There are two reasons why I'm looking forward to next month's WordCamp New Zealand 2010.

First, I expect to expand my WordPress know-how. I use the software to manage this web site and one for my other half's new business. You can run a WordPress site with zero technical knowledge, but I want to dig deeper.

However, although raw knowledge is useful, that's not the only reason I'm going to WordCamp. It's not even the main reason.

At WordCamp I'll meet dozens of like-minded people grappling with similar issues. We'll swap ideas and experiences. In some cases I'll be doing the learning. In others I'll be doing the teaching. Either way, our collective pool of knowledge will increase.

I've found this way of learning motivates me. I'll come away with extra knowledge and fresh ideas, but I'll also be charged-up.

There's another great aspect to this kind of learning. Although it is busy, it gives you the time and mental space to reflect on what you already know. You can view things from a different perspective and to pull the various threads together.

Stumped for a career direction?

Try asking yourself these ten questions. If you run into difficulties ask friends and family for an honest view of these factors.

There’s no magic formula, the answers won’t reveal your working future, but they will help you clarify matters and give you the insights you’ll need to choose a degree programme that plays to your strengths.

What are my favourite subjects?

It may sound like an obvious starting point, but you’d be surprised at the number of people who sign up for courses that don’t interest them.

Don’t spend the rest of your life, or at least the next few years, slaving over something that you find boring.

You’ll get a lot more out of higher education and your subsequent career if you work in an area you enjoy. If you think medicine sounds interesting then go for it, if it sends you to sleep, avoid it.

What are my academic achievements?

Take a look at your high school career. What subjects were you best at? To some extent your exam results will answer this question, but results might not accurately reflect your long-term performance.

Where did you consistently get good marks? You may have won a prize, come top or near the top of the class. You may have used your skills to tutor younger or weaker students in a subject area. Was there a subject where your friends asked you for homework help or recognised you as an expert?

What else turns me on?

What really excites your interest? What do you choose to do when you don’t have to do anything? Is there something that you love to do, perhaps it is a hobby or other leisure activity that you look forward to? In many cases these activities can form the basis of a career.

For example, if you love animals, think of veterinary science; if you enjoy spending time with computers then consider a career in information technology. Some connections are less obvious, if you enjoy tinkering with a car you may be suited to work as a computer engineer.

Am I creative?

You may like to express yourself through words, art, music or other artistic format. But there’s more to creativity than creative arts: businesses need creative thinking and the best scientists, engineers and mathematicians generally have a strong creative streak. It’s important to answer this question honestly.

It’s hard to accept a lack of creativity but this is not necessary a weakness; in some disciplines creativity is regarded with suspicion, think what the term “creative accountant” means.

Do I have good communications skills?

How good are you at expressing all those brilliant thoughts that pass through your head? Can you put them down on paper or speak about them in a way that makes things easy to understand or do you struggle? Could you stand in front of a group of people and explain a complex idea? How about a hall filled with hundreds of people?

Communications isn’t a one-way street, it’s just as important to listen to others and to use feedback.

How do I rate my people skills?

Although people skills are closely related to communication skills, there are differences. If you’re a good communicator you can relay or receive ideas, if you have good people skills you can pick up on feelings or mood. You also need to understand what motivates people and why they act in certain ways. Dealing with conflict is important. Knowing when to ask a subordinate to do a task is as important as knowing how to explain the mechanics of the task.

Is money important to me?

The best things in life are free, but cash can buy an awful lot of second-best things.

Ask yourself if  material rewards motivate you or if other things are more important. For example, you may want a career where you can help to make the world better, brighter or safer. Of course, with student loan debts and sky-high housing costs, you may feel you don’t have much choice but to take the money and run. If you’re not motivated by money, you’ll have a lot more interesting career option.

Do I need structure?

School life is highly structured, with timetabled lessons, strict hierarchies and so on, but university and the adult world of work isn’t always like that. Many people thrive in an unstructured environment and do their best work where there are fewer restrictions. Others are lost without a rule book. This is an area where you may change over time, but ask yourself if you feel safer on a highly structured course or if you’re ready to cut loose.

Am I internally or externally driven?

Some people are self-motivated. They can get up and work hard for long hours without anyone saying anything to them. They will make their own decisions about what to do and how to complete tasks. Other people need external motivating. This can take the form of a highly disciplined workplace in say the armed forces or it can come from colleagues operating in a team.

You’ll need self-motivation to get through university, but the quality is essential if you plan to work for yourself at a later date.

Can I put off my career decision?

There’s a lot of pressure on young people to make hard and fast decisions about their careers before they embark on a university degree. Some people feel comfortable with this; others are not ready to choose at this stage.

The good news is that you don’t have to make a firm commitment yet. Many university departments offer generalised degree programmes within a certain discipline. In most cases you can wait until the end of your first year before selecting a major subject. Other universities offer liberal studies degrees and BA programmes that will keep your employment options open.

