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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that computing/IT is a poor career choice?

167 replies

iamarobot · 20/10/2011 16:09

Hi,

In terms of earning potential and barrier to entry, is IT as a career path really a bad one in 2011? I see the news report that there is a shortage, and then there is a story about Indians being shipped in by foreign companies. It's a shame really, as I quite like computers. Maybe I should take a look at the green energy careers leaflet i have around here somewhere....:s

OP posts:
Harecare · 20/10/2011 16:12

YABU. Just spent the weekend with a friend who I am very envious of who has amazing job due to her IT qualifications. DP is the main breadwinner and his work is all in IT. Do what you love. If that's IT go for it

LemonPeel · 20/10/2011 16:16

IT can be a very highly paid job.

YABU

ChunkyPickle · 20/10/2011 16:18

Computers aren't going away - you do need to pick your industry and specialization carefully depending on what you want from your career though.

I'm in IT (such a broad description!) and it's meant that I've been able to work all over the world, have yet to have trouble finding a job when I want one, and enjoy my work.

On the down side, it can be a bit thankless.

I don't know what you mean by barrier to entry - it's no worse than any other profession for the level of training required, and better than many because of the variety of jobs in many areas at all levels.

RosemarysBassoon · 20/10/2011 16:18

YABU.

A career in IT can be very rewarding if you have the right skills and aptitude. Probably not so much if you get a job in IT because you 'quite like computers'.

Megatron · 20/10/2011 16:19

YABU. It can be a GREAT career choice. DSS earning a pigging fortune! He works hard for it mind and always brings me nice flowers when he comes to stay so good luck to him. Smile

BestIsWest · 20/10/2011 16:20

YABU, there is still a high demand and lots of graduate or entry level jobs even if they tend to be centred around larger cities. Also there is a huge variety of specialisms. look at a website such as CWJobs to see what's in demand. Also IT can be very flexible - often easy to work at home for example.

jasminerice · 20/10/2011 16:20

DH is in IT. He earns LOADS. YABVU.

Tangle · 20/10/2011 16:20

IMO it depends, as in so many walks of life, on your aptitude for your chosen career path and a bit of luck in getting the right opportunities.

If you're the "office dogs body" IT person who's stuck dealing with the "Why can't I print?" and "How do I change the font size in Word?" type questions then the earning potential won't be great and there will be masses of competition. With the right company it might be a stepping stone to more interesting things, or it could be a dead end.

If you have the aptitude and application to peruse skills and qualifications and reach a more specialised position (say an expert in system design or high level technical programming) then the financial reward has the potential to be a different order of magnitude.

Personally I'd go for the career that you feel will keep you interested for the next however many years and has enough options for you to move if you don't get on with your colleagues...

fluffy123 · 20/10/2011 16:21

Lets put is this way, I am really happy my husband retrained and studied IT as a mature student.

ScaredBear · 20/10/2011 16:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NanettaStocker · 20/10/2011 16:23

YABU, but you really have to have a specialism within IT or you are just a general dogsbody or a manager with no technical skills but can budget and project manage. There are a lot of people with soft IT skills coming through the market, but they do not get the high paying and interesting jobs.

coffeesleeve · 20/10/2011 16:27

You definitely need to pick a speciality, not just "computer person". There is programming/development, sysadmin/operations, technical project management, web development/software development, testing/QA etc etc.

I'm a web developer (not designer, I just write code), have been more-or-less continually employed for 12 years, and make a higher-rate salary. My early jobs in startups were a bit fraught & long-hours, but these days I work regular hours (9.30-5.30) for a big company. It's fantastic.

HannahHack · 20/10/2011 16:28

Having come to a bit of a crux with my career after three year and watching that young people for hire programme I am really quite angry at the lack of IT training we got. It wasn't held up as a good career choice but I know in my company people with the same amount of experience as me are on £40,000 after 3 years. One colleague just got a job at google earning god knows how much.
And we are DESPARATE for IT skills in our (exciting sector) office.
YAB VV U

maamalady · 20/10/2011 16:30

YABU

DH works in IT - writing software rather than showing people how to print or maintaining office networks. He earns a fair old whack - far more than I do, and I work full time in a professional job. Some of our other friends earn frighteningly large sums of money. A poor career choice? Not a bit of it. Learn how to program in several different languages and the world is your lobster. If you only "quite like computers", however, you might find working in IT painfully dull.

IT also comes with convenient advantages - DH can always stay in and work from home if we're having a plumber come round or similar. Much easier than planning to come home from work at lunchtime or taking the day off etc!

