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The graduates most successful in business are those who combine technical know-how and commercial awareness, say employers.

Mike McLean, head of the search division at IT recruitment firm Morgan Levy, told the Times that there is a strong demand for people who can offer employers a combination of commercial awareness and technological understanding.

Mr McLean continued: "The market in the IT world is growing…. The need to get good graduates is always increasing."

Several graduate employers have complained recently that many applicants may have the academic qualifications but seem to lack the necessary business and interpersonal skills.

This sort of ability to understand and empathise with different viewpoints can make you highly employable.

Laura Harris is a senior technologist on the graduate scheme of Capgemini, an IT services and business consultancy company.

She described what her job involved, saying: "I have to understand the viewpoint of each of the different groups and try to make them understand where the others are coming from."

It is this kind of aptitude is what many IT employers are looking for.

Ross Macallister, an associate partner at Atos Origin, advises graduates interested in moving into IT consultancy to begin by establishing a good grounding in technology, governance and business analysis.