Hunting for that rare species, the IT graduate

FRESH out of Melbourne's RMIT University, Rhys van der Waerden has three jobs.

Rhys van der Waerden

AT a time when plenty of IT firms cannot lay hands on a single graduate, Rhys van der Waerden, fresh out of Melbourne's RMIT University, has three jobs.

It's a learning experience as he juggles work on two new games with more conventional web development.

What Australia is seemingly yet to learn is how to translate the promise of a digital economy -- Google glamour, if you like -- into a steady supply of graduates.

"It's a puzzle," admits Leon Sterling, from Swinburne University, and president of the information and communications technology deans at Australia's universities.

"Not enough people are taking ICT qualifications," he says. "I think there's a lack of understanding of what ICT careers are."

Today, a new report from Graduate Careers Australia shows that in subdued economic times most employers are not clamouring for graduates -- unless they are in IT.

Among employers who did complain of skill shortages last year, almost a third were trying to recruit IT graduates.

"Some employers indicated they were looking further afield (for IT staff), maybe hiring graduates from other disciplines," says GCA research associate Jessica Arnott. She says the next survey may ask employers why they think there is an undersupply of IT graduates.

Professor Sterling says student numbers fell sharply after the late 1990s dot.com bubble burst and hit rock bottom around 2007-08, but since have risen only slightly.

He says one of the challenges for an educator is to keep course materials up to date with emerging technology, such as Apple devices. There's a healthy appetite for people skilled in developing apps for iPhone and iPad.

Also in demand, Professor Sterling says, are software engineers and developers, project managers and people who can make sense of so-called big data.

It's no surprise to van der Waerden, 26, that there are plenty of jobs. "Nearly every business is computerised with specialised software, the web is huge."