The trouble is that many young IT job seekers haven't gotten the message. Many are less like Shah and more like Thomas Tanaka, a recent computer engineering graduate, also of the University of Illinois. Apart from some 'intro econ classes,' the 26-year-old avoided taking business and management courses. 'My technical courses already took up most of my time,' Tanaka said.

While the Santa Clara, Calif., resident has generally been looking for entry-level software jobs with IT vendors, he recently had an interview with a financial firm looking to fill an in-house IT position. That's where his lack of business background was exposed. 'They didn't ask me many technical questions during the interview,' Tanaka said, sheepishly.

IT managers are part of the problem, since they still offer mixed messages to job seekers. While continuing to hire entry-level workers mostly on their technical skills, CIOs told Kaiser that business and management skills -- especially the ability to communicate well -- are what they desire most from their in-house IT workers.

'I'm always shoving down my students' throats the importance of writing well, doing presentations and listening,' she said. 'They just think I'm being weird.'

Even in the more technically specialized area of mainframe computing, business skills are essential, said Jim Michael, secretary of Share, a Chicago-based IBM mainframe user group. 'I don't think the next generation of zSeries professionals should go and get a business degree,' Michael said. 'But if you want to make a difference, you better be able to talk about how IT can drive business value.'