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Graduate job-hunting is about exploring possibilities and identifying opportunities that will give get your working life off to a great start. The IT sector is much broader than a few well-known technology multinationals. It is made up of a wide range of employers that operate in all kinds of business areas. Understanding the tech sector landscape will help you identify a good assortment of companies in which you could have a great IT job.
The large employers of IT graduates include:
Other significant IT recruiters in the graduate market include finance and professional services firms, including:
In good years, these businesses recruit a large number of graduates for technology roles, and are still worth investigating. Technology will be central to taking these organisations forward as they look for business efficiencies.
Retail, media, games development and public services organisations are also part of the technology employer landscape. And then there are the many smaller employers, such as specialist software houses and niche consultancies (eg Tessella), that complete the picture.
The technology business has good career opportunities for graduates from all degree backgrounds. However, it's easy to restrict yourself to one area of work by thinking that certain types of organisation will only offer particular types of job to particular types of graduate. Take a high-level view and take in the whole vista before you focus on a particular area.
If you are a computer scientist or software engineer there are attractive graduate-level developer opportunities in the finance, retail and public sectors. If you're from a non-technical degree, don't run shy of the IT and telecoms companies assuming that everything will be about technical development. Many employers want graduates with a broader background for midfield roles that link business with technology, for example, business analysis and product marketing.
With a wide range of options on offer you need to know how to search for the right IT employer and career. Get started by considering two key factors.
The work you’d like to do. Do you want to do loads of coding or none at all, but still use your technical reasoning? Would you prefer to be business focused, or enjoy the best of both the technology and commercial worlds? Do you want to be troubleshooting daily, or working on projects with longer deadlines? If you’re not sure that you want to focus on one particular area from the outset, explore employers offering graduate programmes that allow you to work in different roles or business areas before you specialise.
How mobile you’re prepared to be. Technology careers vary widely in terms of how mobile you need to be. If you’re looking to become a consultant, expect to spend your working week wherever your current client is based, maybe catching a plane home for the weekend. Likewise, graduates in IT services may be required to spend the week on their clients’ premises. In contrast, if you choose a very technical role such as developer or software tester you’re likely to spend the vast majority of your time in the same office with maybe the odd trip out. Business and management-focused roles (eg project management) tend to fall somewhere between the two – they often require a degree of travel but this can vary depending upon the precise role and company. Try to assess honestly how mobile you are prepared to be. Regular travel may seem very glam at the start, but are you really happy to put regular weekday evening pursuits on hold?
If you'd prefer a job that doesn't involve too much travel, read up on the following graduates' careers.
If you don't want to spend every day in the same place, find out how these graduates get out and about.
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