Training for an IT Career, Not a Job

by Leslie Jaye Goff

July 7, 2002 —

In response to a growing number of reader letters asking about IT
education and training options, a recent IT Career Advisor (see "Going
Back to School? Train for a Career, Not a Job" at
http://www.itworld.com/nl/it_career_adv/06242002/) suggested that it's
best to invest your educational dollars with an eye on the ROI (return
on investment). Look for programs that will help you meet your
long-range career goals rather than those that promise to prepare you
for the latest and greatest IT job title.

If you think about where you see yourself five years from now, and map
out the steps it will take to get there (working backward from your
future goal to your present situation), a clear IT education and
training to-do list will emerge.

For example, a PC support specialist recently wrote the IT Career
Advisor that her interest has shifted from hardware to applications
development. She was assessing the education options that would help her
meet her goal, and had correctly intuited that given the college degrees
she holds already, a certification program would be her best bet.

The would-be programmer (who we'll call Denise) earned a B.A. in History
and later went for an Associates Degree in Computer Information Systems
after she moved into IT. In her situation, going back for another degree
would probably be overkill, while a good certification program would
provide a hands-on environment for learning her programming language of
choice (which happens to be Java).

Denise expressed some concerns that, given the current state of the IT
job market, perhaps enrolling in a certification program would be
throwing good money after bad. If she breaks the decision down based on
her career goal and what it would take to achieve it, she can get a
clearer picture of whether Java certification would be a viable
investment.

To review:

* Where she wants to be three-to-five years from now: Java
applications developer
* Where she is today: PC support specialist
* Education and Training Up to Now: B.A., History (liberal arts
degree); A.D, Computer Information Systems (degree centered on a
vocational goal)

A Potential Career Path (starting with the goal and working backward to
the present, detailing what will be necessary to make each step along
the way).

Goal: Java applications developer (will need to prove that she can
come up with valid business solutions and implement them in
the Java programming language; also needs to demonstrate that
she is as comfortable on the software side as the hardware
side; will need to develop solid interpersonal skills).

Help Desk: A position -- attainable given her current experience
and educational background -- that also has some
relationship to the skills she is hoping to develop;
help desk would offer the opportunity to demonstrate
her comfort level on the software side -- in an
environment involving troubleshooting and problem
resolution -- while she completes the training and
education necessary to reach her goal; position also
provides a chance to hone her communication/customer
service skills).

Present Situation: PC Support Specialist (wants to move from
hardware specialist to applications
developer; has ample education but no
software or business training).

Now, starting at the bottom and working back up, extracting just the
details of what it will take to make each step along the way, the
requisite training and education to meet her goal emerges:

* She shouldn't pursue training in isolation -- she should also look
for a position (e.g., the help desk position) that will give her
on-the-job training toward her goal;
* She will need to learn Java in a hands-on environment (preferably
through a vendor-approved Java certification program);
* Since being an applications developer involves more than just
writing code, she should also take a couple of business courses or
seminars to broaden her perspective on the relationship between
business problems and IT solutions;
* She'll need to become an effective communicator (a skill she can
develop on the job in a help desk position, and can augment with a
seminar or two if needed).

These are all educational investments that translate into a career
investment -- not just a quick path to a cool-sounding IT job title.

For most readers, that path from present situation to future goal may
involve several more steps, but this example shows the kind of thinking
and analysis that should go into your IT career. When you literally sit
down and map out a career path from present situation to future goal
(or, actually, the opposite), you'll easily identify the training and
education you need to pursue. Even the nitty-gritty decisions like
online training vs. classroom training, MCSE or masters degree will
become clear.

Of course, visualizing where you want to be three to five years from now
is easier said than done. It's one thing to know "I want to make more
money and enjoy my job more." But in the day-to-day reality of IT, what
would that mean specifically for you, given your background and
experience? Over the next few weeks, the IT Career Advisor will continue
looking at how you can map out an IT career path related to definable
goals and identify the training and experience necessary to get you
there.

ITworld