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| Information Technology Career Overview Requirements Job Outlook Career Tracks Compensation Information Technology Job Listings Career Overview E-mail, personal computers, and the Internet: These products of the information age have become common currency among working professionals. They make your life simpler by enabling faster communication, providing tools for more effective work, and giving you access to vast information with the click of a mouse. But they also introduce a risk factor that isn't totally within your control: If your computer fails or the network connection goes down, you lose time and possibly money. What You'll Do That's where information technology (IT) specialists come in. Information technology brings you the information and applications—such as word-processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software—that office workers everywhere rely on to do their jobs. IT specialists create such products and set up and maintain such systems. Their work varies widely: They upgrade your computer software; get your office computer network, or your computer, up and running again after it crashes; set up and maintain the servers on which your company's internal applications run; create and customize the software products you use; build websites; and build and maintain the databases that you rely on to gather information to serve your customers. Who Does Well IT professionals wear many hats and go by different names, depending on their area of expertise—engineer, programmer, website producer, and network administrator, to name a few. The range of IT jobs is vast. And the skills needed to set up an office network—install the cables, configure the computers, and keep them running—are quite different from those required to set up and customize an automated-payroll software system. A database specialist needs still other skills to administer the ever-changing complex of information generated by enterprise software applications and the company website, including files on visitors who have signed on as members or purchased something. But no matter what job they do, all IT professionals focus on improving the usability and efficiency of technological systems and processes. Their goal is a smoothly functioning computer network—free of bugs, glitches, and interruptions—that provides an effective flow of information so the company can keep on improving its work processes, customer retention and acquisition, and other aspects of its business. Requirements There’s a broad range of jobs in IT, and not all positions require technical skills. “The best tech support people we had,” one insider says, “had humanities backgrounds.” Technical, communication, and business skills are all important to the field, and four-year college degree programs—not necessarily in computer science—are still one of the best ways to prepare for entering the IT job market. Employers look for relevant skills and experience. A degree in computer science tends to be most important for database developers and software engineers. Certificate programs are more common for support and system administration specialists (see the “Certification” section that follows for more information). On-the-job experience can substitute for either academic credential, though for people just entering the job market, a degree is a tremendous advantage. Computer science majors and MBAs in particular might consider a minor or double major in a second field. Though not required, this additional credential can be useful, particularly when working in IT for non-IT companies. For example, a biology minor will prove very handy to a software developer working with an insect database at a university research center. Because IT is part of so many industries, a secondary field can be anything that interests you—film, chemistry, history; whatever your interest, it’s likely that it will complement an industry searching for IT workers. Certification A certificate is almost always a prerequisite for a job in information security, and a number of common acronyms appear beside the names of successful security professionals: CCSE (Check Point Certified Security Expert), CCSA (Check Point Certified Security Administrator), or SCSE (Symantec Certified Security Engineer). Network and system administrators are also increasingly turning to certification programs like those offered by Microsoft and Red Hat. However, formal training is less important for system administrators than for many other kinds of IT professionals. Education is not a process that ends when you land a job. Part of working in IT is learning new technologies. Since the field is constantly changing and evolving, today’s hot tech skills identified by Dice.com—Java and Linux—are just that. Next year, the list will change. Even today, the list is in no way complete. “People who are good at Excel are always loved,” one insider says. Every job comes with its own list of requirements, and however careful you are at selecting your skills, you will need to update them and pick up new ones over the course of your career. Job Outlook Today’s economy is riddled with uncertainty. Since January 2000, as many as 10 percent of the leading Internet companies that received formal venture funding closed their doors. A recent Computerworld survey reports that 70 percent of IT departments have dropped or delayed “especially innovative projects” in the past 2 years, mainly due to budget cuts, and that nearly 25 percent of surveyed IT workers have concerns about job stability. Thirty-seven percent of workers reported that their work environment was stressful. