TIme for a new career?

[TheForce]

Hey Bogy- Some advice for your son. ASAP- get certified. You probably already know this but I have seen what certifications can do for a person in this field. Friend with only a HS diploma are making ~100,000 a year with MS certs, Those with just college half that. I tried to convince my brotherinlaw for years to begin a program of study that led to certifications and he would always say he didn't need them because he had a degree. Finally, he made the effort and completed several MS Certs and today is doing much better with raises and salary.

 

[navychop]

Wow. And I thought I had a hard time selling my house!

 

[lumpkin666]

Wonder if its because the field is still stagnant in growth aside from the security portion of it ( you cant really bring up games anymore as a growth field unless you want to move to Korea and work on online game design there ).

I doubt it. There are tons of demand (especially in Iowa, where lots of large insurance companies exist). The problem is that companies are maturing and demanding experience and discipline in areas that colleges are not focusing on.

The companies I have worked with would gladly hire several more IT people if they could find reliable people who have the skills to be successful in a business environment (not just the technical skills, but the organizational skills, the networking skills, the business skills - more like what you'd find in an experienced business analyst with a highly technical skillset). Colleges are still churning out kids with a focus on computer programming languages, and not worrying about how they will integrate into a business environment.

Sure, there is less demand these days than there was 15 years ago. When I was graduating college, recruiters from companies came to us two semesters before graduation and started recruiting (our school taught very targeted programming tools, and that's what the industry demanded at the time). I had several job offers before finishing my last semester, and actually tested out of my classes and left school shortly after my last semester ended so that I could start working for a company that needed several of us to start ASAP. Today you have a bit more work to find a job out of college - but it would be TONS easier if colleges were designing their IT courses around building a more "business rounded" individual.

 

[Bogy]

Wonder if its because the field is still stagnant in growth aside from the security portion of it ( you cant really bring up games anymore as a growth field unless you want to move to Korea and work on online game design there ).

The article I mentioned earlier stated that participation in the programs took a big drop when the dot com bubble burst, and post the year 2000 hype. But the article, and my own contacts, tell me that there is a huge need for people with computer training in Iowa, and of course in a lot of other places.

 

[Bogy]

Hey Bogy- Some advice for your son. ASAP- get certified. You probably already know this but I have seen what certifications can do for a person in this field. Friend with only a HS diploma are making ~100,000 a year with MS certs, Those with just college half that. I tried to convince my brotherinlaw for years to begin a program of study that led to certifications and he would always say he didn't need them because he had a degree. Finally, he made the effort and completed several MS Certs and today is doing much better with raises and salary.

My son is enrolled in more of a vo-tech institution. You CAN get four year degrees, but most of what they do is AA or certification. He will come out of it with MS certification. The school offers training in networking, programming, and web design. He for sure plans to do the networking and programming, and I am pushing him to do the web design as well. Hey, I don't want to brag or anything, but he's taking what is supposed to be a photo class this semester, but most of their time is spent on the computers. He is always the first one done with a project, and the teacher has had him write up instructions for the other students on how he did certain things. He'll be in an intern position about half way through the program.

 

[Neutron]

If it wasn't for the fact that I like working with computers I'd switch careers in a heartbeat.

I'm tired of all the crap that goes on with people in the IT realm. I work with a bunch of snoddy a**holes who think their crap don't stink.

I do my job, but they like to make my life a living hell. I HATE IT HERE!!

 

[rad]

If it wasn't for the fact that I like working with computers I'd switch careers in a heartbeat.

I'm tired of all the crap that goes on with people in the IT realm. I work with a bunch of snoddy a**holes who think their crap don't stink.

I do my job, but they like to make my life a living hell. I HATE IT HERE!!

