As college leavers begin to queue up outside job centres while university fees rise and job vacancies fall, there is one industry that appears to be an untapped source.
There has been a rise in the amount of jobs in the digital sector over the past five years, but recruiters and employers say they are still struggling to fill these roles.Specialist digital jobs board Bubble Jobs have begun a campaign to highlight the potential opportunities in the industry to those considering their next career move.
While teenagers might believe that the only way into a digital career is with a degree, Bubble Jobs MD Adam Butwilowski insists that is not the case.
Adam, who has 15 years of recruitment experience, said: “There is still an element of misunderstanding when it comes to digital careers. What we really want to get across to school and college leavers is that there are jobs out there without racking up tens of thousands of pounds in university debt. Careers like digital marketing, copywriting and social media are just a few of the areas that offer great entry level positions to those with A-Level qualifications. A lot of these positions didn’t exist five years ago, so there’s a massive shortage of skills that school leavers could really take advantage of.
Bubble has always been dedicated to pushing these jobs out to students, which is why we set up a Digital Career Portal last September.
Number of Digital Jobs Growing Every Year
Earlier this year, the European Commission launched the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs which aims to tackle the issue of a shortfall of up to 900,000 ICT professionals in Europe by 2015.
Despite this, Bubble Jobs has advertised 9,500 positions in the last 12 months – and that number continues to grow every day. Employers and recruiters across the country have also called on those without degrees but enthusiasm and experience to consider digital roles.
Deepak Saluja, Director of Success Digital – a London recruitment company specialising in the sector – said internships and work experience hold more weight in the application process.
He said: “We find that that a relevant degree, like Multimedia or Business for eCommerce, definitely gives grads the edge over candidates who don’t have one. But, ultimately having the industrial placement under your belt scores above everything.”
Apprenticeships have also been favoured over degrees by school leavers, with about 20,000 on offer according to the National Apprenticeship Service.
Tracey Harman, Talent and Development Manager at marketing agency McCann Manchester said: “Apprenticeships offer a really viable alternative to university degrees. They are becoming increasingly niche to address the needs of digital specialisms. The learning element of apprenticeships, coupled with the practical experience that underpins such a scheme, makes apprentices a really valuable asset for employers – in some cases more so than graduates with little or no work experience.”
