Geeky image still deters IT recruits

A poor popular image of IT, along with employers' short-term attitudes, is worsening the skills crisis, warns training body e-skills NTO.

A million extra IT professionals will be needed over the next five years, the government-backed skills body said last week. But people are deterred from a career in IT because of its unglamorous image, long hours, and bias towards young male candidates.

"The main issue of image hinges on the misunderstanding of what it means to work in IT," said Anne Cantelo, project director at e-skills NTO. "A job in IT is still seen as something for geeks, even though the industry is trying to recruit more people with business skills. We need positive role models - a Richard Branson of IT - to change those perceptions."

Cantelo criticised companies' advertising policies for aggravating the problem. "Adverts need to talk in terms of what the job-holder should be trying to achieve, rather than focus on the technical skills," she explained.

The skills shortage is not just a lack of people, but the result of misjudged recruitment tactics by IT managers, said Cranfield School of Management lecturer Robina Chatham.

"IT managers are taking a short-term view and looking to recruit an exact skills match when they should employ people for their personal attributes rather than technical skills," she said. "Lots of people are ruled out because they don't have the full skill set. Employers need to be more flexible and prepared to train them."

The IT industry's image problem will only be solved when senior executives view IT as a strategic function rather than just a service function, said Chatham.

"Only when senior management starts to value the contribution of senior IT people to business decisions will IT directors be elevated to the board. And only then will IT begin to attract less geeky people," she added.

But the nerdy stereotype is seen as unfair by National Computing Centre consultant John Eary. "It's a perception, not a reality. The IT industry is an established and broad industry. It's not just full of geeks," he said.

Also published in Computing