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Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers

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Page 1: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Chapter 15Information TechnologyCareers

Page 2: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

IT Career Field

The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing positions for the first decade of the new millennium

Computer Software EngineersComputer Software Engineers

Computer Support Specialists Computer Support Specialists

Network and Computer Systems AdministratorsNetwork and Computer Systems Administrators

Systems AnalystsSystems Analysts

Database AdministratorsDatabase Administrators

Page 3: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Many new jobs in other sectors of the economy will require workers to spend the majority of their day using a computer.

Many new jobs in other sectors of the economy will require workers to spend the majority of their day using a computer.

Computer Skills

Today, up-to-date computer skills are required across all occupations.

Today, up-to-date computer skills are required across all occupations.

Page 4: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

IT Career Field

IT career opportunities are categorized by the main focus of the job. Four main categories emerge:

Sales and Support

Software Development

Application Development

Hardware Design

Page 5: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Sales & Support Careers

Sales and support includes a wide array of positions that serve as an entry point into the IT industry.

Technician

Technical Support

Technical WriterTechnical Sales

Technical Trainer

Page 6: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Technical Servicing

Technical servicing is the installation and maintenance of hardware and software.

Depending on the skills of a technician, these jobs range from low-paid work in equipment maintenance to highly-paidspecialized positions in network maintenance.

Page 7: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Technical Support

Technical support specialists requires more interpersonal skills.

Technical support involves responding to phone and e-mail requests for assistancefrom customers.

Technical support specialists may be asked to drive or fly out to customer sites to troubleshoot systems.

These positions are fairly easy to attain early in your career.

Page 8: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Technical Sales

Technical sales involves educating potential customers about your product so they want to buy it.

Technical sales is generally the most highly paid position especially if you can successfully sell your product.

This job is more people-centered, with less detailed technical knowledge required. The down side of the job is the pressure to sell and many factors beyond your control can affect your success.

Page 9: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Technical Training

Teaching individuals how to use systems is called technical training.

Teaching individuals how to use systems is called technical training.

Technical trainers may have experience with the hardware or software they are teaching, or an educational background that they have learned to apply to IT.

It is less stressful than sales, and technical training is always in demand.

In general, it pays better than technical support but not as well as sales.

Page 10: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Technical Writing

Someone must write the user manuals, training materials, and textbooks for every hardware and software product.

Technical writing turns the technical skills andknowledge in the engineers’ heads into written documentation

A degree in English or in technical writing servesas the foundation for the job.

Some people in this career are systems analysts with strong writing skills.

Page 11: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Software Development

Software development is the creation of new software products for commercial sale.

It involves a team that commonly consists ofsoftware engineers, programmers, multimedia developers, and quality assurance (QA) testers.

These positions require a variety of skills andeach person plays an important role in gettingnew software products into the market forpurchase by consumers or other companies.

Page 12: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Programming

Programmers have expertise in one or morecomputer languages.

Programming requires a high level of technicalknowledge often achieved through a computerscience degree or other training.

There is strong demand for people with thisskill because the work is difficult and businesseshave many software needs.

Page 13: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Software Engineering

Software engineering is the art of getting programmers to work together as a team to complete a software development project.

Software engineers are typically programmerswho are professionally trained and usuallyhold college degrees in computer science.

They have studied techniques for software development that integrate multiple programmers working on specific parts of a software development project.

Page 14: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Multimedia Development

Multimedia development is the use of computers to create and enhance Web content with images, sounds, and movies.

Multimedia developers include graphic artists, digital sound editors, and animation specialists.

Multimedia development is the use of computers to create and enhance Web content with images, sounds, and movies.

Multimedia developers include graphic artists, digital sound editors, and animation specialists.

This growing area includes individuals who have more of a background in the arts rather than computer science.

Page 15: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Quality Assurance

Companies that develop software also need people to test new products before they are released to the public.

Quality assurance (QA) testers carefully test each feature of a new product and record all deficiencies they uncover.

A deficiency report is given to the developers so they can fix each problem before the product is released.

QA testers often double as technical trainers, technical writers, or customer support specialists.

Page 16: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Application Development

Application development uses commercial software to develop a system for a specific organization. A system could be a Web page, a database, a single-user spreadsheet, or a custom information system.

The major careers within the field of application development are

• systems analyst

• database administrator

• network administrator

• Web master

Page 17: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Application Development

Applications are created for users to input data or interact with data.

Applications developers require a mix of technical and interpersonal skills as they work closely with those who will use the application.

Page 18: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Systems Analysts

Systems analysts gather the requirements and develop a design for systems of distribution management, office information, management information, decision support, executive support, and factory automation applications.

