Getting A Better Career In IT Blog

IT Job Myths

careerinit — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:41:37 +0000

The first step is to accept that if you work in the corporate sector, either public or private, you are in effect working in the IT Industry – and the IT Industry can be very well paid!

Of course, when I make that statement, you can immediately raise lots of objections and questions. Let’s look at a few of them:

But I don’t have an IT degree!

It doesn’t matter. There are literally millions of well paid IT professionals out there and only a small percentage of them have IT degrees.

A recent survey (www.jobserve.com) of one day’s worth of IT permanent jobs on offer showed the following:

4440 jobs were advertised in the UK, with only 448 (10%) mentioning a degree
the same day in Australia there were 461 jobs, 49 of which (11%) mentioned a degree
even in the USA and Canada, countries which tend to be more degree-conscious, on the same day there were 6367 jobs, with 1465 (23%) mentioning a degree

This means you can safely apply for between 77% and 90% of all jobs on offer without a degree (depending on where you live). Not bad odds?

If you are looking for a contract job it’s even better, with the percentage looking for a degree being:

USA / Canada 13%
UK 3%
Australia 5%

So basically the degree is a bit of a non-issue. You can even argue that the companies who want people with degrees are the ones you should keep away from anyway! There are better ways to find good candidates, than looking at their degree collection.

I’ve never written a program in my life!

It doesn’t matter. Maybe 30 years ago the bulk of jobs in the IT sector were for computer programmers. Today programmers represent a small, and fast shrinking, percentage.

In the same survey quoted above, of all jobs advertised in all the countries surveyed, some 29% appeared to be looking for programmers.

This means that some 60% of ALL jobs / contracts advertised internationally were not for programmers and did not ask for a degree. (The actual percentage figures differ from country to country, and even between different regions in the same country – but you get the general idea.)

But how can I class myself as an IT professional – I just work in the business?

Not true. As we said above, most business functions today require some knowledge of IT systems, and dealing with IT systems and people. IT used to be a separate part of the business, often hidden away from “real” people. Today almost everyone works in the IT industry in one form or another.

The All Imporant CV/Resume

careerinit — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:33:15 +0000

There are many pitfalls when it comes to the CV. Simple things like typo’s, lack of detail – or conversely, too much detail – can get your resume put in the trash pile. Writing a good CV is not a trivial task. Think about how many people apply for these jobs you are going for and that everyone is after that better career in IT. The first thing will be a cull of the inappropriate CV’s.

A typically well done CV contains information such as:

Personal Details
Brief career highlights
Some sort of statement about personal qualities and beliefs
A detailed summary of the jobs you’ve held, in chronological order

A CV typically should be around 6-7 pages, and spend more time focussing on your more recent career highlights. You also need to tailor your CV to contain information that is relevant to the job you are applying for, and cut our the irrelevant information.

The topic of a good CV is a long one and worth exploring. You can read more about what makes up a good CV at Jack’s Guides and Google of course is a great resource too.

Video about getting a better career in IT

careerinit — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:25:36 +0000

Here’s a great video pointing you in the right direction to help get that better career in IT

Get advice to Help You Get a Better Career in IT

careerinit — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:28:54 +0000

I think in any career everybody want’s to know how to get ahead. The problem in IT is the continual changes in the technologies and therefore the knowledge you need to stay on top of the game. How can you get a better career in IT if IT keeps evolving so rapidly?

I want to help you find the right resources to get this better career in IT. Often training courses or IT manuals can be long winded and not aimed at the exact topic or level of knoweldge you need. We will recommend the right ebook resources to give you the knowledge you require.