Educational News - Employers should look for potential, not perfection, says IT jobs expert

They’ve got it pretty tough right now, so graduates must have breathed a sigh of relief last week when one UK IT jobs expert said recently that companies should not pick “perfect” employees.

Firms should opt for staff with potential rather than their dream employee insists Jeff Brooks, chair of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) for technology. He says that this will ensure that they are rewarded with a competent worker who will cost an employer less and stay with the company longer.

His strong words followed the release of The REC research paper, Skills Shortages in the ICT Workplace, which showed the reasons for the skills gap in ICT and offers advice to recruiters and employers to help address this issue. The REC represents the interests of the UK’s recruitment industry in Parliament, Whitehall and the European Commission, among others.

Reasons for the skills gap include: poor pay compared to other sectors; the nerdy image of IT workers; a hesitancy to train for a vocational career; and the changing pace of technology and outsourcing, leading to the perception that there are no entry-level computer jobs.

"The number of vacancies within our sector has held up throughout the economic downturn because employers are investing more in IT to enhance productivity, reduce costs and drive their future growth,” Brooks said.

“However, shortages currently being experienced give IT recruiters and their clients an ideal opportunity to influence the skills agenda, both in the short and long term.”

"Educators, employers, recruiters and the government really need to get to grips with the whole issue to find practical solutions that will influence and inspire young people to consider a career in IT.”

The paper recommends that IT recruitment agencies work with schools, universities and employers to encourage young people to take ICT-related courses and qualifications.

Agencies should also offer expertise to employers.

"Two main things need to happen: first, the government has to step up and say that a career in IT is great, that candidates are necessary and that it is crucial for the UK,” says Brooks.

“Second, the Department for Education has to invest in its sector as ICT teachers are currently only qualified to teach Word and Excel as opposed to things that an IT practitioner should know," Brooks said.

He said students would benefit from being taught computer science as opposed to ICT in school. This could provide them with invaluable skills to assist them with an apprenticeship or degree, before they embark on their IT careers and fulfill specialist roles such as gis jobs.

Last year, a report by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), an independent employer organization, found that 45 per cent of employers claimed they had difficulty recruiting Stem-skilled (science, technology, engineering and mathematics skilled) staff.

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