So what are typical salaries within the IT sector? 
IT salaries have grown by 52% since Jan 2000, along with the number of job opportunities. Currently there are 1.1 million people employed within the sector, 5% more than 2011.
According to the Office for National statistics, the average weekly salary of those employed within the Information and communication industry is £778 or £40,500 a year. This is nearly three times the average salary of those working in the retail industry and only the financial, insurance and mining sectors have higher average salaries.
Typical starting salaries for IT graduates in 2012 were £29,000, £5,000 above the average UK salary. Salary checker tools are an easy way to keep on top of your expectations for prospective jobs within your chosen field.
So how easy is it to find IT jobs?
In terms of total UK job vacancies across all sectors, there are 5.3 unemployed people for each vacancy and so the employment market is very competitive. In addition with UCAS listing more than 216 IT degree courses across the UK, each summer the market is flooded with hungry graduates trying to get on the career ladder. From a positive perspective, despite a recruitment freeze across much of the public and private sectors between 2009 and 2011, it is expected that the number of IT graduate vacancies in 2012 will rise by 31.6% more than the previous year.
Students may be interested to hear 27% of these graduate vacancies will be filled by people who have had previous working experience with their employer. So those looking for an advantage over the competition might consider applying for an internship.
So how long will it take to clear your student loan?
Graduates must pay a minimum of 9% of their gross earnings above £15,795 to the student loans company each year. Currently the interest rate is relatively low at 1.5% but this could change depending upon fluctuations in the Bank of England interest rate and the Retail Price Index.
For those interested, sites such as moneysavingexpert.com offer calculation tools where you can estimate how long it will take to repay your loan. Based on a £29,000 starting salary, a 1.5% student loan interest rate and a 5% pay rise each year, it will take you around 10 years to clear a £15,000 student loan. However, a more realistic interest rate might be 3.6% and this would mean another 2 years of loan payments.
Although the prospect of 10 or more years of loan repayments may be daunting, try to take comfort from the fact that IT salaries are higher than those in most other employment sectors and that student loan interest rates