The types of jobs and career opportunities for IT professionals are as vast and different as the industry itself. There are many different avenues you can take in the IT world, include the types of job environments and positions. Only one thing is for certain: you'll probably be working long hours occasionally and you'll have to work with computers. The rest of your career is up to you.
Career Environments for IT Professionals
There are many options IT professionals can take when it comes to the environment they work in.
- Small Businesses: it's normal for IT professionals to work in smaller businesses. While there may not be quite as many career opportunities within one small company, small businesses are great environments for IT professionals.
- Self-employed: some IT professionals work for themselves and contract their services out to businesses. As your own boss you can have more reign over your hours and who you work for, but you'll also have to bust your butt getting your own contracts.
- Corporations: there are thousands of huge corporations that employ IT professionals in many different careers. While there are many options and flexibility when it comes to picking your desired career within a larger company, it's possible that the job itself can be quite rigid within a large corporation.
Types of Careers for IT Professionals
IT professionals can find work in so many different types of careers. Such careers include:
- Programmer/Software Developer/Software Engineer
- Project Manager
- Hardware Engineer
- Systems Administrator
- Database Administrator
- Network Administrator
- Enterprise Architect
- IT Architect
- Program Manager
- Business Analyst
- IT Security Manager
- Business Continuity Manager
- Vendor Relationship Managers
- IT Procurement Managers
One thing about IT jobs is that the industry is always evolving and changing, so, while some of the careers listed above might eventually be phased out with new technologies, new jobs are always being created and expanded upon at the same time. For instance, cloud computing jobs are quickly becoming more prevalent.
IT professionals can also go into more business-oriented roles and away from strictly technical positions. These business specialists will identify specific technologies a company can use to make more money or run more efficiently.
As you can see, career opportunities for IT professionals span a wide spectrum. Consider partnering with IT staff augmentation services to determine exactly where your job opportunities lie. It's up to you to see where your niche is in the market, but you can be confident in the knowledge that there are opportunities out there for you.