On IT "Careers"
I get a free subscription to "Information Week," the softcore executive-digested version of "Software Developer" magazine. In this week's issue there's an article by Chris Murphy entitled "Speak Up for the IT Career," whose thesis is there's a huge market for talent in IT, but few young people wish to go into IT/Programming in college, so companies are forced to outsource.
Telling quote from the article:
Let me rewrite this in a more familiar context:
Look, people, there has been NO substantial advancement in the basics of computing since Alan Turing thought-up the his computational model in the 1940's and Von Neumann refined it a few years later. The remainder--the programming languages, the modelling techniques--are all refinement steps, not advancements. Supposing you can wield and weave these pieces together without a desire to understand what's going on makes you the worst of all professionals--the poseur, the imbecile who never created anything, yet who can talk his way into management positions because other managers can't stand the cold, simple, mathematical truth of computing.
Anyway, the crux of the article is that kids aren't going into IT. Why would that be? It's a dead-end, non-respected profession that has no job security, zero reinvestment on the part of management (training? Train yourself!). Instead of being more valued as time goes by, you become marginalized.
Would I want my son or daughter in IT? Sure...if that's where they want to go. Would I push them into it? Not a chance. This is not the fertile ground it was 10 years ago.
Telling quote from the article:
One of the first IT courses is a beginning programming class, which involves hours on end alone at the computer. "It's a turn-off because people think that's all there is to IT, and there's a lot more than programming...I'd rather be in a team diagnosing problems, not in front of a computer all day."
Let me rewrite this in a more familiar context:
One of the first med-school courses is anatomy, which involves hours on end of looking at books and cadavers. "It's a turn-off because people think that's all there is to surgery. I'd rather be on a team cutting on live people, not learning about anatomy
Look, people, there has been NO substantial advancement in the basics of computing since Alan Turing thought-up the his computational model in the 1940's and Von Neumann refined it a few years later. The remainder--the programming languages, the modelling techniques--are all refinement steps, not advancements. Supposing you can wield and weave these pieces together without a desire to understand what's going on makes you the worst of all professionals--the poseur, the imbecile who never created anything, yet who can talk his way into management positions because other managers can't stand the cold, simple, mathematical truth of computing.
Anyway, the crux of the article is that kids aren't going into IT. Why would that be? It's a dead-end, non-respected profession that has no job security, zero reinvestment on the part of management (training? Train yourself!). Instead of being more valued as time goes by, you become marginalized.
Would I want my son or daughter in IT? Sure...if that's where they want to go. Would I push them into it? Not a chance. This is not the fertile ground it was 10 years ago.
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