Abstract:

Universities are heavily reliant on Government funding and international student fees to survive. However, Governments are placing increasing pressure on universities to deliver employable graduates. University graduates must be prepared for work as it exists now and well into the future. This is especially true for IT graduates too, who must be capable of adding value to existing businesses or creating their own and delivering profit. There is a gap between the perceptions of various stakeholders who form their views about employability. These stakeholders include, students, academic and alumni. We decided to focus on alumni because they are the ones who have most recently moved from university to find employment and are in the best position to compare the requirements of university with industry requirements for employment.

This paper reports on a recent survey of IT alumni identifying their perceptions of employability skills and how well their degree prepared them. It reports the skills the IT graduates perceive employers require and their insights into their own preparedness for employment. It identifies deficits and offers recommendations for universities and future alumni to consider.

Keywords:

Employability, IT graduates, Graduate skills, Alumni.