Professional Opportunities

PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

 

Professional opportunities t

Profile: Computer programmers
Functions: Computer programmers can design specifications-based software modules, develop and perform tests in contexts where different technologies are used; they can install and carry out maintenance of application softwares, set and deploy server-based websites and portals; they can also manage and carry out maintenance for web and portable devices systems.  
Skills: IDE and development frameworks, programming languages and environments, support libraries; Virtualisation; Knowledge of programming methodologies to interact with the team and document the several development. Server-side and client-side scripting, emulation platforms, Content Management Systems, web development frameworks.
Professional opportunities: companies developing applications, information systems and/or related services, also web and mobile-based. Web service providers (for ex. e-commerce) with the need to manage such services. Companies and institutions in any sector, which need their own software development and/or management.

Profile: Database administrator
Functions: Database administrators can develop databases starting from analysts’ specifications or autonomously develop limited solutions. Their activities are particularly focused on database administration.
Skills: Installation setting, management and optimisation of commercial and open-source database Management systems; security administration on such systems.
Professional opportunities: Companies and institutions of various sectors which manage their own data and need a DBA (Data Base Administrator), and/or development of the DB component in all the contexts where this key technology is used.


Profile: network and computer systems administrators

Functions: network and computer systems administrators can design, create and set up calculator and communications networks. They can also manage networks inside companies.
Skills: Server installation and management in physical and virtual environments, selection and personalisation of networks management softwares. Setting of protocols and network services.
Professional opportunities: Companies setting up and selling network services. Companies, institutions, public and private bodies with own management of complex networks.

Profile: Telecommunications technicians
Functions: Telecommunications technicians oversee the setting up of a network which is the physical channel supporting various applications, for ex.: telephones, radio, TV, computer networks, satellite communication, environmental monitoring, sensor networks, remote control, etc.  
Skills: ability to select, install, set and manage the operating conditions of the necessary technologies to create communication networks, both through physical networks and radio channels.

Professional opportunities: companies offering communication services (for ex. Mobile and landline phone service companies, and all the related commercial activities, in particular companies setting up physical networks and support infrastructures.

Profile: Electronic technicians
Functions: Electronic technicians manufacture, install and manage circuits, equipments and systems using electronic components and devices, both in the ICT field and in other contexts, and need electronics-based solutions.
Skills: Abilities in analogue and digital electronics, knowledge of applications and techniques of electronic circuits representation and analysis; basic programming for the device driver and firmware definition; knowledge and ability in the use of the equipment for electronic devices and systems measurement and diagnostics.

Professional opportunities: Companies working in the electronic sector, at different levels of the production chain- for ex., producers of electronic circuits and systems, basic softwares supporting telecommunications and industrial automation; companies using electronics for control, automation, embedded systems, etc.  
 

Consultations with stakeholders t

 

Consultation on the internship planning for the academic year 2016/2017 of the Faculty degree courses took place in the following way:

- N.1 meeting with representative organizations of manufacturers, service providers and professionals on 10.03.2016 organized by the all the Programme Coordinators of the Faculty. The Dean, the Vice-Dean, the Teaching Manager, the Programme coordinators and the Directors of Area Educational Boards were present at the meeting, as well as the following representative organizations: 5 Emme informatica (Manager and Head of Products Area), BIC Lazio S.p.A. (Head of Operation Staff), Cineca - SCIA (Information and knowledge management services), Exaltech - Impresa Latina (Co-founder and Vice-President), Ey (Human Resources Recruiter), GSE - Gestore servizi energetici (Management Engineering), IBM (Business Development Executive), INFO EDGE, Istituto Italiano degli Attuari (Secretary General), Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (Coordinator of the Statistical and Actuarial Division), KYDEA - impresa di Latina (CTO & Co-founder), Lait Regione Lazio (Sole Administrator), NS12 (Head of Marketing & Communication), NttData (HR Head), Ordine Nazionale degli Attuari (President), SAS (SAS Academic Programme manager), Telecom Italia/TIM (Strategy & Innovation - Market & Service Scenario and Human Resources Senior Consultant).

 

- Survey by Cesop Communication on the knowledge and perception that Italian companies have of the education/training provided by the degree programmes of the Faculty of Information Engineering, Informatics and Statistics.