In 2001, Chris Woodhead, England’s chief inspector of schools caused a storm when he accused British universities of devaluing higher education by offering ‘vacuous degrees’.

At the time, London’s The Sunday Times carried a surprisingly candid interview with Woodhead. Among other things he questioned whether many vocational courses deliver on their claims.

Woodhead says many courses don't prepare students for the real world. He argues some vocational degrees do little to help a student’s employment prospects and do even less for their employers. Britain’s Institute of Directors backed these comments, so did a number of employers.

Daft courses are here too

The criticisms could equally apply to courses  on offer in Australia and New Zealand – not to mention some of the less prestigious American universities, which have a long tradition of offering worthless qualifications and dubious courses.

Woodhead grabbed the headlines by decrying certain ‘quasi-academic’ degrees on offer in the UK including: Golf course management, pig enterprise management, knitwear and beauty therapy courses.

And then there is ‘Madonna Studies’ – if you’re wondering, we are talking about the popular singer here and not theological investigation about the mother of Christ. Thankfully this nonsense is no longer on offer.

Sure, these daft-sounding degrees are easy targets, but Woodhead has a point. How many employers need workers who can deconstruct the lyrics of ‘Material Girl'?

How many employers need workers who can deconstruct the lyrics of ‘Material Girl?

You can read more about Woodhead’s comments and various responses at the BBC news web site. Just to prove what a straight shooter he is when getting stuck into the value of various university courses, you can also read Woodhead’s comments on media studies – which he describes as a one-way ticket to the dole queue.

Is there value in media studies?

I’ll leave it to you to decide whether there is any real value in media studies or the more offbeat subjects mentioned.

It’s interesting and disappointing, but predictable that most of the angry defensive response from academics to Woodhead’s comments focused on his trashing of seemingly silly courses and not his more important points about vocational education in general.

Clearly British academics are as insecure as antipodeans when it comes to handling constructive criticism.

Woodhead’s important point was the balance between vocational training and coherent academic learning is now completely out of kilter. The issue is not whether our society needs people trained at public expense in the subtle art of looking after golf courses, tending pigs or even reading newspapers, but whether such a course is on an academic par with an honours degree in Astrophysics.

Bigger picture

Woodhead rightly points out the danger in less obviously worthy courses of devaluing all higher education. It’s a very real danger. I’ve personally known employers in knowledge industries who are suspicious of all graduates – they think universities fill people’s heads with stupid ideas. Many of those who get beyond that level of thinking have doubts about anything other than a straightforward vocational degree.

I always found this attitude prejudiced and hard to understand until I interviewed a seriously strange person with a media studies degree for a newspaper job.

Common sense tells me one or two crazy examples are not enough evidence to deduce a trend. I like to keep an open mind but  few of the media studies graduates I’ve interviewed are cut out to work in the media. It’s hard to image who might employ them. On the other hand people used to say the same thing about sociology, which has since become respectable.

It doesn’t make sense for education to stand still in a world where everything careers about at a frantic pace. Yet we need a benchmark for higher education.

Lively debate about vocation versus academic learning

There’s always been a lively debate over the value of degree level vocational training and more academic learning. Both have their place in higher education and ideally, many people entering the knowledge workforce will  experience both kinds of learning at some point. Modern economies need people trained in advanced skills as well as people trained how to think.

Yet there is a lot of real doubt about the worth of some courses. This isn’t new. Back in the late 1970s an acquaintance studied computer science at an American university. He sent me a copy of his first semester timetable. Of about 30 timetabled hours, only four hours could be loosely described as studying computers.

A liberal education is a good thing, but this bloke spent six hours a week on the university golf course as part of his computer science degree. In year one he was expected to reduce his handicap to six to pass – a handicap of four represented a high distinction.

Playing golf would ultimately account for 15 percent of his degree. It shocked those of us studying in, then still rigorously academic, British universities.

From a vocational training point of view it’s not a dumb idea. A career in the computer industry, particularly in commercial sales, might well be helped along by an ability to knock a small white ball into 18 holes.

Ultimately the only way for knowledge workers and would be knowledge workers to steer through the higher education maze is to spend time researching the options. It’s obviously worth checking the academic reputation of courses, subjects within courses and institutions before signing up.

Less obvious and more difficult is checking with potential employers about the relative merits of these things. You’ll need to be extra canny about this – people just pass on their own prejudices and not provide valuable insight. But education is too valuable to waste. You don’t want to spend three years getting a Mickey Mouse degree – even if you plan to work for Disney.

Despite the global financial crisis, Australia and New Zealand still face a shortage of key information technology skills. Many experts believe that shortage will be more acute three or four years from now when today’s school students finish tertiary education.

