Learning the wrong IT skills is more like going back to school. You will have the skills but will not know where to use them.
Many people today believe that the lie our parents told us was to go to school, get good grades, get a good job, and be successful.
Irrespective of how unrealistic that advice can sound today, many people can still attribute their success to their school education.
Therefore, the problem is not the advice, but the diminishing state of the environment that made the advice a reality.
For the past few years, the advice to learn IT skills or a skill has been portrayed as an avenue to escape from the lie of going to school, getting a good grade, and being successful.
The fact is that the same situation that rendered the school advice unrealistic is fast happening to the skills advice.
In 2023, according to the data from Layoffs.fyi, over 1,000 tech companies laid off about 260,238 staff. That number is 50% above the 2022 layoff number of 164,969.
The 2020 pandemic contributed to and necessitated the high growth in demand for IT skills, which many who advertise getting tech skills and becoming rich are still riding on.
Today, most companies are no longer able to sustain their staff level due to a drop in profit and also due to growth in better alternative solutions to some job roles.
The question now is: will learning an IT skill guarantee you immediate earnings out there? The answer is yes or no, because it depends on a lot of factors.
Two Wrong Kinds of IT Skills to Learn
Below is a list of two kinds of IT skills you should avoid learning if you are looking for immediate financial gain or if you have no financial backup:
1. Any IT skill that requires a corporate environment for you to practice or earn.
If you have to write a job application before you can build anything tangible from the skill or make money off it, then it is the wrong IT skill to learn.
The reason is that you will have to prove yourself beyond a reasonable doubt to be hired.
Also, you must have the patience and grit to wait for a year or two if it happens to take that long before you land your first job.
That means your experience, environment, and connections will also have a role to play.
I know your antenna is up now; you may be wondering, but people are going through boot camps or certification programs and are getting jobs immediately.
That is true, just as people are also leaving school and getting hired immediately after graduation.
Remember, it is not a question of occurrence but a question of the percentage of occurrence.
It is also important to note that result-based advertising is the greatest scam of the century. Once there is one success story, it becomes an instrument of advertisement.
If you want to learn any of these skills, you will have to be well prepared and ready to give it all you have to be outstanding in them. You should also have the patience to be consistent.
Remember, entry-level roles are like a term that has outlived its relevance in IT.
2. Any IT skill that does not have high in demand needs to be monetized.
If there are no high-demand business needs for you to solve with the skill without being employed, avoid it.
It does not matter if people are already earning from the skill. Early birds will always reap the benefits.
Also, even if the skill has demands, you will still have to market yourself to excel in it.
Remember, success is not field-driven; it is individually motivated.
So, it is important to note that no IT skill is a Ponzi scheme, MLM scheme, or get-rich-quick scheme.
Therefore, before you go into learning any IT skills because you heard it was paying, make sure you have that determination to continue to learn and grow even when the chips are down and to send that 1001 job application that will land you your first job.
Also, make sure you have a source of income that will serve as a shock absorber.
Don’t lose hope when the result is not quick.
