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Employer Quotes

The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Information Technology (IT)

They are talking about this topic: Experience & Credentials

 

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The quotes below are about this issue:
For entry-level technicians, employers look for a minimum of an associate degree. Some say that associate-level technicians tend to have more practical experience, while bachelor-level technicians tend to have stronger soft skills. Some respondents feel that candidates coming from disciplines other than IT can be successful technicians as well.

Employer Quote Region
"Employer: I know we are all in similar fields here, and there's some overlap as far as what we're looking for and potential candidates, but it seems to me that the two-year technical programs produce candidates that are more ready to hit the ground running and actually dig in with skill sets that align with our industry. The four-year programs are more of the broader skill set. And we end up looking for candidates with the four-year degree that actually have some experience. Or the two-year fresh out of school.

Question: So, you hire people with two-year degrees directly, but for the people with four-year degrees you want them to have some experience?

Employer: It's not a rule, but it generally seems to follow that pattern. Yes."		 Northeast
"Question: And do those folks tend to come out of the two-year program or the four-year program?

Employer: The two-year program with experience."		 Northeast
"Essentially, we normally require more experience if they have an associate's degree, and maybe a bachelor's degree with no experience." Northeast
"Question: So, if somebody had been a medical assistant, and they decide that they want to do IT, and they get a two-year IT degree—and they have that medical mindset and they can apply it to IT—they're ready for you to hire?

Employer: They don't need any specific technical certifications, just a technical aptitude."		 Northeast
"Question: When you work with those high school kids and you've hired a couple of them, when they go on to higher education, do they tend to aim toward two-year or four-year degrees?

Employer: Both. Two-year and then ultimately into a four-year. It seems to be the trend. Again, we've only got two, it's not like we have a lot of history doing it."		 Northeast
"Where we see a difference between a two-year program and a four-year program is if we're talking about new people coming into the workforce. Those who have a technical—or where they're in a more vocation-specific program—and then those who have a liberal arts education where they cover critical thinking and a broader range of ideas...I don't know if the two-year programs have as much time to cover those additional skills, so there might be a difference there in those two types of programs." Northeast
"Employer 1: We want the specific. We're getting exactly what we need in terms of computer science. That's what we want.

Question: So, for you, the major matters?

Employer 1: Yes, it does. Absolutely.

Employer 2: So, you don't want someone with a liberal arts degree and a minor in computer science? You want the computer science major?

Employer 1: Correct. Yeah.

Question: So, somebody who's a history major but who loves technology?

Employer 1: Well, one of our best senior guys is a linguistics major. Go figure. I don't know.

Employer 2: That's rare."		 Northeast
"A candidate's major is important to us. We have computer science or the equivalent, so it has to be closely-related for most of our positions." Northeast
"It depends on the more traditional technology side of things versus catering to the healthcare software, which is pretty specific. You have a wide variety of people in it, and I wonder if we have a single computer science major in our company's support analyst side of things. So, the variety is actually quite nice, you know? People come in from a lot of different angles but, again, the common trade is technical aptitude and business acumen." Northeast
"It's easier for us to hire the specific skill set focused two-year grads because they come with the skill set of actually using these technologies on a day-to-day basis. With the four-year programs, many of them turn out to be better off long-term because they have that larger base. But they need the experience of dealing with those products." Northeast