I mentioned last week that my wife had a weekend in Paris with her sister. Well I had a complaint!

I forgot to say that Kate was with them. Kate is my wife’s niece, and her sister’s daughter.

I guess by now Paris has recovered from the three of them. It may be a while before our credit card does. So there you go Kate – you got a belated mention, your 15 minutes of fame.

Kate is actually living proof of much of what we were talking about last week. Tall, slim and very beautiful you might think she was a model if you saw her. (Sorry guys she has a partner). In fact she is an IT project manager and a very good one too.

She worked hard to get her degree and then to get into the IT industry. She finished up a very well paid project manager while still in her twenties.

So it’s possible. So with the right kind of training and a degree of persistence it’s there for the taking.

Well this newsletter is a little late this week. A lot of that is because I am on my annual vacation – this time in Southern Spain. So already it’s a case of “man~ana”.

We always escape to somewhere sunny to get away from the British weather for a while – although at the moment Britain is enjoying some very warm weather.

We tend to hide away from the news when we are on vacation – don’t buy newspapers or listen to the radio – but we caught the satellite news today.

It seems that the most popular sport in Britain at the moment is for MPs of all parties to compete with each other about how much in the way of expenses they can give back – accidentally over claimed of course.

It doesn’t seem to occur to them that the sight of MPs being able to magically produce thousands of pounds instantly might be a bit of a turn off for us recession hit citizens.

Still the IT industry got a mention in the news. It seems that Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to employ some ex-hackers to staff a centre to guard the nation from cyber space attack. Now that’s a career path even I hadn’t thought of!

This is a question that is often asked. The IT industry is desperate for good people, yet the way you get a job is very obscure. Part of the reason for that is that the technology is constantly changing – and by “technology” I don’t mean just the hardware and software, which is bad enough, I also mean the methods used and the way you do your job.

Some of these changes are just fashions, and not really of any value, but, if you want to get a job you have to be able to “walk the walk and talk the talk”.

I mentioned above that Kate worked hard to get her degree. In fact her degree was in IT so obviously when she came to look for her first job, she had an advantage over non-IT-degree candidates and was able to fast track her career.

I must have a chat with Kate to discover how much of what she covered in her degree is of real value today. I have watched Kate’s career and I think her undoubted success is due to her competence and hard work. I think the degree is very secondary. While IT degrees do an admirable job of teaching you the basics and the principles of IT, what most employers want is actual recent experience in particular jobs or products.

This is a real dilemma for young people starting out on an IT career. You can spend three years getting your degree – and being impoverished, or you work in junior jobs in IT and earn some money along the way. By junior jobs I mean typically call centre work or junior level (i.e. gopher jobs) support work. The end result may be much the same.

For the record I think that the degree path is a better option if your temperament and financial position are able to support it. At least, once you have a degree you always have it – it can be very hard work to go back and get a degree once you have a career in motion.

However, it’s not the only way. I know many people who have come from a humble background, with no degree, and have prospered in the IT world.

One great thing about IT – it basically runs on talent and current usefulness. What you did 4 or 5 years ago is of little interest. It’s what you can do today that counts. So while a degree may get you that first job quicker, and maybe a better start, after a few years it’s largely irrelevant.

If I were to describe what I was doing in IT 20 years ago, younger people would laugh. It would be like an ace formula 1 technician describing how he used to work on his grandfather’s Goggomobile!

So, as a person of let’s say ”mature years”, in other professions I might be respected for my depth and years of experience, in IT I have to keep up with current trends and technologies or I’m history. The wolves are always at the door. (Some of you might have noticed I'm an Eagles fan!). In this case the wolves are bright, energetic young people.

I’ve run on a bit here. Next week we’ll talk about some actual case histories – how real people got into the IT industry, and dramatically increased their income, by following some unconventional approaches. So if you want to get into IT, or wonder how to get a better job, check out next week’s newsletter. It’ll be on time unless the sun, sea and sangria get to me.

Our e-book “Jack's Guide to Lots More Money” goes into this topic and much more, and shows you how to work the system to get the well paid job you deserve.