InformationWeek

February 15, 1999

Educating The Masses

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Indeed, IT vendors are well-known for their active participation in providing students and school staffs with technology skills with the goal of beefing up tomorrow's IT talent pool. For its part, Booz Allen & Hamilton, which historically has put its energies into college-level programs, has most recently focused on paid high school internships and field trips to its technology labs.

"Companies are looking at younger and younger students to help fill the talent pipeline," says Kevin Casey, the management and technology consulting firm's director of community relations. "If kids are introduced to Booz Allen at age 16 or 17, there might be a better chance of attracting them when they're in their 20s and starting their careers."

Booz Allen hosts field trips for local high school students to its systems resource center in McLean, Va., which is the company's "high-tech petting zoo," Casey says. Students are exposed to technologies such as virtual reality and graphics that Booz Allen is testing for use in potential applications for clients. "Not many kids will say, 'When I grow up, I want to be a consultant,'" Casey says. "Consultants sit at desks and work on PCs or Macs--they don't jump out of airplanes." The idea behind early education, he adds, is to expose students to the technologies that consultants use. "It's the technology that will fuel the desire," Casey says.

Booz Allen's internships, meanwhile, help students see where IT fits into real-world business situations. Students are assigned to projects or to help fill in where the company is short-staffed, Casey says. Intern assignments include database development and remote-access support for Booz Allen employees.

The company's most successful intern worked with its remote-access group, which supports Booz Allen's E-mail, says Dina Jacobs, team leader of human resources for Booz Allen's corporate systems operations. "She started out doing some troubleshooting work and was later able to administer some accounts, working with the manager of remote access," Jacobs says. The student is now a freshman in college, and Jacobs hopes she'll return to Booz Allen again for another summer internship, and eventually as a regular employee.

Networking vendor Cisco Systems is also combatting the IT skills shortage through education. Cisco sponsors Networking Academy, a four-semester, 280-hour program on how to design, build, and maintain networks at nearly 1,200 high schools, colleges, and nonprofit organizations throughout the country. Students spend time in instructor-led lectures and on the Web to view multimedia movies and demonstrations. Afterward, there's an increased focus on project-based learning within a lab environment, where students can "break" and fix networks.

After completing the program, students have enough knowledge and experience to pass the Cisco Network Certification exam, becoming valuable additions to the scant IT talent pool, says Kevin Warner, director of education at Cisco. "We're helping create a large pool of IT-savvy workers who will be prepared for the IT jobs of tomorrow," Warner says.

Meanwhile, IBM is actively preparing the next generation of IT workers through its $35 million Reinventing Education grant program. The program's goals are to get students comfortable with the technology industry's rapid pace of change, and to prepare them to learn independently, says Diana Oblinger, academic programs and strategy executive at IBM. The program is offered in 15 school districts in six states.

IT vendors are doing a good job training students in IT, but Oblinger says IBM takes a broader approach. "We focus on the basic skills of problem solving, project management, and collaboration, and teach students how to apply them to different fields," she says. IBM recognizes that companies want qualified employees with a strong understanding of the business, along with solid IT skills.

Whatever their approach, companies view their participation in education today as an investment in the IT workforce of tomorrow. While the payback might not be immediate, with any luck, it'll be worth the wait.