Comments on: Is There Really an IT Labor Shortage?

By: Brian Quigley

Brian Quigley — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:45:48 +0000

Well I must admit I am not a regular visitor of this website, but in conducting a web search was lead here. Anyhow I was reading through this particular post and was VERY pleased to do so. Before I go much further I will say that in terms of I.T. knowledge I consider my self to be very knowledgeable in the field. Mostly with MS products and some basic knowledge of UNIX/Linux variants as well troubleshooting simple SOHO router/switching equipment. Far from any top-level engineer obviously but then that is just what I want to point out. With some college level education and currently no certifications I absolutley believe that I can do just what the author of the article in question was pointing out. THINK CRITICALLY! I have read numerous books on certain certifications and while they certainly have much to offer in terms of working with a certain product this type of knowledge can be had by anyone with a book. In my search for some kind of entry level I.T. support job it has been quite clear that without some acronym jutting out on your resume you havn’t got a chance. I do understand employers want to know you have some knowledge of the PC products they are using but I have a big problem with being screened out completely because of this. I tend to blame the Employment agencies for a lot of this. They obviously get dozens and dozens of resumes and have to screen out ones they dont feel are good enough but I think they may be overlooking smart, and intelligent people who, although dont have the certs they are lookiing for but could probably solve a problem better or faster than someone with a cert. I may be totally off base here and I dont necessarily intend to knock the people with the certifications. My apologies. It is just that I beleive employers should broaden thier outlook on how to hire a confident, critical thinker as opposed to someone who looks good on paper.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:43:44 +0000

Robert,

Thanks for the comments. I’d be curious to know what your daughter is being taught in her PC tech classes at school? I’d bet its all technical with no attention to troubleshooting. Not that technical information is bad–it is certainly great to have someone who is immensely knowledgeable, but I’ve found that someone who is not as knowledgeable yet has a grasp of figuring things out systematically ends up being a better engineer in the long run.

One thing you noted about your daughter’s experience with the boot problem is key though–jumping to conclusions. We are all guilty of that at one point or another, but I try to not to do so regularly. Questioning everything is one skill that will serve someone well over the course of their career.

I’d say go for the certs–even though I talk down about certifications, I still hold quite a few. They are that critical piece that gets your foot in the door, because as I said in the original article, the HR groups are only looking for those acronyms. You may not need to put a lot of effort into the tests if you know the material already.

By: Robert Amerson

Robert Amerson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:45:57 +0000

Wow! I have been saying this ever since my eldest child started computer study at tech school for grades 10-12.

I am uncertified in all PC repair fields. But have learned to repair and network all the Win Os 98SE through Vista. I have been a component level electronic repair technician for better than 11 years until two years ago… Seems like everything is throw away or board swap these days. This tech had to close up shop!

But the troubleshooting skills I have, along with the willingness to read up on any subject matter (be it PC Repair, Internet Security, Networking, or how to bypass/reset Win 2K Pro admin’s forgotten password) has been employed in the hobby of PCs and Network Repair… I’ve even made some money at it!

Bless my eldest child’s heart she got soo frustrated recently when she couldn’t figure out a tower’s OS boot problem! It was quickly plain the problem was probably the hardware… (This example the Primary IDE Cable was intermittent sometimes somewhere…)

It was a strange problem, as it seemed to have random errors at differing spots of the boot process. But That was clue in and of itself! My point to her was she needed to think through her problem more carefully, she doesn’t troubleshoot well… She just ‘knew’ the problem was software! So I am hoping to see that skill improve! She’s young having just graduated high school with an advanced diploma with technical endorsements!

I’m getting old now, with kids starting college. But I am tempted to learn the certification tests in a couple areas to get back in to a tech oriented field professionally. I find the Rental Car industry boring, because it never challenges my thought processes!