Why Choose a Career in IT

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Posted on June 5, 2012 by Chris Lau Posted as Blogosphere Discussion Why IT?

There is a certain advantage gained from the exposure of working in different IT projects all having different business mandates. There is an even greater gain in perspective when working at different job capacities. How does being a project manager for one assignment differ from being a systems analyst or a business analyst for another?

As an IT “geek” passionate about all things IT, what did having the passion for computers in the 90’s, with floppy disks and parallel hard drives, lead to today career-wise? The question is especially appropriate now with storage is moving towards a cloud computing model.

The answer to all of the questions asked may be summarized with two words: passion and adaptability. Surviving a career in IT requires a certain level of passion that drives us to solve business problems by applying tools that happens to be based on technology.

Having passion is not indigenous to IT, for it is applicable in other career streams. The kind of passion that is unique in IT is the variety of solutions available to solve problems. The solution can depend on creativity, or it can depend on the technology that happens to be available. The technology available at any time is constantly changing. This availability often becomes more complex at first, and may alter previously implemented solutions.

This can make IT extremely challenging.

The single most important inflection point in my IT career was getting the opportunity to work in non-technical areas, such as in budgeting, project planning, project managing, and business analysis. The variety of work is an important aspect of getting through daily tasks. Each day can be different!

Adaptability is a trait that is often tested in IT work. Given that constant change in technology is certain, IT workers need to adapt not only to the tasks at hand but in the availability of a changing set of solutions.

For those who are starting out in IT, does this mean constant change will lead to a short-lived career?

Absolutely not.

Technology may rapidly evolve, but is variation is like music. As music changes, it does not get re-invented. Music is re-created like a variation on an original theme. Similarly, in technology, mainframes several decades ago are making a come-back: cloud computing is the modern-day version of mainframes.

My passion in technology in the past directed me to choose a career in IT. The rapid developments in cloud computing, big data – all the topics covered on blog idol – continue to make growing a career in IT very much worthwhile.

Chris Lau Chris Lau (79 Posts)


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  • http://twitter.com/fitnwell Greg Harvey

    You are clearly passionate about your career. That’s awesome. Good for you.
    http://www.harveywildlifephotography.ca

  • DonSheppard

    There will be a different story for each and everyone of us.
     
    For me problem solving = engineering, so basically back in the 60s data processing was a new form of engineering (although you didn’t have to be licensed to practice IT) and didn’t mean going out to constructions sites and building bridges!   Lesser of several evils!
     
    You are certainly correct about change and adaptation.  That has been for sure.  Today, I am amazed at what a “techie” needs to know to be an expert, but also surprised at what longer term experience gives you as well.
     
    In any IT career there’s a few big choices to make:  work for a manufacturer, or for a user; work as an employee, or as a consuiltant; work as a developer, or as an infrastructure designer, or as an operator; and more.
     
    There’s also many non-IT careers within an IT environment:  Finance, HR, faciltiies, management, etc.    

    • http://mitchlabuda.com Mitch Labuda

      I started in IT, before it was called IT. The days of information display systems, main frames, Compaq, IBM, and many others. Network cables as thick as your wrist. Test drove a remote modem, remember them? The type that you placed a phone headset into a couplet on the modem to transmit at the blazing speed back then.  One has to stay on top of the industry and field, at all times, other wise skills become out dated, etc. But, the basic skill of wanting to know how something works or what to do when it stops working, is never outdated.

      • DonSheppard

        Modems at 300 bits/sec, or blazing when they got up to 2400 bits/sec and I remember speiding $1K on one of theose modems!

        You are right about wanting to know how things work…..that’s one of the underlying drivers for many of us!

  • Davies

    Very interesting article – lots to think about!

  • http://twitter.com/mgilstrap19 Michelle Gilstrap

    Adapting to the current environment is success in any career especially in IT and business. They go hand in hand. Thank you for a great article.

  • Bhorsman

    I agree completely. The problem solving, the challenges and an ever learning environment. The stress is the downside, but I think we thrive on it!

  • http://mitchlabuda.com/ Mitch Labuda

    I started out in electronics, in house bench tech, then field service engineer, PDP 8′A and Western Dynex drives with LA 36 printers, and other IT jobs. Now? Training of retail associates in the photo industry. One career in one field, worked in ye olden days, those days are gone. Be versatile and adapt.

  • CesarFStoll

    To work in IT requires maintaining the focus that ours is a discipline of service; to business and to any other entity in use of the technology we master to make their goals more productive and efficient.
    We should then while involving ourselves in state of the art technology and advancements, not to fall in the vice of only looking at distracting our aims to just play with what is new but on what can assist others on getting more with less. 
    Strong ethics are important as high moral standards are, because technology gives power to reach excellence as it provides access to waste and excess.
    New products will always be attractive, and only proper application to the needs of the clients is what will make them successful, because the goal will be to make the client successful by the use of technology.