By Jeff King
It may sounds like a bad situation for an IT job seeker, it may be you (I hope not, but if it is, you can still get IT) :
- No IT experience, or no work experience at all, you may be a new college graduate, college dropout, or only out of high school.
- No IT related education such as a computer degree (Computer Science, MIS, etc). Your college major is something like, let’s say, Political Science, or you don’t have a college degree at all.
- No IT training, — something like week-long Oracle database performance tuning class, it’s too expensive!
In this case, can you get a real IT job? A real job means getting paid, full time work, permanent position with all common benefits.
Why IT?
First, why someone in this situation wants an IT job?
Well, for every job seeker no mater what background, the job market only offers 3 choices:
- Blue-collar jobs
- Service jobs
- Professional jobs
Blue-collar jobs are like factory workers working on assembly lines. Since many manufactures are moving out of North America to the third-world countries, blue-collar jobs are vanishing.
Service jobs are opening everywhere and are very easy to get. But they are poorly paid. Many service jobs are seasonal or temporary based, — no job security, less stability, and limited career growth opportunities.
For a career oriented job seeker, your choice is clear, — professional jobs. Engineering, information technology (IT), management, teaching, research, these professional jobs can give you fair compensation, reasonable stability, and better chance in career advancement.
Professional jobs are not easy to get, however. There are many restrictions such as requirement of formal education. But IT is an exception. Unlike traditional professions, IT is open to take talents in all conditions.
Why IT? The door is wide open, and with such a humble background IT is the only quick route toward professional career.
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