Is working on IT Career for all?
NASSCOM predicts the growth of
IT & ITeS service to grow by 11-14% in 2012 and cross $100 billion revenue
milestone. Every year we have at least half a million of Bachelor and Masters of
Technology graduates passing out from various institutions in India, each of
them eyeing for a placement in one of the IT companies. So it seems the demand
for IT is never going down and the opportunities neither. Most people in IT say
“we are not doing rocket Science here, mostly an If and else statement here or
there”J. Well that’s mostly the truth in most cases, so
is the career open house for all? The bitter truth is that it isn't having a
straight forward answer as it seems.
I remember there was a time
when people used to say “To clear one of the top IT companies interview you
just need to know all the answers of Shakuntala Devi’s puzzles”. And there were “smart people” who mugged up
all answers too J
and cleared the rounds of interview – because they were the elite few who got
more than 90% answers correctly. It’s funny to even think about it now. The
very reason the puzzles were put forward was to find the right candidates was
beaten. Getting the right candidate is always a difficult task for
interviewers.
Analytical skills
If you can visualize,
articulate and solve issues based on the available information, you just hit jackpot
on this one. Most developer just needs this – in this world of supporting
applications if you have the ability to identify the issue with just the
available information and solve issue, you are game for it.
Re-engineering skills
Well this one of the best
inline attribute – going a full reverse from answer to the questionJ. I have had the
privilege to meet someone like this during college days as well. He used to
look at the answer of analytical question and find the correct answers using
various permutation and combination logic. Most often this skill is of primary
importance in identifying an issue and solving it or to completely
re-architecture an existing system. A more advanced state of analytical skillsJ.
Logical thinking or reasoning
Logical reasoning is the
process which uses arguments, statements, premises and axioms to define weather
a statement is true or false, resulting in a logical or illogical reasoning. So
ideally it’s a combination of analytical skills and reasoning.
Business Knowledge
Unfortunately this is not for
beginners but for more experienced professionals. For lateral hires the
criteria is a combination of analytical skills, technical skills or strong
business knowledge – to be considered as an expert in the functional knowledge.
It’s considered more or less easier getting a person experienced in good
technical skills but difficult to get a person who knows how a system should
behave or how it functions.
Ideas or Think Tankers & Out-of the-box Thought Process
Although both characteristics
are different, they both are linked. Albert Einstein had said “Any intelligent
fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius - and
a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”
Well that’s not an exhaustive
list but just the main trends for an IT candidate J
