Graduate Computing and IT Jobs

Once qualified a web designer earns on average£22,760, according to Pay Scale, although this can rise to around £35,000 with a few years’ experience and can go up to £45,000 as your career progresses. The majority of graduate schemes pay somewhere between £20,000 and £30,000. Taking on freelance work will also give your salary a significant boost.

Designers with both creativity and technical skills are hugely in demand. You could apply for entry level jobs with companies straight out of university, or for established graduate schemes with larger organisations, which will last approximately two years. The majority or organisations will ask for a portfolio of work to prove that you have the technical skills for the job that you’re applying for – these are best displayed through a website that you have designed yourself.

You’ll need an artistic flair, a lot of initiative, some imagination and a lot of attention to detail to make a good web designer at any level. Experience and competence in InDesign and Photoshop are likely to be a must, and you should have knowledge of technical aspects of the job, including HTML and CSS. You need a good combination of practical and creative ability, as designing websites and online products means having innovative ideas that can apply within certain parameters. Whether you're working on a team, or working as a consultant, good people skills will ensure you fit in well with your colleagues, and good communication skills mean your users will have a positive experience when they encounter your finished product. Other skills include:

• Knowledge of UX
• Ability to keep up with new technologies
• Adaptation
• Research
• Creativity
• Trendspotting
• Motivation
• Technical skill

As with the majority of sectors, having work experience in web design is essential if you are going to secure a career within it. Contact organisations directly and see if you can go in to work for them on a voluntary basis. If you’re at university and you have the option of a year in industry, take advantage of it to get experience within web design.

IT support starting salaries can range from £16,000 to £23,000 on average and with experience average salaries can increase to between £26,000 and £36,000. Managers usually earn salaries over £40,000. Figures are for guidance only.

Work in IT support is open to all graduates or people with an HND or foundation degree but qualifications in the following will improve your chance of securing a job: · Computer science
· Information technology
· Software engineering
· Business systems engineering
· Computer software development
· Internet engineering
· Business information technology
Postgraduate qualifications are not required but may put you at an advantage. Microsoft certification might also give you an advantage over other candidates. Employers will often also look for in-depth knowledge of the applications and programs they use such as Microsoft, Linux or Cisco. With the ever changing nature of technology IT support workers often take on-the-job training and short training courses to refresh or increase their knowledge. These are usually offered by certified IT training companies and focus on the use of specific technologies.

Different roles require many different skills but in general investment bankers need a number of key skills to succeed: · Knowledge of how software and hardware works
· Communication skills
· Analytical skills
· Team work
· Leadership
· Time management
· Project management
· Problem solving
· Ability to work under pressure
· Attention to detail

Whatever route you take to an IT support job gaining as much practical experience as possible is absolutely essential. Any summer work experience placements or internships that you can take would be very beneficial. If you take the apprenticeship route gaining practical experience will be part of the process, but it is also worth applying these skills in your own time to get ahead. Any part time work that displays IT skills or customer service experience can also be very beneficial.