This is an article from this week's ComputerWorld magazine
http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/st...TO55237,00.html
The truth is a hard pill to swallow.
Great Expectations
Have entry-level IT workers been spoiled by tales of dot-com millionaires and candidate-hungry recruiters? Some have for sure. But most recent graduates have other concerns about their first jobs in IT. We asked several to tell us their career desires.
By HOLLY HUBBARD PRESTON
(December 18, 2000) When Bridget Hellyer graduated from college a few months ago, she expected to be embraced by a needy, enthusiastic job market filled with established software firms looking for new talent. Instead, she faced grueling two-day interviews with demanding prospective managers who extended few offers and not much encouragement.
After four months, Hellyer says, she finally landed a "great" application programming job with a start-up that gave her everything she wanted. Still, she acknowledges that the whole experience of getting to that point was a far cry from her original expectations.
"I was a little surprised how competitive the market was and how bureaucratic some of the big software companies were," Hellyer says.
Hellyer isn't alone in her great expectations and subsequent reality check. Earlier this year, Computerworld spoke with 41 soon-to-be college graduates about what they expected from their first IT jobs and long-term IT careers.
On the whole, they were an optimistic bunch, anticipating signing bonuses, lush salaries and promotions within the first six to nine months.
Then we followed up with some of those graduates four months later to find out if they had settled into new jobs and how they matched their expectations. The consensus among those we spoke with was that the booming IT employment sector may look like a land of milk, honey and stock options, but for the entry-level professional, the reality may be more like bread and water.
Be Prepared
Although demand for programming and Web talent these days is unprecedented, when it comes to first-time hires, the traditional rules still apply: Entry-level salaries are generally modest, you'll need to pay a lot of dues before a promotion comes, and you may be asked to take on tasks not originally identified in your job description.
This is what another respondent, John, found when he landed his first job. "My initial expectations were that I would be working strictly in a programmer role," he said. "But I currently have to deal with network administration functions as well as working as a programmer."
In fact, John says, network administration takes up most of his time. Originally, he had been told he might be used as a backup network administrator.
Another respondent, Toyin, says she had a similar experience. "I sent out tons of resumes and had very few responses." Ultimately, Toyin landed the job she wanted as a data analyst in the health care field. Still, she says, the pay was much less than she expected. "I had seen so many figures in the press that led me to expect more," she says.
Even in cases where respondents had industry experience, it wasn't always enough to land them the positions they wanted.
Such was the case with Thomas, who's still looking for a job.
Going into his job hunt, Thomas says, he believed he had a lot of hands-on experience - until he started interviewing. Four months and 35 resume submissions later, he's still looking.
Thomas says he's interested in starting out in network/PC support or administration. In addition to a bachelor of science in computer science, he has taken 36 computer classes, holds an A+ certification, is working toward a Cisco Networking Academy CCNA certificate and has owned his own business. And he volunteers as an Internal Revenue Service-certified income tax preparer for the elderly. His reception from the job market so far? "You don't have any experience."
Tom, an aspiring programmer just out of school, offers this advice to employers frustrated by the perceived lack of experience among college graduates like himself: Be more specific with the universities and at job fairs about what you want, down to the level of certifications and programming skills.
Facing Reality
To managers responsible for IT hiring, the comments here offer a chance to peak inside the minds of some of the folks that may soon be applying to you for a job. Are you on the same page with these people? It isn't easy.
"Fresh grads, especially coming into start-ups, often tend to think they will be a senior engineer, lead developer or even architect within their first year," says Jeff Kennedy, a software development manager at Tellme Networks Inc. in Mountain View, Calif., who handles a lot of hiring for the start-up. "It used to be, back in the old days, that new hires would have titles such as junior programmer analyst, but now fresh grads would find an offer with such a job title to be an insult."
Kennedy has a point. In fact, when our interviewees were still in school, we asked them how soon they expected to be promoted after their initial hiring. The majority said they expected to advance within six months of hiring. What were they thinking? As one of our respondents noted in a follow-up interview, "I had read so much about the demand for programmers and how people were writing their own ticket."
While that might well be the perception among grads, the reality is quite different, says Bert Miller, president of Protis Executive Innovations, an IT placement consulting firm in Avon, Ind. According to Miller, most organizations he deals with "do not even know if a person is solid for the long term until their first 90 days minimally. General rule of thumb for top talent to receive a promotion is 12 to 18 months." A pay raise, he says, might come in 12 months.
While our college graduates may have overestimated their opportunity for early promotion, we found that most were fairly realistic.
Although much has been written about senior programmers demanding at-home work situations, more than 90% of our respondents said they expected to work in a traditional office environment. Instead, the perks the graduates most frequently identified as appealing were salary, training, good geographic location, signing bonus and atmosphere.
Hubbard Preston is a freelance writer in St. Helena, Calif.
Report this post to a moderator
|
12-21-00 09:50 PM
