Career Advancement Training for the Technical Professional
Hope Springs Eternal: Up-and-Coming Techies Look Ahead
by Susan de la Vergne
At Oregon State University recently, standing in front of a group of mostly seniors in the Management Information Systems program, I found myself saying things that were quite encouraging about the IT profession.
“One of the best things about being an Information Technology professional is that, during your career, you can work in a variety of industries. You’re not locked in to just one type of business. In my 25-year career, I’ve worked in banking, retail, higher education and utilities.”
I was there to offer them career counsel, tips and techniques to find – and land – a job.
“IT, as you know, is a support function,” I went on, “like Finance and Audit. Every company needs accountants. Every company needs auditors. Every company needs IT. That means part of your challenge is to find a company you want to be in, that you can get behind and be excited about. And if it’s not the first place you work, maybe it’ll be the next one, or the next.”
One student raised his hand:
“I’ve been told to expect to change careers a number of times. In the next 20 years, they say that maybe I’ll change jobs five or six times. I don’t like that. It makes me uneasy about the future.”
“It’s realistic to expect to change careers, and it’s not unique to IT," I replied. "You might even say it’s optimistic, because at least in that view of the future, you’re always employed. If you have only one career in mind, or one industry, you could find yourself stranded at some point. Plan to play the field!”
I said other hopeful and positive things about the profession, along with what they really came to hear: The most likely interview questions they’ll be asked, the best and worst answers to interview questions, how to keep their resume out of the discard pile, and other practical tips.
After I shared all those secrets, I turned the tables. I asked them questions about how they felt about the IT profession, why they’d chosen it, and what they expected. Thinking I’d hear cautious remarks about corporate downsizing and the threatening effects of cost-cutting, about outsourcing and off-shoring, I was surprised to hear little about any of that. They were, instead, the fresh-faced seniors of tomorrow’s high tech ranks, eyes shining, ready to solve the complex problems that baffle others.
One said, “I’ve worked as an intern, and the company I worked in, their mentality is to go to the IT people to solve the difficult problems. If anybody can solve it, IT can. I like being the person who solves it!”
“Me, too,” says another. “I have a part-time job in a help desk. And I really enjoy that you don’t always have a set solution to a problem. Instead you have to figure it out, you have to go through and cancel out possibilities of what would be causing the problem. Figuring out how to solve it, it’s different every time.”
That is a common inspiration in the IT profession, to be the person who figures it out when no one else can.
As Paul Glen says in his book, Leading Geeks, “Geeks love problems. Whether puzzles, philosophical conundrums, math problems, or broken machines, geeks find comfort, validation, excitement and joy in solving problems.”
It’s good to hear this time-tested premise is still true, that the passionate problem solvers are still active in the university ranks.
“I like that there’s this tool at your disposal that can do anything you want to do. If I can write it, it’ll do it.”
Man over machine, another natural driver of professional IT people. You can never get people to do what you want them to, but you can always conquer the machine.
“I like where everything is changing every month almost, that a computer that comes out today will be obsolete soon.”
Low boredom threshold, another characteristic of high tech professionals.
The guy who’d worked on the help desk echoed that perspective: “I really like the dynamics of it, everything changing.”
It was heartening to see such eagerness about what the profession does, and it was comforting to know that the traits that have shaped successful IT professionals for decades are alive and well in these undergraduates.
When asked about how they thought others viewed them, they just laughed at the naiveté of others.
“They still think it’s the wonder field, where you walk out of college and do whatever you want. They’ve heard of a few people who managed to do that, walk into IBM and make $100,000 right away. Our friends who aren’t studying IT think of Google and famous companies . . . so they think we can just go work for them and make zillions. But we know it’s not like that.”
That’s good news for IT management: The IT professionals of tomorrow are not only inspired in the ways they have been for decades, they’re also realists!
© 2006 Susan de la Vergne. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.