IT Career Advice: A Guideline for an IT Professional

IT-Career-Advice-A-Guideline-for-an-IT-Professional

IT Career Advice: A Guideline for an IT Professional

1. Is It the Right Time to Go for an IT Career

It is not an easy question to answer whether this is the right time to go for an IT career or not. The rapid growth of innovation in Information and Technology changes the technical and business pattern across the world. This also increases the demand for IT professionals. At the same time, some segments of the IT industries are indeed getting saturated, like telecommunication companies. On the other hand, newer technologies and concepts like Cloud Computing, Data Science, the Internet of Things (IoT) and many such segments create huge opportunities for those planning to develop their career as IT professionals. Cybersecurity is another arena of the IT sector for any business, which is now considered a major concern regardless of the organisation’s type and size. Newer programming languages and frameworks are getting released frequently. Job opportunities are available for IT professionals, and it is increasing in parallel to the newer opportunities and scopes. Usually, IT jobs require around fifty to sixty working hours, and for some professionals, it might seem a bit stressful compared with other jobs.

2. The Impact of Offshoring in the IT Job Market

Offshoring is a common practice in the IT industry. It impacts the IT job market. Offshoring means relocating tasks, projects and/or business processes from one country to another. In this procedure, one company is looking forward to getting help from another company. In most cases, offshoring takes place between two countries. Even Governments have started employing offshoring. Over the last decade, both administrative and technical services have also been offshored, as well. Offshoring opens employment opportunities for many IT professionals in many countries, and on the other hand, it closes the door for employment opportunities in some other countries. The terms offshoring and outsourcing cause confusion among many individuals. In reality, outsourcing could be a part of offshoring, which is known as offshore outsourcing. In general, outsourcing means an agreement between two or more companies where each company carries out a certain project responsibility. In some cases, outsourcing is also referred to as handing over public services to private services.

3. The Change in Pattern of IT Job Roles and the Way to Pursue the Right Job Role

IT covers a wide range of jobs in different and diversified roles. The paradigm of the IT industry is changing more frequently than ever before due to rapid change in newer innovation, and this change has impacted the job roles in the field of IT. The followings are some of the most wanted job requirements for the IT industry across the world:

a. Software Engineer

b. Hardware Engineer

c. System Administrator

d. Database Administrator

e. Network Administrator

f. IT Security Manager

g. IT Procurement Manager

h. IT Architect

i. Business analyst

It is important to remember that not all IT jobs remain the same, even in the same company. For example, job positions like Network and Programming engineering are no longer needed for companies that have already incorporated cloud computing technology in their IT infrastructure. Still, the demand for Computer Programmers is increasing as there is a continuous need for diversified application and system software types in most IT companies. Newer job roles are getting available as Cloud Computing technology dominates the IT industry for the last couple of years. Cloud Infrastructure Administrator, Cloud Architect and Cloud Capacity planner are some such job roles in high demand in today’s IT industry. Job roles like Project Managers and Business Analysts are in high demand. These positions are required for any IT company to look after their projects and keep their business process up and running without any disruption.

Virtualization and IT Security are two other major areas where most IT companies are concerned. Job opportunities in these areas are also increasing recently as Cyber Security has a major impact on the business process. Virtualization is becoming a primary concern of almost every IT company.

4. Skills and Certifications: Required for a Successful IT Career

IT industries worldwide are now offering a wide range of scopes and options for IT job seekers. Diversified job roles in the IT industry include the opportunities for Application Developer, IT Security Specialist, Database Administrator, Cloud Architect, Virtualization Specialist, Help Desk Technician, Tech Support Specialist and so on. IT Companies are now looking for a blend of technical and Soft skills while recruiting an IT Professional. The candidates must clearly understand the business process and possess the required skill and experience for the IT job seekers. Leadership and communication skills are also required for IT job seekers to play a successful role in any IT project of the organization.

The vendor-specific and vendor-neutral certifications are now playing a major role in validating the IT skill required for any specific IT job role. Globally recognized IT companies like Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA, VMware, IBM and Red Hat are offering certification courses for IT professionals to keep moving upwards to their IT careers. Any IT professional needs to choose the right certification which is aligned with their previous job experience. IT companies are evaluating the IT job seekers by their professional certifications and the relevant working experience they have earned. The IT job market is getting more competitive as IT professionals have started to validate their skills through globally recognized certifications and real-time working experience. Project Management Professional certifications from Project Management Institutes are now becoming an integral part of the skill-set for any IT job seekers. For example, a Network Engineer may look forward to earning more certifications from Cisco; simultaneously, a Project Management certification will make him stand out of the status quos in the job market.

5. The Salary Range of IT Professionals

IT Professionals are now getting paid well compared with other industries, as their demand is increasing due to the rapid expansion of IT regardless of the type of business across the world. The following information will give you a comprehensive idea about the average salary range of IT professionals in different job roles:

a. Project Manager: £58,189 to £86,507

b. System Analyst: £50,625 to £71,573

c. Application Architect: £69,439 to £93,297

d. Business System Analyst: £49,073 to £72,348

e. Application developer and/or Programmer: £44,223 to £77,003

f. Senior Software Developer: £63,232 to £86,895

Over the years, it has been noticed that IT Professionals are getting tired of serving as part of the same IT workforce of the organization, and they are prone to switch their careers as IT Consultants. Such practice not only allows the IT professionals to get a change in their pattern of work but also impacts their pay scale. Consultant level IT professionals are usually getting paid higher than the other job roles.