[Sigia-l] IA by Origin - Where do IAs come from?

[Coon, Sean]

Livia Labate wrote:

"After I read Sean Coon say "always hire desperate college students and
hit the homes with mad acreage" (at Sigia-L -
http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/0305/0228.html) I started
wondering about what does it take to become and IA these days and how
new IAs are starting out."

=============

athough my response was actually a literal suggestion in how to make
$30+ mowing lawns as an option to performing IA for a similar figure (it
really is all about the fresh air), your questions are pertinent to the
expansion of the field. 

i have never personally hired a college student as an IA or have worked
somewhere where it occured. not that a perfect candidate couldn't fit
the bill, but a decent amount of real experience (design &/or backend
&/or business &/or LIS, etc.) is so valuable to the position, it may not
be an apropos fit. it's not quite the same as hiring a jr. html
person... or even a jr. designer... but if all you're looking to do is
fill a low-level slot to pull together aspects of the system design
through basic documentation and footwork between team members... sure.
that position could be filled by a straight-out-of-college IA and,
depending on the individual and the amount of available mentoring (this
list does ***not*** count ;), one could probably grow into an autonomous
jr. position within a decent amount of time.

my question to the community is: how prominent is IA from the inside-out
(from a student/faculty perspective in looking for opportunities)? as
much as IA has gotten the spotlight over the past few years, it's still
an unknown in a good number of technology companies within our own
industry, so i'd be very interested in knowing how acedemia is
approaching the challenge via internships and career direction. or have
we even reached that point in the evolution of IA/UX yet?

/*spcoon*/