Debunking the IT Industry Myth

200315512-001Working in IT can be very different from the general picture the media paints of the industry.  Every time you check the front page of the New York Times or any of your other news sources, you find a story full of the latest lore about the lavish perks at an IT company, or perhaps their nearly-farcical amount of trust and experimental new team-building activities.  It can be slightly difficult to remember the main reason these companies exist: to get work done.  The IT job is no longer popularly seen as the thankless position for losers who don’t mind a basement office.  It’s become nothing short of a myth — and is indeed the place from whence we build legends.  Marissa Mayer, Mark Zuckerberg, David Karp and more live among celebrities, now.  We cannot help but marvel at their latest move or wonder what their exotic lives might be like at the office — never mind the stuff of pure fantasy that might occur beyond it (ahem, Sean Parker’s Lord of the Rings recreation wedding).

The problem lies in this simple truth, though: the IT market isn’t actually anything more than a job field.  It may be a job field that is doing well right now, even in the clutches of an economy that is recovering at a relatively glacial pace.  It may even be a job field with some really unique, creative companies and people.  But first and foremost this is an industry that requires some real work. Often the more lush the perks a company offers, the more intense the hours it requires.  Interviews consist not only of softball questions, but verbal and written tests.  Certifications need to be kept up — outside of work hours, of course.  And “on call” means something in the tech field, possibly sometimes something more intimidating than in the medical field.

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To work in the tech field is definitely to make oneself vulnerable to the misperception that media has so deftly woven.  It’s important for IT recruiters to consider how they might disabuse any IT professionals they work with of this notion.  Perks may abound, but diligence and preparation also need to abound.  IT recruiting firms need to focus on deconstructing the myth for their candidates — and making sure they’re ready to hit the ground sprinting at their new jobs.

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Samantha Keefe
Samantha Keefe is the interactive marketing manager for AVID Technical Resources, a Boston-based IT recruiting firm with offices all over the U.S. She can be reached at samantha.keefe (at) avidtr (dot) com.


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One Response to “Debunking the IT Industry Myth”

  1. […] Working in IT can be very different from the general picture the media paints of the industry. Every time you check the front page of the New York Times or any of your other news sources, you find a story full of the latest lore about the lavish perks at an IT company, or perhaps their nearly-farcical amount of trust and experimental new team-building activities. It can be slightly difficult to remember the main reason these companies exist: to get work done.  […]

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