Introduction
For students who plan to use skills developed over the course of their studies, job market analysis is a vital activity. In particular, those majoring in computer science will find job opportunities plentiful as the world is becoming increasingly dependent on digital technology. For example, in the Canadian market, the profession of a software developer is highly in demand; across the country, 9,741 positions are currently available (“Software developer jobs in Canada,” 2018). This paper will argue that the best place to work as a software developer in Toronto, home to many large-scale technology companies that are the best places to start a career and offer better job variety.
Toronto as the Best City for Software Developers
According to the indeed.ca website, Toronto has posted 2,659 job offers out of a total number of 9,741 on the site. Toronto’s closest competitor is Montreal with 1,447 jobs. Clearly, Toronto has an advantage: the more jobs a city offers, the higher the possibility for individuals to match their skills and wishes to a company’s requirements for an employee. In addition, according to the Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Resource Centre, Toronto offers the second-largest rate of pay (Singer, 2018). Thus, a software developer in this city may be offered on average $82,362 per year compared to the national average of $75,975 (“Software developer jobs in Canada,” 2018).
This nearly 8% difference in annual salary is a clear point in Toronto’s favor. The city is developing rapidly and seems to be in need of young and capable programming specialists. The various large companies located there, among them National Bank, IBM, Royal Bank of Canada, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Autodesk, Gentec, BlackBerry, Adobe, and others (“Software developer jobs in Canada,” 2018; Government of Canada, 2018), potentially offer employment and a good salary. Another advantage of such a sizeable city as Toronto is the likelihood of finding a suitable job for the exact skills a job seeker has or wants to develop.
Large Companies as Best Career Beginning
One benefit of starting a career at a large instead of a small company after graduation involves the inherent opportunities for growth. In most cases, after finishing their studies, students will obtain a junior position. Companies like Adobe offer internships and hire students full-time after graduation (Adobe, n.d.). In addition, many companies offer organization-financed courses should an employee desire to develop a new skill (Wilson, 2016).
Small companies, in contrast, are more likely to have limited resources to facilitate such development. In addition, large companies offer better insight into how the business of software development works because, unlike small firms, they are more structurally complex and multifaceted. For those considering establishing their own start-ups, gaining an understanding of how their future companies should grow could be a great benefit.
Others assert that small firms, due to their less rigid structure, rules, and freedom, might offer a wider perspective for software developers. McGuirk, Lenihan, and Hart (2015) argue that small companies tend to have a larger value of human capital and may offer employees more freedom for innovation than large firms. Indeed, small-scale organizations can offer wider opportunities in terms of experimentation, but the professional education and mentoring in a large organization appears a worthier asset. The opportunity to work on complex projects teamed with the best software engineers is why many join companies like Google, Amazon, and other IT giants.
However, after a time of working at such jobs, employees will tend to seek other opportunities even as they admit that they received a good start. The survey results quoted by Umoh (2017) suggest that millennials prefer Google and Amazon as career possibilities because such companies offer new positions and opportunities for rapid growth as well as pay higher salaries. In the same study, others note that employees at Adobe enjoy learning opportunities and challenges that stimulate their professional growth.
Conclusion
The present findings confirm that Toronto can be considered a good place for a software developer to begin a career due to the prospect of higher salaries, more job offers, and a concentration of large IT firms. Employment at larger firms may be more beneficial for a new graduate because of greater opportunities for learning, meeting challenges, and growth. While smaller companies in comparison may offer more praise for skills and a wider space for innovation, these positive aspects may fail to outweigh the professionally rewarding experience of working with top software engineers on large-scale projects.
References
Adobe. (n.d.). Explore job opportunities. Web.
Government of Canada. (2018). Web developer near Toronto, ON – Job search. Web.
McGuirk, H., Lenihan, H., & Hart, M. (2015). Measuring the impact of innovative human capital on small firms’ propensity to innovate. Research Policy, 44(4), 965-976.
Singer, C. R. (2018). Where to get the best salary as a software developer in Canada. Web.
Software developer jobs in Canada (2018). Web.
Umoh, R. (2017). Three reasons why millennials want to work for Google and Amazon so badly. CNBC. Web.
Wilson, E. P. (2016). How leading tech companies use learning & development to engage employees. Medium. Web.