The reports that job opportunities in information technology are dead are not only greatly exaggerated, but just plain wrong
In fact, the field abounds with prospects and will so in the years to come.
That is the message that the Kelley School of Business and the School of Informatics at Indiana University and business leaders want to deliver to students who are undeclared majors and grappling with deciding a profession.
And IU students will have the opportunity to learn about the opportunities and benefits at the Future Potential in IT seminar, Friday, 6 Oct 2006.
The seminar, which is from noon to 2:30pm at the Indiana Memorial Union Solarium, brings together business and technology leaders, many of whom will have IT representatives on hand to meet with IU students.
The companies include Microsoft, Reebok/Adidas, Baker Hill, Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis Chapter-Society for Information Management, Cook , Covance, Cummins, General Mills, Wellpoint, Medical Animatics, Performance Assessment Networks, Perpetual Networks, Accenture and RPM Technologies.
Keynote speakers are Baker Hill president Mark Hill; Doug Hammel, vice president of information technology-Group Athletica of Reebok; and Doug Moe, chief executive officer, Performance Assessment Network.
"IT is crucial to help businesses innovate and with a shortage of qualified IT professionals, it's important that today's college students are aware of the tremendous opportunities available to them in this field," said Robert Lescano, director of Microsoft Enterprise Systems.
"Through this seminar, we hope to show students that IT offers solid careers - not only in Indiana but around the country - that will help change the face of business".
The Future Potential in IT seminar series is a national program designed to encourage college freshmen - particularly particular those in IU's University Division - including women and students from diverse backgrounds, to consider a major in information technology.
A special feature of the IU version of this event is that students who are unsure of their major, or want to consider IT as a second major, will interact with working IT professionals.
"This seminar is an excellent way for undeclared students to get an up-front and real-world view of what's available to them," said informatics dean Michael Dunn.
"Our school is a solid training ground and students can choose from a variety of specialty areas that suits their needs and career goals".
The School of Informatics was established in 2000 - the first school of its kind in the USA - and has about 1600 undergraduate and graduate students at campuses in Bloomington, Indianapolis, South Bend, New Albany and Kokomo.
The School offers programmes in specialty areas such as in bioinformatics, chemical informatics, health informatics, human-computer interaction, laboratory informatics, new media, computer science and more.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that one in four jobs created between now and 2012 will be related to information technology.
However, there has been a declining number of students seeking degrees in IT and the increasing demands of employers could lead to a significant worker shortage, industry officials warn.
"Contrary to what the news media is reporting, IT is alive and well in the United States," says Ashok Soni, professor and chair of operations and decision technologies department at the Kelley School of Business.
"There are plenty of jobs and plenty of companies coming to campus to recruit, but they are finding that there are not enough candidates to fill the positions.
"The business school is revamping its programme offerings to ensure a leading-edge curriculum at the undergraduate level that matches up with the real-world job demand".
The Kelley School of Business has been a leader in American business education for over 85 years.
With an enrollment of over 5000 students, it is among the premier business schools in the country and is consistently ranked in the top tier by US News and World Report.
In 2007, the magazine ranked the Kelley School information systems specialty, No 7 in the USA.
Kelley students are highly sought by corporate recruiters who are looking for promising managers, marketing and finance talent, and business and computer information systems graduates.
Participants at Future Potential in IT will be treated to lunch and can register to win an XBox 360 or Microsoft Vista.
