Don't Wanna Be Nick Burns...duh

Slashdot posted a brief snippet stating that graduates think IT jobs would be boring, so they don't want one.

The author asks if it is Bill Gates's fault because he made the industry look "nerdy." 

The line of jumping logic..."Surely with so many (especially young) people being 'web first' with not just their buying habits, but now in terms of what they do in their spare time, we'd expect more of them to want to get a career in it?"

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/24/1526240&from=rss


The comments to the post are worth your time too.  There are statements like 'please stay out, that means more money for me' lines from the current IT Professionals.  Then there are the 'working in IT is boring, like wanting to be a part of the phone company in the 1960s...al you do is repair things' sentiments.

I'll toss in my hat, based on conversations with my son, who at the age of 13 passed his A+ Certification exams. 

He wanted to know how to fix his own stuff, so he wouldn't have to rely on the "professionals" who might really screw things up.  He did not (and still doesn't) want to rely on the word and work of someone else when it comes to his ability to gather information, play games, or just network.  He didn't want to be "taken advantage of by someone looking for a pigeon."

The edublogoshpere echo chamber was on the - It's not about the technology, it's what it allows you to do - rant for several months.  I happen to think this is precisely the issue why recent grads don't want IT jobs.  They have found out that it is about repair and maintenance of machines.  That's not much fun.  People are looking for something more meaningful and transcendent in their lives. 

It's the Daniel Pink theme coming to pass. 

As more workers know how to repair their own stuff, the need for the Nick Burns will dwindle.  The very people the Slashdot author thinks would be expected to want a career in IT don't want it because they expect the technology to work and they are moving on to create...where there is a possibility for transcendence.

Just thinking out loud.

Oh...by the way..."You'rrre Wellllcome."

Image: clipped from http://www.cnettv.com/9742-1_53-11125.html