Careers in IT

Upon graduation from high school, and prior to choosing what course to take up in college, it is best to consider which career you plan to go into after college. In the field of IT, you can choose from a variety of careers that will suit your skills, interests and needs.

I listed below a few of your possible career opportunities in IT. Please note that the description that follows each are based on my personal understanding and observations only, and might contain a few subjective comments here and there. Should you want, the Internet may provide a more detailed and more descriptive information for each.

Software Developer / Programmer
Mainly you will be responsible for designing, coding and testing software applications and programs. Here are some examples of application and programs that you might find yourself developing :
a) online banking and purchasing system (e.g. e-Bay, Citibank online, etc.)
b) email and chat programs (e.g. Yahoo Messenger, Gmail, etc.)
c) social networking applications (e.g. Friendster, etc.)
d) point of sales or POS (the most visible part is the one you see at the cashier’s monitor when you pay for your groceries, at fast foods, etc.)
e) embedded systems (programs that control your printer, mobile phone, digital camera, etc.)
There is a lot of room for growth and advancement in this type of career. Aside from the ever-improving technologies you will be encountering, you can also advance to become a systems’ engineer (SE) or a project manager (PM) later in your career.
This blog, although speaking about IT careers in general, will mainly focus on this type of career.

Animation and Game Developer
This is one of the most exciting fields in IT, thanks in part to animated movies (e.g. Nemo, Matrix, etc.) and popular internet and computer games (e.g. Ragnarok, Counter Strike, etc.). If you fancy yourself designing and creating characters for animation, or developing storylines and strategies for games, this might be the career for you. It would be a big advantage if you have a high level of creativity and imagination, and have good skills in sketching and drawing (although there are lots of tools available to help with this).

CAD Engineering
Some architects still use primarily paper-based designs, but the most demanding and modern of buildings and infrastructures would not have been possible without the aid of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Engineering softwares. Imagine yourself designing the newest car models, buildings and skyscrapers, airports, bridges, etc., and even seeing how they would look like and testing their structural integrity way before they are built. It will be an advantage if you have skills and interests towards architecture and designing.

Network Engineers
The Internet will not be possible without the worldwide inter-connection of computers and servers. And basically most companies, organizations, Internet cafes, and even homes have their computers connected in a network. Network engineers are the ones who know best how to configure, setup and make those networks work. Network engineers are responsible not only for the physical connections of the computers, but also the OS and software configurations to make the interconnection work as intended.

Technical Support Engineers
With computers as commonplace as a TV sets now, there are lots of opportunities for people who have skills in troubleshooting, upgrading and servicing them. With the millions of computers in organizations, schools, and homes it is bound to happen that those will need servicing just like any other consumer appliance. Do you see yourself taking apart laptops, desktop computers and other computer related gadgets to see how they work, how to improve them, or how to fix them if broken? If so, then this can be a fulfilling job for you.

I am listing here a few more :
Call Center Agents
Medical Transcriptionist
Database Administrator
Systems Administrator
Systems Analyst
Quality Assurance (QA) / Test Engineer

I plan to write about these in my future blogs, so please do watch out for them…