Secure job in IT field - myth or reality?

(Photo: Ivana Vuksa)

An average user in computer and other additional technologies will see as an IT expert anyone who knows to install and adjust operational system on a computer and knows for instance how "alt + shift" functions. Many people would remember their first neighbor or someone close to them whom they occasionally ask to fix their computer because sometimes ït won't listen to them".

The situation, however, is not as simple as it may seen since when it comes to IT occupations deficit, experts explains that great demand refers to the ones who deal with programming and databases and that others in IT field, such as administrators, network administrators or web designers are not that popular and wanted and that they do not have plenty of jobs to chose from.

Potential candidates are usually expected to have completed a technical faculty and having in mind reputation of the Faculty of Electrical engineering in Belgrade (ETF), it can be assumed that a diploma of that faculty guarantees advantage when looking for a job.

A student, Zoran Krstic, who is nearing Master studies at ETF an end explains for eKapija it is not always the case. He outlines that physical electronics, field he specializes in, is not that popular as telecommunications, programming or software engineering for which there is a great interest when new students are coming and which, according to Krstic, are better reference at employers.

He outlines that along with the studies he is about to end soon, he attends a course in administrating computer networks and he believes that it will bring him wanted results soon.

What do experts say?

Srdjan Dackovic, an instructor at the "Cisco" academy of ETF and Srdjan Popovic , an instructor at "Linux" academy at ETF agree that global trend is that companies want one man who is an expert in more IT areas and to pay as little as possible. In his interview for eKapija they estimate that in none of the jobs, especially IT industry jobs, it is not smart to wait for the right job someone is qualified for.

- Our business culture did not go with development of technology and business model. It sums up entire problem we have. The most important feature you must have if you want to apply for a job in IT is to be certain, agile and ready to adapt to a situation –Popovic advises.

He explains that IT field is a huge industry and that without team work of expert people in different IT areas, any kind of IT cannot function.

Dackovic says that in that sense global trend is completely opposite and that it is moving to convergence, i.e. an attempt to comprise entire infrastructure area within outsourcing and to have as small number of people within it as possible. He thinks this makes problems.

Srdjan Popovic adds that a conclusion of a responsible person in a company that "IT expert is not needed at the moment in the company and that entire system is functioning without problems" would be a very superficial statement which only demonstrates that the one who made that conclusion does not know about IT services not even nearly as much he should know to make decisions on it.

How to get IT job in the fastest way possible?

Dackovic outlines that teh story of IT sector is in fact the story of service sector and adds that the sector must provide that service to someone.

As a collocutor or eKapija says, if there is basic will, job can be found and the problem may appear when people get it as "I am a web designer and I should do only that and if I do not get a job in that field then there is no work for me in IT".

The thing which, according to him, can be a bit more complicated and more difficult is to trasnefr from applications field into infrastructure and vice versa.

Popovic thinks there are two types of people in IT - people ready for constant development and monitoring of new technologies and the ones who are not ready for it and who resist, trying to keep old things. He reminds IT industry is fast-developing and the one who does not keep pace with this, loses track simply.

There are, as he explains, two models of business engagement with IT experts. The first one is such that a company has someone who is fully-employed and who sits and waits for something to happen and then reacts properly since he is prepared, educated and he spend a lot of time and money to be ready to solve the problem in a second. The second model is a company which has someone who will provide a service when needed and that, by the rule, can cost much more.

According to Popovic, in Serbian society there is a tendency that people are trying to show that the thing someone else is doing is simple and easy and that is one problem which particularly affects IT.

Sead Saitovic