'Young people don't want to become like us', say IT pros
But we're actually straight from the fridge, daddio
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A third of IT professionals say their jobs appear geeky and boring, according to a study into why tech careers are not particularly popular with da yoof.
Employment site CWJobs polled 576 working IT pros on fresh talent entering the industry and quizzed them on why young people weren't applying for techie positions despite growth in the sector.
Image was the big stumbling block, the survey found: more than half of the respondents said technology jobs are perceived as "too geeky" and 39 per cent said that IT is not thought of as a fun career.
According to the polled professionals, the most attractive areas to youngsters are social networking (39 per cent reckon so) then mobile (21 per cent) and gaming (17 per cent).
Half (49 per cent) said that kids needed to be taught early on about the joy of an IT department, saying that computing and tech education should start when kids turn eight. The majority want more industry engagement: there should be more apprenticeships (66 per cent), better promotion of jobs to young people at the point of career decision-making (60 per cent), and sponsoring of university degrees (51 per cent).
And it's not just the staffing of the IT floor that is at stake. The future of the UK depends on its tech industry, said CWJobs website director Richard Nott: “Britain’s place on the IT world map is precarious – with a lack of investment largely to blame."
Kids need to learn that IT guys make the fun stuff they love, said Nott:
There seems to be a disconnect between what young people perceive a career in IT to be and an acknowledgement of how this translates into the gadgets, smartphones and consoles they use on a daily basis. Ensuring the role of the IT professional is relevant to young people will ensure their interest in the industry for a future career.
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COMMENTS
"...kids needed to be taught early on about the joy of an IT department"
Yep, in History lessons. It was fun in the 70s and early 80s, but it's been downhill consistently from then. There may be exceptions, but generally management culture has all but killed the joy of SW/HW development.
it is indeed very boring
sitting writing documents about an Active Directory installation or an Exchange installation is one of the most mind-numbing experiences you could wish for (apart from watching TV).
IT used to be fun but then we turned everything into a commodity and then to top it all we handed control to the accountants.
Programming can still be fun but I cant see anyone getting excited about sysadmin or infrastructure design - I know I don't.
When at a party some pretty girlie asks you
'so what do you do?' to which you respond
'I'm an IT pro, you know work in IT'
Sort of kills the conversation at that point.
Better to lie and say stunt man, extreme sportsman or garage attendant.
That way you'll have more chance of copping off.
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