Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy Flamer
Hey Everyone,
My oldest son, who is in his early 20's, is looking at making a career change into an IT related field. He's pretty good with technology and is looking to get into the field, but is wondering what the best route is in terms of upgrading his education.
Currently, he's looking into programs at SAIT and Bow Valley College. Are there any other schools or programs he should be looking in to? Any one option that seems better than the other?
Are there any particular areas he should concentrate on, ie: Information Systems, cybersecurity, network admin? Anything that is more likely to land him a job once he's finished?
Any insight would be helpful!
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As mentioned, IT is a huge field with major differences but also lots of random bits of overlap. It's really hard to explain. It's like the differences around cars in terms of car design, race car driver, mechanic and detailing. Strong in one category doesn't immediately suggest you'd be strong in other categories even though what you're working on is a little piece of the same bigger thing. I would not suggest he go to school unless he knows the exact field he wants to enter when exiting school. IMO you can't really just choose the most lucrative IT field and study it. You have to have some interest and intrigue into the top on top of raw aptitude.
Being good with technology could mean a variety of different things once broken down into components and skills.
When hiring, you want the guy who knows his stuff the best in that specific category for that specific need and less emphasis on whether they know the other categories as long not knowing in the other categories doesn't hinder them doing a good job in their specific category (ie: opening up a car to do a deeper clean without breaking the parts that were opened).
It might be best to do this in reverse. What jobs did you son really want to get, but wasn't qualified for? Getting the certification to be qualified to get the job he wants is the best approach. The one to focus on is the one he likes AND has interest in it. But if he's even a little tepid on the idea of an IT career or category, I'd hold off on pushing all the chips in. It moves way too fast and is constantly full of SNAFU. You have to love that type of environment to survive or you'll burn out within a few months.
Consider asking the following questions:
- Is he more interested in creating, maintaining or both?
- Is he more interested in hardware, software or both?
- Is he more interested in following or leading?
Depending on the answers, it can help to differentiate where he wants to go.
For that last question though, you sometimes don't want to be the guy leading when the #### is going sideways like those situations in the news. You'd want to be a follower where the gun is pointed in a slightly different direction. There is seriously nothing wrong with being someone who just follows instructions well in IT.