Listen to the young 'not medium' answers about IT industry

"Is IT important to degree? Making IT easy to age and fast? " These questions will be more or less solved in this interview.

Every summer, the family members witness how many emotions of not only the soldiers trying to cross the disciplines through the most important exams of human life, but also of the parents themselves following the steps. My child's feet are becoming more independent. Needless to say, the importance of career guidance, school choice, career choice is always a question in the heart of every family and each student himself.

At the time of 4.0, it was adorned with many milestones to crept into the life around us, regardless of the lavish cities or the villages of naive villages. However, statistics in 2018 show that Vietnam needs 1 million human resources for information technology (IT) by 2020, focusing a lot in key areas "hot trend" like artificial intelligence (AI) , virtual reality (VR), e-commerce . That more or less shows the potential of the IT industry is still growing.

So before that strong attraction, what do the new students want to follow in IT industry to prepare to gradually realize the dream of success in the future? Let's listen to the close sharing from the following two young faces - a person with a lot of experience, a person who has just finished college exams, but is certainly "not the same".

1. Can you share a little bit about the first time I learned about IT and passionate love from there? In your opinion, is such a time sooner or later, ideal for starting to pursue IT expertise?

H (Mr. Hoang): Luckily, his house has conditions, so he was able to contact the computer quite early, at grade 3, 4 something. Back then, he only knew how to use Word, Excel, and not what IT was. When I was in 9th grade, 10th grade, I was admired by Bill Gates (I heard that he was very rich), plus he loved the game, so he started to get excited about the IT industry. Back then, he only knew IT was doing software, making games, making security hackers something and not finding out more. When he went to the University, he learned a 'methodical' way about the industry.

As for the moment, he found it really unimportant, whether he was 17 or 27 years old to start pursuing IT at all. Industry knowledge is also available online so self-study is not too hard. However, if you are a bit older (more than 30), it will be more difficult to apply for a job, because you have to compete with other young graduates. These young people are often active, younger and more important . to receive lower wages.

N (Person): I personally started programming since a few years ago. The first time is quite difficult when there is no instructor, I can only search Google and tinkering bit by bit. Until now individuals have not been able to solve all problems on their own, but Search Google is basically more effective.

I am fortunate to have access to Technology pretty soon. I think the combination of going in the right direction, having the passion and the help from the family has been my motivation to pursue this career. Beginning with programming from the end of junior high school, I have the opportunity to go faster than you, so I feel quite lucky to be able to start early and have more time to develop myself.

2. In order to have a smooth footing in the IT industry, new entrants in general and new students in particular need to cultivate for themselves what skills are most important? Comparing between the time when I first started and what kind of difficulties did you encounter now to develop those skills?

H: The most important skill is still . self-study skills, more specifically English reading skills.

The simple reason is because the knowledge in this industry changes a lot and very quickly. New technologies / trends appear constantly. A programming language / technology will be upgraded or improved after 5.6 years. Therefore, Vietnamese documents are few, almost not updated. In order to keep up with the new technology, it is imperative that you know how to study by yourself, read the materials yourself in English. If not, industry employees will be eliminated, or find suitable jobs.

The second reason is because the University only teaches basic knowledge, but the actual knowledge is only self-taught, and you can do it (because they change quickly, the syllabus does not update promptly. ). Therefore, almost all graduates need training again. If you don't know how to learn by yourself, it will be difficult for you to find a job.

In addition, there are quite a lot of necessary skills such as thinking skills, problem analysis, teamwork skills . You see that to develop, the best way is still to plug in to do, observe and learn from Better people around me.

N: I personally feel that when I follow a heavy engineering career like IT, the most important thing is being able to love the job. Every job needs it, but for IT it is even more necessary, since most of the industry's knowledge is mostly from self-study, very frustrating.

And the most important skill in the start process is self-study. Everything is on the Internet, it is important that you are interested in them or not. At this point, the difficulty in programming I encountered so much, that I remember not all. However, now my ability to use Google is much better and something I don't know can quickly look up. Of course, when I want to become more professional, I will have to avoid searching Google continuously. Anyway, I think Google is the first thing that a person learning programming needs to master.

3. IT covers a wide range, including many categories of detailed majors. In your opinion, which direction has the potential for deep development in Vietnam in the near future?

H: I will say that after studying, I will make it easy for you to think about it.

In Vietnam, IT students can graduate as follows:

Programmer: As people who build and program software (like you). Software is what you use every day like Facebook app and web. Often students in Computer Science or Software Technology can do this. There is also embedded programming, ie programming chips, electronic circuits in TVs, air-conditioners, cars .

