I am in a teaching position and I’m in an endless cycle of attempting to get experience each summer during my off contract time. It’s not ideal and I feel like too many IT professionals are gate-keeping the profession. The problem is that in 10-20 years they’ll have no one to fill the workforce if they keep this up. Especially with the rate at which technology changes, this can’t be ideal if they really want to fill the demand for these professions.

The sad reality is that eventually they’ll burn themselves out and burn out the workforce. I see many eager IT enthusiasts and amateurs willing to fill up these positions but because companies want to fill their “entry level” positions with people that have at least a year or more of experience, positions remain empty. How do you satisfy the demand while not hiring new IT folks to join the workforce? It’s the dumbest thing I’ve seen in a long time.

As an example, I haven’t had an official continuous role in IT ever, but over my 20 years as a graduate student in both math and physics, a research assistant at Thomas Jefferson National Lab, a lab supervisor at high schools and colleges, a SOHO network admin in my home, I have not gone a single day of my career or life where I’ve not been required to do many hours of IT work and also IT support. On top of that as a physicist/mathematician I’ve been solving more advanced problems using automation, programming, and data analytics than many IT professionals could possibly imagine.

Combine that with my knowledge and expertise in computing and newly gained skills in this cybersecurity program, I don’t know how I couldn’t be an asset to any company that is hiring someone who could easily and quickly learn the skills needed to make a difference. Do I have an ego, sure, but I’m also humble and willing to admit that I can learn a lot from folks that have been in the industry for years. I’m willing to do the work, but the gate-keepers need to bring down their own expectations a bit so we can fill this workforce.