Despite job cuts in telecoms the recruitment of sales and engineering staff is still an active market with key skills in hot demand.

Networks First is growing month-on-month and according to Director Peter Titmus the company is quick to sign the right people when they come along. "There are lots of engineers with good qualifications but they don't have enough experience," he said.

Titmus highlighted that dem-and is highest for engineers who have experience with more than one system. "No installation is a single vendor solution," he added. "It's cross-platform skills that are lacking most."