The research aimed at carrying out a first survey on two aspects of the Faculty degree programmes: their popularity and perceived quality.
The survey was carried out through an on-line CAWI ipostat-interview system questionnaire (standard questions and batteries on a 1-10 scale).
The questionnaire areas dealt with:
- job market
- analysis of the Faculty course catalogue
- skills (hard skills and soft skills)
The questionnaire was sent to Human Resources officers of companies working in Italy (HR officers).
The companies that had been contacted were 3800, but only 100 questionnaires were considered valid.
Cases were not weighed by taking into account the values of the relevant statistical reference because only 73% filled in basic details (geographical area and company size).
The main finding concerned the lack of knowledge about the Faculty course catalogue. This element strongly affected the whole survey.
Among the 73 respondents who indicated their general details, 16 officers come from small companies, 15 from middle-sized companies and 42 from large companies. 38 units responded from the North, 31 from Central Italy and only 4 from the South and Islands. The majority of respondents (25 on 73 declaring basic details) works in an IT company (Information Technology).
The companies included in the sample operate in the following areas: Information Technology (34.7%), Industrial - manufacturing - Transports (19.4%), Corporate Consultancy and revision (15.3%), Media and communication (9.7%), Chemical - Pharmaceutical - Biomedical (6.9%), Large-scale distribution (5.6%), Public Institutions (5.6%), Financial - Insurance (2.8%).

The conclusions drawn from the meeting are the following:

- The organizations that were present on 10.03.2016 were provided with a leaflet about the Faculty indicating the aims of each course, the study plan and the professional opportunities for each degree and Masters degree programme, together with the related website. Such document was sent on 17.02.2016. During the meeting the following topics were discussed, concerning the evaluation of learning outcomes and professional opportunities offered by the degree programmes of the Faculty:
• Adequacy of the learning outcomes and degree courses’ names
• Adequacy of professional profiles in relation to job market needs
• Expected professional opportunities
• Suggestions on the aims and contents of the degree courses
• Opinions on Bachelors degree programmes and the average duration of degree programmes
• Collaborations in Placements/Internships/Thesis/Research

All organizations found the subjects dealt with in the degree courses of the Faculty and the expected professional opportunities interesting and useful; nonetheless, they suggested that the transversality among the degree courses, that is partly already existing (in Inter-Faculty and Inter-departmental courses) should be increased. Although organizations emphasized the fact that the course catalogue includes current subjects such as information technology, data science, big data, internet of things (IoT), internet of everything (IoE), smart cities, robotics, domotics, cyber security, cognitive computing, social networking, cloud analytics, mobile networking, privacy, open source, open data, and open agent, nonetheless, they hope for further expertise and developments, due to the needs brought about by the introduction of digital citizenship in public administration. Moreover, the importance of increasing the education/training concerning the legal framework has been highlighted, especially in the statistical and actuarial area degree programmes.

 

As far as soft skills are concerned, large and middle-sized/small enterprises hold different views: the former believe that it is necessary to increase sot skills also through collaboration with the companies who agree to give workshops that can be included in the course catalogue as credits. Middle-sized and small enterprises, instead, think that it is more important to provide a solid basic education/training especially during Bachelors degree courses.
As far as employment is concerned, all organizations highlighted the importance for students to complete their degree programme and advocated for their collaboration with the job market when they are still attending the degree course. This greater contact should be obtained through more frequent meetings with corporate staff during the degree courses, activation of placements, research projects and collaboration during work on the final thesis. In order to carry out these activities, organizations expressed their full intention to collaborate. 

- Cesop Communication Survey
The results of the three-area questionnaire are the following:
- 88% of the sample is going to employ personnel in 2016, choosing graduates from the Faculty of Information Engineering, Informatics and Statistics. In particular, Computer Science Engineer is the most successful professional profile (19.8% on 88).
- the course catalogue is little known, therefore communication between the Faculty and the companies should be improved (collaborations and meetings between Faculty and companies). An interesting benchmark is the Politecnico of Milan, which is considered a high-quality University with a good communication activity.
- with regard to the contents of the course catalogue, companies reckon soft skills slightly more important than hard skills (average 5.58 on 10 scale). Among the soft skills indicated, «collaborating with other people constructively» and «adapting to organizations’ needs» are those which can and must be improved by the Faculty.