Neutron, sounds like you've just had a bad run of luck finding workmates. No matter what job you get into you can have a bunch of a**holes to work with. The group of folks I worked, until I left the company, with was a great group to work with, we enjoyed each others company. In fact folks were had offers to go elsewhere but turned them down since having a good set of team mates is hard to come buy, and this was in the IT area. I've been gone since 2006 but we all still keep in touch and even some of us are getting together in the fall on a vacation together.

 

[Van]

But the demand would need to be in more places than just Iowa.....flatter than flat and just as boring.... but back to the discussion. Why would these companies want the tech people to be more than tech people is taking them away from focusing on the primary job and putting additional hats on their heads wich could create the problem of being overwhelmed and over worked.

 

[Bogy]

But the demand would need to be in more places than just Iowa.....flatter than flat and just as boring....

Obviously you have spent little time in Iowa. Do we really need to go into all of Georgia's deficiencies?

 

[TheForce]

But Bogy- Georgia gets a ton of tourist traffic! Why? Because it's the pathway to Florida.

Iowa, Kansas, Ohio Pick one for your next 2 week vacation and explain why.

I suspect, though, Iowa is one of those states that's great to live in but not so great to vacation. Opposite of Nevada (Las Vegas) fun to vacation for a week but I wouldn't want to live there.

 

[iafirebuff]

Iowa - what would you like to know about it?

 

[iafirebuff]

I forgot to add - live here - it's alright, vacation here - WHY?

 

[lumpkin666]

But the demand would need to be in more places than just Iowa.....flatter than flat and just as boring.... but back to the discussion. Why would these companies want the tech people to be more than tech people is taking them away from focusing on the primary job and putting additional hats on their heads wich could create the problem of being overwhelmed and over worked.

Because it's been proven time and time again that someone who cannot communicate well and integrate into a business environment well will not be able to design good technology solutions. It is true, that there are times when a company (especially very large companies) can make use of purely technical people by placing analysts between them and the customer, but even then there can be difficulties and breakdowns in the translation between client needs and the technological answer.

Many businesses would rather pay for multiple well-rounded It staff people than to get one or two purely technical people that you end up paying multiple times their salary in reworking solutions that don't appropriately solve the problem due to lack of business understanding. They would also rather pay extra for a well-rounded individual that can contribute to business in multiple arenas as they grow within the company - quite often purely technical people do not have the skillset to grow beyond their specific technical field and contribute to the corporate objectives on a much higher scale based on their experience. Many of these companies have learned the true expenses and risk associated with hiring employees who have not been "vetted" well enough to ensure a relatively easy integration into their business environment, and simply give up trying to hire good IT staff (and outsource if they cannot hire locally).

Of course, this is only my experience in working in It for about 15 years - with companies ranging from 10 employees to 10,000+ employees. I am sure there are some places that have not matured enough to realize the need for anything but pure keyboard pounding coders.

 

[Bogy]

But Bogy- Georgia gets a ton of tourist traffic! Why? Because it's the pathway to Florida.

Iowa, Kansas, Ohio Pick one for your next 2 week vacation and explain why.

I suspect, though, Iowa is one of those states that's great to live in but not so great to vacation. Opposite of Nevada (Las Vegas) fun to vacation for a week but I wouldn't want to live there.

Sure lots of people drive through Georgia. They don't go there, they just have to drive through it to get to Florida. They get tourist TRAFFIC, its not a tourist destination.

Many people do the same thing in Iowa. They drive through Iowa on I-80 and I-35 going someplace else. But lots of them also stop at a number of tourist sites while they are passing through.

 

[Bogy]

I forgot to add - live here - it's alright, vacation here - WHY?

Waterloo? You are about 45 miles from me. I was in Waterloo Saturday. You should get to know your own state a little better. Actually, we have a tourist destination that has drawn visitors from a number of states for decades. I have spent many weeks attending the "University" of Okoboji.

 

[navychop]

Last time my wife and I visited Atlanta and returned to Underground Atlanta, we decided we didn't need to do that again. Had a much nicer time in Pittsburgh.