Certification - September 2008 - (Page 25)

“The understanding of how to properly utilize IT in the business domain is, in my view, a common need,” he said. The knowledge that students get from broader degree programs also open the door to many different career options, said Candace Spears, an IT graduate from Marquette University. “I’ve learned [that] IT has innumerable paths,” Spears said. “After graduating, I’ve seen the career option of combining marketing and IT to help a company with customer segmentation; helping clients understand the database capacity they require; designing infrastructure solutions that allow critical business systems to be highly available; and understanding business intelligence to properly assess how to adapt to changes in data in our environment.” Keefe said it’s important for students to ensure the focus of the program they choose meet their desired outcomes and provide a solid technical foundation. “This foundation is so important in enabling us to adapt our skills to different industries, environments, positions and cultures,” he said. Economic Considerations It’s also important to consider salary requirements when preparing to enter the workforce. The way workers are compensated may vary from company to company. But Gallagher said stated salaries often are misleading and opportunities for advancement and growth in the company also should be taken into consideration. “[In general], it is the students who have the right foundational skills in their particular field who will be the most successful and make the highest salaries over time,” he said. Regardless of their majors, however, students should focus on preparing for a career, not a job, Gallagher said. In that respect, while a sinking economy and shrinking budgets might spark concern over the possibility of offshoring, gifted and dedicated IT pros shouldn’t have much to worry about. “Talented individuals will move into and continue to grow into positions that can’t be offshored, such as senior analyst and project manager,” Gallagher said. “Even if a company can offshore some of its development or maintenance of its information systems, [it] will always need [employees] who can manage the work that is being done and [the] relationships with the vendor and their personnel.” In fact, system architects, project managers and senior analysts all are in high demand, Gallagher said. “The [people] who are successful in these positions have sound technical skills, but they also have knowledge and experience that goes way beyond the technology, allowing them to understand business problems and propose, design and manage the delivery of those solutions to their organization,” he said. “That makes them very valuable to their organization.” 8 – Deanna Hartley, dhartley@certmag.com Building a Foundation Students should thoroughly research a degree program before settling on it, but of course, it isn’t uncommon to discover new interests in the course of study or to experiment with or switch majors. Such was the case for Belton Flournoy, a recent IT graduate from Marquette University. A few years ago, Flournoy was a marketing and finance major who said he viewed IT as a major that was reserved for “‘Star Trek’ fans and supersmart computer nerds.” One day, though, one of Flournoy’s professors explained that IT today isn’t just about computers. It’s about managing information, and, the professor said, it just so happens that using a computer is one of the easiest ways to accomplish that. Since then, as part of his coursework, Flournoy has worked with teams in India and Australia to gain exposure in the IT field. He fondly remembers working on a software development project during which he served as project manager and was trained in project scheduling, risk management, international communication, quality plans and managing project conduct in a virtual environment. The hands-on approach of the various courses provided Flournoy with the competitive advantage he was looking for, and he ultimately received multiple offers from top employers. http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/index.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Certification - September 2008

Certification - September 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream Virtual Village Tech Careers Dear Techie Troubleshooting Academic Connection What We Like Look Ahead So You Want to Be an IT Major The Title Is Information Officer… Chief Information Officer Interface Network Administration: Working From the Ground Up Inside Certification Ad Index Endtag

Certification - September 2008

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