Mashing together a number of lists now available, here is the top 10 list I have come up with:
- Computer Systems Analyst
- Database Administrator
- