Abstract
This paper examines trends in required job skills for IT professionals. Through an empirical study of a dataset of job advertisements for IT professionals over the past thirteen years, we evaluate whether the observed trends support earlier predictions offered by researchers who sought to anticipate future job and skill demands (Leitheiser, 1992; Trauth, Farwell, & Lee, 1993). We also looked for evidence for whether the so-called expectation gap between employers' demands and the skills provided by academic programs still exists (Lee, Trauth & Farwell, 1995). Many of the findings are consistent with previous studies and support the notion that employers are seeking an ever-increasing number and variety of skill sets from the new hires. Although we were unable to assess whether or how the expectation gap had changed, we did find evidence of a recruitment gap where, despite many firms' emphasis on well-rounded individuals with business knowledge and good "soft skills," the job advertising aspect of the recruiting process continues to focus on "hard skills." We speculate that this occurs because it is easier to screen for technical skills through such advertisements, whereas assessment of interpersonal skills requires a face-to-face interview.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of the ACM SIGCPR Conference |
Pages | 1-13 |
Number of pages | 13 |
State | Published - 2002 |
Event | Proceedings of the 2002 ACM SIGCPR Conference - Kristiansand, Norway Duration: May 14 2002 → May 16 2002 |
Other
Other | Proceedings of the 2002 ACM SIGCPR Conference |
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Country/Territory | Norway |
City | Kristiansand |
Period | 5/14/02 → 5/16/02 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Software