10 Key Things Every Computer Graduate must know about the IT Industry

Met Satish on the city bus last month in Bangalore. Not anybody I knew. Just another of the umpteen direction seekers, asking me for the bus that he could catch to go to Banashankari in South Bangalore. With me headed to the same place, I asked him to accompany me. He was a Hyderabadi who had just completed his Masters in chip design and was in Bangalore to catch up with some old friends. We struck a conversation and he wanted to know how one's approach to life and careers in the Information Technology field should be. Quite a broad based question, but a relevant one at that.

The best advice that I was offered came from an article, I had stumbled upon last year titled 'What every graduate should know before entering the IT industry'. The article succinctly put forth advice that has helped me and dozens of others with whom I shared the article.

For the thousands of Suresh's that make it out of college every year, here goes : the 6 key points of the article...

1. Once you're pigeon-holed, it's extremely hard to break out, so choose your domain area carefully.
2. Technical Skills are hard currency, so keep collecting them.
3. Your whole career in IT will be spent updating your skills.
4. IT is a volatile industry, so be on the watch for signs of an upheaval.
5. You should get experience by working at bargain-basement prices.
6. Get your vendor certifications to add to your credentials.

For the detailed article, go here

...and 4 add-ons from my experience

1. Develop a wide network of friends in the industry.
2. Develop collateral skills in tools like from companies like Adobe, Macromedia, Microsoft. you never know when they come handy, ( maybe to impress your new boss ).
3. Maintain a wide reading habit and co-relate news items with probable effect on the IT industry.
4. Interact with like minded people in special interest groups on Google groups/Yahoo groups.

Happy Sailing in the industry.