Detroit firms, colleges create program to promote IT careers (The Detroit News)
June 22, 2012 at 8:17 am 1 comment
As a native Detroiter, I’m pleased to see a push (including my alma-mater, Wayne State) to increase the number of IT professionals in the Detroit area. The comments to the news item are more of what we’ve seen elsewhere: “I don’t have a job, so I don’t think that there really are jobs available” and “All IT jobs are outsourced. They’re not really going to hire anyone.” IEEE just posted a webcast and transcript explaining why good IT professionals are not getting jobs, in a market with a labor shortage.
A group of Detroit companies and three colleges in the region have teamed up to tackle the shortage of information technology workers in the area, the companies said Tuesday.
Online home lender Quicken Loans Inc., Compuware Corp.’s venture capital firm, software and IT business support provider GalaxE.Solutions, licensed entertainment and sports graphic firm Fathead LLC and Marketing Associates are working with Wayne State University, Wayne County Community College District and Washtenaw Community College on “IT in the D,” a two-month program to give students and IT professionals more experience to advance their technology careers.
via Detroit firms, colleges create program to promote IT careers | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com.
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: jobs.
Computing Ed Research - Guzdial's Take 
1.
Bonnie | June 22, 2012 at 8:29 am
The IEEE interview is spot on. Employers have completely given up on developing the skills of their IT workers. The model now is to hire people with 3 to 5 years of experience in technology ABC, use them for a while, and then spit them back out. This is why so many midcareer IT workers leave the field.
I recently watched a financial firm try to hire someone for a developer position. It took them 6 months. Why? Because they had a list of requirements that was almost impossible to fulfill, and every time they found a candidate who came close, that person was too expensive. Yet, this company would not budge on the requirements or the salary. Crazy.