Are there enough entry-level IT jobs?

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“At the NHS, the screening process is an application form and its competency based,” he explained – so freshly-graduated computer experts need only have the right skills, not years of commercial experience, in order to be considered.

While many students wait for jobs to come to them – expecting recruiters and firms to show up on the milk round – O’Connell advised wanna-be-IT-pros to directly contact companies they want to work for. “It shows drive and determination,” he said.

Atsco’s Davidson suggested large companies are more likely to take on trainees than SMBs. “A lot of big organisations have good training programmes,” she said, but added: “Big companies often only look at the very best graduates…but just because someone’s good at exams, doesn’t mean they’ll be good in the work force.”

While she called on industry to offer more apprenticeships and hire more entry-level IT workers, Davidson also said that universities must offer the right training and students must continue to take up those programmes in order to overcome the problem.

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