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Information
Technology:
A Career for a LifeTime
IT is short for Information Technology, a
broad term covering all aspects of managing and processing
information in every area you can imagine. Banks, consultants,
hospitals, publishers, manufacturers, filmmakers, veterinarians
- they all depend on information and information systems.
Computer software, hardware, the Internet and the networks
that tie it all together are the key to these systems that
IT workers design, develop, support or manage.
 Computers
and the networks that connect them are inescapably part of
our lives. All industries depend on them, and the result of
this dependence is a fascinating variety of career opportunities.
But above all, Information Technology is about people sharing
information and innovative ideas that eliminate global barriers
and help increase the availability of information to everyone.
Career Opportunities
The information technology field is expanding
at an exponential rate, and there is no better time for you
to be part of it. There are virtually unlimited career opportunities,
and a huge range of types of business in which your computer
skills can be utilized. Banking, film production, forestry,
mining, health, manufacturing, engineering, management consulting
– practically every industry uses computers and needs
people to manage, use, network or program them.
Technical skills are also very portable, which
makes a career in information technology very attractive to
people who like to experience different cultures. You can
take your Java training or C++ to any country in the world.
People going into IT now are intelligent, interesting,
creative, pragmatic, ambitious, innovative, fun and motivated.
Many already have arts or business degrees and after looking
at their options, concluded that the available jobs either
lacked challenge or rapid advancement. So they did some basic
research and found that one of the best places to get a rewarding,
well-paying career was information technology.
How to Research and Find an IT School
There are certain key questions you should
ask when assessing an IT school:
Reputation. How long has the school been in
business? What do graduates of the school have to say about
their educational experience? What do employers have to say
about graduates they have hired?
Entrance requirements. As you will be making
a substantial financial investment in your future, it will
be reassuring to know that your classmates are in the program
because they have proven capable of the rigorous course of
study. A number of schools also offer an aptitude test for
prospective students, to help you identify a path of study
that aligns with your abilities and preferences.
Graduation rate. This will serve as a good indicator
of how well the school screens its applicants for capability.
If the attrition rate is high, then the school’s screening
process is probably poor.
Quality of courseware. Most schools now offer
courseware that is officially approved by the major software
vendors – a simple question can usually find out what
curriculum a school is using.
Quality of instructors. Instructors form a major
component of the educational experience. How long have the
instructors been teaching, and what, if any, is their level
of certification?
Amount of instructional time. How many hours
per day are the instructors in the classroom? It is important
to find out exactly how much of the instructors’ time
you will be getting - after all, it’s what you have paid
for.
Placement rate. Because of a booming IT industry, most schools
now advertise a placement rate exceeding 90% six months after
graduation. You should find out how that rate is derived -
are students actually employed in IT positions or non-IT related
jobs.
Loan default rate. If a school has a high loan
default rate, this can indicate certain things. Firstly, it
is likely that the students are not being placed in jobs with
either a good starting salary or job growth potential, and
so are unable to meet their payments schedule. Secondly, it
reflects on the professionalism taught by the career and employment
services department of the school (in 1999, the average loan
default rate for Private Vocational Schools was 31%).
Method of Instruction
There are four principal methods of instruction
in Canadian IT schools:
Immersion style, instructor-led full time. This
is intensive schooling, offering maximum exposure to the full
range of necessary skills in the shortest possible time period.
The compromise is that you have to be devoted exclusively
to learning during the time you are in school, and this may
mean sacrifices (temporary!) in other aspects of your life.
Instructor led full-time. Think of this as 9-5 schooling.
Instructors guide you through courses, although at a slower
pace than immersion style learning. The student generally
can expect to commit from about a year to two years for their
course of study, and thus should expect to need bigger loans
to cover longer living costs and a longer loss of income.
This allows for flexibility in terms of time for a student,
and the advantages of having an instructor in the classroom.
The cost of the program is spread over a longer period of
time, and allows the student to have a part-time job, or to
complete other responsibilities. However, the time required
to complete a course of study is lengthened considerably,
so that the time between course start and course completion
is usually doubled.
Individually Managed Learning. A student enrolled
in an IML program of studies is placed at the centre of an
extensive array of learning tools. Students proceed with a
large degree of freedom, but are still tied to specific milestone
deadlines. They take courses in a prescribed order to conform
to the needs of prerequisites, and each course within the
program has an allotted time-frame for completion. Technical
education specialists are available for question and answer
and consultation, but generally the student manages his or
her own time.
As you can see, the choices facing you mean
that you have to do a lot of thinking about yourself and what
you want from a school. The options are many, but with an
objective assessment of your circumstances, the answers to
these questions should point you to the right school for you,
setting you on the best path for your new career in IT.
The IT industry has matured to the point where
it has become mainstream in its approach to business. Business
relies on information flow, and the ability to communicate
successfully is held at a premium within the industry. Creativity,
problem-solving skills, and the ability to work collaboratively
in a team are all highly valued in an IT professional.
A prevalent myth is that you will deal more
with machines than with people. This is completely untrue.
Most IT professionals spend a great deal of time helping to
develop business solutions, trying to fix problems and explaining
technology. This is why
communication and people skills are so important. Part of
the IT professional’s job is smoothing the transition
to new technologies, and convincing tech-phobic people of
technology’s benefits.
Work Schedule Options
The proliferation of flextime scheduling and
part-time consulting available make it possible for individuals
to juggle family and work responsibilities as never before.
The sheer power of the technology and communications infrastructure
now allow many job functions to be done entirely remotely,
in many cases from home. Once thought of as only a cottage
industry, ‘telecommuting’ from a home-based office
is now the daily work routine for a growing percentage of
workers at all levels of the IT industry.
While Information Technology does not singularly
offer a comprehensive solution to all the problems faced in
the workplace, it does provide solutions to many of them.
Given the unprecedented opportunity for growth in the industry
and the opportunities to work in a team environment, it is
a highly attractive field
to consider. |