Systems analysts also double as project managers for the information systems they design.

Project managers ensure that the many pieces of application development come together on time and within the budget to deliver an application that works correctly.

Page 19: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Database Administration

Database administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the database:

• Upgrading database software.

• Ensuring rapid response time to users to access the database.

• Integrating security strategies so only authorized users can access the database.

• Completing backups of the data on a regular basis.

Database administration is a combination of application development, technical support, and technical training.

Page 20: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Network Administration

Network administration involves the operations and maintenance of a company network.

The network administrator works to:

• Provide rapid network response time to users

• Upgrade network software

• Secure network user access to company servers, programs, and data

Page 21: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Web Administration

Web administrators, sometimes called Web masters, have the job of developing and maintaining a Web site.

Web administration includes keeping the site working and up to date.

Complex Web sites require additional programming if their pages need to dynamically respond to the user, such as a search engine, or an e-commerce site.

Page 22: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Hardware Design

Computer hardware design is thespecification of computer hardwaresuch as CPUs, video cards, andmemory chips.

It requires electrical engineering,programming, and problem-solvingskills.

Many hardware designers are electrical engineers.

Others are computer engineers, who have training in both electrical engineering and computer science.

Page 23: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Preparation for an IT Career

The demand for IT professionals exceeds the supply.

Many people working in IT have no degree or other official certification.

The industry has been forced to pay very high salaries to attract the best people.

Page 24: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Bachelors degree programs in computer science, computer engineering, and information systems are pursued to launch a career in IT.

College Degree Programs

IT professionals start with a college degree and add certificates as needed throughout their careers.

Associates degrees from community colleges and bachelors degrees from colleges and universities are available in IT-related courses of study.

Page 25: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Computer Science Degree

Computer science is the study of the computer and its many applications.

A bachelor’s degree in computer science requires advanced mathematics, basic chemistry, and basic physics and takes 5 years to complete.

Computer science graduates typically become programmers for software companies or applications developers for IT consulting firms.

On average, salaries are excellent, second only to computer engineers.

Page 26: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Computer Engineering Degree

Computer engineering is a hybrid of computer science and electrical engineering, and it requires all of the core courses of study from each.

Graduates must be both skilled programmers and theoretical engineers.

Large companies that work in factory automation, computer hardware design, or system-level software development often hire computer engineering graduates.

Salaries for computer engineering graduates are often slightly higher than those of computer science graduates.

Page 27: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Information Systems Degree

(CIS) programs are application-oriented.

Students learn programming aimed at application development with existing software products rather than the creation of new software products.

They also must take many business courses, including economics, accounting, marketing and finance.

Salaries are comparable to those earned bycomputer science or computer engineeringgraduates.

Page 28: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Certificate Programs

Certificate programs train an individual for a particular job, working with a specific type of product.

Certificate programs are for people who have related education and/or job experience.

Before getting into a certificate program, you should research the job market where you want to work and learn which certificates are desired.

Certificate programs are education courses offered by large IT companies such as

Microsoft and Cisco.

Most programs consist of two parts:

• A course of study that lasts for a few weeks • A test that grants a certificate of achievement

Page 29: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Benefits of Certification

Certificate programs have become quitepopular in recent years as a quicker routeinto the IT industry.

Rather than completing a college degreeprogram of one to four years, a motivated,computer-literate student can gain an industry certificate and enter the job market within afew months.

Page 30: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Achieving Certification

You must pass a standardized test for most certifications:

• Tests can only be offered by certified professional trainers who often are affiliated with the company sponsoring the certificate • The tests cost money each time they are taken.

• They are usually lengthy multiple-choice tests that are very focused on specific knowledge of a product.

• Testing schedules in major cities can be found on the Internet.

Page 31: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Certification Types

Cisco certificates focus on networking specialties with networking systems.

Microsoft certificates qualify people to work with Microsoft products.

An entry-level certificate that offers proof of competency with Microsoft Office is the Microsoft Office Specialist certificate.

Oracle certificates qualify workers to use Oracle database software.

Page 32: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Considering a Job Offer

When considering a job offer, evaluate the work environment and business model to ensure they are a good match for your personality and work preferences.

Most highly paid positions of responsibility are salaried positions which often require longer work days than the standard eight hours.

The tech job market is a rich and rewarding one, but it also tends to swing up and down dramatically, and has been doing so for the last several decades.

Page 33: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Corporate Culture

Corporate cultures can be very different from one company to the next.

Some people might prefer the formal business processes and large project scope at big companies.

