As a high school student, or a recent college or university graduate, or a career changer, you may be wondering about the value of pursuing education in Information Technology (IT). This is a great question to ponder at any stage of your academic or professional journey. Taking time to think, explore, and change can prove to be very useful. The benefits of learning about IT and becoming a pro are vast, diverse, and rooted in creativity, freedom and long term financial prosperity.
Create the future
There are several perks that come with the pursuit of information technology education. One perk that is not so obvious is having the privilege to stand on shoulders of giants that made IT possible like physicists (James Maxwell), mathematicians (Claude Shannon), electrical engineers (Nikola Tesla), and computer scientists (Alan Turing). Let’s face it, being brave to look at the world from a high vantage point has its advantages….you can see further and the paths and possibilities to create the future are limitless.
Freedom to choose
You may be thinking, that sounds awesome, perhaps even better than flying and hang gliding, but will I be employable after studying IT? The world depends significantly on IT for communication, automation, control, infrastructure, services, education, healthcare, finance, entertainment, earth and space exploration, security, transportation, just to name a few.
If you look around, IT is embedded and integrated everywhere from your mobile phone, to your home network, to the latest electric vehicles, or electronic games. So if the world continues to be hooked on IT, which it likely will, the question that you will need to ask yourself is not whether you will be employed, but where and how will you choose to apply your talent. Those, of course, are very personal questions.
The package
Besides having an option to choose how to apply your talent, as an IT pro you are in a great position to negotiate an entire employment package with an employer including a competitive salary, remote work option, and growth opportunities. Along with being part of a multi-trillion dollar industry, you have the flexibility to change jobs and companies to contribute across diverse industries, develop specialized skills, and accelerate your career growth.
If you are daring at heart, and want to chart your own business path, the startup ecosystems eagerly awaits you, the IT entrepreneur, to create the next big thing.
About the Author
Dr. Predrag Pešikan an electrical engineer and business professional with management and leadership experience in both public and private higher education sector. He has served in executive roles as CIO, VP-IT, and Dean, and recently led the development of industry relevant programs including AI, Cybersecurity, and IoT. His research interest is in IT, leadership, and profitability of tech startups.
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