Originally posted by baco99:


"entry level" jobs, especially in IT, which is still evolving and growing at an alarming rate, mean something different now than they did 3, 5, or 10 years ago. schools are teaching programming skills to freshmen now that would have been considered topics for experienced programmers when I was in college. things like database modelling and management, ERPs, client server technologies, etc. are being taught much earlier on for many students. as time passes, the bar will continue to rise.



Brian, I have to disagree with you there. You're assuming that everyone in the IT field is going to a full college (you said Freshmen). They don't. Not everyone. There are tons and tons of technical schools for such things as PC service and repair. Yes, a lot of those people are the ones who didn't do well in high school, but, want to start somewhere, and tech support is a great place to start. Yes, there are the small niche companies like where I started, but, the BIG ones, like Dell, IBM, etc., outsource the support jobs to save money. That doesn't help the kids HERE who are learning the jobs to the best of their abilities.

And, technology DOES evolve, but, "entry level" will ALWAYS be "entry level." Those are the lower paying, generally lower stress jobs. They're also seen, unfortunate, as simple jobs, which they can outsource to 3 dozen poor Indian folks for what they'd pay one person here. What happens when ALL the entry level IT jobs are shipped overseas? What happens to the people who are fresh out of college with no entry level positions available to them? I, for one, would have been completely screwed in that situation. It was different 5, 10 years ago, when there were only a few people who understood computers enough to help people out over the phone. Same with database modelling right now, as you say. Well, when the masses are able to do it, the job itself becomes easier, the market gets saturated, and suddenly it's easy enough to ship out to another Indian or Asian shop that'll do it for 1/4 what we will.

I've been an IT pro for 6 years and change now, I've seen how it's changed, and I really, really feel for the people that are just coming into it know, regardless of what education they have. They're fighting a battle that's uphill on ice.

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