2007-Jan-10 - How to Break Into IT

Do you like working with computers?
You might be able to convert your interests and skills into a challenging and lucrative career in IT. This guide will help you get started.

You don't have any technical training, but when the office computers crash everyone turns to you for assistance. Your coworkers think of you as a bit of a computer geek--and you suspect they may be right. The big challenge: How do you shed your current career and break into information technology?
Changing careers is never easy. Among the hardest tasks is acquiring enough real-life exposure to different types of information technology (IT) jobs (which number in the hundreds) to determine if you have the aptitude to develop your secret techie side into a salaried career.

Take low-risk first steps
Consider volunteering your way into the IT division of your current company. Example? One of my colleagues, Cindy, was a special education teacher. She suspected she'd be happier in an IT career, but she didn't know what types of careers were available. She took a computer programming course at a local college, but she disliked writing code. Still, she felt if she could get inside an IT department and learn about different IT jobs, she'd be able to accurately match her interests to job titles.

Cindy's school district operated a small IT department. The staff in the IT department ran the school's computer network, designed the school's Web site, and helped teachers learn how to integrate technology into their teaching. Cindy volunteered to help the IT department instruct teachers on how to use computers two evenings a week. In exchange, Cindy got an inside look at the IT department. She tried her hand at developing educational Web pages. She helped teach her coworkers to use the Internet in their teaching efforts. Finally, she gained an insider's view on what happens when a computer network crashes.

By volunteering, Cindy learned that she did not like Web site design. She somewhat liked training teachers to use the Internet. What fascinated her, however, was learning how computers communicate over a network. Computer networking: She'd not known this existed as a discrete career area. Cindy now had a specific IT area to explore in more detail.

Taking courses to explore your new interests
After you've identified the types of jobs that might interest you, take an introductory course or two. Taking courses--whether it's a nearby evening class or an online learning experience--is a great way to test your interests and aptitudes in a low-risk way.

Cindy's first stop after her volunteer stint was the local community college. She signed up for an

How much new education is enough?Don't buy more new education than you need. Many people mistakenly believe that they need a bachelor's degree to enter the IT field. Not so. Many entry-level technical careers do not require a four-year degree; for those that do, most employers will accept a bachelor's or associate degree earned in a

style="font-size:100%;">To enter most IT fields, it's more important to show evidence that you have a specific set of workable skills than that you have a degree. You can acquire most entry-level skills by taking a series of short courses.

Certificates have become quite popular among technology career changers. Unlike degrees, which may require liberal arts courses such as history and psychology, certificates commonly consist of four to six sequential courses, all of them focused in a single IT career area. Most certificates can be completed within a year. Degrees, on the other hand, take two to four years of full-time study.

Cindy already had a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in education. She groaned at the thought of having to start all over again and earn a new bachelor's in computer networks. Instead, she focused on identifying and taking the exact sequence of courses that would allow her to pass an exam certifying her as a computer network specialist.

Six courses later, after passing a single private vendor exam, Cindy was certified. Employers who advertised for applicants holding a "bachelor's degree in computer science" gladly accepted Cindy's old psychology and education degrees coupled with her new networking certificate as the equivalent of the educational preparation they were seeking.

Give your current career an IT twist
IT is a rich career area. Hundreds of different techie job types exist, ranging from C++ programmer to security expert to new media journalist. I know a journalist who had written sports features for a decade; he decided to remain a writer but to satisfy his passion for tinkering with technology by becoming a technical writer.

He kept his steady job writing sports features while simultaneously taking on freelance jobs writing end-user manuals for software companies. A year of odd jobs as a freelancer gave him enough of a technical writing portfolio to interview for and secure a position as a staff technical writer with a large software firm. To bolster his formal credentials, and his entry-level salary, he took a series of online courses and earned a certificate in technical writing before seeking a staff position.

IT touches every career sector. The IT sector employs workers with specialties gleaned from working in many career areas. Nurses retrain as medical database managers. Lawyers become specialists in Internet law. Marketers become e-marketing gurus. Teachers become designers of instructional software.

You don't have to have a formal technology degree or be a math whiz to land a job in today's diverse IT arena. Find a niche that matches your natural interests and aptitudes. Chances are good that after you complete a few courses, you too can qualify for an entry-level IT position.

Source:Hindustanis.org