Ross said companies who were hiring graduates from his organisation, which offers IT training and career programs, generally had more positions available than people to fill them in entry-level jobs. This, he said, was because companies tended to promote from within, said Ross.
"A new programming role may result in a new entry-level position [rather than a new programming position]," he said. "People always want to get back in the game where they were before, maybe they should just get back in the game. If they are good they'll get recognition."
"During boom time demand outstrips supply people were paying very competitive salaries," said Ross, adding that the salaries have now "rationalised", and people may have to accept less money than they had before.
A high number of IT workers who lost their jobs had been in management, according to Ross. "They weren't hands on, they stopped acquiring tech skills and acquired management skills. The skill set has not matched the market," he said, adding that IT management positions often accounted for less than five percent of jobs advertised on employment sites such as seek.com.au.
Richard Hogg, national president of the Australian Computer Society (ACS), told ZDNet Australia it was a question of whether the skills required were being defined properly, and that it wasn't always clear what skills were in demand.
"There may be people who are not prepared to take a lower job, but I would have thought they were in the minority," he said.
Increasing the challenges for unemployed IT professionals looking for high-end positions are the other skills required by employers. "A guy might have the tech skills but does he have the business skills to be appropriate for that role?" asked Ross. He said that companies looked to hire people with experience in their industry as well as the qualifications appropriate for the role.
Ross believes the IT employment market is due for an upturn, pointing out that every five years there is a cycle of boom and bust, and the market is on the upturn again. "We've been through the valley of death and come out the other side, companies are spending money again," he said.
The ACS is also confident about an upturn in the IT employment market towards the end of this year, but warns the salaries offered will remain the same.
"There has been a pick-up in professional development [inhouse training]...which is generally a pointer to movement, in this case positive," said Hogg, adding there are other positive signs of a pick-up in the IT jobs market.
Ross suggests people who are having trouble breaking into the IT market visit a career coach. A useful process is to have a profile done on yourself determining your strengths and weaknesses, as this independent assessment of your skill set will carry more weight than references, which can be normally assumed to be positive.
Career coaches will also help you assess whether you want to continue working in IT, said Ross. Skills used to create Web sites appropriate for the IT marketplace can also be useful in other areas, such as graphic design, he said.
There are a number of areas which are likely to be in demand in the future, according to Ross. "Organisations such as Cisco and Microsoft will continue to dominate...there is a large well trained workforce able to use their technology."
"Security is one area where companies are will to make investments," said Ross. "Security is one of the things the board doesn't have to be convinced of." He said .NET is also in demand, and would "change the development landscape".
Comments from Dimension Data hey ?!?!?
Weren't they responsible for hundreds of their own employees to join the unemployment queue?
All because Dimension Data decided their main business was "Portals" of all things.