Funny, I majored in Information Technology and find Economics fascination. I suggest that you approach IT depending on what you want to do. For some tasks you may already be “overqualified”, however there are other tasks for which your economics and mathematical experience will be hugely beneficial.

First rule, you will hear some talk about Microsoft or Linux or Apple, and the nearly religious intonations given for or against. Forget it they are hype, Learn BOTH, or learn in a balanced approach, try not to get too pigeonholed into either one,because unlike traditional religion we can know, that if one side or the other was completely right, the other wouldn’t exist now would they, for my mind, it’s like having different color paints , you use different colors for different things.

What exactly do you like about IT, is it programming, or is it the engineering side, or the analysis or networking or media development. It’s a broad field and not every area offers the same level of opportunity.

Coming from economics, the macro-economic concern presented by outsourcing is also a concern, the arbitrage of the US workforce (especially in this sector of the economy) is probably non-trivial, but it is still possible to find work since it’s also very likely that US firms (larger firms in particular) have outsourced too much work already and are suffering the effects of having too much of their core competency in the hands of other people etc.

You may want to assess your skills overall (see the latter 1/2 of “What color is your parachute”) for a reference on basic skills.

For conversation sake, let’s say you want to go into programming, here I would suggest not bothering with trying to get a job as a “line” programmer, but approach this area as a business analyst. You will of course need the novel skills of programming.

Topics include

– Basic mathematics/algebra

– Logic and logical thinking

– Statistics

– Basic computer programming using either some simple languages (such as BASIC, Visual Basic, C or Delphi/Pascal or Java). I recommend a SIMPLE class just to get the basics.

– Pick and learn a language (I recommend C and then C++/C#, since the skills you will learn with these languages are the most transferable to other languages such as C, Perl, PHP, Java, JSharp)

– Object Oriented Programming / Data structures – Avoid languages or language concepts which are advanced up front – object oriented programming and data-structures are advanced topics and classes which have alot of value but should only be approached once you have some comfort with a language which can use them.

– It pretty much sucks having to learn these cool concepts AND learn the language at the same time, so don’t do that, it might take longer but knowing these more advanced concepts at some depth gives you an advantage later on.

Other advanced topics in this area include

– Database development – (absolutely necessary for most business applications, and here again, you want to take a basic DB development class and then find a more advanced class or two) since there are DEFINITELY good and BAD database developers in the world, taking a class or two in this will prevent the likelihood of you being a BAD DBA.

– Operating Systems – while not specific to programming , learning how your computer is put together at an OS level is so unbelievably educational it’s not funny.

– Network systems – Here again – it’s not specific to programming but you will learn how to tie out your programming with things that we use every day, like browers and chat programs etc.

If you are going for a SERIOUS analysis position , there are additonal classes

– Calculus (about Calc 3 or so) – I HATED calculus personally when I was learning it, but found it absolutely essential when working with some problems (and people).

– Statistics 2/3 – here again – you are looking to give yourself an edge.

– Discrete Mathematics / Number Theory – these classes are TOTALLY theoretical or at least they seem that way at least, some of the most practical problems I’ve ever solved, would have been unsolvable without this stuff!!

I could go on and on, if you have more specific questions, please shoot me an e-mail. I’d be happy to answer offline.

A couple of years ago I would have said take the business management. But since then, the market has become flooded with business grads and there aren’t that many entry level jobs available. To make matters worse, there are several years’ worth of previous business grads who are still haven’t found jobs, and there are thousands of experienced MBA’s who have been laid off. All these folks are competing for every job that comes up, which means that wages are depressed and many people are having to settle for positions they wouldn’t have dreamed of accepting a few years ago. If you are more interested in psychology, then I’d say go for it. But be the BEST in your class, and take every opportunity you can for internships, research projects and community service. When there are 100 applicants for every job, these are the things that can make a difference. If you do decide to go the business route, make sure you have a concentration in something such as finance or accounting. A general business degree with no specialization doesn’t even get you in the door these days. Incidentally, if you are looking for a great college for psych majors, take a look at Clark University in Worcester,MA. A very nice college with an emphasis on research and social change. The place has incredibly high retention and grad rates, which indicate that the students who go there like it. Psychology is their largest major, so you’d find good company there, and you’d get a chance to do research even as an undergraduate. They also have a program that allows you to earn both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in 5 years–and the 5th year is tuition free. That can be a huge savings because with Psych you really have to plan on getting a Master’s, and graduate education can be extremely expensive.

IT jobs usually require a certain amount of computer skills… when I went through the motions, I took classes in C, C++, Java, Visual Basic, Perl and various assembly and other languages (MIPS *shudder*). Basically, you should have a general understanding of how computers work. IT people can be known as “dumping grounds” for whiny coworkers who demand to know why their printer isn’t working or why their wireless keyboard no longer types as well as it used to.

You should be able to troubleshoot… this doesn’t mean looking at a four hundred page program and being able to pick out the two symbols that don’t belong. This means being able to get into a program and fix it, be it Windows, Linux, Mac, whatever. You should get familiar with databases because some of the IT entry-level jobs require them. Brush up on server technology, too, at least to get a basic understanding of how servers work and what plugs into what.

Obviously as a business major, you are by no means a lightweight. Just put yourself out there and good luck!

it depends on which areas of IT you are interested in – technical or business. with a major in economics (i don’t know what your degree is in), you may be able to get into the industry on the business side of things like sales, marketing, administration, etc. but if you would like to get into the technical parts of the business like programming, customer support, research and devt, you will need technical qualifications.

i have a business admin degree and worked in IT sales and marketing for 15 years. Half of them were with large IT companies like Oracle and IBM. It has been rewarding.

Good luck.