Best IT Jobs
In the mid to late 1990s, IT jobs were the pot of gold at the end of the brilliantly sparkling rainbow. The information technology sector was growing by leaps and bounds, made possible by emerging technologies in telecommunications, increasing popularity of personal computers in the home and the nascent world wide web.
Today information technology careers are more diverse and include not just help desk, networking and database and software development; but also application development, ERP systems, and social media.
Help Desk and Networking
Help desk personnel assist employees in the case of computer or software malfunction. Armed with certifications including CompTIA and Microsoft MCITP, these information technology careers ensure employee productivity by tackling difficult software and networking problems fast.
Networking professionals in these IT jobs typically possess specialized training, such as Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) or Cisco Certified Network Engineer (CCNE), and are experts in designing, implementing, and troubleshooting computer networks.
Database and Software Development
Databases provide the backbone for today’s communication systems; without proper data management, most of what people take for granted today in terms of internet banking, shopping, and social networking would not be feasible.
These IT jobs focus on generating, populating, and maintaining data using server-side and client-side software, including SQL, Oracle, and Microsoft Access.
Software development information technology careers focus on creating new software programs and revising old ones – programming languages include C++ and Visual Basic.
Application Development
With the growing popularity of smartphones such as the iPhone and Android, application development has become one of the hottest IT jobs. Workers in this highly specialized field of information technology career not only design, develop and implement mobile applications – they are also responsible for coding, unit testing, and debugging.
Information technology workers who follow the application development career path are required to possess experience with such software development tools as C, JAVA, Websphere, and JBoss.
ERP
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) enhances the flow of information across an enterprise and consolidates business operations so that managers can effectively assess the functioning of each arm of the business from one central location. Several companies offer ERP software; SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, and Oracle E-Business Suite are a few.
IT jobs in ERP include ABAP programmers, analysts, technical writers, trainers, and implementation specialists.
Social Media
Due to the explosive popularity of social networking websites such as MySpace, Linkedin, Twitter, and the venerable Facebook, companies have latched on to this new marketing niche and have begun pushing advertising to where people spend most of their time.
Social media specialists launch marketing campaigns to harness this niche all over the web. Some companies keep a close watch on social media and respond to customer service complaints.
Requirements include excellent written and oral communications skills in addition to SEO practices.
While, in recent years, a lot of controversy regarding outsourcing and insourcing has clouded the information technology sector, companies continue to report difficulty filling critical IT jobs.
Because the industry has become so specialized, those seeking information technology careers should strongly consider taking classes leading to certification, such as CompTIA, Cisco, or Microsoft MCITP.