Careers in information technology fields
Today we are living in a technology-driven world where computers are common and used in every business. Therefore, a bachelor's degree in technology fields such as Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Information System Management are the key that open doors for many career opportunities. Although there is a shortage of people with these skills all over the world but somehow the number of college students enroll in these fields are still low. Why students do not study technology fields even they have many job opportunities?
One reason is college students do not know much about the market trends and industry needs to select the right field of study. It is hard to believe this in the time of the Internet, Facebook, Online magazines, and Chat rooms where information is available at the speed of the internet. But a consultant explained: “In the U.S. and Europe, information about technology trends and industry needs are widely available but in Asia, students are often confused because of too much false advertising. They do not have the ability distinguish a good technical trend articles and product trend advertisings. Most of them view technology as consumer products such as iPhone, iPads rather than something they can learn and build a career. There are only few online websites focus on technology trends but there are many websites, online newspapers and magazines advertise technology products because these websites make money on advertising. Instead of being someone who create or work in technology, they become the consumers of technology. Lacking of appropriated information is one of many reasons why students do not study technology.”
Another reason is college students often have a wrong view that technology is very difficult so they are reluctant to select them. A student told me: “I know that software engineering is a good field to study and graduates often get good job but my friends told me that it is very difficult so I am afraid that I may not do well in it.” I asked him: “Do your friends study software engineering or computer science?” He hesitated: “No, we all study something else.” I explained: “So your friends really do not know. They probably heard it from somebody and spread the rumor, eventually many believe that technology is difficult so no one want to study it. Maybe some computer science students start this rumor in the beginning, because the fewer people study technology, the less competitive job market and it is easier for them to get job with higher salary, as the demand is much more than the supply.” He was embarrassed: “I never think of it like that.” I continued: “You want to have good job, you want to make a lot of money, but you do not want to study something difficult. That may explain why many graduates are unemployed because they want to study something easy, something they do not have to put in effort but still get degree. Unfortunately a degree is no longer a guarantee for job. Instead of having high demand skills and good job offer, they have a “piece of paper of no value”. To change this, you must put your effort in studying technology for only four years but your whole life would be much better. Four years is not too long but it does make a difference between having good job and unemployment.”
Another reason is some technology trainings are obsolete as students learn from textbooks and programs that are ten or twenty years old or from teachers who are still teaching something that they learned twenty or thirty years ago. Therefore even students select the right field but their skills are not current enough to get job in the industry. A software company owner complained: “I have to interview thirty to forty graduates to get one that may have skills that I need. Even after hiring them, I still have spent a lot of efforts to train them but most of them switch jobs after a year in my company. Training is a bad investment but that is the only way to get skilled workers. Many schools do not teach what the industry need as they do not have good teachers and current trainings that is why their graduates are not qualified to work in the industry.” To avoid this situation, it is very important for students to choose the right schools and the right trainings. Not all universities are the same and not all training programs are similar. Students must conduct research to identify the right schools with the right trainings. The best way is to visit the school and talk to students, especially graduates from the field that you are interested in. The best indicator is the number of graduates who had jobs in the field that they study. Education is an investment, you invest your family's money and your time in develop the skills that will help you to build your future, so you must be very selective.
Another reason is technology fields are something new that student does not know what they would do when graduates so they are reluctant to select something unknown. Technology graduates work in a variety of areas, from design, implement, and improvement of information systems to develop artificial intelligence and security to computer games and databases etc., since these areas are very broad, students can choose from a variety of career paths. Most students only know that technology jobs are coding and testing. Of course, for small software companies, this is the only thing that many workers do but in fact, technology fields are much broader than that. Beside coding, testing, technology fields also include network security, system analysis, computer forensics, database administration, software engineering, data science, cryptography, biotechnology, bioinformatics, computer engineering etc.
Today if graduates have technical skills and English language, they can almost choose to work in almost every country that they want. The new immigration laws of several developed countries such as the U.S. UK, Germany etc. make it much easier for technical people to work there. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), information technology (Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information System Management, Computer engineering etc.) is the fastest growing field in the industry and have the highest salary in consideration of only four years of education. The median income for information technology workers with a Bachelor's degree in May 2012 was $100,660 which is $20,000 more than a business administration degree and $45,000 more than other degrees. In addition, the job outlook is excellent with employment expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations, by 28% from 2010 to 2020.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
