IT Specialist Retraining: A Career Change with Potential
Author: Thorsten Rienth
Due to the lack of IT professionals everywhere, IT specialists are in high demand on the job market. The DEKRA Academy has been retraining IT specialists for more than 25 years and is a nationally recognized member of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK).
After school, Mike Müller* completed his training as an information electronics technician. The now 37-year-old then worked for a medium-sized company for several years. Afterwards, he founded his own small company. He repaired computers and specialized in computer problems of all kinds - until illness struck. It took him years to get back on his feet. But his training no longer counted for much. Technology had moved on and the chances of finding a new job in the IT sector were dwindling.
All despite the fact that there were 149,000 vacant IT positions in German companies last year, a study conducted by the German digital association Bitkom in April 2024 has indicated. According to this study, there will ultimately be a shortage of 663,000 IT specialists in 2040. In addition, there would be thousands of vacancies with an IT focus in administrations, schools, and science.
A growing shortage of skilled workers in the IT sector
The reasons for the skills shortage can be attributed to two trends, particularly in the IT sector: Firstly, digitalization is advancing in virtually all areas of the economy. This is leading to an increase in demand for IT specialists. On the other hand, companies around the globe are competing for specialists. This further increases the bottleneck.
“The shortage of IT specialists, which has been growing stronger for years, is affecting the entire country and is a hindrance to the urgently needed digitalization,” warns Bitkom President Dr Ralf Wintergerst. “An ever-increasing skills gap in IT means a loss of competitiveness, added value, growth, and prosperity.”
The good news is that with the use of drastic countermeasures, the skills gap can be closed. By promoting lateral entry alone, Germany could gain around 129,500 additional IT specialists by 2040. According to Bitkom, around a quarter of all skilled workers in the IT sector are already career changers. The recognized job description: IT specialist.
A two-year training period including mandatory internship
Monika Mang works at the DEKRA Academy as a freelance specialist consultant for IT specialist retraining. “From the region of Allgäu to Emsland, around 35 retrainees join us every year to become Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) certified IT specialists in application development and system integration.”
The DEKRA Academy has been training IT specialists since 1997. It is one of the nationally recognized partners of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK). “After two years, including a mandatory internship and successfully passing the IHK exam, the retrainees can start their career with the equally recognized qualification as someone who has completed three years of training as an apprentice.”
Students can choose the DEKRA location themselves
As a rule, the participants generally attend the retraining course with public funding, for example with a training voucher from the job center or employment agency or with funding from the pension insurance scheme. This may be because they are looking for work, want to reorient themselves professionally or need to change careers for health reasons.
The full-time retraining takes place at a DEKRA Academy location chosen by the retrainee. The specific retraining content is based on the requirements of the current training regulations for IT specialists.
Excellent prospects for the future
“IT specialist is one of the most demanding training professions of all,” Monika Mang explains. “But it is also one of the professions with excellent prospects for the future.” In the field of application development, IT specialists develop and program software for their own company or for client companies. As system integrators, they plan, install and operate IT systems. In the field of data and process analysis, they examine existing work and business processes on an IT level, for example to identify optimization opportunities or to uncover and eliminate weak points.
IT specialists focusing on digital networking will work with and at the interfaces of IT systems, machines, devices, products, and people in order to create faster, better or more secure work processes.
Monika Mang has been involved in retraining IT specialists as a lecturer and planner for over 15 years - and she has observed a clear change in recent times: in the past, companies would have regarded even compulsory IT trainees primarily as cheap labor. “In the meantime, there has been a noticeable change of mind: companies regard internships as an opportunity to acquire specialist knowledge and recruit new and skilled employees." It is not uncommon for the terms of permanent employment to be discussed even before the final internship interview. “Sometimes the mandatory interns can even reply: 'I like it here. But I already have a better offer'.”
For Mike Müller from the introductory example, the retraining as an IT specialist specializing in system integration has also paid off. After the successful retraining, which he completed within three years, he now works as a technical support administrator at an educational institution.
*Name changed for editorial purposes.