Training
Once upon a time, a TAFE course in Multimedia was enough education to get a job with a $90,000 pay packet, but times have changed.
At the same time as the IT industry is showing healthy growth, IT enrollments at universities have been trailing steadily downward over the last few years, prompting suggestions the industry is about to be strangled by a skills shortage.
"This is often the case, where industry begins to rebound and starts calling for skilled staff, but the supply side just can't operate that quickly, so you either have to wait or to train staff yourself," offers Bob Olivier, director of Olivier Recruitment Group. "Because they are not able to source staff with two or three years' experience, a lot of companies are recruiting graduates straight out of uni."
As a result, demand for IT graduates has more than doubled over the last 12 months, according to the Olivier Index. In a sellers' market, those seeking to hire skilled people are prepared to take just about anyone they can get, although degrees with a high industry participation rate and business skills components are favoured.
According to Andrew Millar, consulting manger for Link Recruitment, would-be IT professionals need to do their homework from the outset to find out what particular approach is taken by the different institutions they are considering.
"University courses vary in their profile, offering and cost. For example, Swinburne is known as an institution that offers IT/Business-related courses. Most graduates come out of Swinburne and go into more functional roles," Millar says. "RMIT is much more technical. Most graduates end up in development or more hands-on roles. However, you don't necessarily have to go to uni; professional certificates and TAFE courses can quite often be sufficient for some roles."
The Holy Grail for many roles, and certainly for long-term career prospects, remains a mixture of business and technical skills.
"My advice to anybody looking to pursue a career in IT would be to consider studying a combination of business and IT skills at an academic institution known for its strong links to business," Millar says. "When it comes to work experience, get in on the ground floor and be prepared to work your way up."
According to Daryl Keeley, director of Macro Recruitment, universities across Australia have become very good at providing opportunities for students to get a good grounding in business, so that recent graduates are work-ready from the time they finish their degree. However, he points out that the IT industry is just as ready to recognise experience and professional certification as a university degree.
"Having a Cisco certification or an MCSE is always handy. It gives you a bit more credibility, and may mean the difference between landing a job and being overlooked," Keeley says.
Professional certification can also serve as a stepping stone from the traditional business role into the IT sector, although in many cases it may not be necessary. According to Peter Acheson, CEO of Ambit Recruitment Group, in management circles, the requirement for business nous usually comes before any call for technical skills.
"A lot of IT project managers and IT business analysts don't come from an IT background," Acheson says. "There are lots of opportunities in IT for people with a background in business, where the technical skills are a nice-to-have, but are not fundamental to the role."
So if you're in tech and want to go further faster, look for ways to get experience in business. Professional certification is fundamental to specific roles, but for many serves as a stepping stone rather than a career goal, and can often be interchanged with professional experience.
What should you expect to get paid? All will be revealed tomorrow.
