Key Requisites for an Entry Level IT Professional

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Key Requisites for an Entry Level IT Professional

• R. Narayanan
• Advisor Learning Development
• TCS

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Agenda

• Industry Scenario
• Education Scenario
• IT mindset drivers

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How Business models evolve Ensuring Value
Addition
Strategic Inputs
Process reengineering Product assessment Business
case definition Change management
Increasing requirement and impact of industry
domain knowledge
Knowledge
Solution Design
Functional specifications Software
specifications IS architecture Component design
Process
Solution Delivery
What We Deliver
Application development Product
customization Infrastructure deployment Integratio
n and testing
Tools
Support
Relationship Maturity
Application maintenance Facilities
management Contact centers Help desks
Skills
Skills
Modules
Projects
Programs
What the Customer outsources
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Co-evolution of Learning with Business Model
Consulting Skills , Foreign Language
Domain Expertise Relationship Mgmt.
Software Engg. Project Mgmt.
Technical Capabilities Process Mindset Domain
Expertise Synthesis Skills Communication
Programming Technology Skills
70s 80s
90s
00s
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Industry Scenario

• Emphasis shifting from T to I
• Technology models co-evolve with changing
  business models
• Industry expects smart solutions
• Concurrent technology development deployment
• Do we live with sustainable linear growth or do
  we want steeper gradients of growth

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Education Scenario

• IT education not kept pace with general
  engineering and management education the system
  is adequate to meet lower ends of the market
  needs
• Formal education to build mindsets and transfer
  knowledge of permanent value not fleeting
  skills
• Absence of consensus on a Common Body of
  Knowledge a pre- requisite for any profession

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What Overseas Clients of Several IT Companies
Have to Say?

• Lack of multi-disciplinary competency and
  holistic approach
• Inability to relate to real-world problems,
  inability to see the larger picture
• Little abstraction capabilities
• Lack of business domain appreciation
• IT fundamentals not too strong, lack of in-depth
  knowledge.
• Technicians rather than consultants
• Lack of soft skills, No sense of humor.
• Too many boys, very few men

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Holistic Education

Attitude

Skills
Knowledge
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Interpreting the systemic study

• Learning pedagogy
• Problem Based Learning Model
• Knowledge portal for collaborative learning
• IT education to selectively inherit key
  attributes from other streams
• Role of faculty redefined
• Art and Science of Living

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Problem Based Learning
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Inter-disciplinary attributes

• Abstraction
• Measurements
• Modeling
• Inspection and Quality Control
• Design elegance
• User friendly interfaces
• Safety considerations
• Patterns
• Clarity of Communication

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Art Science of Living

• Mental Component of globalization - Self
  appraisal, Peer feedback
• - Coping, conflict resolution
• - Multi cultural environments
• - Values, attitudes, ethics
• Ability to switch states depending on context
• - Introvert / Extrovert
• - Sensing / Intuition
• - Thinking / Feeling
• - Judging / Perceiving

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IT mindset drivers

• Holistic approach lesson from failed projects
• Abstraction
• Logic and Mathematics
• Quality as a social responsibility
• Ability to handle hard and soft factors
  together
• New consulting paradigms
• Conquering EGO

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Problem Solving

• Traditional approach
• Model driven
• Independent factors
• Hard variables
• Fixed weights
• snapshot
• E.g. Regression analysis OR models etc.

• Systems Approach
• Problem driven
• Interdependent factors
• Hard / Soft factors
• Dynamic model
• forest trees
• Multi-view
• Multiple perception
• E.g. Causal Loop Diagram

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Taxonomy of IT job opportunities

• Basic services
• Programming
• Engineering a software
• High end Services
• R D

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Developing IT mindset

• Learn to see relations among seemingly
  disjoint factors
• Learn to separate signal from noise when the
  two are presented in a mixed fashion
• Use mathematical models for better understanding
  of user needs
• Learn to ask stupid dumb questions upfront do
  not make assumptions that you are not entitled to
  make
• Pay attention to details because Quality is a
  social responsibility
• Have the ability to handle hard and soft
  factors together remember that in a business
  context, qualitative perceptions are as important
  as quantitative parameters
• Cultivate the habit of continuous learning
  subscribe to journals, join a professional
  society
• Have an open mind to listen to other view
  points, but be assertive without being arrogant

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Preparing for career

• Be thorough in your chosen area of
  specialization
• Knowledge
• Comprehension of an application
• Ability to apply
• Analyze
• Synthesize internalize
• Do not make overstated claims defend your
  project work
• Read the website to get a general understanding
  of the industry company
• Display minimum professional behavior
  punctuality, owning responsibility for mistakes
  and taking due credit for achievements
• Be flexible on assignment technology, domain,
  geography dont claim to be a specialist at
  an early stage