IT staffing troubles begin, especially with younger developers
Summary: This is a time when new technology-oriented companies and startups are bursting foward across the business landscape, and slurping up talent. CIOs say they are feeling the pinch.
The recent soft economy was tough on everyone, but in one respect, it made life a little easier for IT managers. They could hang on to their IT talent. But lately, as the economy starts to heat up, and projects multiply, IT professionals have been harder to come by.
This is especially the case with younger professionals, CIOs say. Network World's Carolyn Duffy spoke with Marsan Louis Trebino, CIO and senior vice president at the Harry Fox Agency (HFA) in New York City, who reported all kinds of issues with younger staff and Java programmers. "No sooner does he hire a Java programmer and train him in the company's music industry niche, than the programmer is recruited away for a higher salary."
Money is one issue, and unwillingness to work on legacy systems is another, says Trebino:
"They don't want to deal with something that's existing. Our systems are fairly large and complex. They've been built and evolved over a number of years. They're not off-the-shelf; everything is custom. Younger workers get frustrated by these applications. They don't understand why the program does this. They want to just write something fresh...."
To address this sense of alienation, Trebino says he is promoting greater ownership of projects in which IT professionals are given greater latitude in technology decisions. They are working closer with business users as well -- adopting Agile techniques.
This is a time when new technology-oriented companies and startups are bursting foward across the business landscape, and slurping up talent. Enterprises will need to formulate smarter and more creative ways to attract and keep the talent they need to build new business capabilities. Automation, cloud and outsourcing are ways to address IT needs, but these just meet current and known requirements -- but don't help the business look forward. If a business is to grow, it needs active minds on board that can discover new ways to leverage business technology.
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Talkback
RE: IT staffing troubles begin, especially with younger developers
I've got a college buddy who can't find work, even though he's smarter and better than me in every possible way. The only difference between us is that I was smart enough to get an internship while I was still in school (which was a fluke to be honest, another one of my buddies was already working here as an intern and got me in).
RE: IT staffing troubles begin, especially with younger developers
As an IT manager...
6mo- 1yr real world work experience shows us management that this person can actually apply there IT learned foundation. In my years of IT i have seen this countless amount of times where the best and brightest on paper could not handle real IT deadlines workload etc.. I understand your point with your friend and his hardship of finding a job. Even though he is graduated there are company's that will still hire has temps or interns. I have hired a systems analyst in the past that was out of school for a little over a year.
RE: IT staffing troubles begin, especially with younger developers
You can always ask the applicant to show code samples
You can even administer a programming exercise after the interview. The thing about programming is that the skills are relatively easy to demonstrate if you have them.
RE: IT staffing troubles begin, especially with younger developers
The pay isn't spectacular, but it is adequate enough to allow me to live very comfortably, and the benefits and perks are a huge bonus for someone who never had benefits at a job before.
I feel for your friend
RE: IT staffing troubles begin, especially with younger developers
As well as sending out applications to adverts, I looked for IT companies in the area and applied on spec.
Most ....
A lot to be said...
Here, in Germany, you can either learn to be a programmer through an apprenticeship or you can do a degree course.
Likewise, if you want to do a job a Praktikum or internship is a good way to go. Many, even experienced, workers will try and get a foot in the door by doing an internship.
Being flexible is key.
And not expecting to always work on something new is also important. In fact, it was the subject of the project seminar I ran at Augsburg University (Best Practices in Component Oriented Software Re-Engineering).
A vast majority of programming will be maintaining existing systems, whether you wrote them yourself or whether you take on the support role for an existing project. It isn't glamorous and it can be frustrating.
Especially if you have to look after an MS-BASIC system, written by FORTRAN programmers and maintained for 5 years by COBOL programmers! That was my first job and the programmers had never heard of For..Next or While...Wend constructs, it was all "20 a = a + 1: IF a < 20 Go To 10" :-O
REWRITE IT
RE: IT staffing troubles begin, especially with younger developers
We had over 200 [b]qualified[/b] resumes for 2 database programmer jobs less than a week after they were posted. There are still plenty of talented and experienced IT professionals out of work, and the number is going up as even midsize companies are starting to offshore jobs to India and China.
RE: IT staffing troubles begin, especially with younger developers
Salaries in the IT professions are often under paid anyway for the long hours most IT folks spend keeping the systems up and going.
I know from my own personal experiences, that most of the companies I worked for since 1981 did not offer paid training. I had to learn on my own time as I went along and was never ever compensated for my knowledge gains. Today, because of my 30+ years of work experience, I get what I am worth because I am paid for what I know and I know a whole lot and am still learning new technologies and such. So my value and worth is growing and the only certifications I have are on Novell Networking and Unix System Administration. I do not hold or desire any microsoft certifications because in my honest opinion, they are "worthless, meaningless pieces of paper".
If you can't find qualified applicants...
Sharp
This, as well as your post above (with wright_is). +
RE: IT staffing troubles begin, especially with younger developers
This is Where the IT Age Discrimination Problem has Taken Us
Don't hire programmers who have only done new developments
Gotta start somewhere
Start the junior programmers on maintenance
This way they get to see code written by other people and learn what works (and what doesn't).