updating all bank computers to Windows 7, which led to a job on the bank’s helpdesk. A couple years later she was invited to move from computer helpdesk support to the system administration team, where she now works alongside Katherine. The workplace today Katherine and Sam say their situation is a bit unusual for an industry where trade publications and think tanks put the percentage of women between 24 and 28 percent. Katherine was often the only woman in her FLCC classes though she added, “I didn’t feel excluded or left out in any way.” She experienced some gender bias in her first job: “I was once told I was in a meeting to take notes, and that was a little bit of a red flag for me,” she explained. “Coming to CNB has been a breath of fresh air. Our executive IT leader is a woman.” It helped Katherine to have a role model like Sandy Brown. “She was just so knowledgeable. I listened to her and all of her experiences, and I was like, ‘OK, that could be me right there.’” Karen encourages women not to shy away from the field. “You should not let the fact that there are more men involved than women slow you down because I do think that’s changing,” she said. Broadly, IT grads see a few key trends. “Cloud, cloud, cloud,” said Adam. “Everyone wants everything to run in the cloud, off-site. This is great when looking at physical site security, but when you do not physically control your data, security is always a concern.” Jonathan agrees that cybersecurity is a growth area for his students. “Globally, cybercrime costs are estimated to be over $6 trillion per year. The number of unfilled cybersecurity jobs is around 2 million and expected to soar to 3.5 million by 2025,” he said. David would like to focus his career on cybersecurity, and he also sees a need for people to maintain databases as the foundation of many computer applications. He is quick to add, however, that IT is not all about the tech. “When somebody comes to me with their computer problem, and I help solve it, I find it really rewarding,” he explained. Sam stressed how much IT undergirds business processes and decision-making. While she used to troubleshoot hardware problems, now she is looking for ways to use technology to improve the bottom line, for example, finding ways to make the online process for a commercial loan faster and easier. “There’s a world of difference between someone who is coding all day and someone who is gathering requirements for business needs, and it all falls under the umbrella of IT,” Sam noted. Katherine’s advice to anyone who wants to get started is to get a two-year degree and show a willingness to learn by getting relevant certifications. “Even if you got into IT, and you found you didn’t like the direction you were going, you could find another path to go down,” Karen advised. “If anybody loves technical work, IT is an awesome place to be, and it’s a field where you are always learning, and I love that.” – Lenore Friend theLAKER | 7 “There’s a world of difference between someone who is coding all day and someone who is gathering requirements for business needs, and it all falls under the umbrella of IT.” Sam DeWeese ’14 Salesforce Administrator, Canandaigua National Bank
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