Myth #7 - There is No People Interaction Required

Here's a revelation - computers are dumb! Computers are merely machines that execute sets of instructions (software) that people design. Computers can't do anything that they haven't been told (programmed) to do.

Many people have a vision of IT professionals as pale-skinned, lonely, misfits with "monitor tans" locked in a dark room hunched over their terminal. They assume that these technology workers only see the light of day and other human beings while commuting to and from the office. In reality, the majority of all IT jobs involve a great deal of interaction with other people, including a lot of team participation. According to a survey by Information Week magazine, teamwork skills are fourth on the list of the top 10 most important attributes that employers want when hiring new IT employees.^xiv

The main reason IT projects are accomplished by teams is that all the small projects are already done. We have plenty of productivity software that is available off-the-shelf to solve small problems. For instance, if you need a customer database for your small business, this can easily be accomplished with Microsoft Access (or even Excel for a small number of records). Complex projects, such as robust e-commerce systems for selling products on the web, require large numbers of employees to work as a team to allow the project to be delivered on a timely basis. Conceivably, one person could have developed the software to run Amazon.com, but he or she would still be working on it to this day. Meanwhile Barnesandnoble.com would merrily capture the online book selling market since using a team for development would have allowed them to deploy their site more quickly.

Therefore, if you are an introvert who does prefer working with other individuals, you should move carefully when considering an IT career. There are still jobs where you may be able to work with little interaction with other people, but they are becoming scarce.