Different Career Paths for Information Technology (IT) Industry

The IT industry will always be a source of employment. All areas of IT do include some sort of programming, troubleshooting, and continuing education.

A reader who recently graduated with an IT degree asks about future career paths within the Information Technology industry.

Q. I've completed my BE in computer science at BIT college Bangalore. Upto my pre-university I never thought of my career. I simply chose computer science engineering and passed it. But, now i'm confused to choose my career in IT industry. Let me know what are the different careers in IT industry?

What are their roles and responsibilities? Which is stable always? I'm not so good in programming skills but I've interest in networks. Please help me to choose a right career. Thanks,

IT Industry is a Stable Source of Employment

A. The IT industry has a great reputation as a stable working environment to get a job. Note though that the environment itself is not stable - due to constant technology changes and the demand for better and more efficient use of technology. But the demand for IT professionals is always there.

Programming in Every Part of IT Industry

IT Technology branches off into many paths. But be prepared - there is programming in every part of IT. While you may want to steer away from creating a program for a company's internal system, you will still have to know how to figure out what's wrong when things go wrong - is it the hardware, the software, the firmware. And of course networking is not just the physical wiring and cables: there's a lot of programming involved in getting individual stations talking to the server(s), or server(s) talking to each other. And there is also the physical repair of the system and hardware as another viable branch of IT.

As well, you're only as good as the last course in technology you took. Be prepared for a continuing education as you need to keep up to date with all the technological changes. And you will have to be prepared to defend your system from hackers and other security risks.

Security is a Growing Branch of IT

Security is an excellent branch off of IT to be looking at. This is one area that will never be obsolete, but does demand a high level of constant learning and constant working on the system in place. Remember, a virus checker can only check for what it knows, and once it is known there is always someone working on another virus to invade your system. So a lot of IT must depend on in-house staff to stop an attack or invasion before it starts - at the source.

You might also consider database querying. Yes, this is SQL programming, but in a fun way – you get to massage this massive mound of information into a readable report according to someone else's need for that information.

Roles and Responsibilities Revolve Around Troubleshooting

Roles and responsibilities will vary with each company. Small companies need you to have a variety of skills so that your department can do most of the troubleshooting as well as the repair. Larger companies usually have more specialized areas within the IT department. For example, they will have people dedicated to the software and programming area of the network; while others will be more specialized in the hardware aspect of the network and related computers/servers and mainframes.

But basically, your job will be to build up or create the network system, and then maintain that system while protecting it from outside intruders, while handling inside problems from clients.

Continuing Education is a Large Part of Working in the IT Environment

You might work for a College, or a large company. You could work in a company that helps create the network for another company. The work will always entail some sort of troubleshooting, as that's the whole point of a company having its own IT department. It will also always entail some sort of programming. But it also will always be a source of needed continuing education to keep up with changes and enhancements/developments.

So if you want to constantly learn, this is the industry for you.

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