Modern technologies influenced our everyday routines and changed the way we work and communicate. With its immense importance and popularity, it is no wonder that IT sector is growing rapidly over the last few years. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in this field should increase by 12 percent until 2024 – faster than the average for all occupations.
However, regardless of being the trendiest profession nowadays, the IT sector is still surrounded by many misunderstandings and superstitions. In this article, we are going to deconstruct the most common IT myths that could be holding you back while trying to build a breakthrough in this industry.
Don’t believe the hype
The mainstream media often exaggerate things, while people tend to misinterpret even the most obvious information. That’s how modern myths are created. If you are looking for a job in computer technologies, check out the most popular beliefs that don’t really match the truth.
Getting a job is easy
As we have already mentioned, IT is one of the most popular professions these days. Newspapers and digital journals often create lists of the most popular occupations where IT skills come on top without any exemptions. However, this is only one side of the coin.
The truth is that almost all of these jobs are reserved for the most-proficient and well-experienced professionals. This doesn’t really give a chance to young talents to participate in the contest. If you want to make a great career, be ready to work hard and start from the scratch.
Formal education is not obligatory
It is true that IT experts rely mostly on skills that they gain over time. These skills and practical knowledge are parts of your expertise, and you can use them to solve all sorts of problems in this field. But you should not convince yourself that you don’t need a college degree to become a successful IT professional.
Just like in all other industries, you can advance in your career without formal education but only to the certain level. If your dream is to join the elite of IT business, you are going to need the academic background to support your resume.
I don’t have to be an all-around player
The diversification of labour is an essence of modern economies. As science improves and industries develop, only a little room is still left for all-around players who are familiar with many parts of the same profession.
On the other hand, you can hardly expect to become a thorough IT specialist if you stick to one section of this broad industry. It is very simple: the more you know, the more you can grow. If you look at things from many points, you will definitely be able to improve in your primary field of expertise.
Learning ends after graduation
Fresh graduates are usually self-confident. They consider themselves experts and sometimes even think that the learning process is finished as soon as the college years are over. However, they could not be more wrong.
First of all, you cannot learn anything 100 percent until you face concrete, real-life problems. In theory – which is what you learn at school – everything is always logical and there is an obvious solution to the problem. Once you begin facing specific issues in your company, you’ll realise that there is a long way ahead of you. Learning is not over after graduation, and it will never end.
Secondly, IT is probably the fastest-changing profession as huge breakthroughs happen almost on a daily basis. In such a dynamic environment, you need to follow the latest trends and stay up to date. If you don’t keep learning, your knowledge will soon become obsolete.
IT is only for nerds and geeks
It is obvious that you need to possess a mathematical talent and a respectful amount of healthy logic if you want to deal with IT duties. But it doesn’t mean that you have to be a genius. When you think about it for a while, do you know any successful business person who is actually stupid and doesn’t have a clue about math and logic? It’s basically the same for all professions but somehow people tend to emphasise this trait too much when it comes to IT.
I will earn a lot of money
Salaries in the IT industry are quite nice. From Systems Administrators to Senior Software Engineers, average annual salaries vary from US$60 to $100 thousand. But this is just the median salary, and it includes earnings from both sides of the spectrum.
And if you are a beginner, don’t expect to earn that much instantly. No one is willing to offer young individuals huge financial compensations. First, you need to prove that you are worth it, and then you can expect a more generous financial benefit from your IT position.
A lot of misunderstandings surround each profession, but some widespread IT myths can really hold you back while trying to build a career in this sector. Many talented young people faced the same dilemmas early on in their careers, so we decided to debunk such misinterpretations. In this article, we described the six most common IT myths. Tell us in comments what you think about it and let us know which myth you consider the most annoying.
