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ACS News

ACS staff, Information Age

12/04/2006 12:35:24

Foundation students laud work experience

In the last issue of Information Age, this page highlighted the value of relevant industry work experience in helping ICT students secure full-time employment after their graduation.

In this issue, we talk to two ACS Foundation scholarship graduates who have both found jobs with leading corporations as a result of their outstanding performance both academically and at work.

Nisha Padmanabhan is now in her second year with Ernst and Young after completing a Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in 2004.

Her three-year degree involved two six-month stints of work experience, with Compuware and Oracle. The initial placement (with Compuware) occurred in her first year of study, and the second in her final year.

"The Oracle placement involved consulting onsite to Macquarie Bank as part of a long-term project, so that was great experience," said Padmanabhan who now works as a consultant in Ernst & Young's Risk & Technology Services division.

"My current role involves auditing and signing off on technology systems as part of the wider financial audits Ernst & Young provides its clients. We assess their systems and review their quality processes and controls for system maintenance and development."

She applied to work at Ernst & Young after attending a careers fair at university and was able to secure a position before she finished her studies.

After 15 months at Ernst & Young, she is enjoying the difference between her student placements at university and her current work as a consultant.

"When you're a student worker, people don't give you the same kind of experience as an employee, and at Ernst & Young you really have to learn on the job and start performing immediately, so it's been a great challenge," she said.

"I really enjoy the company - the people are great and it has a young and energetic culture with lots of movement between the international offices so there are always new people to meet."

While Padmanabhan hopes to move more into business process improvement (BPI) in the future, she believes her current position is giving her valuable experience around controls and quality processes and the checkpoints that should be in a good quality change management process.

When asked what advice she could give students and new graduates, she highlighted the importance of the interview process in sizing up potential employers.

"The interview process is not just about employers checking out students for their firm, but equally about you finding a company that you're suited to. It's important to ask lots of questions, not only about the position itself, but also about the culture, expectations, the kind of training they provide and so on," she said.

She is grateful to the ACS Foundation for her scholarship and the ongoing support and assistance she received during her studies. She believes her blended degree in information technology and business offers an excellent platform to move either into higher level IT or into management, and says everyone in business today needs some IT knowledge.

"IT was definitely a good choice, even though I don't want to stay in a traditional technology role, but move more into value-adding with the BPI.

"Most of the people that I meet through work are involved in IT, but occasionally I interview someone from a client's business who is clearly not aware of how IT works and their efficiency is reduced so much. It's extremely important to have that knowledge and that way of thinking to perform at your best in today's business world," she said.

Tyson Roche completed the UTS BIT course a year after Padmanabhan and has secured a graduate position with Westpac. He is currently working in the technical security services division of Westpac's Information Security Group, helping to ensure the security of the bank's systems and business operations.

As the ACS Foundation-sponsored student in his year, Roche participated in work experience placements with Compuware and Cisco, and credits the hands-on experience he received for giving him a choice of job opportunities.

"I really enjoyed my work experience, particularly the Cisco placement in my final year where I had the opportunity to work on some very strategic projects," he said.

"The students who undertook that additional work experience really had an unfair advantage over other IT students. The opportunity to be thrown into the workforce after just six months at uni gave us a different mindset and more confidence. It gave us a chance to put the theory into practice and when we came back to uni and were learning more theory, I had a better understanding of how it would be applied in the real world," Tyson continued.

"If you just do uni, you learn how to learn. To be honest, while the material they teach you at uni does have a correlation in terms of technical skills, I learned more in my first month on the job than in a year at uni."

Roche chose to enter the graduate program at Westpac because he knew from peers they were a good employer and he felt they would provide the best opportunity to see how a business operated and how IT supported it.

He continues his involvement with the ACS and is considering joining the Young IT Board.

"I attended an excellent talk by Edward Mandla on the value of professionalism and really took on board some of the things he mentioned," Roche said.

He encourages current students to gain as much work experience as possible while undertaking their studies, and to highlight the relevance of their experience when applying for jobs.

