August 24, 1998
Skills lead to success
Degrees and training teach what you need to know to move up
Where to look for educational programs
Building blocks of a successful IT career
By Margaret Steen
Although there are many paths to success in IT, some types of education will make climbing the career ladder easier. But the wide variety of degrees and technical training programs available to IT professionals can make evaluating educational options overwhelming.
Whether you are weighing going back to school, evaluating the credentials of potential candidates, or advising your employees, it's important to consider what skills each program teaches. A successful career will require foundation skills, technical skills, and business-related skills, each of which can be acquired in various ways.
FOUR-YEAR DEGREES. "I have many years of higher education but never earned a formal degree," says Olimpia Borys, a systems consultant at Entex Information Services, in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Borys doesn't discourage getting a degree, but she says technical skills are more important. And she is not alone: Some people estimate that as many as half of all IT jobs, especially entry-level ones, could be filled by those without four-year degrees.
"The only problem is, I'm not sure what your job will be after that," says Richard Skinner, president of Clayton College & State University, in Morrow, Ga. "You can enter the field, but you're probably going to have to continue your education."
Although there are exceptions -- like Borys -- people who enter the IT field today without a degree could find their careers stalled later. Many management positions require a four-year college degree, and in general, people with higher degrees make more money.
Advocates of four-year degrees say the programs that lead to these degrees are an excellent way to learn the foundation skills necessary to succeed in the ever-changing world of work: problem solving, communication skills, and, above all, the ability to continue learning.
"I view college as preparation for the modern career structure, which is a multiple career structure," says Avron Barr, co-director of software research at the Stanford Computer Industry Project, in Stanford, Calif.
Teaching up-to-date technical skills is often viewed as a weakness of four-year institutions. Companies that emphasize hiring four-year college graduates say they value graduates' ability to learn -- and they look to students' internships or work experience to provide the necessary technical skills.
"The difference is, do you hire somebody to do a job or somebody who has the foundation and can go quickly from one technology to another?" says Norma Abe, IT recruiting and diversity manager at Hewlett-Packard, in Palo Alto, Calif.
The importance of having a bachelor's degree in computer science, as opposed to one in another area, is a subject of intense debate. Although some companies say they prefer to hire graduates with computer science degrees, there are successful IT professionals from all majors: Of the more than 75 percent of the respondents to the 1998 InfoWorld Compensation Survey who said they had a bachelor's degree, only 26 percent had degrees in computer science. Healthy numbers of respondents had backgrounds in business (19 percent) or the humanities (15 percent).
"Writing effectively is an under-rated part of the system administrator's job," says Jonathan Lasser, who graduated in May from Goucher College with a degree in philosophy and English and now works as a Unix system administrator at the University of Maryland, in Baltimore.
An advantage of a four-year degree in any field is that it opens up the possibility of future degrees, such as an MBA. (For a more complete discussion of graduate opportunities, see http://www.infoworld.com/printlinks.)
John White, manager of enterprise computing at Cluett-Peabody, a clothing manufacturer in Atlanta, has a bachelor's degree in computer science and a master's degree in the management of technology (MOT). He holds no certifications. White says the bachelor's degree provided "fundamental grounding for my computer career" and that the MOT degree -- roughly the equivalent of an MBA -- helped him to increase his understanding of business and advance in his organization.
TWO-YEAR DEGREES. Two-year associate's degrees are granted by community colleges and are generally much less expensive than four-year colleges. Often students can earn a two-year degree and continue with a four-year degree later.
"[Community colleges'] primary purpose is to serve the local communities," says Kristin Becker, a project coordinator at the American Association of Community Colleges, in Washington. "Most have strong collaborative relationships with business in the local community."
Because of this focus, community colleges can often adapt more quickly to meet the needs of business than four-year colleges can. But this can also be a drawback.
"Sometimes two-year institutions design their curriculum around one vendor," Skinner says. "Their very strength is sometimes their weakness."
Although associate's degree programs do teach foundation skills, students with these degrees may sacrifice depth of knowledge for current technical skills, making it easier to get a job immediately but harder to continue with their careers.
Because of this focus on immediately useful technical skills, many students -- even some who already have bachelor's degrees -- take classes at community colleges to keep their technical skills current.
TECHNICAL TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION. Many IT professionals with or without degrees who simply want to pick up a new technical skill turn to technical training.
"Degrees coupled with formal technical training and/or certifications are a great combination," Borys says.
Technical training includes vendor-sponsored certifications such as the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, or MCSE, and the Certified Novell Engineer, or CNE; commercial training offered by vendors and third parties; and certificate programs offered by technical institutes. The value of certifications is open for discussion, but certifications are one way to quantify technical skills. (For more on specific certification programs, see http://www.infoworld.com/printlinks.)
Many universities offer continuing education or extension programs, another place to look for technical training. These courses teach specific technical skills and in some cases foundation or business skills, as well.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE. Education may not change as fast as technology, but it is changing, and the variety of programs available makes generalizations dangerous. For example, some vendor-sponsored certification programs are offered by universities, and many four-year colleges are beefing up the technical aspects of their programs. Some community colleges are integrating foundation and business skills into their programs.
As technology continues to change, observers say continuing education will be increasingly important.
"We have to enable people to learn all of their lives," Skinner says.
Where to look for educational programs
Certification: Technical schools, training vendors, some
community colleges, some four-year colleges
and universities
Associate's degree: Community colleges, some four-year colleges
and universities
Bachelor's degree: Four-year colleges and universities
Master's degree or Ph.D.:Some four-year colleges and universities
Building blocks of a successful IT career
Employers are looking for a variety of skills in the people they hire and promote. The skills that are most important will vary according to the job. Here is a basic list of skills to cultivate for a successful career.
Foundation skills
- Collaboration/teamwork
- Problem-solving
- Communication (spoken and written)
- Ability to learn
Technical skills
- Current technologies and programming languages
Business skills
- Management
- Conflict resolution
- Understanding of business operation
- Project management
- Leadership
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