by 2979 How To Find And Keep Academic IT Pros
http://sun.systemnews.com/system-news/jobdir/submitted/2001.02.all.w3...
Recruiting and retaining skilled programmers, developers and
other IT professionals presents a formidable challenge in
academia, which rarely can ante up the financial incentives
that private industry does. Why would computing specialists
who can write their own tickets at any number of high-tech
companies opt for lower-paying jobs for colleges and
universities?
The issue came up at the recent Java-in-Administration Special
Interest Group (JA-SIG) conference, but the ideas aired apply
to the entire IT operation.
Marketing the appeal of the academic lifestyle is one good
option. Advantages that academia offers cover a broad
spectrum, from less stress and longer vacations to more
flexible hours and greater opportunity to work on cutting-edge
projects. Also, academic IT environments tend to foster a more
open, collaborative approach to work than the highly
competitive commercial world of computing.
Managers in college and university IT departments also may be
better equipped than their corporate counterparts to let
employees focus on the kind of work they enjoy, accommodating
those who like debugging, writing code, developing specs, or
whatever the preference. Employees engaged in what they enjoy,
and energized by regular infusions of new and exciting
projects, are less likely to answer the lure of higher-paying
but more-confining corporate worklife.
Academic IT, of course, also may be able to negotiate with
other departments in the institution to give academic credits
related to job performance, service milestones, and other
factors. The IT department may even work with the school's
human resources department to increase IT staff salaries to be
more competitive with the outside world.
Looking beyond the traditional labor market offers a multitude
of opportunities. Academic IT operations might find good
candidates, for example, by targeting:
- Those outplaced by downsized companies or failed dot-com
organizations, or those worn out by the stress of
corporate IT
- People unwilling or unable to commit to endless,
unpredictable hours, or those who value a balanced
home-work life, such as working mothers
- Semi-retired and other mature people who appreciate the
flexibility and other benefits of working in academia
- Younger developers who have fewer responsibilities and
thus may be willing to work longer hours
- The student pipeline, which may have produced
well-qualified workers who interned in the institution's
IT environment
- Students from other countries, who may be excellent
candidates for jobs where language skills are not crucial
- Liberal Arts majors; additional training may be
necessary, but some research suggests that music and art
students may have an aptitude for programming and an
interest in pursuing promising careers in IT
- Off-site workers; many programming or development jobs
can be performed remotely, so staff don't necessarily
have to live close to campus
Some school policies prohibit academic IT managers from paying
their own staff for extra work done (e.g., short-term projects
done in a person's own time), but managers from different
institutions can collaborate to offer such work to members of
another school's staff. Such collaboration can be informal, or
structured into some type of "job shop" or "job swap" that
helps connect qualified contractors -- with assignments that
suit their career interests.
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