CareerNews
			The Fastest Industry in the World...Probably Jobs in Computer Hardware How to Work in Software Woman - Your Country needs You!!! Hacking the planet - What is a Hacker? IT Industry Bodies Profiles of people currently working in the IT industry

Information Technology is no longer the preserve of bifocal led numerical wizards with unhealthy Star Trek obsessions. The new IT professionals hang out in the best bars discuss the merits of Tai Chi and have wardrobes that we would all die for.

Like the nocturnal habits of the couple down the street, IT has moved out of the bedroom - Technological advancements have contributed to the commercialisation of the industry, which in turn has spawned tremendous growth.

IT is now one of the worlds largest business sectors, computers are integral to the workings of nearly every business at some level and more and more, computers are encroaching into our leisure time.

If you are considering a career in the IT industry you should be under no illusions, programming is still the brain drain it always was. However the Internet has created opportunities for graphic designers, support staff, consultants and managers - it is now possible to work in the industry having arrived from a non-technical background and pursue a highly fulfilling career.

The Fastest Industry in the World...Probably
By the time you read this article engineers will have superseded the current highest specification processor speed five times over, hard disk capacity will have been increased 10 fold and your laptop will be available in totally in destructible Kryptonite.

Well… the rate of development may not be quite that fast but the technology industry is never static, version 2.0 is always on the horizon and this high speed of change is reflected in the IT recruitment market.

Small to medium sized companies have relatively little chance of attracting and keeping experienced computer staff instead they rely on hiring new blood and offering training programs.

Turnover is huge and qualified IT staff are in such demand that the attractive wage packages and the lure of a challenging project means that in the IT industry the grass is nearly always greener on the other side.

It is certainly not an industry secret that due to the short supply of quality programmers and technicians - companies are moving their software operations abroad to satisfy their staff requirements.

If you have advanced IT skills employers will be knocking down your door to offer you attractive job offers.

IT came from the desert…
A computer is nothing but an expensive glowing hat stand without software and the latest version of Microsoft Windows is just a lame Frisbee without something to install it on. The two go together like rhubarb and custard.

The Hardware
Computer hardware has come a long way since the days of the early incarnation eight bit machines. They are faster, quieter, more lightweight, have more memory and are rapidly appearing in a vast array of different pastel greens and blues.

Generally, component parts are manufactured in Asia and reassembled in the UK however there are specialist areas of cutting edge development and design taking place in the UK. For example ARM is one of the worlds largest mobile phone chip developers and is are based in Cambridge.

Two hammers and a 4 by 4 - Jobs in Computer Hardware
A Hardware product specialist works closely with engineers to obtain a thorough knowledge of the products and to provide input on future developments. They work with the customers to best integrate a product into their system and assist the hardware support engineers to respond to customer inquiries.

As part of their duties they may have to provide in-depth technical training on their products to customers. For this reason interpersonal skills are important.

• Note: A good university degree is required ideally in electronic engineering or computer science.

We are not all computer sophisticates and thankfully the merry band of technical support staff exist to make our lives easier. Their duties range from the mundane retrieval of lost passwords to software installation; they fix printers and manage office network systems.

A network analyst is involved with the Installation and configuration of computer networks and UNIX operating systems · Networking, troubleshooting and problem solving.

• They need experience in TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) with exposure to some other LAN/WAN (Local Area Network/Wide Area Network) principles.
  
  
• It is usual to have at least 3 of the following vendors' equipment: Cisco Routers and Servers, 3COM, Nortel, CVX remote Access Servers, Foundry Networks, Extreme Networks · Sound working knowledge of Unix operating systems in networked environment in either Solaris 2.x, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Redhat Linux at system administration level.
  
  
• They should have the ability to install and configure a basic Unix system, with basic programming abilities in either Shell, Perl or C· Good networking, troubleshooting, correlation and problem solving skills. A proactive learner with ability to communicate effectively with your peers.

How to work in Software
Programmers (of which there are many types) are in huge demand and can easily earn upwards of £30,000.

There are application software coders, who design and build software like Microsoft Word, game designers who dream of Lara Croft and specific niche application developers.

Software Engineers need fluency in some of, if not all ANSI C, C++ and Java. They will be required to work unsupervised as part of a self-managing team, knowledge of, or experience in, one or more of the following:

• Language theory (syntax and formal semantics)
• Practical software specification
• Compiler construction techniques
• Code generation and optimization
• Compiler (or other large software) testing.

However a programmer must also have good verbal and communication skills and may be dealing directly with clients. Especially important is the ability to write precise technical English.
An interest in code development tools - compilers for C and C++, assemblers, linkers, and run-time libraries.

And they need experience in software development under Windows NT and/or Unix.

The Creatives
Web designers can come into the industry without previous programming experience but they will have to learn the ropes rapidly. Website construction software such as Macromedia Dreamweaver can be very useful but some knowledge of HTML is still needed.

Women - Your country needs you!!!
The IT industry is desperately trying to encourage more women into the sector to eliminate staff shortages.

At no stage were women excluded by the industry, they didn't want to get involved because until recently computers have been deemed as…how do we say, DULL!
Now the industry has come over all chic, more creative and with higher wages. The industry now hopes that more and more women will be flying high in IT.

Hacking the planet - What is a hacker?
It is widely perceived that hackers represent the tech underground. A merry band of cutthroat programming wizards intent on electronically ripping off banks and on pointing US Nukes at Bill Gates' house.
In reality hackers are not generally destructive, they are a community of programmers and networking experts who have had a profound influence on the Internet. Hackers made the Unix operating system what it is today.