The Teaching Committees agree to consider the following indications:

- keep on developing subjects such as information technology, data science, big data, internet of things(IoT), internet of everything (IoE), smart cities, robotics, domotics, cyber security, cognitive computing, social networking, cloud analytics, mobile networking, privacy, open source, open data, and open agent in degree and Masters degree courses;
- increase transversality and cross-contamination among the several degree courses, above all during Masters degree programmes;
- increase soft skills acquisition through credit-bearing and non credit-bearing workshops;
- strengthen basic education/training, especially in Bachelors degree programmes;
- increase the knowledge about the course catalogue and strengthen the connection with the job market by planning more contacts with companies during lectures, placements, meetings, final theses done in corporation sites, research projects involving university students, especially Masters degree students.

It was found that the internship planning of the Faculty courses is adequately structured. Moreover, it is thought that the functions and skills characterising the professional profiles educated/trained by the several degree courses of the Faculty are adequately described, and consequently help define the expected learning outcomes; that both general and specific expected learning outcomes indicated in the course planning are consistent with professional needs, in such a way that the graduates can meet the widest needs of society and the job market (training needs).

In 2017 Cesop Communication conducted a focus group to investigate the aspects of popularity and quality of the Faculty degree courses. 6 corporate managers took part in it during a two-hour session. The areas of investigation were:
• Knowledge of course catalogue
• University–Companies communication and relationships
• Corporate activities related to professional needs and selections
The companies involved were Capgemini, Altran, Fater, TIM, Deloitte and Infocert. In 2017 the companies employed 2000 people whose profile corresponds to the one educated/trained by the Faculty degree courses: 73,5% of them were graduates and the most used type of contract was permanent (67,4%).

Computer Science Engineers and computer science experts are the professional profiles which attracted most interest. Out of 100 analysed professional figures, computer science engineers were indicated in 19.8% cases and were considered potentially important for future employment.
 

Knowledge of course catalogue
The knowledge of the course catalogue resulted as very low (the best known was the course catalogue of the Degree programme in Management Engineering with an average of 4,8 on a 1 to 10 scale). The knowledge of the course catalogue of each degree programme is only general and the line managers were better informed of its contents than the recruiting managers. This aspect also affects communication between universities and companies. Moreover, according to the participants, degree courses are excessively fragmented: the plurality of specialised courses is considered a difficulty by companies, especially when they often do not match the needs of the job market.

 

University-Companies Communication and relationships
According to the participants in the focus group, communication between the university and companies should be improved. A direct relationship with companies was considered the best way to increase the knowledge of the course catalogue. In particular, collaborations between the university and companies, as well as meetings, were considered the most useful ways to introduce academic courses. Nonetheless, the medium by which information was mostly conveyed was the Internet. According to the participants in the focus group, there is a lack of identifiable coordinators and of a structure dedicated to manage relationships with companies. Each department has its own management and the response time is too long.

Corporate activity related to professional shortlisting and needs
In the education/training of young professionals, companies show their slight preference towards soft skills, and do not consider the Sapienza university degree courses capable of training students on these specific aptitudes and skills. Skills are assessed by companies mainly through individual interviews. Companies state that the soft skill that universities may mostly influence is the «Ability to adapt to organisations’ needs». Also the «ability to constructively collaborate with others» should be a prerogative of university courses.

Following the CESOP survey carried out through the focus group, the Teaching Committees agree to take the following indications into account:


• Introduce learning activities aimed at developing soft skills; 
• Improve the awareness and knowledge of the Degree programmes course catalogue, emphasizing the development of skills required by the job market;
• Improve the awareness and the university-companies relationships by increasing collaboration and meetings with companies;
• develop a better-structured “marketing” activity promoting the degree programmes.

 

 

 

Consultations with stakeholders t

 

Consultation on the internship planning for the academic year 2016/2017 of the Faculty degree courses took place in the following way:

- N.1 meeting with representative organizations of manufacturers, service providers and professionals on 10.03.2016 organized by the all the Programme Coordinators of the Faculty. The Dean, the Vice-Dean, the Teaching Manager, the Programme coordinators and the Directors of Area Educational Boards were present at the meeting, as well as the following representative organizations: 5 Emme informatica (Manager and Head of Products Area), BIC Lazio S.p.A. (Head of Operation Staff), Cineca - SCIA (Information and knowledge management services), Exaltech - Impresa Latina (Co-founder and Vice-President), Ey (Human Resources Recruiter), GSE - Gestore servizi energetici (Management Engineering), IBM (Business Development Executive), INFO EDGE, Istituto Italiano degli Attuari (Secretary General), Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (Coordinator of the Statistical and Actuarial Division), KYDEA - impresa di Latina (CTO & Co-founder), Lait Regione Lazio (Sole Administrator), NS12 (Head of Marketing & Communication), NttData (HR Head), Ordine Nazionale degli Attuari (President), SAS (SAS Academic Programme manager), Telecom Italia/TIM (Strategy & Innovation - Market & Service Scenario and Human Resources Senior Consultant).

