There are literally hundreds of different directions to pursue within the Information Technology realm. The basic categories would be support, infrastructure, security, and communications. Within each of these, there are many separate areas of expertise or departmental requirements. The world of Information Technology has expanded to cover many areas of a business and its operations.
Support is a generalized term for resolving computer issues for persons inside or outside of your specific company whether on the telephone or in person. There are many different forms of support opportunities and they are best filled by those newer to the industry. In the support roles you have the ability to absorb different information, speak with all levels of professionals and get a good feel for your strengths within a group and on an individual basis. Those who use first level support to springboard into better fitting positions quickly are the most likely to succeed and survive the slippery slopes of the information technology world.
Infrastructure teams keep the company backbones up and running while supporting and maintaining all of the fundamental pieces of it all. They are generally the designers and implementing team that put the systems in place or have clear documentation and schematics of systems.
Security is one of the last things anyone thinks of but is one of the completely necessary area that some businesses will ignore to their own detriment. There are new rules in place in many industries and client data is something that has to be legally safeguarded. Don’t skimp on security, it could cost you everything.
Certain specialties like data base programming, security specialists, program specific experts are so specific and highly compensated that companies will tend to hire an expert to come into their environment and have them work on specific projects lasting short periods of time. This is mutually beneficial and the persons who do this level of specialization enjoy a flexibility and freedom that the average salaried employee does not. IT has so many varieties of fun with technology that these where only a few. Explore, there is lots to do in IT!
Support is a generalized term for resolving computer issues for persons inside or outside of your specific company whether on the telephone or in person. There are many different forms of support opportunities and they are best filled by those newer to the industry. In the support roles you have the ability to absorb different information, speak with all levels of professionals and get a good feel for your strengths within a group and on an individual basis. Those who use first level support to springboard into better fitting positions quickly are the most likely to succeed and survive the slippery slopes of the information technology world.
Infrastructure teams keep the company backbones up and running while supporting and maintaining all of the fundamental pieces of it all. They are generally the designers and implementing team that put the systems in place or have clear documentation and schematics of systems.
Security is one of the last things anyone thinks of but is one of the completely necessary area that some businesses will ignore to their own detriment. There are new rules in place in many industries and client data is something that has to be legally safeguarded. Don’t skimp on security, it could cost you everything.
Certain specialties like data base programming, security specialists, program specific experts are so specific and highly compensated that companies will tend to hire an expert to come into their environment and have them work on specific projects lasting short periods of time. This is mutually beneficial and the persons who do this level of specialization enjoy a flexibility and freedom that the average salaried employee does not. IT has so many varieties of fun with technology that these where only a few. Explore, there is lots to do in IT!
