Is there a KM job track
One of the questions that came up at the Academic KM discussion was whether there was a job track for people studying knowledge management, like there is for lawyers or engineers or MBA's.
The short answer, "No."
The longer answer is that it really depends on what you are studying in conjunction with knowledge management, which will slant your job prospects. Obviously, if you are enamored with KM, then you will more likely seek out the positions that are intersections of your discipline and organizational strategy. From the conversation at KM Chicago, I heard a lot of discussion of boundary-spanning instruction and research. Similarly, I suspect that "real KM" jobs fit between the lines of formal hierarchies make them harder to find and describe in traditional corporate environments.
That said, my observations are that just-out-of-school KM positions are things like (KM) system administrators, community managers and data analysts. As people gain more experience or move to different levels within organizations, the KM positions begin looking like project managers, business-technology liaisons, and KM intervention designers. At the highest level are strategic positions that work on creating and executing KM-specific strategies. Of course, there are many more possible roles that lead one down a "KM track." This is why the short answer is, "No, there is no formal KM job track."
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said:
I also agree. There is also the issue of people and technology. At my TidBits site, I have mentioned that most are reluctant to using new technology. Those that have researched it term it the "show me first" attitude.
At my current job, I was actually told that some data, which was clearly data, could not be entered into the database. I knew I was just being patronized. If things can be labeled they can be entered. The "data" was regarding proceedures. I was told we could not enter it because the procedure number constantly changed. Now if the data describes a proceedure that can be described, how can that be true?
I would love to get into a KM job. Part of the problem, in my humble opinion, is to actually bridge the gap between the real need of it and "showing them". No track exists because the real area where it lies is constantly in a state of change. The area is also obscured by the increasing rate of change. What works today will be bettered by what come next.
The rate of change often puts the cart in front of the horse. Not only are the positions hard to define, they are just as tough to sell.
Ingo Forstenlechner writes an interesting post about the not so formal KM job track. He links over to Jack Vinson, who asks: Is there a KM job track? The short... Read More
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KJolt Memberships
I agree 100%
I wish I had really figured this out before ;-)