest Northern Ireland funding was vital to Axiom’s decision to choose Belfast which beat off stiff competition from other UK cities as well as Cape Town and Delhi.

The company also paid tribute to the high quality of legal recruits as being a major contributory factor.  Arlene Foster, the Northern Ireland Enterprise Minister said Axiom’s choice was a ‘testament to the reputation of Northern Ireland’s workforce’.

The report, ‘The Internet Economy in the G-20:The $4.2 Trillion Growth Opportunity’ was produced by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a leading international management advisory company based in the United States. The report reveals that the UK’s web economy was larger as a percentage of GDP than any country in the G20 group of nations. According the BCG, the internet accounts for 8.3% of the UK’s GDP and contributes £121 billion to the economy.

The BCG report focused on the rapid acceleration of the internet and the central role it will play in world economies in the future. In just four years time, the internet economy in the G20 will be worth $4.2 trillion and Britain’s early adoption and skills in e-commerce will leave it well placed to compete on a global level. As a result, the IT sector is likely to continue to see increasing jobs growth.

It is certainly a lesson that the government has taken on board. In his recent budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne stated his intention to ‘turn Britain into Europe’s technology centre’ and announced that £100 million would be allocated to providing ultra-fast broadband in Britain’s ten largest cities.