Security: They are people who research and design the system to protect the user's information, the company, avoid information leakage, protect the system before hackers attack. Most schools offer Information Security / Information Security, and graduate school.

Business Analyst: They are knowledgeable about systems and processes, will work with customers, design systems, write requirements to let programmers build systems. Normally, students in Information Systems / Information Technology in general can also do this industry.

There are also a few other small areas like Testing - Software Testing, Network Engineering - Network infrastructure setup .

Potentially, the programming industry is still the industry with the greatest demand, the easiest job to find. In fact, this industry needs a lot from 3-5 years ago, not only recently has the public been paying more attention. However, he personally realized that we should not be too fascinated by the concepts of AI and Big Data on the throne. The work related to AI, Big Data is very little, mostly concentrated in large companies or research institutes, will require and prioritize the Computer Science students, each graduate school, well research power. Left, if you want to make sure you wear durable, easy to find a job, just learn to program, follow the popular array like Web / Mobile or embedded.

N: I myself am too young to make a judgment on this issue, but what I find out shows that Web programming technology is the most interesting thing.

4. 'Doing IT means overnight code, loss of sleep, back pain, age before age .' What do you think about this 'propaganda' spread?

H: Well, I think the exploitation of IT staff is not rare if you are not careful and knowledgeable to protect your rights. Due to the characteristics of the project, sometimes it will have to . squeeze the rolls to the neck, but the code for the deadline will also be available. However, it is common to do extra work until 9-10pm, because this is an intellectual labor industry, if you do not take a rest but stay up late and work, then productivity and quality of work will decrease, so it is very We rarely have to overtime overnight.

In terms of health, IT is similar to other office branches, ie having to sit a lot, look at the screen a lot, easily suffer from diseases such as hemorrhoids, near, back pain, headache, . However, his friends and He still goes to soccer, cycling, exercising a lot to limit these risks. In general, things work a lot, code across the night depends on yourself and the fate of each person. Personally, he usually stayed away from overtime companies so he worked quite comfortably, working 8-9 hours is fine.

N: I feel that this is not true, but it is not true. A programmer can be determined to spend the whole night solving problems, but can also stop to deal with them later - it depends on each person. I personally get a bit too far into the code, so it is a bit hard to control, but later I will definitely have to rearrange the time. An anti-scientific lifestyle is a common way of living in IT, but no one forces themselves to go that way.

5. For you, is the qualification now really important for employers for young IT enthusiasts compared to experience? What do you value, strive for and be willing to trade for more than 2 things?

Q: In this industry, experience is extremely important. If you have 3.4 years of experience, when you go to apply for a job, no one will ask what degree you have, what school you study. Companies they find capable people, do the job. Having work experience means that I have been through projects, knowing how to solve problems. You yourself have a good Master's degree, but before going to an interview, no one asked you to study any school, any degree.

However, he also had such a funny sentence: "A degree is just a ticket to the parking lot. But without a ticket, you can't go to the car."

If you do not have experience, employers can only look at your degree to evaluate. No matter how good you are, if you have never worked, in a no-product CV, and . do not have a university degree, the chance that you will be interviewed to prove yourself is very low. Therefore, he often advises students that if conditions permit, go to practice from year 2, year 3. At graduation, there are 1.2 years of experience more than peers. than. Sometimes there is no need, but many companies are inviting.

However, he still advises you to try to finish your studies to get a degree. A degree opens a lot of doors for you. If you do not have a degree, then want to go to the manager, want to go abroad to work, your way will be difficult.

N: Yes, and no. I haven't graduated from university yet to give the most overview, but what I see proves that an industry like IT doesn't need too much formal stuff like a degree. It is a technique, the skill will decide everything, having good thinking things will be much easier.

Of course, the University environment will help you to have a strong, stable foundation rather than messing up on your own. Anyway, in my opinion, the degree should still be there, but there is no need to be too concerned or put down, the most important thing to consider is still experience and thinking.

The story of choosing a career, choosing a career before, during and after the University exam has never been an easy problem for many people, not only depending on their own passion and qualities but also the general trend of the time. great. Although the 4.0 era is gradually crowned, the immediate path of the new students with the dream of technology is still a mystery. Therefore, hope that the above knowledge and close sharing has more or less helped young people gain more motivation to support their great ambition.

Finally, thank you Pham Huy Hoang and friend Nguyen Anh Nhan for their enthusiastic support in the process of writing this article!

1. The Ministry of Information and Communications issues "Documents of things to know about IT jobs", a guideline for young people who love technology

According to: The Young Intelligence Electronic Newspaper.