- Eben Upton provides IT jobseekers with advice on how to get on in their careers
- Tech expert thinks programming in schools will happen and dubs Agile ‘a cult of the obvious’
Raspberry Pi co-creator Eben Upton has shared his thoughts on tech industry job seeking, education and the future of Agile in an exclusive hangout for IT jobseekers organised by CWJobs.co.uk.
During the hangout on Friday 23rd November, Eben Upton talked through his experience of hiring tech candidates and argued that demonstrating an ability to learn news skills is crucial to developing a career in such a fast moving industry.
Eben said: “[Recruiters] should be willing to wave the requirement for a qualification for the right candidate, but you need to demonstrate a real interest in computers. We hire tech enthusiasts, hobbyists, who work on IT projects because they want to. You need to be able to present evidence that you can learn new skills, not showcase old ones.”
Building on these points, Eben points to education at a grass roots level in developing tech enthusiasts, but warned more needs to be done to develop ICT education in schools.
Eben said: “It’s inevitable that programming will be taught in schools. The challenge is to make sure [courses] are appropriate and can be delivered by the teachers we already have in place. Up-skilling teachers to become tech experts is not scalable – but the importance here lies in a good curriculum and basic training for teachers which makes learning satisfactory.”
Supporting data published recently from CWJobs regarding the trajectory of Agile in job postings (+12% year-on-year), Eben stated that: “Smart engineers will be doing it anyway, but the future is bright for it, as it makes sense.”
To see footage from the hangout visit http://www.youtube.com/itrecinsights