Last month Pat Phillips of MainFunction interviewed me about my career. Her goal: to educate high school teachers about careers possibilities in technology.

https://www.mainfunction.com/patp/blog/archive/2005/06/10/120.aspx

It seems like the MainFunction site is primarily devoted to providing resources for educators, which is fantastic. I had no idea what kind of opportunities awaited me when I was in high school, and my choices in university were completely by “fluke” as I transitioned from Finance to Computer Science. I think that high school students and parents need help to paint the broader picture of what a career in technology means today. It's not just a desk job behind closed doors. It can mean any of the following and more:

• Software quality assurance
• Software development
• IT
• Team lead or management
• VP Engineering, CTO, CIO
• Independent consulting
• Speaking, writing, training
• Blogging

Think about it, since more and more people are blogging, writing articles for online resource sites, participating in local community groups - they are gaining a ton of career satisfaction because they are recognized not only in their day to day job (at least hopefully) but also publicly. This does wonders for a young adult's self esteem, as they get started in their career...and frankly these are activities even high school and university students (heck, grade schoolers probably blog too!!!) can get involved in early.

Spread the word if you know any teachers, let's give the next generation some great ideas about where their career can go if they take the red pill.