Article

An analysis of the changing demand patterns for information technology professionals

Authors:

Duane P. Truex, III,

Lynette KvasnyAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCPR '02: Proceedings of the 2002 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research

Pages 1 - 13

https://doi.org/10.1145/512360.512363

Published: 14 May 2002 Publication History

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.

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cover image ACM Conferences

SIGCPR '02: Proceedings of the 2002 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research

May 2002

184 pages

ISBN:1581134665

DOI:10.1145/512360

Conference Chairs:
Maung Sein
Agder University College, Norway
,
Carl Erik Moe
Agder University College, Norway
,
Program Chair:
Munir Mandviwalla
Temple University, USA
,
Staffs:
Stan Clark
Stevens Institute of Technology, USA
,
Tore Orvik
Agder University College, Norway

Copyright © 2002 ACM.

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Published: 14 May 2002

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SIGCPR '02 Paper Acceptance Rate 15 of 32 submissions, 47%;

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https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE44824.2020.9274203
Alghamlas MAlabduljabbar R(2019)Predicting the Suitability of IT Students' Skills for the Recruitment in Saudi Labor Market2019 2nd International Conference on Computer Applications & Information Security (ICCAIS)10.1109/CAIS.2019.8769577(1-5)Online publication date: May-2019
https://doi.org/10.1109/CAIS.2019.8769577
MacCrory FChoudhary VPinsonneault A(2016)Research Note-Designing Promotion Ladders to Mitigate Turnover of IT ProfessionalsInformation Systems Research10.1287/isre.2016.065227:3(648-660)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/isre.2016.0652
Hernández-López AColomo-Palacios RGarcía-Crespo ÁCabezas-Isla F(2011)Present, Past and Future of IT Careers, a ReviewManaging IT Human Resources10.4018/978-1-60960-535-3.ch014(218-243)Online publication date: 2011
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Huang HKvasny LJoshi KTrauth EMahar JPower NKaiser KDowney JJoseph D(2009)Synthesizing IT job skills identified in academic studies, practitioner publications and job adsProceedings of the special interest group on management information system's 47th annual conference on Computer personnel research10.1145/1542130.1542154(121-128)Online publication date: 28-May-2009
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