College Choice/Brian Mooney:Ireland is facing a growing shortage of graduates in information and communication technology (ICT)
Why have so many students turned their back on computer science programmes, when the ICT industry in Ireland has never been stronger?
Did the industry downturn in 2001 create the perception that career opportunities in this industry were fundamentally insecure and of a short-term nature?
Nothing could be further from the truth. Graduates of computer science and software engineering programmes have excellent long term career options in both the computer industry and management.
Why study computer science programmes?
Computer science is the study of how computer hardware and software systems are designed, built, and used to support human activity. If you choose to study computer science you will study how computers are used to solve challenging problems, how computers work, how computer software is developed, how computer hardware is designed, and how computers communicate with each other; students will also study the relationship between computers and society.
What sort of student should consider studying a degree in computer science?
If you are interested in developing solutions to challenging problems, in how technology works, in how technology can be advanced, or in how technology can be applied, computer science degree programmes could be the right option for you.
Computer science offers a diverse range of career paths. Programmes in this field teach you the fundamental principles of computer software, information management, computer hardware, telecommunications, mathematics, and the interrelationship of computers and society.
What will I study on a computer science programme?
Computer science degree programmes offer students the opportunity to acquire thinking and problem solving skills, fundamental programming skills, a knowledge of the potential and current limits of information technology, and an appreciation of the notion of computation.
The main aim of computer science degrees programme is to produce graduates with the necessary skills to function as IT developers and network and system support staff in a broad range of commercial and industrial environments.
The focuses of the programmes are to enable the graduate to apply networked solutions in organisational IT environments. To this end, the student needs to have an in-depth knowledge of network theory and practice and a solid understanding of software engineering and IT practices, with an emphasis on intranet applications and configuration.
What career options are on offer to ICT graduates?
Examples of careers chosen by recent graduates from the computer science programme in Trinity College (TR033) for example include software development (in companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, Iona Technologies and Havok); hardware design and manufacturing (with companies including Dell, Hewlett Packard and Xilinx); work in the telecommunications sector (for companies such as Vodafone, Ericsson and Eircom).
Other graduates apply their skills in a wide variety of industries, including financial institutions (such as Bank of Ireland, Barclays Capital Group and Deutsche Bank), consultancy (in companies such as Accenture, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers); and in specific application areas (for companies such as Statoil, Eagle Star Insurance, Goodbody Stockbrokers and Aer Lingus).
Trinity graduates have also formed successful companies and have taken leadership positions in industry and research.
What ranges of courses are available to me?
There are over one hundred ICT related courses, offered at both level eight and level seven/six through the CAO application process.
Full details of all courses are available on www.qualifax.ie.
Apart from computer degrees, which are widely available from both the universities and institutes of technology, there are computer and software engineering options, computer games programmes, software development programmes, multimedia systems, computer networks and systems, digital media programmes and computer science with a number of language options, offered by Trinity College.
How difficult will it be to secure a place on the programmes I choose?
Following the sharp decline in interest in these programmes over recent years, the points required to secure a place has dropped considerably.
Some colleges - for example DCU (DC133) - have set a floor of 300 points below which it will not accept students. They did this because they believed that students scoring below that level would be unable to sustain themselves given the demands of the courses. To be fair to DCU, they also put in place additional supports in maths for students on this programme who needed this support.
Other colleges have found themselves having to withdraw some of their computer courses; due to small number of potential students.
However, a quarter of the courses on offer to students in 2007, are being introduced for the first time this year, so there is a growing demand from the ICT industry, which the colleges are attempting to address by offering these new programmes.
Points for level eight programmes will range from 250-350 although a small number of programmes will require 400-450 points.
At level six/seven, courses are on offer in a range from as low as 100 points to around 200.
I would advise any students considering applying for these programmes simply because they can be secured with low points to pause and consider their options again.
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