| Topic Name: |
Career Change |
| Message Name: |
Yes and no |
| Date Posted: |
11/06/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
From an article on www.salon.com:
Then there's Matloff own research challenging the notion of a "shortage" of IT workers. By studying a database of college graduate surveys, he found that only 19 percent of computer science grads are still in that field 20 years later -- compared with 52 percent of civil engineers. To him, the low unemployment rate for programmers masks what he sees as a pattern of older techies getting left out in the cold in the middle of a red-hot economy.
Research by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers supports Matloff's claim that veteran coders are being driven out of the field. In a 1998 report, the institute discovered that unemployed members typically require three additional weeks to find a new job for each year of age over 45.
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| Message: |
I believe the statistics Gaia quoted, BTW. There is another side to it however.
The fact is that IT is a field where the half-life of your skillbase is between 3 and 4 years. Civil Engineering must have a much longer half-life, perhaps as long as 15 or 20 years. So it is much easier to stay in step.
I personally am a case study, being 44 years old and having been dumped from a Big 5 consultantcy firm last month. There I was known as a hardcore software geek (which wasn't fair to my communications skills).
It's by all accounts a lousy job market, with tales of good programmers being off 6 or 12 months without work or even an interview! So I was fearful.
Not to worry. It turns out that there is a split view about us oldsters out here. Some of us are seen as beyond it but the ones who have stayed on top of things are regarded very highly because it takes time to become really good in the IT field.
It really helps to develop good jobhunting skills, especially in times like these. If you're not working you probably aren't learning enough - so you have to keep employed or drop off the radar.
I had 4 interviews in the three weeks since KPMG dumped me and landed a good contract yesterday. I think this shows that while it's difficult to stay in the filed it is perfectly possible given application and intelligent search habits.
One thing I do is that if I botch an interview (as I did the first one this time) I buy a book and give myself a swift course or review on the botched subject to ensure it doesn't happen again. Another thing I do is to entertain any offer including short contracts.
Lots of good things can happen from a shorty. I make a nice bit of cash, gain useful experience. If they like my work habits a permanent offer can be forthcoming either now or when things improve. If I work it right I can be at the head of the line when hiring resumes. It also gainse me useful contacts and maybe a recent reference.
You have to measure your progress in small increments in bad times like these.
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