So if you’re looking for a solid career with long-term prospects, IT could be right for you.

Here are ten ways to improve your IT career prospects:

1. Choose your undergraduate course carefully. In particular, look for university departments with close industry links and a culture or track record of high graduate employment levels. These are more important than an institution’s wider reputation. University admissions departments have this kind of information. If they are unwilling to answer questions on these subjects it's likely they do poorly in these areas.
2. If you are still at school, choose courses that align with the entry requirements of the best undergraduate departments. Make sure you do plenty of relevant groundwork before University; this will help your grades later. Don’t neglect English or Commerce – both are highly valued by technology employers.
3. Hone your communications skills. If possible take school or undergraduate courses in writing and verbal communications. Take out-of-school opportunities to improve public speaking and similar skills. Many junior IT jobs require you to work on help desks and in similar places where you are dealing with customers (who may be inside or outside of the organisation you work for).
4. Learn to look professional. Develop an appropriate dress style. Know how to put on a tie and polish shoes. This doesn’t necessarily mean dark blue business suits. It does mean being presentable.
5. Start thinking like a professional. Make a habit of being punctual and well-mannered. Take a pride in every thing you do. Employers say this is where most otherwise good candidates miss out. But none of this means you have to become old before your time.
6. Maintain an interest in IT that goes beyond narrow specialty skills. Read trade publications and web sites. This will give you something to talk about at interviews and an early warning of employment trends.
7. Once you are in the work force, keep your skills up-to-date. If your employer offers any training or refresher options take as many as you can manage. If necessary learn new skills in your own time.
8. Think marketing. You need to sell yourself and sell your skills. Make sure your CV or resume puts you in the best possible light. But don’t overdo it.
9. Network extensively with colleagues, friends in associated industries and keep in touch with employment consultants – not all job vacancies are formally advertised. Use social networking tools. Find ways to network that suit your personality without looking creepy or pushy.
10. If possible consider finishing your degree and starting your career in the US or UK. Employers in those countries are more likely to hire fresh graduates and you’ll have no trouble finding work when you return to the antipodes.

Sadly Brian Corrigan’s Opportunities still there for graduates is behind The Australian Financial Review’s paid content wall.

Corrigan reports that after years of decline, student numbers are climbing again for information technology and computer science courses at Australia’s universities.

It appears people are using the recession to gain skills. That’s a smart move. Earning money is difficult right now. The cost of an education is the same as it was before the financial meltdown, but many other costs associated with studying are lower. So are interest rates, which makes taking a student loan easier.

Sydney’s University of Technology has seen postgraduate IT student numbers rise 25 percent this year. At Queensland University of Technology student numbers climbed 10 percent after falling every year since 2002 after the dotcom bust.

In the mid 2000s I wrote stories for the AFR about technology courses in higher education. At the time there was a fear courses would close  due to lack of demand despite industry’s need for trained IT workers.

Corrigan says there’s still a healthy demand for workers with computer qualifications in Australia. The recession and falling overall employment has barely touched technology with 10 percent fewer tech employers turning up at job fairs. This compares with  next to zero potential employers looking for recruits in other industries.

Further good news appears in Australian IT, where Fran Foo wrote about a rise in the number of computer related scholarships on offer in Scholarships defy crisis. She quotes ACS Foundation executive director John Ridge, who said about 20 new companies had started offering scholarships in the past six months even though the economy had turned south.

It’s not directly related, but Jennifer Foreshew’s Overseas hunt for 200 with IT skills also in today’s Australian IT underlines the message that tech workers with the right stuff are not doing it as tough as everyone else these days. In fact, Peoplebank Australia is planning to import between 150 and 200 tech workers this year.

Knowledge workers are likely to get through the recession in better financial shape than other workers. Here's some encouraging statistics from the USA:

One statistic which surprised me was the unemployment rate for college graduates. It stands at 3.3 percent compared to the high-school level which is over 11 percent. Clearly the demand for knowledge workers still exists, even in this depressed market. As we enter the recovery and leading-edge Baby Boomers gain enough confidence to retire this statistic will likely become even more startling.

via The State of the Contingent Workforce.

Jacqueline Smith says; "The number of tertiary graduates coming out of information technology (IT) courses has halved over the past four years and technology businesses are scratching to fill roles."

She quotes John Hosking , professor of computer science at the University of Auckland, saying, "because IT was utterly pervasive in business the whole economic infrastructure was at risk".

Really? New Zealand's entire economic infrastructure?

The farmers, the wool growers, the vineyards, miners and tourism operators?

If things were that bad, you'd think employers might do something about it, like offer tech workers more money. You might think they'd spend money training people to fill the gap. You might even expect more prospective employers to finance scholarships for computer science undergraduates, offer them vacation work and get them on contracts as early as possible.

According to US news reports, America is busily laying-off IT workers. I'm sure many would be willing to pay their own way to New Zealand if the opportunities are that good.

