{"id":694,"date":"2018-05-21T03:51:55","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T00:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kusuaks7\/?p=299"},"modified":"2021-05-11T13:55:11","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T13:55:11","slug":"busting-seven-myths-about-tech-careers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/bigdata-cloud\/busting-seven-myths-about-tech-careers\/","title":{"rendered":"Busting Seven Myths About Tech Careers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>Ready for Big Data Training &amp; Certification?<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/training\/courses\">Browse courses<\/a>&nbsp;like&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/training\/courses\/big-data-what-every-manager-needs-to-know\">Big Data &#8211; What Every Manager Needs to Know<\/a> developed by industry thought leaders and Experfy in Harvard Innovation Lab.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.comptia.org\/resources\/assessing-the-it-skills-gap\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A recent survey from CompTIA<\/a>, one of the world&rsquo;s largest technology associations, shows that nearly half of the 600 IT and business executives polled said skills shortcomings within their organizations had grown during the past two years.<\/p>\n<p>While these skill gaps widened in a variety of domains&mdash;marketing, sales, business development, accounting, and finance, etc.&mdash;perhaps none of these deficits is as troubling as the one in the IT realm.<\/p>\n<p>In brief,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/obamawhitehouse.archives.gov\/issues\/technology\/techhire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">some analysts say<\/a>&nbsp;at least half a million open IT positions are going unfilled. Meanwhile, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/ooh\/computer-and-information-technology\/computer-support-specialists.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>&nbsp;predicts IT occupations will grow 10 percent by 2026 when many existing tech professionals will begin retiring. In combination, these factors could create a national tech talent deficient with negative consequences for workers, employers and our entire economy.<\/p>\n<p>Creating IT Futures believes teens and tweens are a key part of the solution to this looming crisis because they&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmo.com\/features\/articles\/2015\/6\/11\/15-mind-blowing-stats-about-generation-z.html#gs.VlD3=sk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">already make up a quarter of the US population<\/a>&nbsp;and will account for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roberthalf.com\/research-and-insights\/workplace-research\/the-secrets-to-hiring-and-managing-gen-z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more than 20 percent of the workforce<\/a>&nbsp;in the next five years. Plus, our research indicates many in this group have the temperament to become more than technicians who write software and make hardware; they will be&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.recruiter.com\/i\/raising-a-generation-of-technologists-how-gen-z-can-fill-the-tech-skills-gap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>technologists<\/em><\/a><\/em>&mdash;people working with technology of varied types in companies of all shapes and sizes across the country along a broad spectrum of industries.<\/p>\n<p>Workers with a technologist&rsquo;s mindset, which optimally blends hard technical skills and relationship acumen (often called &ldquo;soft skills&rdquo;), are well-suited for today&rsquo;s fast-paced, continuously evolving digital business environment.<\/p>\n<p>However, there are issues at work that confound and complicate the task of raising the next generation of technologists. Seven myths about&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.recruiter.com\/career-planning.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">technology careers<\/a>&nbsp;discourage potential technologists and their parents. In my positon as the leader of a philanthropic organization dedicated to creating on-ramps to tech careers, I consider busting those myths not only a duty, but a pleasure.<\/p>\n<p>I&rsquo;ve worked with&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.recruiter.com\/i\/author\/charles-eaton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Recruiter Today<\/em><\/a><\/em>&nbsp;to take down seven of the most common misconceptions keeping teens away from the tech workforce:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.recruiter.com\/i\/busting-tech-career-myths-part-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myth No.1:<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;Technology is all about coding, math, and science.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes, solid grades in those subjects certainly won&rsquo;t hurt any aspiring student&rsquo;s chances of finding a position, but for a technologist, they only tell part of the story.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.recruiter.com\/i\/busting-tech-career-myths-part-2-tech-jobs-always-require-a-four-year-degree\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myth No.2:<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;Tech Jobs always require a four-year degree.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The traditional route to earning a computer science degree isn&rsquo;t as narrow as many might expect, and, even then, a four-year degree isn&rsquo;t a guarantee of success.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.recruiter.com\/i\/busting-tech-career-myths-part-3-its-not-a-tech-job-unless-you-work-for-a-major-silicon-valley-company\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myth No.3:<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;If it&rsquo;s not a Facebook or Google, it&rsquo;s not a technology job.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There&rsquo;s no Silicon Valley required for a tech job. Technologist positions exist in almost every organization around the world.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.recruiter.com\/i\/busting-tech-career-myths-part-4-a-tech-career-means-being-stuck-at-a-desk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myth No.4:<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;A tech career means being stuck at a desk.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Technology is growing and developing all over the world and stretches far beyond what can be displayed on a desktop monitor.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.recruiter.com\/i\/busting-tech-career-myths-part-5-money-is-the-main-benefit-of-having-a-tech-job\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myth No.5:<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;Money is the main benefit of a tech job.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Many tech jobs pay well, but today&rsquo;s teens care about more than economic gain. Tech role models show teens how their careers could make a positive impact on their communities.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.recruiter.com\/i\/busting-tech-career-myths-part-6-my-kids-wont-listen-to-me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myth No.6:<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;My kids won&rsquo;t listen to me.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The results of our studies confirm an important finding: Teens do listen to their parents.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.recruiter.com\/i\/busting-tech-career-myths-part-7-tech-jobs-are-going-overseas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myth No.7:<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;Tech jobs are going overseas.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Global economic ups and downs don&rsquo;t change the big picture: plenty of tech jobs are being created in the US.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>If we as mentors from the business world can clear these seven persistent myths from the minds of teens and parents today, they will be closing the tech employment gap for us tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While skill gaps widened in a variety of domains&mdash;marketing, sales, business development, accounting and finance, etc.&mdash;perhaps none of these deficits is as troubling as the one in the IT realm. Workers with a technologist&rsquo;s mindset, which optimally blends hard technical skills and relationship acumen (often called &ldquo;soft skills&rdquo;), are well-suited for today&rsquo;s fast-paced, continuously evolving digital business environment. However, there are issues at work that confound and complicate the task of raising the next generation of technologists. Seven myths about&nbsp;technology careers&nbsp;discourage potential technologists and their parents.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":3722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[95],"ppma_author":[1857],"class_list":["post-694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigdata-cloud","tag-big-data-amp-technology"],"authors":[{"term_id":1857,"user_id":295,"is_guest":0,"slug":"eric-larson","display_name":"Eric Larson","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Larson","first_name":"Eric","job_title":"","description":"Eric Larson is Senior Director - IT Futures Labs at <a href=\"creatingITfutures.org\">Creating IT Futures<\/a> that is dedicated to empowering those in need to train for, secure and be successful in an IT career. IT Futures Labs is an R&amp;D function of Creating IT Futures that tests new on-ramps to IT careers for youth and adults in need of opportunity and trumpets best practices in IT workforce development. He has worked in the journalism, nonprofit, and multimedia production fields since 1993."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5589,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions\/5589"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}