Thread: IT as an occupation?

I've been in IT for about 15 years now, but was originally an aircraft mechanic.
We only have a small IT department of 8-10, with only 2 of us in the infrastructure/network side of things, the others are more application/data/business support and minor development.
We're part of a business that's involved in various retail support operations.
I have no regrets about moving into full time IT, but consider myself an "general IT mechanic" rather than a specialist.

I've never worked in a large IT department, but deal with quite a few of them. People that excel in large organisations we find generally struggle with the flexibility/agility of smaller business (probably true for not just IT). Something to keep in mind if you son has a personality that either needs a lot of structure, or prefers variety.

As others have said, there's an element of IT in most things nowadays. Unless your son just oozes computer geek and gets a buzz out of it, I think the best approach is to work it in with something else that he has talent for.
My youngest daughter is quite IT-savvy, but finds "IT" boring.
She's did a multimedia degree, and is now in a web design and email marketing role that combines her graphics side with some IT stuff.

With IT being so broad, if your son is looking at just pure IT, try and work out which area he enjoys, and why. Networks, development, hardware, application support etc etc.

Steve

Thanks guys.

As a lot of you have said, IT alone may have it's issues.

Matt's always had a keen interest in things IT but he wasn't sure he'd be interested enough to do it full time. As such he's intending to enrol in a double degree of either Science/IT or Engineering/IT.

Time will tell.

IMO school leavers have far too many choices these days. To a point where confusion can reign. This year we started looking at IT Multimedia, then elec engineering, then psychology, criminology and finally a double degree of IT with science or engineering.

As a parent I have struggled to understand and explain the differences, subject matter, career options and costs of all these.


I too work in a small (20 bodies) tech company doing building automation. We do our project IT in-house as there's not much to it and most of our guys are savvy enough to muddle through.

We subcon our office support IT with (IMHO) mixed results. I often have the impression I know more than the drones our IT contractor (another small business) sends to our office and I dread letting them anywhere near my PC.

Cheers.

IT/engineering sounds more work focussed than IT/science, particularly under a government cutting funding for science.

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

IMO school leavers have far too many choices these days. To a point where confusion can reign. This year we started looking at IT Multimedia, then elec engineering, then psychology, criminology and finally a double degree of IT with science or engineering.

As a parent I have struggled to understand and explain the differences, subject matter, career options and costs of all these.

.

Couldn't agree more... I think they are also made to feel this is once only decision... get it wrong and the world ends... which of course is bunkum.

Hell the IT Networking roles that I have spent most of my IT career in...didn't even exist when I left school!

I'd agree with what others have said.... that IT / Engineering is likely to be a better way to go.... but only if that is what the boy really enjoys.

Good luck mate....I'm sure it will all be good in the end - he has the advantage of a family that are supporting him through this tricky stuff.

I've been in IT for a long time. I enjoy the technology and I enjoy the work. I would make the following comments:

• IT job opportunities shift as technology shifts. You need to be willing to "surf" within the IT industry. I have reinvented myself several times to stay relevant and to stay in the better paid jobs. As a school leaver he has about 40 years of work ahead of him. The job he will be doing in 20 years probably doesn't exist today and the job he will be doing when he retires may not exist for 30 years.
  
• IT seems to continually specialise. For example, at one time there were just "IT" project managers. These days it would be unusual to hire an applications project manager for an infrastructure project management role or vice-versa, even though the project management skills used by either are fairly similar.
  
• As the IT industry has matured, the skill sets have become standardised. A degree may not be enough, so it would be worthwhile planning (& budgeting) for some industry qualifications on top of the degree. Something like a MCSA or MCSE if you were going down the Microsoft route, or CCNA if you were going down the Cisco route etc.
  
• If he has the opportunity and the inclination, do a double degree. It can help in several ways... firstly, you bring a broader perspective to your role which makes you more attractive to a prospective employer. Secondly it gives you a greater variety of opportunities as a graduate. Passionate or not, ultimately you have to go where the job opportunities are, so you are better off having two possible fields of employment than one.

Work in a Telco/ISP done many different jobs within the company over 10 years

A degree means very little in IT these days other than getting you a foot in the door practical knowledge and particular certifications tend to give you an edge. I would be looking at RHCSA/RHCSE rather than Microsoft stuff

But if I had my time again I would go down the Electrical Engineering path rather than Comp Sci etc as it's better money and more interesting work

and I would be reversing those preferences as will the last 2 open up far more opportunities and still be almost/if not more useful than a pure IT degree

Sorry I have to disagree with the entire university option. Most, courses are outdated, completely out of touch with industry and are TOO expensive. Double degree, forget it. My sister has a 80 grand hecs debt.

Originally Posted by RVR110

I've been in IT for a long time. I enjoy the technology and I enjoy the work. I would make the following comments:

• IT job opportunities shift as technology shifts. You need to be willing to "surf" within the IT industry. I have reinvented myself several times to stay relevant and to stay in the better paid jobs. As a school leaver he has about 40 years of work ahead of him. The job he will be doing in 20 years probably doesn't exist today and the job he will be doing when he retires may not exist for 30 years.
  
• IT seems to continually specialise. For example, at one time there were just "IT" project managers. These days it would be unusual to hire an applications project manager for an infrastructure project management role or vice-versa, even though the project management skills used by either are fairly similar.
  
• As the IT industry has matured, the skill sets have become standardised. A degree may not be enough, so it would be worthwhile planning (& budgeting) for some industry qualifications on top of the degree. Something like a MCSA or MCSE if you were going down the Microsoft route, or CCNA if you were going down the Cisco route etc.
  
• If he has the opportunity and the inclination, do a double degree. It can help in several ways... firstly, you bring a broader perspective to your role which makes you more attractive to a prospective employer. Secondly it gives you a greater variety of opportunities as a graduate. Passionate or not, ultimately you have to go where the job opportunities are, so you are better off having two possible fields of employment than one.

Agree with what RVR110 has summarised. I've been in IT for 30 odd years. When I started IT was at the start of its boom. Now I see more and more jobs going off shore. It is all around saving $ for the company.

If I had my time over I'd tie IT and Finance together in a qualification or another way to do it would be to start with IT but after 10 years pick up another qualification around Finance. This gets back to having to reinvent yourself every so often. I've gone from analyst programmer, to Ops mgmt, system admin, solution architect, IT sales support and to infrastructure project mgmt. The problem with this is I sometime feel like I'm a jack of all trades and master of none. Unfortunately the jobs today are looking for masters and having a broad cross section doesn't carry the weight that it perhaps did in the past. Hence, why I think gaining another qualification after about 10 years can be a bonus as you have something on paper.

Companies with smaller IT shops would be a good place to look as your ability is recognised more so that an large multi-national.