Graduate Jobs in IT & Technology

This page discusses graduate jobs in IT and Technology. Over one million people are estimated to work in IT in the UK. Despite this, there is a massive skills shortage in qualified IT staff and each year, many roles at companies go unfilled. Some IT roles have a large technical element such as ethical hacking, programming/developing, software testing and systems analysis. Others have a greater business emphasis, are less technical and will not require pure computer science degrees. These areas include IT technical support, technology consultancy, IT project management and other more analytical areas.

Who Works in IT?

It is not uncommon for successful graduates working in IT to have come from science and numerical degree backgrounds. For these positions, employers want to see evidence of conventional job requirements, such as a good standard of degree (2:1 or above ideally) drive, ambition and commitment to a career in IT. The focus of these roles is in varying degrees less on using technical know-how and more on strategy, communication, or finance.

Almost all IT roles can be divided in to six main categories:

• Programming
• IT service provision
• Business change and IT Project Management
• IT Strategy and Planning
• IT procurement and management support
• IT Ancillary skills

Graduate Roles in IT

Graduate roles in IT are likely to be in a development or IT service provision role. As people become more experienced, they tend to move in to more strategic or managerial positions.

Some typical graduate roles include:

• Programming
• Applications Developer
• IT Consultant
• Software Tester
• IT Analyst
• IT Technical Support
• Systems Administrator
• Database Administrator
• Web Design
• IT Ergonomics

IT Competencies

In addition to advanced technical skills, it is vital for modern graduates to have people skills. In the past IT professionals have, on occasion, been viewed as geeks, but in the modern world of IT not only is this a rather stereotypical view but also a rather outdated one. These days, soft skills are as vital as technical ones. Being able to work alone and in a team is a valuable asset and business awareness is also highly desirable.

Employers are increasingly interested in the well-rounded graduate, with understanding of the environment in which a computer system will operate. If you are interested in a job in the client-facing end of IT, a theoretical IT degree is a poorer preparation than one with finance, management, or another engineering subject. With one of these degrees, you will have an understanding of the problems your clients are facing, their attitudes and the language they are using and you will be well placed to act as translator between the client and your in-house team.

Technical Skills

The following list indicates the IT skills employers are most interested in graduate level employees possessing: 1. SQL 2. Java 3. Unix 4. SQL Server 5. C 6. C# 7. .net 8. Oracle 9. C++ 10. MS Office 11. ASP 12. Visual Basic 13. XML 14. SAP 15. HTML 16. TCP/IP 17. Linux 18. J2EE 19. Exchange 20. Javascript 21. Cisco 22. Windows XP 23. Access 24. Focus 25. OOP

Salaries

Graduate starting salaries are good for roles in IT. For large graduate employers you should expect to earn more than £25,000 from year one.

International

IT skills are highly transferable and are almost always globally recognised. This mean it is easy for people working in IT to work in other countries if this is of interest.

Self-Employment

Many IT professionals are contractors. However, before deciding to work for yourself, it is a good idea to have gained some experience and contacts in the industry by working for an employer.

For more information about graduate jobs in IT and Technology see the WikiJob forums.

• IT & Technology

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