Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology Collaborative Work Skills for the Beginning IS Professional

One of the greatest concerns for many employers recruiting beginning information systems (IS) professionals is not the new recruit’s inadequacies in discipline skills or knowledge, but their general lack of the skills required to work effectively within a collaborative team in a changing workplace environment. It is the responsibility of education institutions to prepare beginning IS professionals for this change in how work is done and the change in the workplace for which they are to be employed. The research reported here examined what industry purports to want and what the literature says they need. Findings from the research identified a number of skills, attitudes and knowledge required for a team member to be effective on a collaborative work effort in the IS profession.