BestIsWest · 20/10/2011 16:32

You can get caught up in an 'I can work longer hours than you can' culture sometimes - but that applies to many professions. I fell into IT almost by accident but have never regretted it.

5ofus · 20/10/2011 16:34

Keeps a roof over my head and the wolves from the door - although I'm not a techy I can talk my way round a mainframe Grin

I think it comes down to keeping your skills current and working vv hard in the early years. People buy from people, reputation is important and contacts are the key to keeping busy.

Being the PC guy and the lower level tasks like helpdesk support are first in line for offshoring (which is a whole other subject)

maamalady · 20/10/2011 16:35

I'm not sure about "training", though. DH has been a computer nerd for most of his life - learning programming and writing programs by trial and error. It has been a hobby for years and years. His qualifications are in maths, not computer science. I am beyond jealous that his work is what he would do for fun anyway - no-one wants to employ me to read books and make cake all day! Grin

BarmyBiscuit · 20/10/2011 16:36

My DH earns a lot of money working in IT and even now, at the age of 54, is in line for another promotion. He loves it and he can work from home anytime he wants. I would love my DS to go into the industry as it is very rewarding IMO

Beaverfeaver · 20/10/2011 16:39

DP has worked in IT since leaving school at 16 and even without professional qualifications does very well and has a much better carrear than I do even though I was the one who stayed on at school

Bumply · 20/10/2011 16:40

IT has been great for me. I think it's female and family friendly as I can work at home to keep an eye on sick kids. I earn high tax bracket that's been a godsend as a single mum as xh hasn't been in a position to pay maintenance in over a year.

You can work for all kinds of companies. I've worked for companies dealing in surveys/mapping, engineering, bilingual dictionaries and currently ecommerce.

My company has in the past tried outsourcing to Indian or wherever companies for supposedly cheap services, but it has always cost them more in trying to manage it or pick up the pieces. Home grown is best. We get very little turnover and are currently expanding.

Yabu

Penthesileia · 20/10/2011 16:43

Errrr. YABVU, though not if you mean working in Dixons or call-centre technical support.

Of all my CompSci friends or acquaintances from university, not one is earning less than £70,000, and one was a millionaire within 5 years of graduation. They are all software designers/engineers or Internet entrepreneurs. The department at my Alma Mater has (or at least had recently) a 100% employment post-graduation success rate.

PigletJohn · 20/10/2011 16:44

Too vague a question. You might as well say "office work"

Knowing stuff and being good at it and working hard are a start, but you have to understand the business and be a part of it. I don't find technical stuff interesting and rewarding.

I particularly recall a very competent A/P I used to know saying that Programming was like bricklaying or plastering. It's a skill, a craft, a trade. If you can't plaster a wall yourself, you have to pay someone else to do it for you. Most people can learn to do it to an average standard, given time, training and application. When there's a shortage of bricklayers they're sought after and well paid. When there isn't they aren't. And for a lot of stuff there isn't a shortage any more.

Oddly enough, some of the old wrinkly contractors can make better money than the up-to-the minute youngsters, because nobody learns old stuff any more, but there's a lot of it around that has to be maintained.

Ormirian · 20/10/2011 16:45

I dunno. It's kept a roof over our heads all these years. Even when DH was 'finding himself' flitting from one poorly paid job to another Hmm. If I was prepared to move elsewhere I could earn a lot more but even so I earn a good enough whack for this area. And I get to work from home when I need to - not something you can do with customer-facing or other more hands-on roles.

Is it thrilling and exciting? Not often if I'm honest Grin but never mind. It has its moments. If you ask me if I wish I had been able to pursue my first love, archaeology, then yes I do. Or marine biology. Or been a quantum physicist. But there we are.....

Makiko · 20/10/2011 16:46

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Message withdrawn

aldiwhore · 20/10/2011 16:50

I don't know about IT but I'm pretty sure I'd have a job now if I'd done IT and not Art History/Performing Arts!!! So on that alone, YABU!!

IT is such a MASSIVE arena now, that pretty much every company needs someone with IT knowhow... I'm sure there are plenty of shite jobs within the realms of IT but I think its a modern 'trade' insomuch as you will always be able to get some sort of employment.

I can't say that about knowing a little bit about post-modernism, presetation and representation, being and becoming or why there are very few pubes in art in general. sigh I did enjoy it though! But that doesn't pay the rent... if my kids go into IT I will be happy enough that they have a trade that's transferable to corporations, and has the capacity to make them squillionaires too.

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