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Is the IT field all it's cracked up to be?

By Lumbergh77 ·
When I started college in the mid 90s, IT was where it was at. There was plenty of money and job security to go around. Now the field is oversaturated and there are tons of IT people out of work or switching careers.

It doesn't seem like this field is as promising as it once was (or perhaps I'm reading into too much of the gloom and doom stuff). I'm a jack of all trades and have a working knowledge of many different types of technology but rarely see jobs that I'm qualified for since the employers are pretty picky these days.

Even after all the work, all the time, and all the frustration, I still have an average job with average pay and never feel like I have a grasp on it all. There's WAY too much to learn. It's like you have to spend hours outside of work studying just to keep up.

I thought about a career change or getting involved in another field where I can utilize my computer skills rather than be a pure IT person. Has anybody done this? Has anyone had good results with an MBA and IT degree?

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As your elder...

by DC Guy In reply to Is the IT field all it's ...

I'm 62 and have been in this field since 1967. My advice to young people is: don't go into IT. It's a mature industry and mature industries do NOT stay in the U.S. We're innovators and that's not what IT needs right now. It desperately needs incremental improvement (which bores us to death) and QA (we can't even spell that).

Of course it will take some time before the offshore migration is complete, but it certainly won't take as long as it did with photography, autos, and steel, because we're dealing with highly mobile virtual resources. You don't need to build factories, railroads, and power plants to have an IT industry.

There will always be IT jobs here just like there are still American steel plants and auto factories. But a large number of people will be competing for a shrinking number of jobs. As you've noticed, the IT job market is a buyer's market; you now have to provide your own training.

My advice is to try another career path.

As I have posted on the TR boards numerous times, the two jobs that can't conceivably be automated or offshore outsourced are plumbing and nursing.

The former requires a genuine "rites of passage" apprenticeship but promises a six-figure income if you stick it out. The latter has a higher starting salary and a good sense of accomplishment but it requires more college and the work never stops being hard.

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