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University joy as first round tech offers rise

Black Racoon

Head Poncho
Staff member
University joy as first round tech offers rise


Too early to call an end to student decline.

Several Australian Universities have reported a sizable increase in the number of first round offers made for IT and computer science degrees this year.

The University of South Australia, University of Technology Sydney and La Trobe were among those to achieve marked increases in the number of first round offers made.

Victoria University also reported a rise but was not able to provide a breakdown of figures to a computer science level.

Only one University spoken to by iTnews - The University of Queensland - reported "flat" growth rates.

UniSA's head of the school of computer and information science Professor Andy Koronios told iTnews his school had seen a year-on-year increase of around 20 percent, which he attributed to a "modernisation" of its offerings to students.

"The numbers have really been going down over the past five years," Koronios said.

"It appeared to begin to level off last year but it was just a much smaller decline than in previous years.

"We've now had a significant recalibration of the different degree programs in this school and the numbers have kind of reversed. We saw an 18 to 20 percent increase year-on-year this year which is a very pleasant surprise for us."

Koronios said UniSA had made its degrees "a lot more experiential" and provided students with more opportunities to get practical on-the-job project experience.

"That seems to attract students," he said.

"Network and security programs have been star performers in demand this year."

Koronios was unsure whether the increase was a sign that the days of declining student enrolments in technology degrees were numbered.

La Trobe, meanwhile, said its faculty of science and technology had increased the number of first round offers by 8.25 percent this year compared to 2009.

A spokesman for University of Technology Sydney told iTnews its Bachelor of Science in Information Technology degree was up 14.8 percent in main round offers.

"The scholarship program has [also] made more offers than the previous year," the spokesman said.

A Queensland University of Technology spokesman said it had seen an increase of 4.3 percent in total offers.

Victoria University reported an 8.9 percent rise in first round offers made by its Health, Engineering and Science faculty.

A spokesman could not provide a more granular breakdown of that figure at the time of publication.

Only the University of Queensland said its total offers made to date were "slightly lower than last year."

"At the moment we're a little bit down on the total number of offers we made to the end of last year," a spokesman from the University's planning department said.

"We're probably less than 10 percent lower but there's still a few more offers to be made in February so I'd call the trend flat."

//source itnews.com.au
 

The Admiral

Well-Known Member
UQ FTW!!!!!

But damn, that's bad news. Did you realise that BR? More competition for IT jobs once we graduate now. Particularly the bigger/better jobs interstate.
 

nelots

Well-Known Member
IT jobs have always been flooded.
Expect to work as call centre support drones after graduation.
 

Black Racoon

Head Poncho
Staff member
nelots said:
IT jobs have always been flooded.
Expect to work as call centre support drones after graduation.
What IT jobs are flooded, not EVERY IT job is flooded is it?

Cheers, bR
 

nelots

Well-Known Member
-OZ-Black Racoon said:
What IT jobs are flooded, not EVERY IT job is flooded is it?
Cheers, bR
All comes down to how good you are.
From my mingling with company directors, if you're not good enough to be head hunted then you'll most likely end up being a drone.
Mind you drone positions are very limited since businesses will outsource to India and those lucky enough to secure a position domestically will basically quit within 3-12months so theres hope :S
Thats software, support, etc part of IT whereas the engineering hands on sector will always be live and kicking with various plans to upgrade services.
 

Black Racoon

Head Poncho
Staff member
nelots said:
-OZ-Black Racoon said:
What IT jobs are flooded, not EVERY IT job is flooded is it?
Cheers, bR
All comes down to how good you are.
From my mingling with company directors, if you're not good enough to be head hunted then you'll most likely end up being a drone.
Mind you drone positions are very limited since businesses will outsource to India and those lucky enough to secure a position domestically will basically quit within 3-12months so theres hope :S
Thats software, support, etc part of IT whereas the engineering hands on sector will always be live and kicking with various plans to upgrade services.
So with programming with web development or C languages and Engineering, how big is job prosper out there and is it as hard as those other sectors you mentioned of IT?
 

