{"id":3353,"date":"2012-07-03T11:16:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T18:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.technet.microsoft.com\/dataplatforminsider\/2012\/07\/03\/technology-helps-the-next-generation-of-graduates\/"},"modified":"2024-01-22T22:49:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T06:49:39","slug":"technology-helps-the-next-generation-of-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/sql-server\/blog\/2012\/07\/03\/technology-helps-the-next-generation-of-graduates\/","title":{"rendered":"Technology Helps the Next Generation of Graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"
Today we have a guest post from SQL Server MVP Brian Knight.\u00a0 Brian is the owner and founder of Pragmatic Works and is also co-founder of SQLServerCentral.com, BIDN.com and SQLShare.com. He runs the local SQL Server users group in Jacksonville (JSSUG), is a contributing columnist at several technical magazines, and does regular webcasts at PragmaticWorks.com. Brian has spoken at conferences like PASS, SQL Connections and TechEd and many Code Camps. His blog can be found at <\/em>http:\/\/www.bidn.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n When you look back on to what brought you to the stage you\u2019re at today, it likely comes down to a few forks in the road where you chose to go left instead of right. In most cases, there was someone gently influencing you down one path. That\u2019s exactly what the Pragmatic Works Foundation<\/span>\u00a0hopes to accomplish through its non-profit work. We want nothing less than to change people\u2019s lives and put a small dent in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n The program is broken up into an adult program, teaching veterans or those without the financial means basic T-SQL and soft skills such as interview techniques and resume building, and a kid program, hoping to inspire children to get into IT. In this post, I am going to focus on the children\u2019s program, which aims to make IT fun for kids. Below, you can see our spring graduating class (other pictures from the foundation kids can be seen here: <\/span>http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/media\/albums\/?id=102656360126<\/span><\/a>). The priority for our enrollment is underprivileged kids and many of our children come from the Guardian Ad Litem group. These are children who have deeply struggled in their personal life and this program hopes to give them a chance to broaden their horizons and unlock their potential.<\/span><\/p>\n First, the good news, college enrollments are up by a large factor in the United States, seeing an exponential growth since 2000. Much of this could be attributed to the job market being tighter and people having to go to college to break open that first door. <\/span><\/p>\n Now, the bad news. While enrollments have seen an exponential growth since 2000, computer-related degrees has seen a dramatic decline (source: US Department of Education, NCES) since 2003. At the same time, IT is one of the major job creators in the economy with database-related fields having less than a 1% unemployment rate (source: CareerBuilder). This is causing many of the largest companies to send more IT jobs overseas to cover the shortage in talent. <\/span><\/p>\n
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