A career in IT has always been a good choice for individuals looking for a support or technical role, with excellent career progression, and high earning potential.
If you are new to IT, you will likely need to first consider a carer in an IT Support role, which will open the doors to a career in IT Security, Networking, Cloud Computing, or Cyber Security.
Learn how to facilitate a career switch to IT
To be applicable for IT job roles, you will need to have relevant experience of earn industry-recognised qualifications, such as a CompTIA certification, or EC-Council certification.
In this article, we will discuss the most in-demand IT job roles and suggest the best training courses for you to study, to be applicable for these job roles.
Read more: How to get into IT
Why pursue a career in IT?
We have put together our five reasons why a career in IT is a great career choice:
- One – It is a safe career choice for the future. As we become more technical and everything goes online, IT professionals will be in-demand and an essential part of every organisation, irrespective of sector.
- Two – Excellent earning potential. IT offers some of the highest average salaries.
- Three – Great career choice for problem-solvers and creative thinkers.
- Four – You will gain real-world technical skills that you can use outside of the office. By the time you are in a senior position, you would likely have gained many professional qualifications as well.
- Five – Fantastic career progression. IT careers can start in entry-level support roles with limit experience, and progress all the way up to a CTO, giving your career plenty of scope and frequent responsibility changes (if that’s what you want).
How to get a job in IT?
Earning professionally IT qualifications is one of the best ways to train for a career in IT.
Assuming you have limited experience and knowledge, you would start you training at an entry-level, studying CompTIA certifications in IT Fundamentals+ or A+. This way, you can consider IT Support job roles, which will give you the experience required to move into more advanced job roles.
From there you can choose to go the route of a Network or Security Specialists or even move into Cloud Computing and Cyber Security.
It all starts with those fundamental qualifications to build the skills required to get your foot on the ladder.
Read more: Our top tips for pursuing a career in IT.
IT career progression
Below, we have highlighted a typical career path for those in IT. Due to the wide range of IT-related specialisms, your own career path may be different.
IT Support
- Entry-level jobs: IT Support Technician, Desktop Support Technician, Help Desk Technician, IT Associate
- Mid-career & Senior jobs: Senior Help Desk Support Technician, Service Desk Supervisor, Support Desk Manager
We recommend studying CompTIA IT Fundamentals+, CompTIA A+, and CompTIA Network+
Networking
- Entry-level jobs: Network Administrator, Systems Administrator, Network Implementation Technician, Systems Analyst
- Mid-career & Senior jobs: Network Engineer, Systems Engineer, Network Security Engineer, Cloud Network Engineer, Senior Systems Administrator, Computer Network Architect
We recommend studying CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, and CompTIA Cloud+
Cyber Security
- Entry-level jobs: Information Security Analyst, Cyber Security Analyst, Cyber Security Engineer.
- Mid-career & Senior jobs: Senior Cyber Engineer, Information Security Manager, Ethical Hacker.
We recommend studying CompTIA Cyber Security Analyst (CySA), CompTIA PenTest+, and EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).
Cloud Computing
- Entry-level jobs: Cloud Engineer, Cloud Computing Programmer.
- Mid-career & Senior jobs: Cloud Architect, Cloud Consultant
We recommend studying AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, AWS Certified Solutions Architect (Associate), and AWS Certified Solutions Architect (Professional).
Software Development
- Entry-level jobs: Software Engineer
- Mid-career & Senior jobs: Software Developer, Senior Software Engineer
Web Development
- Entry-level jobs: Web Developer, Web Designer, Front end Developer, Back end Developer
- Mid-career jobs: Full stack Developer, Front end Engineer, Back end Engineer, Full stack Engineer
Data
- Entry-level jobs: Data Centre Technician, Database Administrator, Data Analyst
- Mid-career & Senior jobs: Data Scientist, Data Engineer, Data Architect
Career progression from IT to Cyber Security
Once you have gained some experience in IT, you can branch out into Cyber Security. Below we have listed out which IT feeder roles can move into which Cyber Security jobs.
Sector - IT Support
- Feeder roles: Help Desk Technician, Technical Support Specialist, Desktop Support Technician, Desktop Support
- Cyber Security jobs: IT Auditor (Entry-level), Cyber Security Consultant or Penetration & Vulnerability Tester (Mid-Level), Cyber Security Architect/Cyber Security Engineer (Senior)
Sector – Networking
- Feeder roles: Systems Administrator, Senior Network Engineer, Solutions Architect, Network Administrator
- Cyber Security jobs: Cyber Security Specialist (Entry-Level) – Cyber Security Analyst/Cyber Security Consultant/Penetration & Vulnerability Tester (Mid-Level) – Cyber Security Manager/Cyber Security Manager (Senior)
Sector - Software Development
- Feeder roles: Software Engineer, .Net Developer, Java Developer, Software Developer
- Cyber Security jobs: Cyber Crime Analyst (Entry-Level), Cyber Security Analyst/Cyber Security Consultant/Penetration & Vulnerability Tester (Mid-Level), Cyber Security Manager/Cyber Security Engineer/Cyber Security Architect (Senior)
Read more: 9 skills you already have, to help with a career in IT.
Top paying IT jobs
While there are differences based on seniority and the area of IT you work in, IT jobs typically pay more than the UK average salary of £31,500*.
- Entry-level IT- £20,000
- Mid-career - £50,000
- Senior - £70,000
- Experienced Specialist (Architect/Cloud/Cyber Security) - £85,000+
The most in-demand (and highest paying) IT jobs in the UK are:
- Big Data Engineer - Average UK salary: £57,849
- Responsible for creating and managing Big Data infrastructure and tools.
- Dev Ops Engineer - Average UK salary: £63,099
- DevOps Engineers promote communication and collaboration between different teams, merging tasks (such as development, quality control, and deployment) into a single process.
- Technical Program Manager - Average UK salary: £69,625
- Responsible for managing a team of hardware and software professionals. They typically create new software programs or updates to current programs.
- Cloud Architect - Average UK salary: £72,612
- Responsible for converting technical requirements of a project into the design and architecture to guide the final product. They will also bridge the gap between complex business problems and solutions in the cloud.
- Chief Technology Officer (CTO) - Average UK salary: £85,396
- A CTO is a senior executive job role, responsible for overseeing the full resource, development, and tech departments within an organisation. Their main responsibilities include researching new technologies and identifying weaknesses.
IT experience opens the doors to a career in Cyber Security, which is often exciting, fast-paced, and well paid.
Key Cyber Security job titles include:
- Bug Bounty Specialist (You would need Ethical Hacking/Penetration Testing experience) – £100,000 to £1,000,000+
- Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) - £118,000+
- Lead Software Engineer - £70,000
Read more: Explore our IT and Networking courses.
Are you ready to embark on a career in IT? Contact our team of IT Course Consultants on +44 (0) 20 3198 7700 to discuss which courses would be right for your career development. Alternatively, explore our IT, Cloud Computing, and Cyber Security qualifications, then fill out a contact form and one of our team members will be in touch shortly.
(*Source: ITJobsWatch)
