Early Career Experiences of IT Professionals

Abstract

Considerable IT research has examined issues pertaining to IT careers and outcomes. Prominent among this stream of research are studies that have examined IT human capital endowments as determinants of IT career success and mobility patterns of IT professionals as they traverse career paths. According to Joseph, Boh, Ang and Slaughter's analysis of 500 IT professionals drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey for Youth 1979 cohort dataset, IT career paths are more diverse than the traditional view of technical vs managerial career paths. The career histories of IT professionals revealed three distinct career paths i.e. IT careers, Professional Labor Market (PLM) and Secondary Labor Market (SLM). IT professionals who took the IT and PLM career paths enjoyed more career success in terms of pay received relative to those who took the SLM route.