"Experience is what really makes the difference for employers and it's very difficult to get a job without it. It's also important to take any opportunities to fill positions of leadership in extra curricular activities.

"I was vice president at one of the organisations at uni, and in job interviews it was great to be able to reflect on situations where I'd been a leader or been in a position to make decisions because that's what they want to hear," he said.

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Shadow ICT minister calls for Foundation skills model

The skills development model set by the ACS Foundation to produce workplace savvy ICT graduates could be expanded by a Labor government, according to Opposition shadow minister for communications Sen Stephen Conroy.

The ALP wants to develop an industry-based training program for ICT graduates, funded by the Commonwealth and regularly reviewed to ensure a supply of properly qualified young practitioners to meet market needs.

"We are encouraged by what the Foundation is doing and would look to see whether its scholarship selection program could be expanded at a national level to increase the flow of graduates.

"There is a serious skills shortage now and within two years the lack of properly equipped graduates will become chronic."

Sen Conroy is calling for a more integrated approach between industry and academia to ensure that graduate qualifications are tuned to market needs, which may mean individual arrangements with institutions to ensure that ICT graduates come out "with more than just a piece of paper".

"It will take a lot of cooperation between business and the tertiary institutions which have to be more nimble in setting their curriculum," he said. "Bureaucratic weight can mean a delay of two years in this process which is too long.

There should be a market-based mechanism developed to ensure that there is more on-th- job training for graduates to develop practical, business-world skills, and academia must be more flexible and sensitive to business trends.

Foundation director John Ridge agreed, but added that students who did workplace training returned to complete their studies knowing from first-hand experience what subjects they needed to take to be effective.

"Students want to know what they need because their careers depend on it and they can find out at the coalface because that's where they're working," Ridge says. "Academics seldom have the same practical connection with the realities of applying ICT to business on a daily basis," Ridge says.

"Government needs to take a coordinated leadership approach."

John Hughes' sudden death shocks colleagues, friends

ACS dedicates student prize as memorial After a lifetime of significant contribution to academia and the Australian Computer Society, Prof John Hughes died suddenly in March. He was aged 59.

A large number of ACS members and executives attended John's funeral, at which ACS President Philip Argy announced that the ACS would put $10,000 in trust to fund in perpetuity an annual academic prize for an ACS-member student.

"This is a really tragic loss of a wonderful person, a loss not only to each of us in the ACS who knew him, but also to UTS where he spent most of his working life.

"And to the thousands who never met him but whose lives he impacted positively through his enormous contribution to the ACS and professional standards," Argy said. At the time of his death, he was director of the University of Technology Sydney's Institute for Information and Communication Technologies. Although he spent his early years in IT consulting, he soon embraced academic life, working for 36 years at UTS, with various guest teaching stints at universities in NZ, the UK and USA.

During his career, he held almost every senior post at UTS, from Associate Vice Chancellor to Dean or Acting Dean of almost every faculty. He was Dean of the former Faculty of Mathematical and Computing Sciences for nine years and before that Associate and often Acting Dean for over a decade. He was also Director of the Information Technology &Telecommunications Industry Training Board (IT&T ITAB).

In the ACS, John was an active member of Council for more than two decades, serving in a range of positions and providing thoughtful insight to discussions.

He was director of the ACS Publications Board for over a decade, before serving as director of the ACS Membership Board in the early 2000s. He was director of the Accreditation, Assessment and Appeals Board at the time of his death.

"John has made an enormous contribution to the ACS over more than 20 years," said Dennis Furini.

"As chief executive, I often sought advice from John at a personal and professional level and could always be assured that whatever John had to say was well thought through and considered.

His ability to grasp the essence of an argument and summarise it cogently was always very impressive and his participation and contribution to Council will be sorely missed."

He also represented Australia on the Technical Committee for Computers in Education (TC3) Working Group 3.2, which focused on Informatics Education at the University Level, within the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP).

His colleagues at the ACS were quick to pay tribute to his years of service, his enduring loyalty, warm friendship and wisdom.

