Can you be an astronaut? You need a degree in a science or engineering field, such as aeronautical or aerospace engineering, bioengineering, computer science, electronic systems engineering technology, geology, geophysics, mathematics, meteorology, mechanical engineering, physics or space operations.
Can you be a lawyer? You need to get admission to law school. This means taking the Law School Admissions Test, also known as the LSAT. Just like the SAT exam that most high school students take when applying for college admissions.
Can you be an IT professional? That is the question of this blog today!
What exactly is an IT professional? An IT professional is someone who works with computers. In many businesses and organizations computer technology plays a large role in making sure everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Businesses need people who understand how to use computer technology to help them achieve their goals and objectives. Many of these people are considered IT professionals.
The good news is you don’t have to go back to school for four years in order to break into this field! A career in information technology (IT) typically requires some form of post-secondary education – whether it’s a certificate program at a community college or technical school or higher education at university.
How to get a career in IT
I’ve been in the IT field for over 20 years. Here’s what I know.
First, there are many jobs that don’t require a degree. You can get them by going to trade school or a community college. One example is computer repair. The schools are everywhere.
Second, you can also find used equipment and practice on your own. It’s not hard to find used servers and workstations for cheap or free. Corporations buy new ones on a regular basis, replace their old ones and give away the used ones – sometimes they even throw them in the dumpster if no one wants them! You can help out by picking up the used stuff and learning how it works.
Third, there are lots of books and videos on YouTube to learn from. The technology changes so fast that it may be better to learn from books and videos rather than taking an expensive class in school. Just make sure you’re learning about current technology – not something that’s already obsolete!
Fourth, you have to be ready to fix your own mistakes when things go wrong (and they will). And you have to be willing to try again when things don’t work out in the beginning – because they won’t!
Finally,
As a tech recruiter and talent consultant, I spend my days connecting top tech talent with great companies.
It’s an exciting time for the IT industry. We are in the midst of a severe skills gap and the demand for high quality IT professionals is greater than ever before. Companies are struggling to hire enough developers, architects, DevOps engineers and other technical roles to keep up with the demand.
As a result, I am constantly asked: how can I get into this field?
The answer is not always simple. The IT industry is often seen as complicated and obscure, but it doesn’t have to be. While there are many ways to enter the IT industry, I’ve narrowed it down to three basic paths.
1) Be a Nerd
I hate to stereotype, but one of the most common paths into IT is being a total nerd. In fact, if you don’t like computers and technology, or aren’t passionate about it, then you probably shouldn’t pursue a career in IT. The good news is that being a nerd isn’t only about playing video games all day—it really just means having a passion for technology and spending your free time tinkering with it. Most nerds
In today’s society, information technology (IT) plays a big role in the world. Everything is connected, and thanks to IT and the internet, communication has taken on a whole new level. This field is growing rapidly and there is always new technologies emerging and more opportunities for students to pursue in this field.
Many people get confused about what an IT career is exactly. People often tend to conflate it with computer science and think that it’s just programming. But IT encompasses more than that because it deals with technology as a whole. That includes any device that can store or transmit information, such as phones, tablets, laptops, databases and more.
The first step is to get an entry-level job. The most common one is the help desk. This is a call center with the sole purpose of answering users’ questions. Most of your time will be spent looking up known solutions on Google and feeding them to the user, or in extreme cases, talking them through fixing simple problems. You will have access to a knowledge base, which you should use religiously. It’s there as a crutch to support you, so don’t feel bad about using it!
The next step would be to become a junior technician. This is someone who works onsite at a company and fixes things that are too complicated for the end user. This could include replacing parts, setting up new equipment, or running cables. There are a lot of different responsibilities here; it really depends on who you’re working for and what they need from you. A lot of this will involve using tools that are foreign to you at first, but over time you’ll learn how to use them properly.
Eventually, after gaining enough experience through trial and error, you can become a senior technician. This allows you more responsibility in planning projects and solving difficult issues. Depending on where you work, there will be many paths from here that lead to other career options
I’ve been in this field for a while now and one of the most common questions I get is how to get into IT. Most people are under the impression that you need a college degree to get anywhere in IT. That statement is factually true, but there is more to it than that. A lot of people ask me about my educational background. I do have an educational background in IT, but it’s not what got me where I am today.
What did? Well, that’s what this blog post is about. There are five areas that you should take a look at if you want to get into IT with or without a college degree.
These are:
1) Education (formal and informal)
2) Certifications
3) Personal Projects
4) Work Experience (informal and formal)
5) Soft Skills
As a recruiter, I receive resume after resume from eager job-seekers. Unfortunately, many of these resumes lack the technical keywords, industry lingo and key information that an IT recruiter or hiring manager is looking for.
In this blog post, I will provide some tips on how to get your foot in the door in terms of an IT career – and how to compete with those who have been in the field longer than you.
What makes a great IT resume?
As a recruiter, I review hundreds of resumes every day. The ones that go right into my “yes” pile are those which include certain keywords. I’m not necessarily looking for specific degrees (although you’ll need one!), but more so technical buzzwords that show me the candidate has been in the industry long enough to know what they’re talking about! For example, if you’re applying for a job as a programmer, make sure that Java and Unix are listed on your resume. If you’re applying for network administration work, make sure you list TCP/IP or DNS on your resume. The more of these specific technical terms you can include on your resume – the better!
If looking for a job in software development or programming, make sure you have any languages listed on your resume