3)Invest in Interns

Juniper's Boehme is a big believer in internships. Interns are on the job at Juniper's offices in California; a similar program launches in Europe this northern autumn. They're not all the usual suspects: One is studying journalism and has taken charge of the IT newsletter. The program required investment in training and management oversight, but Boehme says it pays for itself. "It costs a lot less than bringing in contractors to do the same work," he says. "At the same time, we are able to build a future pipeline of potential candidates for full-time positions."

Boehme is in the minority. Internship programs seem like a win-win for CIOs - eager young minds for cheap - but an effective program that benefits both the intern and the organization takes significant investment with no guarantee of a good return. As a result, according to CIO's annual staffing survey, only 13 percent of IT leaders have an internship program in place today.

Harrah's Stanley is a fan of graduate school recruiting but initially resisted investing in an undergraduate internship program. "I wrestled with it," he says. "Young people flip-flop quite a bit before they figure out what they really want to do."

Growing concern about the future supply of IT workers changed his mind. "Kids are coming out of school without the skills necessary to be productive," he says. "They may be brilliant at code, but they're not coming out fully experienced for customer-facing roles."

Harrah's IT internship program is now in its third year, with 15 undergraduate students and one graduate student on board. Each has an area of interest, from project management to security. Stanley seeks out students with a good academic track record and extracurricular projects related to their major. They intern for one or two years.

"The program has grown 25 percent year over year, and our retention rate is very high," says Stanley. Between 20 percent and 50 percent of interns have gone on to accept jobs at Harrah's. The program takes management energy and time but interns who are later hired are ready to hit the ground running. "There's no telling whether or not they'll get restless here at the five- or six-year point," says Stanley. "But I'm encouraged."

4)Blaze New Career Paths

A big concern for students and technology professionals alike is the shape career paths will take as IT's staffing needs evolve. "Beyond starting out as a programmer and ending up as a CIO, they have no idea," says FSU's Gallagher.

In fact, most CIOs are struggling with this. "It's not as clear as it once was when you went from programmer to analyst to systems analyst to project analyst to project manager to manager," says Zwieg of Northwestern Mutual. "We haven't quite figured it out."

Even as CIOs sort it out, some are taking tangible steps to make career progression less of a mystery.

Wallace is hampered by the rigid career paths defined by the state of Connecticut - a developer must progress on the development path; it is difficult to move horizontally or upward into, say, an architecture role. Yet, creating new opportunities is key to retention, she says. "IT people are job hopping, and if you don't provide them a way to move ahead they will leave."

So Wallace asks every employee where she wants to be in two years and creates a development plan to help get her there. A supervisor reviews the plan quarterly with the employee as part of performance evaluations. Wallace says it is too soon to talk about outcomes but notes that this tactic made it easier to promote more from within and reduced turnover when she used it at previous employers. It's a smart move. IT workers are more likely to walk out because they see no opportunities for advancement than for any other reason, according to Hudson Highland Group's "2005 Retention Initiatives Report".

If you can't offer prized employees a promotion or more interesting work, say some CIOs, you might help them find a larger role outside the organization. "The biggest issue I have is career progression at the senior level," says the USTA's Bonfante. "For some, the only thing they can aspire to is me getting hit by a bus in the parking lot."

Bonfante naturally offers upwardly mobile employees more compensation and responsibility. But at a certain point, it's up or out. So he sometimes uses his connections to help them find new jobs. It's beneficial all around. The employee moves into a bigger role (albeit at a different company), an opportunity opens up within IT, and inevitably it leads to referrals from the worker you helped. "I've found that good karma comes around," says Bonfante.