I agree with Steve on all his points. I believe we need to get elementary and high school level teachers and counselors to understand that most of what we do is not rocket science and that anyone who can add, subtract, multiply divide and write a clear English language sentence can succeed in this business. I have two real life stories to share in this regard. They occurred in 1998 when I was teaching basic operating systems and Microsoft Office at the Community College of Aurora in Aurora, Colorado. These two stories occurred in the same course and semester.

The first story is about a 55 year old black warehouse worker. He arrived to class in blue coveralls, angry and bitter. He was taking the class because the owners of the company he worked for put a computer on his desk and told him he would have to learn to use it. He assumed that this was a means for the company to have an excuse to fire him. He had been working there for 20 year. This man diligently studied the material and did every practice exercise. About six weeks into the course, he showed up in class in Khaki pants and a blue oxford shirt with a tie on. He also had a smile as wide as the Mississippi river. It seems the front office had a problem they needed to solve using Excel. They asked for his help and he solved their problem. He was then moved to the front office. I ran in to this student about a year later. He related to me that the company he was working for installed Solomon as an accounting package and he was selected to liaison with the VAR. He was so successful that the VAR hired him away from his company.

The second story is very similar. The student was a breweryman working for a famous brewery in Colorado. He had been there 17 years. They also put a computer on his desk and told him he would have to learn how to use it. He found the class fairly easy. About half way through the course, he mentioned the company had an opening for an entry level help desk consultant. He wondered if he should apply. I recommended he do so as the company was well known for hiring from within. I even told him he should say he would take a pay cut to get the job. He interviewed and got the position with a pay raise.

My point in telling these stories is that many of us have similar stories to tell about people we know in the business. We need to tell these stories to young people so they know there are many types of technology jobs and not all require knowledge of programming. School counselors do not have an understanding of what we do; so they do not encourage students with aptitudes aligned with technology to get into the business. We need to communicate with them as well.