From a woman's point of view: To Be or Not To Be In Information Technology?

The famous William Shakespeare's play Hamlet poses the infamous quote, "To be or not to be, that is the question"? From my viewpoint, I have wrestled with this concept since embarking in the industry for a multitude of years: "To be in Information Technology or Not, that is the question"? Information Technology is an innovating and evolving industry that you must have tough skin to handle. In this industry, we have been conditioned and taught that this is a male-dominating field. I've dealt with some managers and peer that would display negative feedback and advised that I don't engage in the field. I've been talked about regarding my resume being overqualified or not qualified due to the wealth of knowledge I posses and wanting to learn and progress in my career. However, those words tend to take a toll on my career and deciding should I stay or should I quit. After watching the movie Hidden Figures, I am reminded of adversity and never giving up on something that I truly want in life. I am an advocate for Information Technology for African-American Women and want to make a difference in someone's life.

By far, Information Technology is one of the most popular industries that people can be a part of. However, there are some pros and cons in being in the industry. People don't think that a woman can handle processing information or handling complex mathematical concepts. Industry is constantly changing to meet the business needs and having a multitude of layoffs. Information Technology is not the industry that you want to be complacent. You have to continue to redefine yourself if you want to become successful.

There are several factors of why I wanted to leave Information Technology:

• Intimidation Factor
• Certification Factor
• Race and Gender Factor
• Job Requirement Factor

All of these factors were causing me to leave the industry to pursue something else. However, the more I wanted to leave, someone was calling me about a technical issue and I just couldn't leave. I have an analytical mind that I am sometimes referred to as The Walking Brain because of my wealth of knowledge of the industry.

However, there are some positives regarding this industry that I decided to stay:

• Passionate Factor
• Mentoring Factor
• Accountability Factor
• Social Media Factor
• Teaching and Give Back Factor

Computer Science and Information Technology intertwine with one another. However, there are different paths you must consider. There's a hardware and software side of computing. In the past, most High Schools, Colleges and Universities, they only focus on programming concepts. Now, there is a need to know more about Cybersecurity, Networking, Database, Business Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Bioinformatics, and other fields to be apart of. It's not about having the theory in order to become successful in the industry. You need the hands-on experience in order to become successful in this industry.

Everyone needs that one friend or two that will will constantly push and encourage you along your career path. They should be the ones that will hold you accountable when you tend to go on the wrong path. I am fortunate to have two people that have pushed me and are considered as my accountability partners. These individuals are the ones that sends me inspirational messages and industry related materials to help redefine myself as a Subject Matter Expert. My accountability partners rely on my knowledge and providing them with the best technical advice regarding technology.

When I look at them, I am reminded of my Guidance Counselor or Academic Advisers and their ability to provide their recommendations on which courses to take in order to excel. However, it is up to you to decide which path that you want to take in order to become successful. For me, I had to research which path I wanted to take because Information Technology is very broad. From my formal education, I have taken Hardware and Software courses. After taking a few programming languages like VB.Net, C#, Java, Python, etc., I've realized that programming was not for me. I decide to look at another route in order to stay relevant in Information Technology.

During my time in Undergraduate, I was proactive with my education and got involved with internships and finding career and higher education advancements. I've researched the various pathways to take. One of the pathways I've discovered was Hardware Infrastructure and Security. I looked into vendor certifications like CompTia and Cisco because I wanted to learn about how things worked and also because it was interesting to learn because of the complexity of the subject. I took the time out to converse with people that were in the industry and quickly connected with this via LinkedIn and other work places to pick their knowledge.

From my first article, I've mentioned that I've always been fascinated in Technology. I was always into gaming consoles and different types of calculators. My career path started in Break Fix/Troubleshooting/Help Desk. By gaining the experience, I was able to obtain my CompTia's A+ certification. From there, I was able progress to other roles such as Technical Support, Technical Solutions Representative, Field Engineering, and now Network and Security Engineering. I was able to obtain ITIL, Cisco, and CompTia's related certifications.

In the current state of our society, people are trying to enter this industry because it's a quick way to making money. Let me advise you, If you are not passionate, hungry for knowledge, and having an analytical mind to progress in this industry, then I'm sorry, this field is definitely not for you. If you are always on social media and referencing that this is the type of technology you tend to grasp, then obviously this is not the field for you as well. Information Technology is an industry that never sleeps and we are constantly trying to fix technical issues around the clock.

My question for you if you are interested in this industry: Which path in Information Technology do you want to follow? Look for internships or visit sites like YouTube, LinkedIn, MeetUp, etc. that will foster a good foundation of which direction you want to take. I highly recommend visiting vendor websites that have certifications involved and start of self-educate yourself in this field.

If you want to follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter, feel free to ask me questions regarding How to get into Information Technology or Careers in Information Technology, please visit: www.dhirubhai.net/in/ambercwilliamson and Twitter: DriVenNumber13

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