Forum poster rain3d qualified his decision
to recommend an IT career to his children,
suggesting that working in a company that
provides IT services to other companies is
preferable to working in an in-house IT environment.
“I don’t think that I would recommend
a job in IT to my children, unless it is
doing what I do,” he says. “It seems that IT
staff is generally under-appreciated, as the
executives seem to think that anyone can keep
the network up and running. What the execs
don’t know is that when they try to cut corners,
they put their networks and data at risk, and
get ripped off in the process…. I can’t always
blame the IT staff, as they may have budget
limits imposed on them.”
Growing the Next
Generation
Although some IT pros have mixed feelings
about recommending an IT career, there
seems to be agreement about how to improve
the situation. Several IT pros pointed to the
recruiting process as an area needing improvement-
an observation that Dr. John Sullivan,
formerly the chief talent officer for Agilent and
now a professor of management at San Francisco
State University, agreed with.
“It’s not that [companies] can’t find IT people;
there are millions of candidates out there,”
said Sullivan. “It comes down to how interesting
you make working at your company sound.
People in IT recruiting are dull as toast-they
make accountants look exciting.”
Sullivan suggested that companies look
at using more creative methods to hire and
attract talent, pointing to Google as a prime
example of good recruiting practices. “Google
has blown other companies away with its
recruiting, and the firm is only six years old.
And it’s basically a Yellow Pages for the Internet,”
said Sullivan.
Google uses what Sullivan referred to as
“Wow!” recruiting, which builds on Google’s
unique position in the market. “People have
a story to tell about working at Google when
they go home at night. Their kids, friends,
and neighbors hear it and want to work at
Google, too.” Sullivan explained that the allure
of Google as an enjoyable place to work isn’t
new. Several technology companies have
enjoyed the distinction of being at the top of
the list of companies graduates would like to
work for, including such industry stalwarts as
HP and IBM. “HP was the Google of its time,
[but] it isn’t now,” says Sullivan. “I worked
there because I learned back in college that you could play volleyball at lunch there. The
courts aren’t used now.” HP was contacted
to comment on the state of IT careers for this
article but declined to comment.
Make Yourself an Asset
Although companies looking for IT professionals
can always find ways to improve and
refine their processes for hiring and retaining
key talent, the same is also true for employees.
IT workers are well advised to keep learning
new skills and working to better themselves,
possibly through additional training, taking
on new responsibilities, or going for that extra
degree or certification.
Sullivan argued that employees need to get
into the mindset of changing IT from a cost
center to a business driver that can streamline
processes and help generate additional
revenue. “You want the decision-makers not
to say, ‘Oh, my system didn’t break down,’ but
‘Oh, you helped me generate this revenue by
helping me to do this project,’” said Sullivan.
“If you have IT skills, know marketing, and can
innovate, you’ll get a job.”
Extra training and certifications are always
a plus, noted Estes, but you should also look
to the future when making important careerchanging
decisions. “Certifications are good,
but even better than that is making sure
you look for companies that are working
with leading-edge technology,” said Estes.
Working for a company that’s running on
Windows Server 2003 and taking advantage of
leading technologies-such as virtualization,
auditing and compliance infrastructure, and
business intelligence (BI) applications-can
help give IT pros the skills they need to remain
marketable.
Beyond basic skills, Estes also suggested that
good communication and interpersonal skills
are still vitally important. “Good soft skills are
a must, as are strong written and verbal communication
skills,” said Estes. “The old days of
sitting behind a terminal all day and tuning out
the rest of the organization are over.”
Although the outsourcing of IT jobs has
generated headlines over the last few years,
both Sullivan and Estes suggested that this
concern is overblown. Acknowledging that
some people have been affected by outsourcing,
Sullivan and Estes maintained that
the idea that all IT jobs are going overseas is
a myth. “That’s absolutely not the case,” said
Estes. “While some jobs may be outsourced,
you can work to make sure you’re outsourceproof.
Don’t just focus on development
of your tech skills-work on your project
management or on your communication
and people skills. Those types of skills aren’t
easily outsourced.”