Certification Magazine - March 2008 - (Page 16)

VIRTUAL VILLAGE Career Opportunities BEN WARDEN The career development forums have been particularly busy the first few months of 2008. This is, perhaps, not surprising, because fresh New Year’s resolutions come with fresh resolve to achieve them. Career development is traditionally defined as how individuals manage their career moves between organizations, usually within the same industry but not always. For IT career development, it can also mean switching specialties: A new job or position in the IT industry can mean acquiring a whole different skill set. Our forum members offer valuable insight into this challenging transition, as they represent a wide range of academic and career backgrounds, from someone breaking into tech support to an MBA candidate exploring his IT job options. CertMag forum member NvizibleMan described his situation: “I’m currently in school for my B.S. degree for technical management from DeVry University Online with a specialization in network and communications management. I currently have no certifications, nor do I have real world experience in the field, except the work I do as a tech support rep. What kind of work should I start looking into right now or in the future? What type of work can I expect to get when I graduate?” Forum member Wagnerk replied: “If I were you, I’d start at level 1 or 2 support; especially if you want to go into technical management. The thing is that hardly anyone finishes a degree and goes straight into technical management, especially if there is no previous experience. And no disrespect intended, but there are too many ‘technical’ managers out there who do not know the first thing about how their department works (they only know in theory and 99 percent of the time it is not as simple as in the classroom). They make stuff up and then they blame the IT staff. You state that you work (or have worked) as a tech support rep, so I’m assuming that is level 1 (help desk). Once you’ve finished your degree, you can start looking for another level 1 post or try out a level 2 post (server admin, etc.). “As for what type of work can you expect when you graduate, this can vary between areas,” he continued. “And remember no certificate or degree can guarantee you a job, they will only increase your chances of securing one. When my class graduated, only half of them were able to find jobs in IT. (I was one of the lucky ones as I already was working in IT.) So while you will see many Web sites and hear many people saying that once you get your degree you can sail into IT or IT management and earn thousands, the reality is a little different than that. I’m not trying to put you off from going up in IT; I just want to help paint a realistic picture of what is there.” The “what should I do with this degree or this background” question is common throughout all the forums, including career development. More experienced IT professionals on the forums are always willing to offer their two cents on the topic. But more often than not, they don’t want to be the standard bearer because, like snowflakes, no two IT backgrounds are 16 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE March 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Certification Magazine - March 2008

Certification Magazine - March 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream Tech Careers Academic Connection Dear Techie Virtual Village Mastering IT: Choosing Between an Immediate Job and Higher Education Inside Certification Virtual World Administrators: Service Requests in Cyberspace Interface Boomers in IT: Will the Talent Shortage Affect Techies? Ad Index Endtag

Certification Magazine - March 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.