 

- Survey by Cesop Communication on the knowledge and perception that Italian companies have of the education/training provided by the degree programmes of the Faculty of Information Engineering, Informatics and Statistics.

The research aimed at carrying out a first survey on two aspects of the Faculty degree programmes: their popularity and perceived quality.
The survey was carried out through an on-line CAWI ipostat-interview system questionnaire (standard questions and batteries on a 1-10 scale).
The questionnaire areas dealt with:
- job market
- analysis of the Faculty course catalogue
- skills (hard skills and soft skills)
The questionnaire was sent to Human Resources officers of companies working in Italy (HR officers).
The companies that had been contacted were 3800, but only 100 questionnaires were considered valid.
Cases were not weighed by taking into account the values of the relevant statistical reference because only 73% filled in basic details (geographical area and company size).
The main finding concerned the lack of knowledge about the Faculty course catalogue. This element strongly affected the whole survey.
Among the 73 respondents who indicated their general details, 16 officers come from small companies, 15 from middle-sized companies and 42 from large companies. 38 units responded from the North, 31 from Central Italy and only 4 from the South and Islands. The majority of respondents (25 on 73 declaring basic details) works in an IT company (Information Technology).
The companies included in the sample operate in the following areas: Information Technology (34.7%), Industrial - manufacturing - Transports (19.4%), Corporate Consultancy and revision (15.3%), Media and communication (9.7%), Chemical - Pharmaceutical - Biomedical (6.9%), Large-scale distribution (5.6%), Public Institutions (5.6%), Financial - Insurance (2.8%).

The conclusions drawn from the meeting are the following:

- The organizations that were present on 10.03.2016 were provided with a leaflet about the Faculty indicating the aims of each course, the study plan and the professional opportunities for each degree and Masters degree programme, together with the related website. Such document was sent on 17.02.2016. During the meeting the following topics were discussed, concerning the evaluation of learning outcomes and professional opportunities offered by the degree programmes of the Faculty:
• Adequacy of the learning outcomes and degree courses’ names
• Adequacy of professional profiles in relation to job market needs
• Expected professional opportunities
• Suggestions on the aims and contents of the degree courses
• Opinions on Bachelors degree programmes and the average duration of degree programmes
• Collaborations in Placements/Internships/Thesis/Research

All organizations found the subjects dealt with in the degree courses of the Faculty and the expected professional opportunities interesting and useful; nonetheless, they suggested that the transversality among the degree courses, that is partly already existing (in Inter-Faculty and Inter-departmental courses) should be increased. Although organizations emphasized the fact that the course catalogue includes current subjects such as information technology, data science, big data, internet of things (IoT), internet of everything (IoE), smart cities, robotics, domotics, cyber security, cognitive computing, social networking, cloud analytics, mobile networking, privacy, open source, open data, and open agent, nonetheless, they hope for further expertise and developments, due to the needs brought about by the introduction of digital citizenship in public administration. Moreover, the importance of increasing the education/training concerning the legal framework has been highlighted, especially in the statistical and actuarial area degree programmes.

 

As far as soft skills are concerned, large and middle-sized/small enterprises hold different views: the former believe that it is necessary to increase sot skills also through collaboration with the companies who agree to give workshops that can be included in the course catalogue as credits. Middle-sized and small enterprises, instead, think that it is more important to provide a solid basic education/training especially during Bachelors degree courses.
As far as employment is concerned, all organizations highlighted the importance for students to complete their degree programme and advocated for their collaboration with the job market when they are still attending the degree course. This greater contact should be obtained through more frequent meetings with corporate staff during the degree courses, activation of placements, research projects and collaboration during work on the final thesis. In order to carry out these activities, organizations expressed their full intention to collaborate. 

