Think that a career in IT is for young people?

Think again. It’s a growth industry in need of good people and there is training available for older people to get you up to speed - and jobs with some enlightened employers.

With the industry growing and fewer and fewer young people entering employment, gaps are now appearing. In the UK in November 2004, the total number of people employed in IT reached 1.2 million. This figure is expected to continue to grow at a rate of between 156,000 and 179,000 per annum over the next decade – a rate of five to eight times the average employment growth across the UK workforce as a whole.

However, despite the fact that IT is clearly a growth industry, a third of all UK companies with IT professional vacancies are struggling to fill them, and of these, 76% have had to delay the launch of new products and services. Recruitment of skilled professionals is not the only problem facing the IT industry.

Many IT roles are no longer just technical. Customer service, strong communication and sound project management skills are already considered to be vital, particularly in the areas of IT field support and technical services.

One of the companies in this field is Cerco IT Training & Recruitment Ltd, specialists in IT training, and they believe the solution lies in recruiting experienced business men and women who are looking for a career change later in life.

“Everyone knows about the ageing population and the demographic changes that will take place over the coming decades,” explains Chris Barlow, Cerco’s National Recruitment Director.

“40% of the country’s population is already aged 50 and over. But what many employers are only just beginning to recognise, is that with age comes a depth of experience, and breadth of knowledge that you just can’t get in a new graduate.

“Our experience has shown that older candidates not only find it just as easy to learn the new skills required to enter the IT industry, but they also offer many of the additional ‘soft’ skills now crucial to being successful on the job.”

So with an industry that’s just crying out for experienced customer service staff, how easy is it to retrain later in life?

David Allen, 56, has been working for two years as a Field Service Engineer for Fujitsu. He found his job through Cerco after doing their intensive four-week Computer Systems & Network Support Course giving him the practical experience of installation, repair and maintenance that he needed to embark on his new career.

“Having spent 38 years in the Royal Air Force (RAF), working mainly as a helicopter winchman on search and rescue helicopter missions, I had almost reached the compulsory retirement age and thought it would be difficult to get a job that didn’t involve relocation or stressful commuting,” he explains.

“Computers had always been a hobby of mine, but I never dreamed that I would have the chance to work with them. I was given the chance to transfer my communication and organisational skills and put them to good use. Now I work on call from home and deal with a wide range of customers. I can fix anything from a desktop computer to a printer and when I walk out of an office it’s extremely satisfying to know that I do so having found the solution to a problem.”

Cerco is aware that many people are daunted by the ageist attitudes to hiring older workers. They can also support students who may be returning to work after redundancy or early retirement with funding for its intensive courses, either through a Government assisted Career Development Loan (CDL) or through its own payment scheme.

“Retraining has changed my working life beyond measure,” comments David. “It’s never too late to change career, and with the right training, age just isn’t a factor. You could do a lot worse than consider a career in this dynamic industry.”

For more information on Cerco courses, phone 0500 82 82 74 or visit www.cercotraining.co.uk

Relevant links

• Cerco Training (Opens a new window)