When choosing careers, it is often difficult to decide on what you want to do for the rest of your life.

Traditional wisdom says that the best way to set yourself up for the future is to go to university and get a degree.

But in the case of a career in IT, where the industry is constantly evolving and updating every day, traditional wisdom can often be a load of rubbish.

Colin Thornton, managing director of Dial a Nerd, realised this early on and abandoned his university studies in favour of starting a computer support business.

"I realised," says Thornton, "that by the time coursework had been created, teachers had been trained and classes were organised, the content would be out of date because the industry was changing so quickly.

It was frustrating to sit in a class being taught about a Pentium 1 when a Pentium 2 was commonplace and the Pentium 3 had just been released!"

Although university might not always be the best place to begin your career in IT, this doesn't mean that you can take it easy and not study at all.

To get anywhere in the industry, you have to know your stuff, and know it well. You may not get it from a book or a lecture, but if you don't dedicate yourself to constantly learning more, you will be as useful as the outdated computers of many businesses that are sitting in the cupboard gathering dust.

So how should you go about making sure that you are best equipped to succeed in an IT career?

Firstly, you should know that IT is a broad term for a plethora of different industries. As technology expands quickly, new industries spring up everywhere.

You should familiarise yourself with what is out there. Information technology is not just computers, it also includes communication technology like cellphones, and it involves every step from designing and manufacturing through to installing and supporting technology.

If you don't already have a computer, you need to get one. If you don't have access to the internet, you need to get some.

The internet is the library of the 21st century, and most of the things you need to learn are freely available online for you to study.

With these tools, you can build yourself a solid foundation of IT knowledge, but you will need to put that into practice for it to make any difference.

Many IT diploma holders try to enter the workplace with hardly any practical experience, and experience counts. A surgeon might know everything there is to know about the human body, but if he has never picked up a scalpel, you're not going to let him anywhere near you. Do everything you can to put theory into practice. Get your hands dirty first.

Once you have your basic foundation of IT knowledge and skills, you will then be better equipped to decide which sector of the industry you want to focus on. If you want to focus on web design and implementation, you can do most of that through self study and hard work.

If you want to focus on designing the world's smallest microprocessor, you'll still need to get a suitable university degree.

"I regret not finishing university for all the reasons other than the learning which was supposed to occur, but acknowledge that in other industries the learning is absolutely essential. I think IT is almost unique in this regard and universities everywhere have a lot of catching up to do if they want to attract students," says Thornton.

Jeremy Forsyth is from Dial a Nerd Business. Tel: 087 726 3737 or 087-72-NERDS. For more information, visit www.dialanerd.co.za.