Certification Magazine - December 2007 - (Page 43) accountants with something related to IT as a minor because they get out in the real world and realize they’ve got to use all these different types of developer tools and databases.” Universities recognize IT and business are gravitating toward each other, as well as the effect this is having on graduates’ salaries. “We’re seeing that the accounting services and consulting field, as well as financial services and banking, tend to be your higher-paying segments as an industry,” Mueller said. Mueller spent 20 years as a corporate officer at Motorola and managing director for a global outsourcing company before working at IIT, and he advises students that having a minor in business will help them understand what the customer wants in servicing IT clients. He also advises IT students to use minors to direct them toward a certain industry, if working in that industry is their goal. “Obviously, a minor in business is wonderful, but if you have a specific area or industry that you want to work in, having a minor in that would really benefit you in getting the job in that industry,” Mueller said. This also has an effect on salary. “Within the computer field, pharmaceutical companies tend to pay more, petroleum companies tend to pay more as an industry and aerospace tends to pay more as an industry,” Mueller said. Want to learn more about IT majors? Just type the phrase into CertScope and find over 300 CertMag articles that touch on the subject, as well as 291 Web sites. “The kids that [learn computer sciences] do it because they just love to do this kind of stuff,” Gardner said. “For the ones that are in engineering, money comes with the territory. The other ones know that they’re going to have to grind and knock it out, particularly if you’re in gaming or media design, or you’re doing Web sites.” Mueller echoed these sentiments. “Money is important, but [the students] do it because they love it,” he said. “For some students getting into the gaming business, they just like games. Or they like flows or design, and so they’ll work on applications like that. It’s more of a passion or interest, and they’re hoping that money will follow. There’s a payout for them, but it’s one that supports their interest.” 8 – Daniel Margolis, dmargolis@certmag.com Money Matters? Of course, one question to ask in looking at what IT majors make the largest salaries is whether students even care. Not everyone selects their major based on the potential future salary. Just as often, this decision is made based on where an individual’s passion, ability or interests lie, and a career is built from that. Gardner said he is not sure students gravitate in a certain direction based on money. http://www.certmag.com http://www.TheTrainingAssociates.com http://www.TheTrainingAssociates.com
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