Careers

Graduate profile: Professor Ben Eggleton
Director, Centre For Ultrahigh Bandwidth Devices For Optical Systems (CUDOS)

Ben explains that optical networks have the potential to not only transform communications, but could revolutionise health, education and defence by offering faster, more energy-efficient communications systems. “This is big picture, exciting science,” he enthuses.

Read more about Ben's pathway to his current career.

IT, Communications & Technology

"This is big picture, exciting science." PROFESSOR BEN EGGLETON DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR ULTRAHIGH BANDWIDTH DEVICES FOR OPTICAL SYSTEMS (CUDOS)

Growth and opportunities
Starting salaries
Industry bodies
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Information and communications technology (ICT) is about enhancing and improving the exchange of information and knowledge to make things work in a more efficient way. New technological advances have a vast range of applications across many industries, and are having an increasing impact on many aspects of our daily lives.

For example, advances in telecommunication and information technologies have enabled substantially higher communication bandwidths over longer distances. Australian research and innovation resulted in the invention of the global wireless communication network we know as WiFi.

ICT underpins the fight against climate change, is the backbone to movie animation, is central to discovering cures for many diseases and to mapping the human genome. Advances in ICT are even transforming the way our government operates, expanding capability, providing better service delivery, improving efficiency and reducing costs.

This is an evolving and exciting field for science graduates, and the range of career possibilities continues to grow with each technological advance. Careers encompass a diverse number of areas from business consulting and sales to software engineering, web development, multimedia and technical roles in research and product development.

Globally, the ICT sector is thriving. In Australia it contributes more to our national economy than agriculture, defence or education and almost as much the mining sector. Currently, over 500,000 people are working in technology jobs across Australia. ICT skills also transfer well between countries, so experienced ICT professionals may find career opportunities almost anywhere in the developed world.

An undergraduate science course is an ideal base for career opportunities in ICT. As in many other science-related fields, postgraduate qualifications are often essential or highly beneficial.

A sample of the career opportunities in ICT fields is outlined below:

Bioinformatician: uses statistics and computer analysis to understand medical and biological systems
Computational scientist: writes computer codes and implements models describing a wide variety of systems
Information systems professional: manages the change processes that are initiated by introducing new technology; manages the operation of activities based on computing and communications technology
Systems analyst: works with people to introduce or expand appropriate technology within their business or organisation
Web developer: uses software languages to construct and maintain website content and applications

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Growth and opportunities

Employment opportunities for ICT graduates are very strong at present. Investment in technology and IT infrastructure is ongoing, suggesting very good employment growth in the coming years.

Telecommunications is projected to have high employment growth within the sector over the next few years, with forecast demand for nearly 20,000 new jobs.

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