The need for broad-based information technology training is well-known not just in the Bay Area or the USA, but across the world. In any national economy that is either thoroughly modernized or on the fast-track to development, IT skills and training will be essential to success in the job market of the future. By the same token, the level of information technology training among young professionals will be a major indicator of the prospects for entire segments of those national economies.
It is because this trend is so well-recognized that there is a clear global push to encourage ever-earlier development of interest and skill in information and computer technology. In roughly the first week of July alone, there have been several projects announced with this goal in mind.
In Nebraska, the Department of Economic Development has announced a project to connect the youth of the state with prospective employers in technology fields, and to foster partnerships with schools that provide information technology training. Just to the north, Industry Canada has announced its plans to provide wage subsidies to interns and young job seekers in the fields of information technology. Training for this sector has increasing government support throughout North America, and as a result, younger people can be expected to have more opportunities to obtain relevant skills and certifications.
But far away from the world of information technology placements in California and US at large, there are similar programs cropping up to help still-developing economies to take advantage of technologies and job trends that help to make requisite skills similar across the globe. In India, the support for information technology training and IT placements is so strong that the youth of the nation are increasingly moving away from sectors that are currently strong in order to take advantage of expected rapid growth.
And in Ghana, both non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations are making contributions to the provision of information technology training among students and young job seekers. The NGO Information Technology for Teenagers recently held a two-day conference in a Ghanaian city to encourage young people to take the subject seriously.
Meanwhile, Samsung has entered into an agreement with the government of another region of Ghana to provide information technology training that will help local youth to take advantage of developing opportunities in software development and digital technology testing.
It goes without saying that each of these stories is only a drop in the bucket when one considers the global trend toward government and private sector support for the IT training that is essential to the 21st century. This speaks to both the opportunities and the threats that face job seekers of any age who are looking for IT placements in the Bay Area, across the USA, or across the world.
On one hand, if you are young and you have a burgeoning interest in information technology, you will likely be able to find opportunities to pursue a broad range of software training courses, business analyst certifications, agile training, and much more, without the need to pay the costs entirely on your own.
On the other hand, the pressure that other workers are facing to take advantage of these opportunities means that the coming years will see an influx of highly skilled job seekers who have acquired training in their teens that many of today’s information technology professionals didn’t pursue until well into their careers. Whatever stage of your career you’re in right now, you’re going to have to work hard to keep up, and you’re likely going to have to build online IT training courses into the everyday schedule of your Bay Area IT placement, of whatever professional role you play.
The IT job market of the future will be difficult to keep up with, but if you can consistently prove yourself to have one of the highest skill sets in your field, it will pay off for you in spades.