Writing Samples

Picking the right program for your IT career

With the new school year just two months away, students are purchasing school supplies, looking excitedly forward to their fall programs and perhaps even making last-minute travel arrangements. Even this close to the fall, there might still be a percentage of students who are just selecting and registering for their courses!

With the choice of a community college or university program being a serious investment of both your time and money, it can be pretty stressful when you're out there shopping for one. Naturally, you want to make pretty sure that you find the program that best helps you hone the skillset that you want to develop. It's hard, sometimes, just to decide what kind of career you want to get into. But, once you've decided, getting information about your next logical step doesn't have to be difficult.

Here's how to find out what you need to know to start planning your education. And, just as important, how to get the most from the program that you end up choosing!

Before making any large purchase like a car or a house, you would naturally do a great deal of preliminary reading and research. You need to 'kick the tires', as it were. Searching for a career college or program is no different.

Once you've narrowed down the area of the IT world in which you want to set up shop, your first move is to contact people already working in your target field and find out which programs they, or their industry as a whole, respects and recognizes. Call at least a couple of potential employers, if you can, and find out what they have to say about the programs you are considering. Also, find out if there is a particular part of the program that they feel it would be worth focusing on.

Of course you can also ask the all-important question, "Would you hire a graduate from the program I am considering?" When performing this kind of discovery, make a point of finding out what parts of the program you are researching are most relevant to the industry that you are trying to get into.

The other place to look when finding information about your prospective career is the employment and recruitment agencies.

Here are some you might try:

Stoakley-Dudley Consultants Ltd.
(http://www.stoakley.com/)
Information Technology Excellence in Computer Consulting
(http://www.itecc.com/)
ITBanx (http://www.itbanx.com/)

Companies such as the above can give you a really solid idea of what characterizes 'a hirable prospect' to your future employer. Recruiters keep a constant watch for red-hot applicants that they can refer to their clients. This is one big reason why the recruitment companies know what it takes to get into your desired field.

While you're at it, a good local or national newspaper can help you to get a pulse on what qualifications the IT industry is looking for at this particular moment. National papers are great for this because they usually have larger ads that list actual qualifications in a particular field.

The kind of research program outlined above will help you to understand the exact skillset you need to acquire.

Many businesspeople don't mind if you do this sort of polling, as long as you respect their time and give them the option of brushing you off when you call. You might even offer to e-mail them your questions...