Most of IT students aim to pursue career

LetIThelp President Stephanie Caragos lectures graduating IT students of Capitol University College of Computer Studies on the possible career paths open to them in the IT industry. (Photo by Mike Banos)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines - Most graduating students taking Information Technology courses are aiming to pursue careers in IT upon their graduation. At least in four schools offering IT courses, that is.

This is the gist of the findings of LetIThelp, the corporate social responsibility arm of Syntactics, Inc., one of Cagayan de Oro City’s leading Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms.

Stephanie Caragos, LetIThelp president, noted how despite underemployment by many IT graduates, most of the graduating batch in four leading IT schools in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities still aim to pursue a career in the IT industry.

“Of the 218 graduating IT students we lectured to, some 83.5% expressed their desire to seek employment in the IT industry,” Caragos said.

Most favored career paths identified by graduating IT students from Capitol University College of Computer Studies, Systems Technology Institute, Mindanao University of Science and Technology and Iligan Capitol College include web design and development, systems analysis and software programming. The lesser favored career paths indicated by the students include content provision writing, QA and SEO.

However, a significant percentage (23.6%) of those who intend to pursue a career in IT remain undecided on what particular IT profession to pursue, although most indicated they were choosing between becoming a web developer, systems analyst, quality analyst (QA), graphic designer and search engine optimizer (SEO).

Christine Redondo-Sevilla, administrator of the CU College of Computer Studies, said a significant percentage of their IT graduates remain underemployed, or are now working in fields not related to IT, like marketing, sales and advertising.

To help address this problem as well as the declining enrollment in IT courses despite increased demand for IT students by domestic BPOs like Syntactics, LetIThelp is conducting free lectures to colleges and universities in Northern Mindanao aimed at further educating graduating IT students to prepare them on the tough life outside the classroom.

Caragos said the program’s main goal is “to help deserving IT graduates who have the passion and dedication to earn and learn at the same time.”

The lectures brief graduating IT students on the possible IT professions they can get into after graduation. The lecture content includes the necessary skills, requirements and qualities of an IT professional that the students must be equipped with to be able to have an edge on the stiff competition from other IT graduates.

LetITHelp was born to answer the need for an organization that could help bridge the gap between IT companies needing skilled team members and fresh graduates needing additional skills to qualify for the IT companies’ requirements.

“Underemployment is one of the challenges for the IT graduates recognized by LetIThelp,” Ms. Caragos said. “These graduates are forced to take jobs that are not in line with their education just so they can start working and help their families.

Through LetITHelp, fresh IT graduates who show passion and dedication in their chosen field of profession will be trained and be equipped with necessary skills giving them the opportunity to land the job that they desire and to earn and learn at the same time.

After the training, these IT graduates will either be absorbed by Syntactics Inc. (the commercial company of LetITHelp) or be recommended to other IT companies in the IT industry.”

LetIThelp.org strives to be a sustainable social enterprise by providing IT services such as web development, Search Engine Optimization and Blog Customization using Wordpress.

Through the revenues generated by the enterprise, more trainees will gain the opportunity to participate in the training program.

LetIThelp is supported by the Youth Social Enterprise Initiative (YSEI) and that of Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP). LetITHelp hopes that this fruitful beginning will eventually lead into fulfilling the organization’s ultimate mission: to help and to give back to society the tangible and intangibles which helped Syntactics grow into what it is today. (Mike Banos)