Frogma

Well-Known Member
I'm sorry what? I see it as less people wanna work IT?

Anyway I may be wrong but I'm so glad I dont have to job hunt in that shitty industry bwa hah ha.
 

noobItUp

Super Moderator
Staff member
Well i'm on the other side of the recruitment into IT thing & I can tell you that if you are any good at all you won't have a problem finding work in IT.

Being able to talk to people and show common sense are just as important as having good marks at uni.

Seriously, you don't have to be all straight HDs at uni.

You would be surprised at the number of absolute deadsh!ts that I have to interview who have good marks, but I wouldn't let them anywhere near my business stakeholders. They don't get the job.
 

Overmars

ET Moderator
Exactly. Unlike ET, just having solid skills isn't enough, you also have to be a decent person with common sense. Add in a good eye for detail, some initiative, dedication and a little imagination, and you are pretty much the holy grail. Which is both refreshing and sad at the same time. :rnade:
 

nelots

Well-Known Member
noobItUp said:
You would be surprised at the number of absolute deadsh!ts that I have to interview who have good marks, but I wouldn't let them anywhere near my business stakeholders. They don't get the job.
You should interview me!!! I'll blow your mind and panties with my pure awesomeness and then charge you $300/hr for the pleasure :)
 

Trigger Happy

Moderator
IT is always changing, what is bad now might become the next niche market in 4 years when you graduate.
There are a few trends that are happening now and will either fail or be the place to go when you get out, but again it's like trying to predict the stock market I guess :p Sometimes someone just comes up with something and the whole industry wants a piece, other times its just a lot of hype and it flops bad.
Just do what you like, don't bother looking at what jobs are available, if you like what you do then the chances are you will be good at it too and hence shouldn't be too hard to get a job (in the stereotyping sense). There are lots of opportunities to get your finger out at Uni as there are heaps of CEED projects going that can get you a foot in the door or you can sometimes pick up a good summer job with a decent company and go that way. If you are lazy, you will end up with bugger all and probably regret that you bothered spending so much time at Uni to just miss all the chances because you missed a deadline to put in an application.
So my tips are to just do what you like, be proactive and try and get out there (network with some people if you can by volunteering at conferences aka JAOO has conferences in Brissy and other places and always beam out invites to be a volunteer) and above all be level headed. As nooby said, no one wants to listen to a stuck up kid about why he is great at everything. What you learn at Uni is a drop in the ocean and just because you spent a semester on a unit doesn't mean you actually know all about it :)

Cheers
 

nelots

Well-Known Member
Its true that the IT sector is always evolving to meet commercial and consumer demands but the thing people will need to consider is the fact that a majority of people are studying IT thus the market will be saturated once you've earned your qualification. That is without taking the influx of foreign workers that will inevitably come around.

P.S - good point triggerhawk, people must be proactive as most recruiters will look for candidates with both certified credentials as well as industry experience(2 years preferred).
 

nelots

Well-Known Member
I'd rather be inside an air conditioned office surfing for porn whilst in the background of a live TV news report!!!
When I grow up I'd like to be just like David Kiely, he should be next years Australian of the Year.
 

nelots

Well-Known Member
noobItUp said:
LOL cheekz, shoot for the stars young man.
A little birdie told me that more of these occurences will happen if David Kiely is fired.
Good old Macquarie Bank employees, they know how to party and also know how to be made redundant.
 

Death_Reincarnated

Well-Known Member
nelots said:
noobItUp said:
LOL cheekz, shoot for the stars young man.
A little birdie told me that more of these occurences will happen if David Kiely is fired.
Good old Macquarie Bank employees, they know how to party and also know how to be made redundant.
I woulda hacked all computers and made them ALL post the similar images so everyone would get made redundant...wonder if they would have to employ monkeys to do the job...

 
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