The computing skills expected of business graduates: a New Zealand study

Abstract

A survey of employers in New Zealand was undertaken to test the expectation that new graduate employees will possess a good level of computing skills given they have completed a university qualification. We are now in a time where a series of generic skills are required of any graduate entering the workforce. These generic type skills include good communication skills, problem solving abilities and the often not asked for but assumed computer literacy. There is evidence from the literature to suggest that these assumptions are not exclusive to New Zealand. Results indicate that employers are finding they have to lower their expectations to fit with the computing skills university graduates are bringing to the workforce. This gap in skills is seen by some as handicapping the ability for employers to recruit suitable graduates.