[Sigia-l] Junior IAs?

[Eric Scheid]

I keep seeing job ads for "Senior IA" and the like (with of course the usual
blurred and fuzzy job requirements).

Has anyone seen job ads for "Junior IA" (or similar title) -- that is, entry
level positions? Does anyone work in a group where some of the team members
are junior IAs? Does such a thing even exist?

I ask because this came up at the recent Sydney IA-Peers nite, and we all in
attendance pretty much agreed that what seems to be happening is that the
career path is different. One doesn't start at the bottom as a Junior IA and
work their way up ... rather, it seems one starts as a junior designer, or
coder, or producer, or some related discipline; learn the IA basics along
the way; and then at a mid-level point in that career path they jump ship
and become IAs.

A recent thread showed that we here on SIGIA-L have quite diverse
backgrounds, but (for the moment) I'm more interested in knowing where
tomorrow's IAs are coming from. Does your employer provide a career path
from entry level to higher for IA? Will they emerge fresh faced and eager
from educational institutions?

e.