CAREER IN IT

Career in IT

Career in IT

To get a foot in the door and eventually land one of the competitive but well paying jobs, it is necessary to have a broad range of computer skills that are best learned at community or technical colleges where practical, hands-on training is part of the daily instructional process.

Significant Points

IT professionals are one of the occupations projected to grow the fastest and add the most new jobs over the 2006-16 decade.

Excellent job prospects are expected for applicants with at least bachelor's degree in computer engineering or computer science and with practical work experience.

IT professionals must continually strive to acquire new skills in conjunction with the rapid changes that occur in computer technology (www.bls.gov).

Nature of the Work

IT professionals apply the principles of computer science and mathematical analysis to the design, development, testing, and evaluation of the software and systems that make computers work. The tasks performed by these workers evolve quickly, reflecting new areas of specialization or changes in technology, as well as the preferences and practices of employers (www.careeroverview.com). IT professionals can be involved in the design and development of many types of software, including computer games, word processing and business applications, operating systems and network distribution, and compilers, which convert programs to machine language for execution on a computer (www.ca.courses-careers.com).

IT professionals begin by analyzing users' needs, and then design, test, and develop software to meet those needs. During this process they create the detailed sets of instructions, called algorithms, that tell the computer what to do. They also may be responsible for converting these instructions into a computer language, a process called programming or coding, but this usually is the responsibility of computer programmers. (A separate section on computer programmers appears elsewhere in the Handbook.) IT professionals must be experts in operating systems and middleware to ensure that the underlying systems will work properly (www.transworldeducation.com).

Computer applications IT professionals analyze users' needs and design, construct, and maintain general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. These workers use different programming languages, depending on the purpose of the program. The programming languages most often used are C, C++, and Java, with Fortran and COBOL used less commonly. Some IT professionals develop both packaged systems and systems software or create customized applications (www.thehighschoolgraduate.com).

Computer systems IT professionals coordinate the construction, maintenance, and expansion of an organization's computer systems. Working with the organization, they coordinate each department's computer needs—ordering, inventory, billing, and payroll recordkeeping, for example—and make suggestions about its technical direction. They also might set up the organization's intranets—networks that link computers within the organization and ease communication among various departments.

Systems IT professionals also work for companies that configure, implement, and install the computer systems of other organizations. These workers may be members of the marketing or sales staff, serving as the primary technical resource for sales workers. They also may help with sales and provide customers with technical support. Since the selling of complex computer systems often requires substantial customization to meet the needs of ...