Reply #13: Running is a mistake. Expand your skills.

[Xithras]

I'm in IT. I'm in California. According to the pundits, I should be unemployed right now. In truth, however, the pundits are wrong. These studies on outsourcing indicate that 10% of IT jobs will be overseas next year. That means 90% of them will still be RIGHT HERE, occupied by skilled Americans.

Let me tell you something: even as the dot-boom went dot-bust and IT people across the state were being let go, I had people offering me jobs and more money. Even today, as many IT people struggle trying to find employment that pays higher wages than McDonalds, I have headhunters and HR managers trying to pry me away from my current job with offers of higher pay and benefits (my office is 5 minutes from my house and I never see a freeway...I'm not budging anytime soon). What's the secret to my success when so many others are failing at their careers? I can install and configure HP and Cisco switches, routers, and PIX firewalls. I can build a server from parts, and configure it to run solo or clustered with Windows NT/2000, Linux, Solaris, IRIX, and even MacOSX. I can do management level CBA's on hardware/software projects and validly demonstrate when and why third party contracotrs should be brought in, and when and why certain things should be done in house. I can program applications in C++, Java, Delphi, COBOL, VB, VB.NET, C#, and a few other languages you've probably never heard of (Unibasic anyone?). I can create dynamic websites using ASP, PERL, .Net, JSP, Cold Fusion, and PHP. I can develop databases in MySQL, Oracle 7+, MS-SQL, and on about a half dozen other platforms. I have extensive experience in graphic design and specific training in computer interface engineering. I can recite the state and federal laws regarding computer accessibility for the handicapped, verbatim, and tell you nearly every method commonly implemented today to verify that computer systems are accessible to all. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I should mention at this point that I'm also a high school dropout with no college degree. What I have, however, is a home library with over $9,000 worth of books on how to learn this or that technology. I am CONSTANTLY reading and learning about the "next big thing" and the newest technologies, so that I'll be ready when employers want them (I'm reading a book on enterprise Grid Computing implementation right now). Technology is, and always has been, a rapidly changing and highly fluid field, and you MUST be willing to diversify your skills and CONSTANTLY learn new things if you want to survive. Too many people jumped into IT in the late 90's and became the technological equivalent of a "one trick pony".

The vast majority of people dumping IT seem to miss that final point, or they hear it and don't quite understand it. My best friend is also one of the most skilled C++ programmers I've ever met, and like you he's bailing because he can't find a job. When I suggested diversifying, he learned Java and quickly found that Java/C++ programmers are a dime a dozen (and only a nickel in India). When I suggested that he diversify further, learning networking equipment, RDBMS's, and even project management type business process skills, he looked at me like I was from Mars. "Do you have any idea what kind of work it would take to learn all of that?" Yes, actually, I do.

If you want to stay in IT, you need to decide whether you're willing to make the lifestyle choices that will be required to stay up-to-date in the field, and to learn enough technology to be different. For me, that often means forgoing the TV programs I want to see in order to pore over some cryptic technical manual or missing my daughters soccer games in order to attend some class or technology training. My career isn't just something I deal with 8-5 on weekdays, it's a part of my life that demands constant attention. Why do I do this? Because where I work, we frequently hire high school and college students to build and manage our PC's and servers. Because my nine year old daughter can program in Java and diagram her source code in UML. And because there are millions of programmers in India who consider $5 an hour to be damned good wages. I realized a long time ago that if I really wanted to make a career out of IT, I had to prove myself more skilled and more valuable than my young daughter, than those high school kids, or those Indian's. It's worth it to me, but is it to you?