Feature -- by Karen Rocznik

Jobs in the information technology or IT industry are hot. Businesses are crying for computer programmers, software developers and consultants. Also, with the increased popularity of the Internet, more and more jobs in web design are in demand. Here now are a few young Calgarians who are taking advantage of the hot IT market.

Joel Sinclair | Paul Werbicki | Curtis J. Ling | Brigitte Lepage

Joel Sinclair, 28 - Project Manager, Media Dog Productions

Two years ago, Joel Sinclair left Alberta College of Art and Design with a degree in visual arts and a job as a freelance magazine illustrator. Today, Joel is co-owner of a local web site design company. With clients mainly from the oil and gas industry, Media Dog has brought in between $5,000 to over $40,000 per website. However, getting to this point was no easy task. "A year and a half ago I took the dive and quit my last job. I researched what area I wanted to get into and decided to specialize in corporate sites. But I worked out of my apartment for the first three months," he says. As an artist, Joel says the job of a web designer can be creatively demanding. "The hardest part of starting any web page is coming up with the initial concept. You need a good imagination." For example, when designing a web page for a local photocopier company, Joel made the interface of the page look like a photocopier. As a project manager, at times Joel has to hand creative control over to the clients. "Sometimes I start out with a vision and it slowly gets mutated into somebody else's. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't." While Sinclair says he enjoys the creative aspect of designing, typing in HTML code, the programming language for the Internet, is not as appealing. Despite the technical tediousness of punching in code, Joel says he loves his job. "I would definitely recommend entering the field to anyone. The industry keeps getting bigger and bigger. Now that [the web design industry] is doing a lot with video, sound, music, it's branching out into more multimedia."

Paul Werbicki, 21 - Software Engineer, Big Picture Multimedia

Anyone who has the slightest doubt as to the number of job opportunities in IT should spent a few minutes with Paul Werbicki. He's a top software engineer at one of the countries leading edge design firms. He helped put together a unique web site maintenance and design software package, and is in the top two percent of his class. His class? Oh, right, Paul is still a student at the University of Calgary. While this fourth-year co-ed may not seem typical, Paul is quite to point out that many of his classmates have either been offered jobs in the industry or have already being working for a number of months. However, Paul is the first to admit that working and going to school full-time is "very brain-intensive."

Paul has been interested in computers since the tender age of 11. "I remember being in grade four or five and playing around with BASIC (an early programming language) on computers. That's where my interests were." From that point on he always kept working with computers, figuring out how their insides worked. He entered the computer science program at the U of C right after high school. Eight months ago he joined Big Picture Multimedia as a software engineer. Paul designs and develops Internet applications such as web development systems, editors and site mappers. While his day consists mainly of programming, he takes time out to meet with other co-workers and clients. One thing Paul has learned being both a student and professional is that you have to be a hard worker, self-motivated and always be one step a head of the game. "You need the right skills to be successful in this field. You need to be self-taught and you have to know your material before you get in."

Curtis J. Ling, 28 - Technical Business Consultant, Arthur Andersen

Need help selecting a software package that will suit the needs of your company? Or do you have the software, but don't have the foggiest idea how to use it. Well, fear not friend, Curtis Ling, technical business consultant, is here to help. As a consultant, Curtis is responsible for analyzing certain software packages to determine which ones best suit the needs of an organization. "These packages are very complex, relatively expensive, and involve a lot of changes in the way organizations do their work," he says. "They can take up to a couple of years to implement, and often require fine tuning in the form of custom-programmed glue." With newer and more advanced software packages being introduced every day, Curtis says you have to keep on top of things. "Next week I'm off to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a one week crash course on a new software package. [The IT industry] is always changing, new technology comes in all the time. You have to realize you are going to be learning for the rest of your life."

As a recent information systems graduate from St. Francis Xavier University, Curtis is undaunted at the prospect of perpetual learning. In fact he thrives on it. "I like working with new technologies, learning new skills, solving challenging problems and the ability to tap into the knowledge and skills of people that work for the same firm I do." While the use of computers systems, software and networks are quickly becoming a part of almost every single business and industry, Curtis is wary of its practicality in all forms of business. "IT is a tool that can help organizations adapt, grow, compete and prosper. However, implemented poorly or for the wrong reasons, IT can be costly and yield little return." But for now, Curtis can rest assured that as the hype surrounding IT grows and becomes more advanced, more and more businesses will be looking to people like him to solve their problems. Now, if only I could figure out how to turn this darn contraption on... uh Curtis?

Brigitte Lepage, 28 - Programmer Analyst, Minerva Technologies

When thinking about pursuing a career in computer programming, Brigitte Lepage knew it would be a natural progression - one could even say it was in her genes. Growing up with a father who was a math and physics teacher, Brigitte always had a keen interest in math and logic. After obtaining her Business Administration degree from the University of Regina, Brigitte got a job working with Transport Canada in Ottawa. While she wasn't an official programmer, she had a lot of contact with computers and programming. "That's when the light went on. I built my first application system, it was really small, but once that initial fear of computers went away, I found I really liked it." she says.

After Ottawa, Brigitte traveled to Edmonton and then Red Deer, where she took a two-year computer systems technology course. Today she's a programmer analyst at Minerva Technologies, a systems consulting firm in the city. While many people have impressions of computer programmers locked away in an office for hours at a time punching in code, Brigitte quickly puts this idea to rest. "I deal with clients every day. I'm on the phone a lot. I also work with programmers and testers to make sure the data base environments are set up and in sync. I also travel two times a month to meet with clients in Edmonton. Teamwork is also important. If you are close minded you are not going to do well in this business." Brigitte says her job also gives her a lot of variety. "You can change projects quite a bit, that way you get a lot of experience working with different tools and programming languages." As the only female of her graduating class in Red Deer, Brigitte is not bothered by being a woman in the male-dominated IT industry. "It doesn't bug me that I'm a minority. At Minerva it's not so bad, there are quite a few women, but at some other companies the numbers are surprising."

As for the future, Brigitte would like to get some more experience under her keyboard and possibly pursue a career as an independent consultant. She says that the most important thing about breaking into the industry is your outlook. "You have to have a can do WILL do attitude."