Network analysis among top careers

Informatics majors may have the largest amount of job security, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.\nThe fastest-growing occupation in the next eight years will be network systems and data communications analysis, according to a Department of Labor press release concerning the 30 fastest-growing U.S. careers. Computer software engineers came in fourth.\n“Job prospects for students are absolutely outstanding,” said Jeremy Podany, career services director for the School of Informatics.\nThe School of Informatics provides a wide range of computer and information technology education, and prepares students for careers in a variety of technology-related fields, including data, research, design and computing.\nCreated in 2000, the School of Informatics has more than 40 tenure-track professors and hundreds of students, according to its Web site. The growth will likely continue, said Bobby Schnabel, dean of the School of Informatics.\n“Students pick a major for two reasons,” Schnabel said. “One, because they think it’s fun and interesting stuff, and two, because of the job market ... \nWe like to think that informatics is fun and interesting, and the job market is certainly very positive. Demand far exceeds supply.”\nIn fact, the school has three jobs available for every student, Podany said, and there are plenty more that the school isn’t contacted about.\nThe rise in demand in the computer and information technology sectors can be attributed to a number of factors, Podany said. As baby boomers leave the workforce, companies are becoming more technologically-savvy. Also, Podany said, the growth of tech companies such as Google and Apple has resulted in a greater need for computer engineers and IT personnel. At the same time, growth in technology-related academic programs has not matched the growth in the job market.\n“Over 50 percent of Google’s employees are computer engineers,” Podany said. “Big tech giants need a lot of talent.”\nIU was the first university in the nation to establish a school of informatics, Podany said, though schools with similar programs existed elsewhere previously. Podany said he considers the school one of the top in the nation. Its main competitors are schools at Carnegie Mellon, the University of California-Berkeley, Georgia Tech, and Cornell, Podany said.\nThe School of Informatics differs from its competitors, Schnabel said, because it incorporates “a wide variety of applications and implications.”\nInformatics is defined on the school’s Web site as a discipline that “develops new uses for information technology in order to solve specific problems in areas as diverse as biology, fine arts, and economics.” Informatics also looks at how people interact with technology, according to the Web site. Podany said because of this, the School of Informatics is unique.\n“If Carnegie is an apple, then we are a kiwi,” Podany said. “Or perhaps even a star fruit.”