We’re geeks and loving IT



When Travis Malone was visiting Bangalore in India he was impressed that “everyone” knew what working in the IT sector meant.

“In Australia when you say you are in the IT sector people think you fix computers,” Malone says.

“There is not the full appreciation of the breadth and depth of the profession – that was better known in India.”

At 26, Malone is a rising star in the Information and Communication Technologies sector. He is a consultant at SMS Management and Technology and will chair the Young ICT Professionals Conference in Brisbane in September.

From November last year to January this year he was on a study tour of leading ICT companies in the US, Germany and India.

The trip was a prize for being named top graduate by the Australian Information Industry Association.

Malone toyed with law, medicine, finance and business before enrolling in a Bachelor of Information Technology, Information Systems and Data Communications at the University of Queensland in 2003.

He completed it in 2006.

“I guess that is what pushed me to ICT – the variety,” he says.

“It allows you to be in any industry. So far I have worked in the legal sector, in government, in finance and banking, in utilities, manufacturing and now in consulting.

“I like the variety. One day I am facilitating workshops, the next I am modelling, the next I am doing statistical analysis. Every day is different.”

For Celeste Humphrey, ICT represents a chance to be “part of the future” as technology evolves.

Humphrey, a recent business management graduate from Bond University, and University of the Sunshine Coast communications student Lisa Jeffrey are both interns at Microsoft and loving it.

Jeffrey says working in ICT is far different in reality from its geeky image. “Not that it matters – geeks are ‘in’ thanks to shows like the Big Bang Theory,” she says.

“I always planned to work in the ICT sector but not necessarily in a technical role such as a programmer. In high school I did information processing technology and really enjoyed it and did really well.

“From then on I knew I always wanted to be around technology.

“Communications is a really broad degree and the fact that I could apply what I have learnt in a communications role at Microsoft is what I really wanted to do.”

Humphrey was attracted to the HR component of her degree and says she is very interested in the “people side” of business and what it takes to recruit the best talent into a company.

“The ICT sector needs to bring in talent constantly. Microsoft offers a fantastic chance to learn because they are very focused on people,” she says.

ICT is celebrating its special week from July 26 to August 1.

The Australian Computer Society, universities and others are staging events to open the eyes of parents and young people to the career options the sector offers.

AIIA board chairman John Grant says one of the messages he wants to get across is that ICT underpins every industry and is thus a key driver of the Queensland economy.

The AIIA is so concerned about securing future talent it invited CareerOne to sit down with key members. Around the table were senior members of Data#3, Microsoft, Telstra, the departments of Public Works and Education, consulting group Oakton and local technology innovator Mobile IP.

“I think the industry undersells itself as a career option,” Grant says.

“A career in ICT offers portability, good money and the opportunity to work in a fast-changing environment and to be part of something that keeps the economy going.”

Simon Williams chairs the AIIA in Queensland.

He is also the general manager of consulting services company Oakton.

He says demand for future workers can only continue to grow in the ICT sector because Australia’s ability to innovate and improve productivity to compete globally depends on the sector.

The Australian Computer Society describes more than 50 job roles on its website and there are new roles being created all the time.

Someone in a marketing, HR or finance role in a technology company works in ICT. Likewise someone in a technical role in a bank, hospital or school works in ICT.

According to research supplied by the AIIA, the ICT sector makes a larger contribution to Australia’s economy than agriculture, forestry, fishing, defence and education.

The sector has created more than 100,000 jobs in the past decade, employing 381,000 people directly across Australia – including nearly 23,000 people in Queensland – who work in traditional ICT roles, with many more working in non-tech roles.

Mobile IP CEO Maree Adshead was a high-flying lawyer when she made the switch to ICT because she wanted a more creative job.

“At that stage I was a partner in a national law firm and had reached the pinnacle of my career but I wasn’t satisfying my creative urge,” Adshead says.

Malone says that for Gen Ys like him the excitement of gaining exposure to several industries is a major attraction of working in ICT.

“The more industries you work across the more wisdom and knowledge you acquire to take to the next role,” he says.

“The work is intellectually challenging and stimulating but one of the other appealing things about ICT is the diverse workplace culture.

“You are constantly working with people of different ages, backgrounds and ethnicity. It’s a very open environment.”

Relevant links:

ICT careers portal
www.acs.org.au/ictcareers/index.cfm
ICT Week events
www.ictcareersweek.info
Australian Computer Society
www.acs.org.au
Australian Information Industry Association
www.aiia.com.au

ICT Career Week events (July 26-August 1):

July 27: Meet Australian Computer Society members at the Toowoomba Chronicle Careers Expo, University of Southern Queensland, 10am-2pm and 4-7pm.
July 29: Australian Computer Society forum: I Choose Technology, Level 13/333 Adelaide St, Brisbane, 5.30pm.
August 1: Tour the ICT computer labs in the University of Queensland’s Hawken Building at 9.45am, noon and 2.15pm (30 minutes duration). At the end of the tour you can participate in a workshop. For more information: www.uq.edu.au/ict
August 1: ICT and Multimedia Design Exhibit, University of Queensland’s Hawken Building, 9am to 3pm. Includes live robotics displays and software engineering demonstrations. For more information: www.uq.edu.au/ict or email [email protected]

View more by visiting www.ictcareersweek.info and clicking on “Activities”.

Original content by CareerOne.com.au. Republished by The Courier-Mail, July 17, 2010.

Advertising link: Check out the jobs on the Information Technology Contract and Recruitment Association page.