If you are reading this story at work on your desktop or laptop computer, take a moment and thank your Information Technology team. Today is National IT Day!
OCC's IT efforts are led by Kevin MacLachlan who is Director of Information Technology Services. He's worked at the college for nearly 9 years, but first set foot on the OCC campus in the fall of 2005 as a student. Fresh out of Fayetteville-Manlius High School, MacLachlan enrolled in OCC's Music program. He would switch to Business Administration, and eventually finally find a home in Computer Information Systems. After completing his associate degree in 2007, he transferred to SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
MacLachlan says the key to being successful in the world of IT is to be good with technology and people. "You have to have some skills and a natural gravitation towards how things work, but almost anything can be learned. The best IT people are really good technically and understand what people are trying to do, how they interact with their technology. You have to listen more than you talk and understand every person's life isn't computers every day. You have to be good with customer service."
IT is a growing industry with job openings everywhere, including here at OCC. The most significant area of growth is in cybersecurity where there are more than 3 million job openings worldwide. OCC has a popular Cybersecurity degree program which helps students gain investigative skills, research cyber incidents, and protect valuable information in the digital world.
MacLachlan encourages anyone interested in a computer-related career to go for it. "Workers are very much in demand, and you can have a great career living anywhere. In my major (CIS) you can do programming, administration, business analyst... there's a wide array of things you can do. It's a very versatile degree and career path."
If you see an IT person today, tell them "Thank you!" It's National IT Day.
