Susan, a female 6th year student at school in Dumfries, is thinking of university. She is interested in researching the opportunities for female graduates within the Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) industry. When she graduates she would ideally like to return home and find employment, but is prepared to consider jobs as far north as Glasgow. There is no tradition of going into higher education in her family. Her father believes that university is an expensive way to have 'four years of fun'! He would prefer her to follow in his footsteps by getting a local job, working hard and then setting up her own business (like opening a hotel specialising in “Burns” tourists). He has suggested that she gets a job in a local hotel as junior manager when she leaves school.

Susan might want LMI to:

• help her find out the jobs available for ICT professionals and the skills required;
• determine if the employment potential is good for ICT professionals in her local area;
•  identify employers who have hired ICT professionals in the past.

She may want to set up an 'informational interview' with an employer to learn more about possible occupations in the sector and to find out about their future hiring needs.

 

What all this LMI means for her!

There are a number of web-based resources that may be relevant for Susan:

• Job Descriptions and Job and Skills Requirements:

For job descriptions she could try the, Occupations section of the Careers Scotland website, for example the descriptor for 'Computer/IT Support Manager' includes case studies, salaries information, entry routes and some skills information. She might also like to look at the E-Skills Careers website and search for information about the ICT Industry and the different job roles there.

More detailed and complex job descriptions are obtainable from the E-Skills Careers website, or prospects website eg Information Systems Manager.

• Employment Prospects:

This could be much harder for Susan without assistance - the picture is quite complex. If she is confident and pro-active, she might try contacting local course providers to find out what the destinations were for graduating students and use professional websites to find out what the future prospects look like for IT professionals. Information on the destinations of Scottish Graduates is available in What Do Graduates Do Scotland?

• Future trends:

For quality information on future trends in ICT, see the NGRF website on IT and Telecoms sector information and the IT section of Careers Scotland website  

• Equal opportunities:

Consideration of the equal opportunities dimension of what remains quite a gender-segregated occupation... have a look at the NGRF future trends website on equal opportunities and the two page summary of the Futureskills Scotland IT and Telecoms Industry Profile in the LMI part of the staff section of the CS website. You may also help Susan make sense of resources such as those within the Prospect website on the IT Technology sector.

Are there any initiatives aimed at encouraging women into the ICT industry? What support exists for setting up as self-employed?