All types of firms employ IT graduates, from large multinationals to smaller firms and the public sector. Which is right for you?

Graduate jobs with large IT firms

If you’re ready to work across a number of sectors, are interested in business and people, and want a high salary, then a large IT firm is ideal for you.

Many big names in the IT industry are expanding and buying up smaller companies. This is happening both in the UK and abroad.

These ’juggernaut’ companies service their clients both domestically and internationally. Much of their work involves running other companies’ technology services for them. They cover many markets, including finance, industry and telecoms.

With turnovers in the millions and billions, these companies pick the best graduates. Increasingly, people with postgraduate qualifications, firsts or 2.1s are chosen. Taking a placement or vacation job in a key market sector could boost your chances of success.

Most IT firms offer graduate-training programmes which introduce you to corporate culture and core businesses, as well as providing skills training. You will be given client contact and responsibility early on in your career, though many companies stress that it depends on the project you are working on. At Atos Origin, for example, your first job could be as a tester or in a project co-ordination role.

Graduate jobs with smaller IT firms

If you want rapid career growth and considerable responsibility, then a small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) could be what you’re looking for.

SMEs have fewer staff and UK offices than the big firms, but many punch above their weight when it comes to results, innovation and bringing niche markets into the mainstream.

Typically, SMEs take on fewer graduates than large IT companies, so you will get a huge chance to shine. Pay in this sector is results-driven.

New recruits are put to work straight away, learning as they go, whether in programming, buying or testing. SMEs offer many opportunities. Basically, if you deliver, so will your company.

Graduate IT jobs in the public sector

If you value using your skills to help solve problems for a community, then the public sector would suit you.

Central Government has focused on public-sector IT recently. Government e-targets in 2002 aimed to get all council services delivered electronically by 2005, and the 2004 Gershon Efficiency Review directed councils to use IT to save money.

’The last four years have seen a radical change,’ says Peter Barnett, ICT Services Team Leader at North Wiltshire District Council. ’New technology is now at the forefront and we are using it to improve things, such as the first point of contact into the council.’

The Civil Service is another popular career path in the public sector. It has vacancies in many specialised areas for graduates, and runs a Fast Stream programme that offers excellent training and career prospects.

Pay and prospects are the downside. Technical trainees in local councils start at £16,000 and business trainees at up to £22,000. Many councils outsource their IT, so jobs can be scarce, and people tend to stay in posts for a long time, so promotion can take a while.

However, the public sector offers jobs across the UK, unlike some large IT companies. This is a plus if you don’t want to live in the South East or a city but do want a major IT job.

Peter Barnett comments, ’There’s a huge variety of work, like in a multinational company, but I’m sitting here overlooking a park and a river’.