About Leigh Ishikawa Expertise I can answer questions about certifications, technical skills, and realistic job opportunities.
Experience My speciality is QA, but I have been involved in development, release engineering, configuration management, technical publication as well as human factors aspects of software development. I've done some offshore management in UK, and recruting non-residents in USA, but I am not expert in off-shore recruting efforts.
NOTE: College/Highschool student are always welcomed to ask questions!
Expert: Leigh Ishikawa Date: 10/14/2007 Subject: Career change
Question I am a PhD in materials engineering. I got the PhD 6 years back, and working as a scientist for last six years. I am 35 years old now, and want to switch to IT. Can you guide me what kind of IT job will be good for me. I have some experience in programming, and network administration. I am thinking of getting Oracle certification.
Answer Job demands depends a lot on where you are. Without knowing which country you are in, it's difficult for me to give you the optimal answer.
First of all, IT is a very generic field. Some consider hardware/software development (e.g. Microsoft) as part of IT. While others consider IT as purely as in-house infrastructure/support organization.
As you read through my old responses, you will see that I change my views. That's because my views are snapshot of what I see at the moment and how I perceive things to be in the long term. So here's what my crystal ball says...
But in US, I see a lot of change happening in the in-house IT field. Many companies are getting rid of in-house IT departments and hiring large shops to do development, and even in-house support. And that ties into the next topic...
As for getting into main stream technology shops, having product knowledge is good, but that's moving away. Mainly because unlike the old days where each product had it's own unique interface, the tech industry is pushing for unified interface. You will hear technology terms like Web Services, that are commonly discussed. The main reason for this interface is to eliminate numerous custom clients and libraries that people have to support in various platforms (e.g. operating systems).
That said, I see programming, and infrastructure software (e.g. HP BTO, IBM Tivoli) to be something that IT people should know. Primarily because these tools were mainly used primarily by very large organizations because of large investments needed, but are starting to become the center piece in connecting various pieces and making them all work together. Don't be surprised in the next few years that you will see free version of these tools coming out where various vender's software and hardware will talk to one central tool, which will then be able configure/update/power on/off from one panel.
That said, BTO, and Tivoli is not something you can pickup, and trying to get hands on various other parts of it will be difficult because of system requirements, and that they are often locked down by big giant shops as 'in-house knowledge'. But programming will become key as xml will become even more popular and various toolkits out there will become more useful when someone has strong knowledge of coding skillset. (e.g. Java). I wouldn't be surprised if a new language (i.e. Ruby) takes over this field and becomes the trend setter. But I wouldn't put all my eggs in that basket either.
In summary,
I can't say what is a good field. I think my believe in individual's capacity to work is limited by his/her interest. So, you should focus your study in areas of your interest. Database (i.e. Oracle) is a good starting point. But how far certification will take you at this stage of technology is difficult to predict. If investments (e.g. time, and money) had to be made, I would spend on programming language.
But you should also consider 'changing job' as strategy to changing the field. Ideally, going into organization where you can establish yourself in the existing expertise you have, obtain recognition, and getting management support to allow you to change field because of the all the accomplishments you made. Your current organization may not do this, but that doesn't mean it does not exist out there.
Sorry for the long wait, but things have been busy, and this took some time for me to think before answering.
