IT Grads About to "Get Lucky" in 2015

Timing is everything.

Skills matter too. And preparedness. And attention to detail. And work ethic. And honesty. And so much more.

Summary article by David Weldon in FierceCIO.

Emphasis in red added by me.

Brian Wood

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IT Class of 2015 told: Brace for the very best year in a decade

Between declining job offers and rising student loan debt, IT grads haven’t had a lot to look forward to in the past few years. But that may be changing in a big way for the upcoming Class of 2015, suggests a new study by Michigan State University. In fact, 2015 could be the best hiring year for IT grads in nearly a decade.

According to articles at Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, there are two pieces of very good news for up-and-coming IT pros: hiring of college graduates is expected to rise significantly this spring; and information services leads all industries in employers that will be rolling out the red carpet.

“Hiring for new graduates is expected to jump by 16 percent next year,” notes the Forbes article. More encouraging still, the number could actually rise to 20 percent, suggests Phil Gardner, director of Michigan State’s College Employment Research Institute (CERI), which conducted the study.

The biggest factor in all this may be simple pent-up demand, Gardner says: “The last couple of years have been positive, but they were not strong, runaway markets.”

But no more, Gardner says.

“I think we are going to see a couple of years of aggressive hiring,” Gardner was quoted in the Wall Street Journal article as saying.

But the best news for would-be techies is where this new hiring is taking place. The number one industry by far is information services, with 51 percent of surveyed campus recruiters and hiring managers saying they want IT grads. That was followed by finance and insurance (cited by 31 percent), government (cited by 24 percent), and professional, business and scientific services (also cited by 24 percent).

Still, one may have to exercise caution with the tech hiring projection, the Forbes article notes. Since many employers in this sector may be start-ups, even just a few IT hires can look like a large percentage increase.

Another significant finding in the CERT report was also less encouraging: the preparedness level of many college grads as they start their job searches.

Citing the CERT report, the Forbes article notes that “recruiters and employers observe students entering the recruiting season with lackluster resumes and slipshod cover letters. The students who receive interviews appear unfocused and unmotivated.”

To help pending IT job candidates in the recruiting process, Jobvite has shared an infographic with FierceCIO on how college students can best land their next IT job. You can see the the full-size infographic below and here.