Careers in ICT are HOT! You might have heard otherwise, but don't believe a word of it. Growth in ICT tends to be cyclical, but there are always very good career prospects in the field as computers become central in more and more areas of modern life. This page gives you some background information on the current status of the ICT job market, internationally and in SA, and on the range of ICT careers available.
Do you imagine yourself as a software developer; a project manager; a software engineer, networker or general ICT consultant; an entrepreneur in ICT sales and servicing; a systems analyst; the manager of an information systems department? Perhaps you are heading towards a teaching or academic career in ICT, a research oriented scientific occupation; or your aspirations might be for a career in commerce or finance, in the arts or social science, in pharmacy or medicine, in journalism or law. You may simply wish to be able to meet the growing challenges of information technology in your workplace. The inclusion of Computer Science in your degree will empower you to do this.
For more details of the varied careers that a degree in Computer Science can open up to you, we have highlighted the career paths of several typical graduates of the Department here.
The ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) also has some very useful information on careers in the ICT industry on their careers website. In particular, they address the incorrect perception that careers in IT are scarce. In fact nothing could be further from the truth — both in South Africa and internationally, the IT industry is booming. For example, the BBC has a very interesting article on the IT skills shortage in the UK (17 November 2006).
On 17 April 2007, iWeek (a weekly South African IT magazine) reported on the SA government's assessment of the ICT skills shortage. This has a total of almost 40 000 ICT specialists that are required to enable the development of the nation. Software and application developers are some of the most critical specialists. (Read the full iWeek article (provided by kind permission of the publishers, ITWeb).
The ACM also has an excellent ICT careers pamphlet, which is available here. While it is somewhat biased towards the situation in the USA, it is also very applicable to South Africa.
9 November 2006: iWeek (a weekly South African IT magazine) had a lead article entitled "Business growth is outpacing skills development". In it they reported that the rapid growth of the IT industry in South Africa is far out-pacing the production of graduates with the necessary skills. "The IT sector in South Africa appears to be growing at an enormous rate. This is leading to the massive skills shortage the industry faces..." (Read the full iWeek article (provided by kind permission of the publishers, ITWeb).
Bursaries and Job Opportunities
For more information on undergrad bursaries, please contact the Registrar's Division.
For more information in postgrad bursaries, please contact the Dean of Research Division.