IT’s just happening time again for the Information Technology industry. And the news might just sound like music to the ears of young aspirants. For, the IT industry is back on a recruitment spree with many top notch companies drawing up plans for calling young talented on to their board. According to a rough estimate, the IT industry is likely to recruit as many as 1,80,000 persons in this financial year. It’s a big number compared to the days of recession when the IT like many other industry took the downward growth owing to the slump worldwide. IT industry has its own advantages.

For, the Indian information technology sector has been a vital element in contributing to the continued economic growth of the country in the recent years. Besides, the software industry is the single largest employment provider for the young graduates, particularly for those with billion dolor dreams. Many young graduates dreaming of making big in their careers look towards IT industry to achieve their growth ambitions as for long it has proved to be single source for employment generation. It’s just not a mere employment. But it also laid them a dependable career path unlike no other industry. In a country like India with talent pool as big as Indian Ocean there is no dearth for young aspirants. But all they need a sustained growth path to look forward to. The IT industry has given them the hope to dream and make it possible. Particularly for the young engineering aspirants, there’s no other goal in life but to make it big in the IT industry.

For the talented engineering graduates, the opportunities are limitless in the software industry, provided they work hard and ready to put in that extra effort to scale the heights. The IT sector is profoundly linked to globalization. This has helped the Indian companies to reach out to world in a big way like no other profession before. With young talented putting in their minds, India has become a destination for IT solutions. This has helped in many ways as it propelled the Indian economy to unprecedented growth. Many nations started to look up to India for providing solutions to their technology needs. Not a meager achievement though. Besides, it also provided them huge opportunities to India’s talented youth and a right platform to grow. In view of this situation, the growth of IT industry is vital for the country’s economy and the young talented as well. Now India is an established player in the software industry. India’s reputation has also scalen to new heights,catapulting the country into the global market and capturing sizable percentages in the business services and technology sourcing markets.

The growth in India’s IT sector in previous years is attributed by initiatives from vertical industries which include banking, finance, insurance, manufacturing, retail and telecom. Changes in the global market scenario are providing new environments for emerging vertical industries with a focus on green technologies, energy efficiency, renewable energy, healthcare and mobile applications - new arenas in the global market where the Indian IT sector can make its mark. However, to achieve a sustained growth, the industry should always need to reinvent itself keeping in view the growing requirements, meet the challenges, break into new domains like never before. But all this is said easy than done. The past few years saw India’s IT industry slowing down in its growth path, as it was affected by many challenges and issues. Single digit growth was experienced by the industry in 2008, due to the financial crisis that was starting to sweep the globe during this period, prompting IT companies to cut down on cost by stopping expansion work and the hiring of new employees.

The global financial crisis also resulted in a weakened US economy which translated into considerable appreciation of the rupee and cutbacks in interest rates. This resulted in lower profit margins for most Indian IT companies. Besides, infrastructure developments also met with a slowdown that affected the value chain and Indian IT firms’ efforts in providing end-toend solutions for their clientele. A recent survey indicated a lot of technical deficiencies among new college graduates, leaving them unqualified to fill in the necessary skills required for the IT sector. But according experts, the Indian IT sector is headed for a growth rebound, with companies expecting to hire additional staff and employees. The top five companies are expected to hire up to 180,000 new employees during the next 12 months. The Indian IT industry has shown a strong example of continuous growth during the last 15 years, starting in 1993 with only 150,000 employees, which then multiplied over the years to over 2 million employees at present. The IT industry overall has weathered the global economic downturn, exhibiting a recovery that is faster than expected. At present, 50% of IT companies have strong plans of hiring additional manpower and intend to reward existing employees with an 8% average in salary increases. As the economic outlook stabilizes in the country and worldwide, the recovery of remaining IT companies will return them once more to the growth path.

The high growth rate in the country’s economy is attributed to the growing demand for electronic hardware and software among a new generation of young consumers and the middle class with significant disposable incomes and high buying powers. Software and services exports are expected to breach the 60 billion dollar level by the year 2012, which is incidentally also the last year of the recent five year development plan. Several multinational companies are also looking towards India as an ideal geographical location to expand their global markets and this would require Indian IT support in terms of back office functions and other critical operational processes. With the growth momentum is back, the IT industry is looking forward for the future ahead. The good old days, the pre-recession times to be more specific, seem to be back for the IT industry. With many top IT companies striking big deals and winning over projects, the recruitment spree is just happening again. But even the young aspirants should also make use of the opportunities provided to them. For this, they should raise their competitive level, improve the necessary skills to meet the standards of the industry, which is competing with global players to say the least. The doors are wide open. Now, it’s the turn of the youngsters to make best use of the opportunities available.