ICT

Information and Communications Technology, or ICT in popular usage, is a broadly-defined term that has come to encompass every aspect of the computing, digital, communications and entertainment technology industries. Indeed, as the pervasiveness of digital technology in our everyday lives shows no sign of reaching saturation point, the opportunities for advancing your career in ICT are certainly more than ever before. The reality is that knowledge workers are in demand across industries, across sectors and even across borders.

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It is interesting to note that even though ICT workers are desperately needed, local ICT graduates still consistently top the national charts of unemployment by sector, year on year. According to David Wong, chairman of PIKOM (Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry), it is possible that there is a shortfall of 100,000 workers (2010).

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Yet in a survey conducted by the National University of Malaysia in 2009, it was estimated that local IT and computer science graduates made up 26.5% of unemployed graduates in the nation. Many attribute this to a fundamental skills mismatch between what was taught at the undergraduate level, and what was demanded by the employers.

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While experience counts for a lot in today’s job market, especially in a dynamic, ever-changing industry like ICT, it appears that possessing a post-graduate degree can be the clincher in getting that job, that pay-raise, or that promotion to senior engineer or manager. The right postgraduate degree gives you a specialisation, an extra or improved set of skills and a chance to nail your colours to the mast.