Many graduates pursuing a career in IT or computing find that the profession often exceeds their initial expectations. According to a poll conducted by technology blog TechRepublic, some 75% of those who have entered the sector said their job had either met or surpassed their original predictions. Some 40% per cent of those question said their IT career was better than they had hoped, with a further 35% saying working in the sector had lived up to their pre-conceptions. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, IT careers can encompass a wide range of jobs, including computer operator, software engineering, system administration, programming and web design. A number of these jobs are among those the Department of Labor (DOL) predicts will be the fastest-growing occupations for holders of bachelor's degrees. The DOL's projections rank computer systems analysts, computer applications engineers and software engineers as the IT jobs set for the biggest expansion. Job opportunities for software engineers, who apply the principles of computer science and mathematics to develop new programs, are thought to be particularly good, it added, with 324,000 new posts set to be added to the sector by 2016.  |