"I always greatly admired John as a person and enjoyed his presence at ACS Council meetings," said ACS Foundation executive director and former ACS President John Ridge.

"It would give me great pleasure - which I shared with him on numerous occasions - the way he would sit back and listen to the arguments when others would rush in to have their say, and then towards the very end of the argument he would make three or so points that really 'nailed' the discussions.

"He was an extremely intelligent and talented person who will be a sad loss as a friend, and greatly missed by the ACS."

His comments were endorsed by Assoc Prof Karl Reed, director of the ACS Computer Systems and Software Engineering Board.

"This is truly a major loss to our profession, to the UTS and the ACS - and of course to his family. He provided a degree of sanity and wise counsel over a very long time at Council, and did a great job as the keeper of our professional standards. He will be very sorely missed."

He is survived by his mother, sister, brother and their families.

ACS and Corporate Express ink goods and services deal

The ACS has entered into an alliance partnership with business products and services supplier Corporate Express to give members a 10 per cent discount on its ICT goods and services.

The deal also gives members discounted access to more than 60 ICT-related business seminars CE holds each year.

CE will also offer bi-monthly price specials on a variety of products especially for ACS members.

Under the arrangement, a system of credits based on purchases can be redeemed to fund ACS subscriptions, contribute to the ACS Foundation and access facilities like ICDL.

With 45 branches across Australia and NZ, the international B2B supplier of office products operates in 14 countries in Europe and North America, and with distribution through partnerships in a further 11 Asian and European countries, Corporate Express does nearly half its business on the Internet.

In this region, corporate customers can use CE's NetXpress Web portal to order ICT software, hardware and consumables, and office supplies including furniture, cleaning products, wine and liquor, document management systems and promotional items.

Dispute resolution alliance

Dispute resolution is an important aspect of any profession. To enhance awareness, understanding and application of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes within the ICT sector, the ACS has formed an alliance with The Institute of Arbitrators & Mediators (IAMA) and the Project Management Institute (PMI). The alliance is also supported by the Australian Corporate Lawyer Association (ACLA), Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), Software Queensland, Multimedia Victoria (MMV) and The Australian Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG).

If you are involved in or affected by a dispute, even if you do not have to face a court, you will face the likelihood of increasing costs, time-consuming delays and potential damage to your business relationships. ADR techniques can help overcome these problems.

To help us tailor our services to meet your needs, the ACS would like to know more about the types of dispute that affect you and your business.

Please visit https://www.acs.org.au/acsn05/index.cfm?surID=200512141110371629&Submit=Select and complete the brief online survey to enable this alliance to have the most positive impact on our sector. A copy of survey result will be made available on your request.

Tasmania welcomes ACS's first Professional Partner

Tasmanian business consultant Synateq has become the first company in Tasmania to join the Australian Computer Society's Professional Partner Program - PPP.

Although ACS has long-established relationships with many ICT companies through its Corporate Recognition Program, the PPP venture takes these working relationships to new levels.

Synateq MD Chris Rasmussen said: "I wanted to acknowledge the professionalism of my staff in a public way. This is both a reward for their hard work and a recognition of the high standards we set at Synateq. It's also a message to our clients that we are committed to advancing professionalism. Membership of the ACS is the clearest signal we can send. It has certainly been well received all round."

ACS Tasmania business development manager Dave Kennerley said: "By joining ACS, Synateq has chosen to reward its IT staff with full membership of their professional organisation. Furthermore, in having its staff accredited in this way, a company makes a significant contribution to its risk management strategies and this can be reflected in PI premiums. It's also a key differentiator in the tendering process. Everyone wins on many levels.

"We've just added three more Tasmanian companies to our membership, with a further three companies and two government departments in discussions. The Federal Group (Federal Hotels and Resorts) have joined, bringing us 20 new members. The group makes up one of the strongest and most professional, non-commercial ICT units in Tasmania and we are very pleased to have them join us. "

The Federal Groups' general manager of technology services Tim Ambrose and group IT manager Brendan Charles have been enthusiastic ACS supporters and have committed to enrolling all of their ICT staff. They have already recognised the benefits of the networking and training opportunities the PPP offers. "I'm really looking forward to making this work," said Tim.

