In current organisations, the importance of knowledge and competence is unquestionable. In a scenario in which knowledge workers perform their duties in knowledge-intensive organisations, mentoring has emerged as an efficient practice for the development of these personnel. On the other hand, the convergence of information technology (IT) and communication technologies and the rapid evolution of the internet has been one of the most influential factors in human resources management, and the advent of semantic technologies presents novel opportunities for the improvement of personnel development, including semantics. This study presents a solution based on semantic technologies which utilises different personal and professional data to carry out pair matching of mentors and protégés.

Abstract. This paper aims to identify generic competency levels relevant to a particular kind of knowledge workers: software engineers. Based on previous works, and in particular in the description of a professional career, authors review of the literature related to the characterization of the labor force in the Software Engineering (SE) domain. Subsequently, using a quantitative analysis based on investigative surveys administered to a number of representative professionals, authors provide with a generic competency ladder adapted to the given career description.

Software engineering productivity has been widely studied, but there are many issues that remain unsolved. Interesting works related to new metrics and more replications of past productivity analysis have emerged, however, in order to fulfill these unsolved issues, a consensus about influencing factors and well recognized and useful sets of inputs and outputs for using in measurements must be reached. In this regard, a clear state of the art may shed light on further research in software engineering productivity, which remains a promising research area. In this paper, general concepts of software engineering productivity along with general issues and recent challenges that need further attention from the research community are presented.

Careers have experienced an evolution parallel to society’s constant progress. Careers have migrated from hierarchical and unidirectional models within a single organization, to models that provide non-linear or vertical movement within the hierarchy, movement between organizations, changes in employer-employee relationships, etc. Furthermore, careers have transferred responsibility from organizations to individuals. Due to these changes, careers have been transmuted from the organizational pyramid to a globalized, boundaryless, and one-dimensional scheme. In addition, within the IT sector, external factors such as gender, organizational culture, differences in requirements between technical and nontechnical positions, among others, have also impacted career management. This chapter presents a review of the changes that have been undertaken in career management from a general point of view, to the peculiarities of the IT sector, and ultimately encompass some conclusions extracted from research.

Software engineering productivity has been widely studied, but there are many issues that remain unsolved. Interesting works related to new metrics and more replications of past productivity analysis have emerged, however, in order to fulfill these unsolved issues, a consensus about influencing factors and well recognized and useful sets of inputs and outputs for using in measurements must be reached. In this regard, a clear state of the art may shed light on further research in software engineering productivity, which remains a promising research area. In this paper, general concepts of software engineering productivity along with general issues and recent challenges that need further attention from the research community are presented.