Advices to college students
When students enroll in university, many are still not sure about what to study. Some asked me for advice and I often gave them the same answer that they should select Information Technology (IT) area such as Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Information System Management. Following are my reasons:
We are living in the “Information Age” where many things are based on Information Technology (IT). From the TV we watch to the phone we use; from businesses work to the way governments are operating, all are applying Information Technology. By taking advantage of this trend and developing the necessary skills, students can advance their career and be part of the global progress. Whether they want to be a scientist or develop the latest software. Whether they want to open their own business or work for a global company. Whether they want to work for government or building computer games, they all need to have IT skills.
Some students believe that with an IT degree they can only work in the IT industry. It is NOT correct. With an IT degree, they can almost work for any industry. IT is a very broad field with a wide range of applications and job opportunities. IT drives innovation in sciences, business, manufacturing, agriculture, entertainment and education. Today IT jobs are among the highest paid and have the best job satisfaction among workers. With the critical shortage of IT workers all over the world, the chance of getting jobs is excellent. IT is a field with a very bright future. Today many executive positions require knowledge of IT so the career advancement of people with IT degree is better than others. As technology continues to create more innovations, the future is expected to be even greater than today.
With globalization, just about every industry relies on IT to stay competitive. All retailers are automating their business; they need IT to control their inventory and sales. Managers need accurate data for ordering merchandises and manage their supply chain. Banking and financing company needs IT to manage all accounts and transactions as well as predict trends and trading decisions. Telecommunication companies need IT applications for their smart phones to help users watch news, find locations, suggest restaurants, or to play games. There are so many applications of IT in every industry. One development leads to another, creating new needs for more IT software. As more industries advance their IT applications, others must follow to improve their efficiency and reduce costs.
Many students believe IT jobs are mostly programming and testing. It is NOT correct. Programming and testing are only two among many and there are more new positions being created every day. As more IT systems are being integrated, industries need system architects, software designers and integration specialists. These are among the “Hot” jobs today. As more systems are moving into the cloud, service management becomes another “Hot” job as software is not only a product but also services. With the Internet many business are becoming online stores. The virtual world is now the biggest market with enormous potential. Therefore, Web designers and Search engine optimization (SEO) are becoming “Hot” jobs. As more people are connected via social network; data analysis and social engineering are other jobs that have high demand. The more people doing things on line, the more they need protection so computer security specialist is another “Hot” job. Basically, IT has open up thousands of new positions and specialties that do not even exist few years ago and more new jobs coming soon.
Having IT skills will provide you with a strong foundation of knowledge, problem solving and logical thinking that will serve as a competitive advantage to you in your career. Contradict to many misinformations that IT people often work alone in front of a computer; most IT works require a team of people with different kinds of skills. To succeed in IT you do need both technical skills and soft-skills. Today IT graduates have many choices as they have many companies to choose from. Not long ago, working for Microsoft or Google was a dream of many but today Facebook and Twitter are the preferable choices. Beside established software companies to work for, some want to start their own company. History of IT industry is full of people who start their own company successfully like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, or Sergey Brin who all are billionaires. However, there are hundred thousand IT millionaires that you probably never hear of their names.
Last week Facebook brought Instagram, a small startup company with 10 employees for one billion dollars. It seems like a lot of money divided to ten people but this is not unusual. For the past few years, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Cisco, and other major tech companies have all spent hundreds of billions to buy up small startups, popular apps, IT services, or even Websites. It made many IT graduates become millionaires and billionaires when they are still in their early 20s or 30s. For example, Siri was a mobile app for the iPhone but due to its popular among users and a lot of downloads; it got the attention of Steve Jobs. Apple brought Siri for approx. $200 million dollars and makes few people who created this mobile app very rich. Three students created the videogame “Draw something” over few weeks, it was so popular that Zynga brought the software for $210 million. Skype was a small company with approx. 50 people creating software that allows people to talk over the internet instead of the telephone. Microsoft brought Skype for $8.5 billion dollars.
With globalization, there are more IT jobs than qualified people to fill them. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that IT has the greatest potential for new jobs through 2025. If you want a stable career with high salary, consider study IT. If you also have good English language skills, you can expand your career to work internationally. The U.S has more than half million foreign workers and Europe has more than a million. Why not join these IT workers and travel the world? Every Christmas, I receive many greeting cards from former students who work in foreign countries; many come from places that I never heard of.
I believe IT is a very good choice for college students. However, there are few things that I want to emphasize: There is a high turn-over among IT workers in every country. Many graduates work for one company for a short time than switch to another company for better salary. It looks like a logical move to get good offer but do not let this “trick” you because most of these “jumpy workers” do not last long. After a few switches, a majority of them were fired and end their career. Many are lured by the “blind ambition” to get more money but do not focus on maintaining a deep practical skills. Many are knocked off balance by the changing market force due to their hasty decisions. The fact is new graduates may have theoretical knowledge but do not have the skills and experience yet. They need to develop the skills by apply what they know into real work. Technical skills take time to build and to master. By jumping from one job to another just for higher salary, they do not have time to develop the skills needed to justify the high salary. So make sure you know what you are doing as well as the consequences. Please remember that companies do not hire a “person” but hire the skills and the commitment of that person to be a professional.
There is a concern about foreign language required in the IT industry. Some students asked me: “I do not plan to work oversea or go to another foreign country, why do I need to study English?” Today with globalization, many IT projects are global distributed with team members come from many places. It is essential to know at least one foreign language, preferable English. In the IT industry, communication skills are vital. Many global companies will not hire you if you do not have foreign language skills. Even you work for a local company but your customers may come from a foreign country. How can you talk to customers or users if you do not speak their language?
There is another concern about continuous learning or lifelong learning. Some students asked me: “Why do I have to learn new things? All I want is a degree and a job; I do not want to study all the time.” My answer is unfortunately, the concept of having a degree than retire is obsolete. Today continuing education is vital because your competition will get stiffer. Technology changes and market also changes. You must be prepared to respond quickly to these changing conditions by learning new skills. You must continue to broaden your knowledge because if you do not, somebody will take your place. I often give students a simple motto: “Somewhere out there, someone is learning, and if you are not, he will take your jobs sooner or later.” I asked these students: “You want the best job and the highest paid position. You want to have a lot of money but do not want to put in any effort, either you are naive or you are dreaming.”
With the strong global economy and a huge need for IT skilled workers, now is a great time to be enrolled in IT career. If you like mathematics, Computer Science is a good choice. If you like engineering and solving problem, Software Engineering is a good choice. If you like business and management, Information System management is a good choice. As you make decision on your career, remember to discuss your choice with the school counselor to make sure you get what you want.
Your generation is a new group of students that have full access to all the new technologies. With the internet and so many online trainings, webs, blogs and Wikipedia, you have all the advantages to learn that the previous generation did not have. Selecting a field to study is the first step; putting in your effort to learn is another step; the degree is the key that unlock the door of opportunities to you is a major step but more than that, you need to apply what you learned on the job to do your best and become an IT professional. I also expect that you will continue to learn and be responsible to yourself, to your family, to your society, and to your country.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