And while we're on the subject, trade publications like ComputerWorld New Zealand aren't exactly full of situations vacant advertisements.

While industry may do a few things to correct the imbalance, in practice you don't see as much evidence of panic as you might expect if the entire nation's infrastructure was at risk.

New Zealand technology wages are not high by world standards. They are not even high by regional standards. Probably not even high enough to lure laid-off US tech workers contemplating a career-switch to fast food retailing.

Nor do New Zealand computer science students seem to have as many scholarship opportunities as counterparts in Australia and elsewhere.

If Professor Hosking is right about the threat to our entire economic infrastructure, the law of supply and demand isn't in operation in New Zealand IT recruitment.

These days a degree is the bare minimum knowledge worker qualification. A few slip through the net without a formal degree. But usually higher education is an entry ticket to the world’s more interesting – and rewarding – jobs.

Yet, the hard-gained entry ticket that almost sent you bankrupt and had you working like a galley-slave through the best years of your life only gets you into the ball park. It doesn’t mean you get to see the game.

Some graduates are lucky if they can get as far as walking up and down the aisles selling trays of beer and peanuts.

Not only are there unemployed graduates, but also, incredibly given all the propaganda we keep hearing about a skills shortage, unemployment levels for recent graduates are higher than for everyone else.

Degree doesn't equal job

In round numbers 15 percent of Australian graduates fail to find work within four months of leaving academia. This number is from the 2007 Grad Files and is lower than in most recent years. Australian unemployment is 4.3 percent. This is close to full employment – one recruitment agent told me the only people in Sydney not working are those who do so by choice.

In New Zealand the gap is smaller. The most recent comparison I can find is in 2006 the graduate unemployment rate was around 6 percent while general unemployment rate was 3.4 percent, which again is close to full employment.

How does this full employment across the economy square with the reported higher levels of graduate unemployment?

Industry wants experience

First, industry doesn’t just demand skilled workers, it wants experienced skilled workers. This isn’t unreasonable. However, few employers train people, which is unreasonable.

When I left university companies operated graduate intake programmes. These have gone the way of the typewriter. You rarely hear of them any more.

Blame government

You can blame governments and trade unions for this situation. By insisting on minimum wages and other expensive conditions these well-meaning groups have effectively priced entry-level jobs out of the market. I’m not advocating a return to 19^th century employment practices, but a few years of relative financial hardship is a small price to pay for gaining high-quality experience.

A second problem is the business of vocational education. A generation ago universities turned out sociologists, linguists, physicists and philosophers. Today, reacting to what university authorities describe as ‘market forces’, our institutions of learning tend to send people into the world with law and business qualifications, computer science and sports science.

The problem is that universities sell these vocational degrees on the basis they prepare people for the workplace. They collude with large employers to make sure that course include skills needed in today’s offices and call centres. Learning how to print fancy-coloured margins on a Microsoft Word document can count towards your  degree.

Where vocational courses succeed

Vocational courses give employers pre-packed units of production. If you’re hiring public relations staff you can find graduates already versed in media or communications studies.

Not surprisingly school leavers queue up for the vocational courses which seem to offer a fast-track. The most popular courses are in vocational areas like law, business and commerce.

There’s a flaw with this move to vocational higher education. A closer look at the graduate destination figures (see www.gradlink.edu.au) shows students with vocational qualifications don’t necessarily have better job prospects than those with academic qualifications.

Some vocational courses have relatively high levels of graduate unemployment and some academic graduates manage to score better starting salaries.

For example, almost 15 percent of Business Studies graduates are still unemployed and looking for work four months after graduation. Of those that find work, the average starting salary is A$40,000. The nearest academic equivalent to Business Studies is Economics. Economics is known as ‘the dismal science’. Yet the prospects for young economists are not dismal, only 12 percent are still unemployed four months after graduation and their average starting salary is A$45,000.

You don’t need an Economics degree to figure out that the job prospects for both types of graduate are roughly equal, but Economists have the edge over Business graduates.

Vocational degrees are not more valuable

I’m certain many readers will tell me what a fun bunch of guys there are in university accounting departments and how urban planning degrees are one long barrel of laughs. Looking at the fruit of their labour after graduation it’s clear the party never stops.

But based on the graduate destination survey, I’d suggest, in the long-term, vocational degrees are no more valuable than more general degrees and most people would regard studying them as less fascinating.

In other words, from a purely financial point of view, you might as well follow your heart and study the subjects that interest you the most. There’s an important by-product of doing this. If you love what you are doing, you are more likely to make a good job of it. And that means you are more likely to succeed.

Oh and one last point. Remember this, many of the best jobs in the knowledge economy – and some of the best paying jobs – require creative skills. You’re not likely to develop those pouring over dull vocational textbooks.