As if the economic outlook of IT workers wasn’t dismal enough–IT worker confidence is at its lowest point since 2005, layoffs and large outsourcing deals abound–a new CareerBuilder.com survey of 168 IT hiring managers finds that a lot fewer plan to hire recent college graduates this year–down to 67 percent from 82 percent in 2007.
While 39 percent of IT managers plan to offer higher starting salaries this year to recent college graduates, these salaries may not exactly wow this years’ graduating class who walk down the aisle with an average debt of more than $20,000 apiece (up to $40,000 from private universities). 31 percent expected to pay new, recently graduated hires between $30,000 and $40,000, 28 percent planned to pay $40,000 to $50,000 and only 27 percent expected starting salaries to top $50,000.
How can a new college grad increase their chances of getting hired in the IT department? Along with having a good fit with the company culture and coming in with ideas and good questions, IT hiring managers were looking for experience, something that will favor students who spent their summers getting internships under their belts and making a good enough impression at them that the companies wanted to keep them around.