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers reports that the number of computer-related jobs in the United States dropped from 2.98 million in 2003 to 2.96 million in the second quarter of 2004—a trend blamed on one of the industry’s most hotly contested issues, outsourcing. Even financially healthy, non-IT intensive businesses are spending less on computers and peripherals; prices for these technology goods are declining. You might wonder: Is a job in IT a mistake? Though the trends may sound bleak, they don’t reflect a decrease in the use of information technology. In fact, because hardware prices declined more steeply than investment, the seemingly dismal trends actually reflect growth. The computer infrastructure is growing, as is the need for new software and new people to program and service equipment. In June 2003, the Department of Commerce reported that IT professions are among the fastest growing and highest paying jobs in the economy. A 2004–05 Bureau of Labor Statistics report claims that the software publishing industry is the most rapidly growing sector of the economy, predicted to grow by more than 68 percent between now and 2012. Despite the downturn in IT-intensive industries, there is still demand for highly skilled technical workers, particularly in nontechnical economic sectors. Career Tracks IT jobs break down into two general categories: back-end and front-end work. Back-end work involves supporting networks and databases. Front-end concentrates on improving the user-interface realm, such as the design and navigation of a website. Though careers in IT depend on the needs of a company, some of the more common IT jobs are described below. Software Engineering Software engineers are programmers who write the code that makes software products run. In a traditional sense, they design, develop, and debug application software—the programs you use for word processing, managing your finances, or learning foreign languages. However, as software becomes increasingly Web-enabled, engineers' work increasingly focuses on Internet tie-ins. For instance, a team of engineers might design a bank's online checking system or develop the multiplayer Net version of a CD-ROM game. Network Engineering Network engineering involves building and maintaining a company's back-end technology. Network engineers implement a local area network (LAN) for intra-office communication and a wide area network (WAN) to support an Internet connection, and they make sure that all workstations, hubs, servers, routers, and switches work. Network administrators and systems-support staff help improve a company's efficiency and output by building and upgrading employees' computers, downloading software, backing up information, setting up e-mail accounts, and so forth. "Net admin" staff also spend a significant amount of time responding to emergencies such as hacker attacks or virus threats, troubleshooting new applications, and fielding a never-ending barrage of computer-related questions from staff members. Database Administration Companies conducting e-mail and direct-marketing campaigns maintain huge databases on customer preferences, purchase histories, and demographics. Using this information, promotions are devised based on customers' previous behavior. Database administration includes back-end support for these information banks. The database administrator (DBA) develops, implements, updates, tests, and repairs a company's server database. Since the database stores information on thousands—even millions—of customers and potential customers, maintenance is a formidable task that often requires a project team. The DBA is responsible for monitoring performance, archiving and backing-up information, and assuring the security of the confidential information stored in the system. Web Production and Development For a company to establish an online presence, it must create and maintain a website that communicates its mission and promotes its product. Web producers translate the management's vision into a graphically designed, HTML-coded website. They are also responsible for posting, updating, and quality-checking content on websites. Cooperating with graphic designers and a team of Web developers who code the content, Web producers establish objectives, goals, and plans for the site's future. Their job is closely tied to the identity of a company—Web producers uniquely liaise with various business functions to produce a site that represents the company as a whole. Not to be confused with Web producers, Web developers engineer Internet-specific software to post and update information on websites. Instead of working in a programming language, developers use markup languages such as HTML and Javascript to create pages of text, images, and hyperlinks for site visitors to use. Quality Assurance The quality assurance (QA) team is the last line of defense against mistakes before a product or website is made available to the public. For example, in computer hardware companies, QA engineers oversee the production process, ensuring that a flawless machine is consistently assembled. In companies with an online interface, QA checks a site's features, interface, and navigation, ensuring they are bug-free and fully functional before they are posted. In both cases, a QA technician locates the sources of problems so developers can remedy them before distribution. Compensation Compensation varies widely in IT jobs depending on skills, company size, and industry. However, the following median salary ranges are typical:
Information Technology Job Listings Database Administrator Hardware Engineer Industrial Designer Management Information Systems Programmer QA Engineer Quality Assurance Software Engineer System Administrator Technical Support Technical Writer User Interface Designer User Interface Specialist Web Designer Web Developer |
