IT worker

Experts say the information technology industry needs an image makeover to better reflect the excitement of its challenges, writes Lynnette Hoffman.

If the high school information technology classes she took had been her only exposure to the field, it’s likely Anastasia Govan would never have had anything to do with IT again. In fact, she very nearly didn’t.

The programming-focused curriculum of her younger years simply didn’t interest Govan. “We were making balls move around on the screen. It just wasn’t very stimulating for me.” Govan went on to study and work as a librarian, which is where the now IT project manager for the Northern Territory Government and board member on the Australian Computer Society had her second taste of information technology.

The IT team at the library where Govan worked did a great deal more than “cut code”, she says. The work was varied-exciting even. She got her foot in the door and hasn’t looked back.
Govan’s post-librarian career path has seen her work in numerous IT roles as a trainer, a systems administrator, an information manager and a project administrator.

“It’s fast-paced and it’s leading edge and it’s very diverse,” she says. A far cry from the mundane and isolated version of IT she experienced early on. Industry insiders say such perceptions of IT are outdated and in many cases plain wrong. But they seem to be persisting.

The result, according to many experts across the industry, has been widespread skill shortages in key positions. A 2006 report by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations found skills shortages in about half of the areas of IT it looked at. At the same time, industry demand is on the rise — DEWR’s ICT vacancy index shows demand increased by 21.9 per cent between May 2005 and May 2006. And a recent study by Hudson found 46.2 per cent of 8000 IT employers surveyed planned to increase their numbers of permanent IT staff.

Meanwhile, university admissions in information technology courses have dropped by a whopping 46 per cent since 2001. Among women the numbers have plummeted even more sharply. Research at Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology show they have fallen by as much as 60 per cent, with numbers of women enrolled in IT hovering around 15 per cent at many universities.

Dennis Furini, chief executive of the Australian Computer Society, the industry peak body, says the industry needs to do a better job of marketing IT as a career. It’s a view that is widely held among experts.

“What ICT (information and communication technology) is is changing, but I don’t think the perception people have of it is,” says Doug Grant, dean of information and communication technologies at Swinburne University of Technology. “People still have this image of a loner at a computer interacting with a machine and not people, but the stereotype is just not right. Very few people are living that life.”

While many still think IT begins and ends with programming, it’s actually only one small piece of what’s available in the industry. Along with development roles which include programming, IT also encompasses service roles on help desks and sales and marketing positions, implementation roles such as project management positions (through to chief information officers), as well as government roles.

“Jobs are coming up that weren’t around five to 10 years ago,” says Ben English, whose role at Microsoft is, among other things, designed to help change that. “So, for example, jobs in gaming, security professions, web front-end jobs — it’s gone beyond traditional programming and administration and it’s never been more exciting. Every single business is dependent on IT, and every single consumer is too.”

A degree in IT could see you working in a bank, or you might find yourself in air traffic control, telecommunications, marine biology or more. If you’re looking for meaningful work that makes a difference, from environmental to medical, IT jobs are available and options are broader than ever.

The expanding roles mean there are opportunities to influence not only the day-to-day operations of a company, but also the strategic direction, English says. And contrary to the image of the anti-social computer geek that still holds strong in many minds, experts say the majority of IT roles require strong interpersonal and communication skills. Hence the switch by many who now refer to the industry as “information and communication technology”, rather than just “information technology”.

“The reality is that to be successful in IT you need to be articulate and highly connected,” he says. Far from its isolated image, most IT roles these days require an extensive amount of team work, creativity and problem solving. “IT is very much a team sport,” Grant says. “You’re working together and collaborating, working out problems and meeting with clients.” Skills shortages aside, most employers still want candidates with at least some experience, so it may be wise to choose a university that has an industry-based learning component so you gain experience as you study.

And while a university degree affords the most opportunities, Grant and Furini say, there are still alternative routes for those who take a less traditional path. Equally, the skills and personality types needed differ as widely as the positions themselves. “IT is much more integrated today, and new tools available make development much more accessible. There are opportunities for a huge range of people in IT, from creative to business minded to technical,” English says.

Nick Holmes a Court is the director of technology and strategy at itrainer.com.au, an online business launched last year. His self-taught programming skills have landed him consulting work with major companies such as Microsoft, and allowed him to work on his own projects as well.

“It’s a myth that you have to be a math whiz to make it in IT,” he says. Instead, he says, success often belongs to “people with inquisitive minds who are creative, who are problem solvers, people who say `I wish there was a simpler way to do that,’ and then create something that fixes the problem.” Autonomy and flexibility are among the rewards of the trade, he says.
“It gives you a lot of freedom, you can do remote work and work from home,” he says.

And you’re certainly not restricted to Australia either. Holmes a Court has worked in both London and San Francisco. “There are a lot of opportunities to travel, it’s a portable skill,” he says.