Oxford

COMPUTING + IT
IT is an operational necessity for nearly all organisations
today and IT technical roles can be found within all types of
organisations – in fact, more than 40% of all IT professionals
work outside the Computing, IT and Telecoms sector. Other
industries which recruit large numbers into IT related roles
include financial services, games development, management
consulting, manufacturing, retail and the public sector –
and the rapid growth in the number of technology-driven
start-up organisations also creates significant demand for
technical skills. In return, the IT sector employs a wide range
of non-technical staff – from sales and marketing to project
management, HR and finance.
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IT consultancy is also a rapidly growing
industry, with many organisations
recruiting consultants on standard
contracts and seconding them out
to clients to work on their projects.
A more recent trend has been the
emergence of companies that provide
‘free’ training in exchange for a two
year employment bond – although an
employee who leaves before the end
of their ‘bonded’ period may face a
financial penalty or be asked to pay
the costs of their training.
There is also a huge range of jobs,
roles and job titles - from software
engineering, to website production;
cloud computing and systems
development to cyber security.
Across the board employment of IT
professionals is predicted to grow
nearly twice as fast as employment in
the UK generally until at least 2020,
meaning that many firms struggle
to recruit enough staff and starting
salaries, even for those with no
previous technical training, often
exceed £30,000. Competition for talent
also means that many companies
are keen to attract people with the
potential to learn and develop quickly
and they provide excellent training
and support for new graduates
without much experience. If you have
programming skills already, these are
highly sought after for technical roles,
and popular languages include C,
C++, C#, HTML, Java, JavaScript, NET,
Python and SQL.
MORE INFORMATION
If you want to find out more about
this sector, visit:
www.careers.ox.ac.uk/computing
GETTING IN AND
ENTRY POINTS
You don’t need a Computer Science degree!
Although previous technical experience
is highly sought after, there are lots of
opportunities for you to secure a technical
role if you have a numerate degree,
some self-taught programming experience,
or can even just prove potential in
a recruiter’s aptitude test. Being able to
demonstrate a keen interest is important,
so consider what evidence you have for
this – if you don’t have any, now is the time
to build it!
Internships and jobs can be advertised
year-round, although the bigger multinational
companies generally advertise
from the autumn to late January/February,
which is around the time of The Careers
Service’s ‘Careers in Computing’ and ‘Jobs
for Mathematicians’ fairs hosted at the
respective departments. Full-time IT hiring
will continue into June for summer starts,
with some firms specifically returning to
Oxford at the end of the academic year.
Nadia Odunayo
Software Engineer– Pivotal Labs
“
There are many ways now
that enable people to move
into the software industry.
There are lots of tools to help
you learn by yourself at home
or you can opt to enrol onto
an intensive bootcamp.
”
EXTRA-CURRICULAR
IDEAS
+ + Join CompSoc (www.compsoc.
net) and/or OxWoCS (Women in
Computer Science) and attend
some events – make friends.
+ + Sign up for a free taught course at
IT Services on Banbury Road – or
train for free with CompSoc or the
Oxford branch of CodeFirst: Girls.
+ + Self-directed learning of a
programming languages for free
at www.codecademy.com (or
similar).
+ + Offer to take on some IT-related
projects/responsibilities for your
JCR/society/club.
+ + Contact a local charity to offer
support as a volunteer for a
technical area of work.
+ + Mingle with local entrepreneurs
and designers and hear
about their latest ideas and
developments over a (free!) beer
at regular Oxford Geek Nights.
+ + Approach a local firm to arrange
a day’s work shadowing. Look at
DigitalOxford.com to find local
companies working in fields that
most interest you.
+ + Find and follow IT professionals
on social media – read their
blogs/tweets/posts to learn more
about their world, and join the
conversation.