And it isn't all one-way, as Kennerley points out: "The Federal Group is a great coup for ACS, too. They are trying to put something back into the community and to use their influence to help us promote events and bring training to the island. Their size means they will become an excellent focus for ACS activities here.

"The Wrest Point complex also gives us a first-rate venue for many of our activities. Previously, ACS has been the underwriter of training and development seminars. We run all the risks if the numbers aren't there. Now that we have Federal and Synateq, we know we have the numbers to run these events and all our members will benefit."

The PPP gives members access to the full benefits of ACS membership including training, both online and through local and customised seminars and professional development events. The company will have full use of the ACS logo on stationery and marketing materials. Companies may choose to participate in the ACS Foundation scheme which brings final year ICT students into the business for an extended period of work experience.

The program, which aims to strengthen links between ACS and industry, has been successfully trialled in Tasmania and Queensland and will now be extended to all states. It is open to all businesses, government and local government departments which employ ICT staff.

Young IT Professionals Conference 2006

For every aspiring young ICT professional, there are two big hurdles after graduation: getting the first job, and mapping out a successful career path. Not surprisingly, achieving both is not part of any course curriculum.

Recognising the unique needs of those who are relatively new to the industry, the ACS Young IT Committee will be hosting the 2006 National Young IT Professional Conference in Brisbane on July 6 and 7.

Themed "Unleash Your Potential, Accelerate Your Career", the conference will focus on skills and information that are "must haves" for a successful and sustainable career in ICT.

"Technical knowledge, although essential, has a limited life span in the ICT industry," said conference committee chair Cindy Tong. "Many young ICT professionals often neglect core soft skills that don't have an expiry date, and that would give them a broader choice in career paths within IT. Skills like building business contacts and being able to continually learn IT are equally important."

Presented by speakers from industry leaders and major government agencies, the conference will include topics such as the job outlook for the next year, technology and industry updates, essential business skills for the ICT professional, social networking, certification, entrepreneurship and working overseas.

The conference also has breakout sessions for graduates and experienced ICT professionals to target the differing skill needs.

This year, a flexible pricing schedule has been introduced, allowing delegates to attend either one or both days of the conference. Discounts for group booking will also be available. For more information and registration, visit www.acs.org.au/youngit/2006conference

Information Age among global heavyweights

For the fifth consecutive year, Information Age has been has been accredited to Emerald Management Reviews' journal coverage list of 400 titles.

Your magazine joins others like the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, US Journal of Marketing and similar titles in a range of management disciplines to be a source of abstracts to academics, librarians and others subscribing to Emerald's service.

Emerald itself publishes more than 150 journals in management and information science, and offers subscribers a database of articles drawn from 400 other accredited magazines selected by an international panel of academics.

Each year the EMR Accreditation Board undertakes a total review of coverage with each member taking special responsibility for his or her area of expertise.

In reaching their decision, board members have been informed by the library holdings of leading centres of excellence around the world (such as Harvard University, MIT and Stanford University), customer recommendations and feedback on journal performance. The EMR Accredited Journal List represents the world's best serials across all aspects of management.

The board comprises Prof Andrew Campbell (Ashridge Strategic Management Centre, UK), Prof Cary L Cooper (Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster, UK), William E Hess (President, Senco Products, USA), Prof Ralph Katz (College of Business Administration, Northeastern University, USA), Prof Ivor Kenny (University College, Dublin, Ireland), Prof Philip Kotler (J L Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, USA), Alfred F Lynch (President and CEO, JC Penney International, USA), B. Joseph Pine II (Co-founder, Strategic Horizons, USA), Darrell K Rigby (VP, Bain & Co, USA), Prof Richard Teare (Principal: University of Action Learning, USA), Prof Gerald Vinten (Past President, Institute of Internal Auditors, UK), Prof Kosaku Yoshida (Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan).

http://iris.emeraldinsight.com/info/products_services/reviews/accredited.jsp