No Biggie
If the kids today are still so worried about labels that they'll run from a promising, fun, and possibly lucrative career because of others' opinions and words, so be it. To be fair, I try to educate folks on the difference between a "nerd" and a "geek" (I consider myself the latter), but I can assure you that I don't really care what you call me while I'm looking at my check stub. If the younger generations want to leave the industry to mine, I'm okay with with returning to the IT bidding wars of the late 90s and early 2000s - and the offer letters that come with them.
I started my IT career in 2002 making about $10/hr, but that hard work mentioned above has pushed me so much further up the pay scale. Well that, and there being a general shortage of qualified and competent IT folks in the area. As for their shock at their iWhatever/Social Media skills not translating into IT, I'm not sure I'd support someone going into IT with that sort of narrow vision; I'll have to lead those kids when they hit the workforce.
It's a sort of paradigm shift back to the turn of this century, but Newton's 3rd will bring balance back at some point. For now, let the geeks teach and mentor our children, nephews, nieces, etc onto a successful career if they're interested. We'll reap the rewards later. Remember - they're the ones who are going to choose our nursing homes...
