Report says Canadian IT Grads Aren’t Job-ready

Better training for IT students is needed.

The results of a recent survey point to a need for more training for recent IT graduates.

“Closing The It Skills Gap: 2011 Share Survey For Guiding University & College It Agendas” explores what Canadian employers think of their recent IT hirings, and how prepared today’s IT graduate is.

Alarmingly, only 8% of employers surveyed would rate their IT hires as “well-trained, ready to go.” At the same time four out of 10 respondents answered their IT hires are not sufficiently prepared to perform jobs within their companies. Another 44% answered “at a minimum there are notable gaps in skills.”

The survey was conducted by Unisphere Research, a division of Information Today, Inc.

The results also revealed that 77 per cent of Canadian employers look to educational institutions to provide programming skills, while 82% look for database skills, 76% look for analysis and architectural skills. At the same time, eight out of 10 companies want problem-solving and technical skills.

Looking ahead, six out of 10 companies answered they will be hiring programmers and developers over the coming year. Their wish list of skills will include experience in application server environments, database languages, Java, and COBOL.