There is another group of people who loudly call themselves hackers, but aren't. These are people (mainly adolescent males) who get a kick out of breaking into computers and causing mayhem.
Real hackers call these people `crackers' and want nothing to do with them. Being able to break security doesn't make you a hacker any more than being able to hot-wire cars makes you an automotive engineer. Unfortunately, many journalists and writers have been fooled into using the word `hacker' to describe crackers; this irritates real hackers no end.

The basic difference is this: hackers build things, crackers break them.

IT Industry bodies
There are a number of accredited industry bodies in the UK with a wide range of activities designed to support the IT community both in the UK and overseas.

One of the most recognized and prestigious is The BCS (British Computer Society). Membership costs £47 a year. The BCS offers professional advice and the opportunity to network with other members of the organization at regular meetings. Through the BCS members can undertake exams that are recognized as degree standard qualifications and with experience can apply to become a Chartered Engineer (CEng).

The IT industry is one which will continue to grow, if you have the skills you are sure to be successful and prosperous. But remember - the world of IT has taken a radical face-lift and is now open to all.

Profiles of people currently working in the industry


Name - Liam Bennett

Age - 22

Job Title - Consultant Developer

Day to day duties - Developing server-side applications using Java, web-design, liaising with clients and potential clients

How did you get the job -I got the interview through an agency that contacted me after seeing my CV on Jobsite.

What did you do before? - Student

Did you have other career options? -I had other interviews but they were all in the same field

Qualifications required -Good degree (1st / 2:1)

Are you a Trekie? -Not at all that is just a vicious rumour

Salary range -£25000 - 30000

Interview experience -I had to attend two interviews for this job, the first was quite stressful and lasted 2-3 hours including a Java test which was then marked in front of me. They phoned up my agency as I left the building and got me back the next day where they offered me the job.

Mac/Dos/windoze/linux/OS2/Unix/blah blah? Environment - Windows 98 / NT4 / 2000, Dos, Linux Languages: Java, XML, XSL, SQL, javascript, HTML, CSS

What's on your screensaver? -Wacky Races

Are you on a contract or permanent? -Permanent position

Personal grooming, what advice can you offer? -Always look smart at interviews even if they say they will be casual. (One bloke came for his interview wearing leather trousers and a shirt and tie)

If you think there is anything else that should be incl. please do so - It looks good to interviewers if you are a member of a professional body like the BCS. I know that is actively encouraged within my company...



Name -George Carless

Age -24

Job Title -Senior Web Developer

Day to day duties -Administration and development of company web site; primarily I work on the online store and such issues as "internationalization", shipping calculation, tax issues, etc. My work also covers tweaking cosmetic issues, and coding tools for the people who administer the site content.

How you get the job? - I began as a web developer working primarily with basic HTML and some ASP. I moved to a company which specialized in development with the relatively unknown "Tango" application server, and honed my programming/SQL skills. The company I now work for needed Tango developers with experience in working on dynamic, database-driven sites, and I fit the role.

What did you do before?- Before what's detailed above, I messed around on a Computer Science degree in London; a valuable experience in terms of meeting people and getting drunk, but less so in career terms. Nonetheless, in retrospect it helped more than I thought at the time.

Did you have other career options? -I had always been interested in a career involving computers; I hadn't planned on becoming a programmer, per se, but perhaps moving more in the direction of being a DBA or writer. All involving web sites, however.

Qualifications Required? - None, especially. I've found that having a Computer Science degree has opened a few doors, but by-and-large experience and a general understanding of the industry are most important. Once you understand the basics and can program in one language, moving to other areas is relatively straightforward - even knowing HTML helps. Oh, and the importance of decent interviewing skills cannot be underestimated.

Do you have a girlfriend? - Yes; have had for coming on five years.

Salary range? - Mid-to-upper five figures -- I work for a US company, though, and it might be less in the UK, except perhaps in the big cities. Depends on experience, though -- and I would elect to take lower pay for the right job.

Interview experience - I'm a little unusual in that I love being interviewed for jobs. I hate interviewing others, though -- I'm hesitant to ask the nasty questions that need to be asked. My boss once hired a guy on my recommendation after I interviewed him; the person in question was inept, and lasted two weeks..

Amusing anecdote - In the computer industry? Anything I came up with would doubtless be geeky and uninteresting. I did once accidentally paste my boss a load of IRC (Internet Relay Chat) text from a chat with some friends.. That didn't go down well..

Mac/Dos/windoze/linux/OS2/Unix/blah blah? -I'm forced to use Windows for work, since Tango is proprietary. I mess around with linux quite often, and I've done freelance work using various flavor's of both linux and bsd.

What's on your screensaver? -I don't use one; I just turn off the monitor. Better to save the energy.

Are you on a contract or permanent? -Permanent

Personal grooming, what advice can you offer? -Do wear a suit, or at least dress smartly, for interviews. Beyond that, try to get a job where they recognize that your abilities are the most important thing. Ideally, work from home. ;)

If you think there is anything else that should be incl. please do so - Don't worry if you're not a ubergeek. If you can think logically and enjoy working through things, you can get into this industry even if you haven't been coding since you were three. Indeed, there're probably as many opportunities for all-rounders who have good social and communicative skills as for those who only know how to write code but cannot express themselves well to others.

Also, spend time learning about new technologies; don't get stuck in a rut. Read other peoples code, try out new operating systems and development platforms, and discuss techie issues with other people. Even if you don't know what you're talking about at first, you'll soon pick it up, and your job opportunities will increase commensurably.