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Here's to the Humanities
IT firms on a quest for the well-rounded education
Like everyone else, I claim to be a unique individual. How's that for an inherent contradiction and a redundancy in one short sentence? But the fact is there are lots of people out there like me. I don't mean brown-haired, blue-eyed, left-handed, myopic persons of slightly above average height. Instead, I refer to people who don't have an obviously technical academic background, say, in computer science or electrical engineering, but who have drifted into or purposefully sought out technology-related positions in industry, government, and academe.
I had a double major in telecommunications and political science as an undergraduate. The TEL major back then was primarily a mass media and TV production program and the PS major didn't have a technical bone in its body. Nonetheless, I have over the years done just about everything you can do with computer hardware and software on three different platforms, become experienced in voice and data networking on several levels, and acquired at least a modicum of multimedia production skills. Now I have a technology-related job and I'm established as a resource to whom people turn for information about these things.
Much of my experience was acquired while I occupied positions that can't be regarded as technology-related positions, and is the result of simply doing what had to done in a time when workplace technology was changing rapidly. At last, technology firms are beginning to realize that there may be some benefit to tracking down the many folks in the working world who were liberal arts majors but have through work or hobby become technically proficient in computing and networking. Finding them, however, is a task that falls under the heading of easier said than done. How does the human resources division assess technical knowledge when it's not readily apparent on an application or resume?
Now there is a new tool that promises to help provide companies an edge in the increasingly competitive technology job market. The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, which we may safely assume has an interest in liberal arts majors, has developed a test to fill that assessment need. Called Tek.Xam, the test is designed to test the computer proficiency of people who don't have degrees in computer science and electrical engineering and whose technical knowledge doesn't necessarily show up in their work histories. The test may soon gain significant credibility and the possibility of widespread adoption by industry. IBM has given the test the stamp of approval and will begin administering it in the next few months. John Pass, team leader for IBM's testing and assessment group, says that he is impressed by the test's ability to determine an applicant's "technical savvy."
Aside from the technical knowledge they may have acquired, high-tech firms are also beginning to value liberal arts majors for the sake of their more traditional forms of knowledge. This is especially true for website designers, who are hiring employees with degrees in the social sciences and humanities to help make their sites more engaging and user-friendly. Most of you know that websites vary tremendously in their navigation and ease of use. That's because many web designers don't understand user behavior and experience. Especially puzzling is the phenomenon where users leave a site soon after arriving. The designers know it's happening, but they don't know why.
One company called Modern Media recently announced plans to hire psychologists and anthropologists to expand its efforts to understand user behavior. Digital technology has been responsible for the convergence of industries that were once separate. Now it appears to be responsible for the convergence of academic disciplines in the work force, as well.