Applications developer : Employers and vacancy sources

Opportunities exist for new graduates in all employment sectors, including:

• retail;
• health;
• travel and tourism;
• financial services.

Many financial institutions, management consultancies and major retailers offer specific IT graduate training programmes.

IT companies themselves have large IT departments to manage their own systems and also run IT systems for other companies on a consultancy basis. Employers can be large multinational corporations, medium-sized companies or small software consultancies employing only a few staff.

There are also opportunities in the public sector and in education.

The IT industry continues to grow as the use of computers and the internet becomes increasingly commonplace in the UK. e-skills UK - The Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology  publishes regular, detailed industry reports, including research into current skills shortages and employment trends.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Computer Weekly  
• Computing  
• CWJobs  
• Datascope  
• Guardian Jobs  - see the IT and telecoms, media, new media or graduate sections.
• Hays IT Jobs  
• Edge  - for vacancies in the games industry.

Many organisations advertise their vacancies on their own websites and welcome speculative applications. Recruitment agencies commonly handle vacancies - search the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)  for agencies by type of vacancy and location.

Get tips on job hunting, CVs and covering letters and interviews.