IT companies look to fill vacancies with recruits from diverse backgrounds

IT firms are increasingly turning to career changers to fill vacancies, according to a training provider.

Computeach has placed its 100th student in employment in record time this year as the skills crisis bites in the technology sector.

The training company takes unqualified people from other walks of life and has managed to place them in jobs at employers including Cable & Wireless, Dell, Siemens and Virgin Media.

According to Computeach, many IT firms have been leaving essential roles vacant while searching for skilled and available workers to fill them.

A Siemens spokeswoman said: "We have appointed a number of recently-qualified IT staff to work across a variety of positions.

"Many of them have very diverse career backgrounds and have funded their own training to enable their career change. We find that these individuals have a real sense of motivation and accomplishment some having raced through their training courses, such is their determination to succeed."

Maryanne Clayton, head of recruitment and careers at Computeach, said many of its students came from industrial backgrounds.

"Many have never written a CV, attended a formal interview or worked in an office environment," she said. "Yet they have demonstrated, through funding their own training courses with us, an ability and drive for IT. This, accompanied with the qualifications they're studying towards, makes them extremely attractive candidates for employers."

Computeach is on target to place twice last year's figure of 365 trainees in employment in 2008.