Careers in IT

1. Careers in IT Burton Leathers Trish McLaren Steve Marquis

2. Careers in IT:Assessing the past – Guessing the Future Burton Leathers July 2006

3. The bottom line It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future. Yogi Berra

4. A necessary definition IT  Information Technology any mechanism (thing) or process (activity) used to capture, transmit, modify, interpret, store, represent information Information  see Shannon(1948) et passim

5. A necessary warning This is very broad because … • That makes it sufficient to cover my career • It tries to be adequate to describe IT careers for the next 40 years

6. Objectives To sketch my career (~42 years of IT) To find defining principals To apply these to future IT careers

7. Education Partial electrician’s apprenticeship in HS BA and PhD in Sociology Graduate focus on research methods, mathematical modeling, statistics, computing, real time data capture

8. IT experience - amateur phase • Unit record based data analysis • Fortran – statistical analysis programs • Mathematical linguistics (formal languages) • APL, PDP-8 assembler, text formatting, SPSS • Algorithm analysis and design (some publications) • Performance analysis, databases, system administration, and much, much more

9. IT experience - professional Activities Architecture Technology evaluation Design – H/W & S/W Performance analysis Development processes Human Factors Internationalization Writing / Speaking Programming (Assembler, Fortran, C, Java)

10. IT experience - professional Products administrative tools productivity tools business applications Application components diagnostics operating systems hardware firmware

11. IT experience - professional Roles Business planner Architect Manager Designer Spokesman Programmer

12. Essential lessons No education or experience is irrelevant Change is normal Diversity is desirable In most things I have done, I have been the last person to do it My son’s career is not like my career

13. The most important factor Moore’s law & corollaries drive everything • 15 years == thousand fold change • 1000 times faster • 1000 time bigger • 1000 times cheaper • 1000 times « you name it » • massive quantitative change  profound qualitative change

14. The (other) most important factor You never expect the Spanish Inquisition • Tomorrow will be different • The things which drive progress are emergent • The future is obvious only in retrospect

15. Preparing yourself • Don’t be narrow in your education ... train for the future – not for tomorrow • Develop “soft” skills • Expect to move between career tracks • Treat all change as opportunity

16. Reflection The Age of IT may have passed Computing and communications are ... • Pervasive • Standardized • Commoditized Where does future opportunity lie?

17. Career Advancement for Software Developers Trish McLaren July 2006

18. My Background • BSc in Computing and Information Science • MASc in Management of Technology • 8.5 years in software industry • Currently student in Saint Mary’s PhD Management program

19. My Thesis (and hopefully My Passion) • Career advancement (or the lack thereof) for software developers • Developed through personal experience and experiences of colleagues • Appears to be problem among other knowledge professions as well

20. Traditional Career Advancement • Hierarchical path into management • Advancement into management only option • If developer chose not to be a manager, career advancement ended

21. Dual Career Ladder • Technical track created that paralleled management track • Solved salary problems • Developers on technical track not shown similar respect as managers on same rung of management track

22. Other Strategies • Some managers believe that as long as developers continue to receive salary increases they’ll be happy • Lateral career moves • Organizational moves

23. My Current Research • Career Success • Objective/external • Subjective/internal • Career Plateaus • No foreseeable opportunities for advancement • Being reached at young ages (early to mid-thirties) for software developers

24. All Is Not Lost • Address underlying problem – societal belief that success lies in becoming a manager • Software companies aware of issue and working to provide alternatives • In a time of high demand for software developers, career development seen as an important retention feature

25. Careers in IT: One Perspective Steve Marquis Director, Consulting Services KeyInfo Consulting Inc. July 2006

26. Objectives • To share my experience of a career in information technology. • Provide you with some insight that you can consider for your own career path “toolkit”.

27. My Consulting Career • Independent software developer • Software developer for a small consulting firm • Senior IT roles as an independent consultant • Multiple IT Roles for a large consulting firm • Senior IT and business roles for a small consulting firm

28. Sales and Business Development Technical Architect Computer Science Degree from Dalhousie (mid-80’s) Software Developer Project Management Technology Analyst Systems Analyst Director / Manager Business Analyst 22 years + My Background –One Example of a Career Path in IT

29. There are many starting points for a career in IT IT Career • IT “Degree” • Specialize in IT • Business Degree with and IT “focus” • Specialize in Business • Industry Experience • Focus on the needs of the a particular business Industry Experience Business Degree IT “Degree”

30. There is not one IT career path IT ”Specialist” • IT Management • CIO, Director of IT • IT “Specialist” • An expert / specialist in a particular IT role / discipline • IT “Generalist” • Breadth of knowledge across multiple IT roles / desciplines IT “Generalist” IT Management

31. The hard skills Technology skills OS, hardware Software development tools Analysis and modeling tools The soft skills Communications Verbal, listening Working with others in a team environment Working for a large company Opportunities for a variety work Working for a small company Opportunities for a variety of roles A few career path “variables”

32. Career Choices in IT – A Matrix View IT Knowledge Industry Knowledge Your ability to bring your IT knowledge together with industry knowledge increases your value and your career opportunity

33. A few thoughts for your consideration…… • It’s important to learn the business (industry) in which your IT knowledge will be applied • Maximize your value • Take ownership for your career within your organization • Do not assume someone else has your best interests and career goals as their objectives • Seek employers that demonstrate a commitment to career / skill development • Be proactive in your training • Don’t wait for your employer to come to you with a training plan • Define your own career development plan

34. A Career Development Plan • Know yourself • What are your strengths and weaknesses? Current skills? • What motivates you? Demotivates you? • What are your objectives? • What do you want to be doing in the short term (1-2 years)? • Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years? • Develop a training / skill development plan based on your objectives? • Update your plan • Once per year • As opportunities present themselves • Share your plan with those that can help you to achieve your objectives

35. Thank You