Others are more comfortable with a moreinformal environment in a smaller company.

You should contemplate your own work style and personality when assessing a prospective employer.

Page 34: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Large IT Departments

The pace is generally slower in large IT departments, as is the rate of advancement.

IT professionals work somewhat fewer hours, but the schedule is more rigid.

The atmosphere is more professional, and employee attireis expected to reflect it.

Workers in an IT departmentspend much of their time in acubicle and in meetings,working on big-budget projectswith detailed components.

Page 35: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Small Businesses

Smaller IT companies move faster, are more relaxed in terms of hours worked and clothing worn.

If you work for a small start-up, your job will probably be varied and will often include several areas of responsibility.

You may participate in sales, training, and quality assurance (QA).

You may have more opportunities to prove yourself and advance quickly when the company is successful.

Page 36: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Business Models

In general, information technology organizations fit into one of three major business models:

Product Developer

IT Department

Consultant

Page 37: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Product Developers

Product developers such as Intel or Microsoft manufacture new hardware and software products for the general market. These companies often depend on a single product or product line for their survival.

The smaller companies tend to be volatile and can grow or shrink dramatically depending on a variety of market conditions.

Page 38: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

IT Departments

IT departments are more common than product developers.

Every major company has an IT department, whether it consists of 3 people or 300.

You may never become wealthy working for them, but your job may be more secure than in a start-up company.

Page 39: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Consultants

Consultants are highly skilled workers that complete projects for several different companies.

Consultants have a great deal of variety in their work, but this is offset by the risk involved.

A common complaint is that either everyone wants them right now or no one does.

Most consultants spend years working inside a company before becoming skilled and specialized enough to strike out on their own.

Page 40: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Information TechnologySalary Tracks

Most IT positions above the technician level are salaried.

IT salaries start fairly high and rise quickly duringthe first two to five years of a worker’s career.

Most IT positions above the technician level are salaried.

IT salaries start fairly high and rise quickly duringthe first two to five years of a worker’s career.

When you are salaried, extra hours are often expected as part of the job.

When you are considering a position, get an idea of how many hours a week you are expected to work and weigh that number against the salary offered.

When you are salaried, extra hours are often expected as part of the job.

When you are considering a position, get an idea of how many hours a week you are expected to work and weigh that number against the salary offered.

Page 41: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Gender and Age Disparities

The majority of the IT workforce is young and male, especially at the entry level.

This tendency increases with jobs that are more technical in nature.

Some accuse the industry of ageism and sexism.

The gender and age disparities are something to be aware of when considering the work environment.

Page 42: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Ergonomics

Every year, many people are injured or even crippled by the overuse of wrist and other body joints.

Ergonomics is the science of designing equipment so that it is comfortable to use and does not cause the user physical injury.

Page 43: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Placing the keyboard and mouse at the proper height so the wrist remains straight when the user types or manipulates the mouse can save injury.

Prevent RepetitiveMotion Injuries

Ergonomically designed offices and equipment can help prevent repetitive motion injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Page 44: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

Learning to use a mouse with either hand to allow the other to relax during prolonged computer usage.

Other Ways to Prevent RepetitiveMotion Injuries

Taking frequent breaks to stretch overused muscles and tendons.

Placing the monitor at an angle that does not cause neck strain.

Ensuring that the chair supports the back properly.

Using gel pads for the keyboard and mouse to ease pressure on the wrists.

Page 45: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

On the Horizon

COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA: INCREASING ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION

One key to being successful in our technological world is spotting a trend early, and adjusting one’s career direction accordingly. For example, because of increasing online newspaper readership, the number of printing and lithography jobs is shrinking, but Web developers and graphic artists are in demand.

Page 46: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

On the Horizon

TELECOMMUTING: ON THE RISETelecommuting involves working via computer from home or while traveling rather than going into the office on a daily basis.

According to U.S. Department of Labor studies, telecommuters comprise 10 percent of the workforce.

Telecommuting plans have been especially successful for commissioned salespeople, who are often more productive when out of the office environment.

Page 47: Chapter 15 Information Technology Careers. IT Career Field The U.S. Department of Labor statistics indicate these IT jobs are among the top ten fastest-growing

On the Horizon

WIRELESS JOB MARKET HEATS UP

Hardware gurus are working to integrate the multitude of wireless devices into all-in-one units.

Network engineers must keep increasing the wireless bandwidth. Programmers and software engineers are developing sophisticated graphics, sound, and video applications for business and personal use. Software engineers are working on wireless synchronization software and business features for cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDA) and alphanumeric pagers.