- Cesop Communication Survey
The results of the three-area questionnaire are the following:
- 88% of the sample is going to employ personnel in 2016, choosing graduates from the Faculty of Information Engineering, Informatics and Statistics. In particular, Computer Science Engineer is the most successful professional profile (19.8% on 88).
- the course catalogue is little known, therefore communication between the Faculty and the companies should be improved (collaborations and meetings between Faculty and companies). An interesting benchmark is the Politecnico of Milan, which is considered a high-quality University with a good communication activity.
- with regard to the contents of the course catalogue, companies reckon soft skills slightly more important than hard skills (average 5.58 on 10 scale). Among the soft skills indicated, «collaborating with other people constructively» and «adapting to organizations’ needs» are those which can and must be improved by the Faculty.

The Teaching Committees agree to consider the following indications:

- keep on developing subjects such as information technology, data science, big data, internet of things(IoT), internet of everything (IoE), smart cities, robotics, domotics, cyber security, cognitive computing, social networking, cloud analytics, mobile networking, privacy, open source, open data, and open agent in degree and Masters degree courses;
- increase transversality and cross-contamination among the several degree courses, above all during Masters degree programmes;
- increase soft skills acquisition through credit-bearing and non credit-bearing workshops;
- strengthen basic education/training, especially in Bachelors degree programmes;
- increase the knowledge about the course catalogue and strengthen the connection with the job market by planning more contacts with companies during lectures, placements, meetings, final theses done in corporation sites, research projects involving university students, especially Masters degree students.

It was found that the internship planning of the Faculty courses is adequately structured. Moreover, it is thought that the functions and skills characterising the professional profiles educated/trained by the several degree courses of the Faculty are adequately described, and consequently help define the expected learning outcomes; that both general and specific expected learning outcomes indicated in the course planning are consistent with professional needs, in such a way that the graduates can meet the widest needs of society and the job market (training needs).

In 2017 Cesop Communication conducted a focus group to investigate the aspects of popularity and quality of the Faculty degree courses. 6 corporate managers took part in it during a two-hour session. The areas of investigation were:
• Knowledge of course catalogue
• University–Companies communication and relationships
• Corporate activities related to professional needs and selections
The companies involved were Capgemini, Altran, Fater, TIM, Deloitte and Infocert. In 2017 the companies employed 2000 people whose profile corresponds to the one educated/trained by the Faculty degree courses: 73,5% of them were graduates and the most used type of contract was permanent (67,4%).

Computer Science Engineers and computer science experts are the professional profiles which attracted most interest. Out of 100 analysed professional figures, computer science engineers were indicated in 19.8% cases and were considered potentially important for future employment.
 

Knowledge of course catalogue
The knowledge of the course catalogue resulted as very low (the best known was the course catalogue of the Degree programme in Management Engineering with an average of 4,8 on a 1 to 10 scale). The knowledge of the course catalogue of each degree programme is only general and the line managers were better informed of its contents than the recruiting managers. This aspect also affects communication between universities and companies. Moreover, according to the participants, degree courses are excessively fragmented: the plurality of specialised courses is considered a difficulty by companies, especially when they often do not match the needs of the job market.

 

University-Companies Communication and relationships
According to the participants in the focus group, communication between the university and companies should be improved. A direct relationship with companies was considered the best way to increase the knowledge of the course catalogue. In particular, collaborations between the university and companies, as well as meetings, were considered the most useful ways to introduce academic courses. Nonetheless, the medium by which information was mostly conveyed was the Internet. According to the participants in the focus group, there is a lack of identifiable coordinators and of a structure dedicated to manage relationships with companies. Each department has its own management and the response time is too long.

Corporate activity related to professional shortlisting and needs
In the education/training of young professionals, companies show their slight preference towards soft skills, and do not consider the Sapienza university degree courses capable of training students on these specific aptitudes and skills. Skills are assessed by companies mainly through individual interviews. Companies state that the soft skill that universities may mostly influence is the «Ability to adapt to organisations’ needs». Also the «ability to constructively collaborate with others» should be a prerogative of university courses.

Following the CESOP survey carried out through the focus group, the Teaching Committees agree to take the following indications into account:


• Introduce learning activities aimed at developing soft skills; 
• Improve the awareness and knowledge of the Degree programmes course catalogue, emphasizing the development of skills required by the job market;
• Improve the awareness and the university-companies relationships by increasing collaboration and meetings with companies;
• develop a better-structured “marketing” activity promoting the degree programmes.