Charley Stoney is Managing Director of Alternatives Group, a specialist in recruiting marketing professionals.

What has been the most surprising aspect of how the recruitment market has behaved in 2015?

The surprising aspect is how quickly the market has shifted to being a candidate-led market again. Great talent is in high demand once again but many companies haven’t realised this yet and are losing out on good people because they’re not moving quickly enough through the recruitment process.

There was little job movement during the recession - are people moving more now? Are they less risk averse?

People are on the move again. There are some distinct talent shortages out there so this creates high demand in certain areas, particularly in light of the move towards customer centricity. We very much see ourselves as the talent specialist for customer focused people so are at the forefront of the market. As such we are filling a critical gap in the market in areas such as data analytics, digital skills, product management, CRM and customer experience.

Have you noticed a bounce in salary levels in 2015?

Our annual salary survey polled more than 1,000 marketers. This indicated that over half received a salary increase of up to 5% with another one in ten receiving an increase of over 5%. Still one third received no increase at all. That’s a significant uplift compared to a couple of years ago when salaries were static across the board. Separately, confidence in the market and future career development was higher than for the past number of years - another good indicator for performance in 2016.

What is the biggest talent issue facing Ireland Inc. in 2016?

Identifying and attracting the best customer talent, given the current shortage, to ensure that we have sustainable growth in what it still a small market.

In Association with

What will be the Top 5 most in demand skills in the New Year?

· Contractors who can be seconded to businesses requiring specialist digital, data or analytical skills.
· Analytical data skills to extract insight from customer data that will better inform sales and marketing teams and help with more relevant and effective communications and ultimately drive profits and growth.
· Customer experience skills – experience in mapping the customer journey through a maze of multi-channel touch-points that provide a consistent, quality experience for customers.
· Product management skills – technical and marketing skills to that products that are designed specifically around customer insights and requirements and will therefore meet their expectations.
· Evolved leadership skills – leaders with international experience, great Emotional Intelligence, experience of working across complex, diverse organisations with a creative, collaborative approach.

Where are likely to be the most lucrative careers in 2016?

Aside from general management, Data, Digital and Customer Experience at the moment are in high demand so are paying well.