The Little Careers Book

࢚࢚ You’ve got to be good at solving and debugging difficult problems, which requires accuracy and attention to detail. ࢚࢚ IT solutions are trade-offs of cost, time and quality, and you need to be able to decide (and persuade others of) what is most important in each situation. ࢚࢚ You need to be able to handle pressure, prioritise work, meet deadlines, juggle multiple tasks. Having a good memory also helps. ࢚࢚ Managing an IT team and liaising between IT technical people and business managers requires strong relationship-building and communication skills. ࢚࢚ Learning programming languages and coding is important to software engineers. ࢚࢚ The best IT people are good at explaining technical issues to non-technical people in terms they can understand. ࢚࢚ Not all IT jobs require in-depth technical knowledge, but where technical certification is needed, good companies will train or provide time for you to train. ࢚࢚ IT roles which are customer-oriented (of which there are many) require a service-focused work style and ethic. ࢚࢚ You need to understand in depth how software works so you can apply it to enable, optimise, improve business processes. ࢚࢚ IT is often project based, and so project management skills are critical. ࢚࢚ There is a saying that “computing is a new game every 18 months”. As such, you need to keep up-to-date and continually develop your skills…which occurs outside normal work hours. ࢚࢚ Having a strong mathematical background and a mind that works in clear and logical ways helps a lot. TRUTHS XX Spotty teenage hackers working through the night in their bedrooms make great IT professionals. MYTHS ࢚࢚ There are many types of IT jobs for which all you need are good A levels; you then need to demonstrate strong practical knowledge and skills. ࢚࢚ Work experience will be very important if you try to enter the IT industry as a school leaver, so get as much of it as you can before you search for a job. ࢚࢚ If you want to be able to easily move jobs, you need a good, career-relevant bachelor’s degree or a professional/vocational qualification (like a Higher National Diploma, BTEC Level 5, or NVQ Level 4). ࢚࢚ For some areas within IT, such as cybersecurity, there are an increasing number of tailored technology degree courses, but these are (with some exceptions) not all that well regarded, so choose carefully if you go down this route. ࢚࢚ Don’t forget about Higher and Degree Apprenticeships as a route into industry. ࢚࢚ There are lots of graduate recruitment schemes designed to recruit the most talented IT graduates, so keep your eyes open for these. ࢚࢚ In a job, you may not use all of what you learn on a degree course, but the grounding it gives you in project management, problem solving, maths and design is invaluable. ࢚࢚ If you understand how businesses operate, you will be a more attractive to IT employers, because most roles are about improving business operations. Consider a qualification that gives you this knowledge. ࢚࢚ If your work is your passion, you always do better; great degrees from great universities don’t replace passion. ࢚࢚ With a background in accountancy, manufacturing or logistics, for example, you could feasibly move into IT so long as you are analytical, structured, and business process-orientated in your thinking. TRUTHS XX You must have a university degree to have a successful long-term career in IT. MYTHS PATHWAYS TO ENTRY KEY SKILLS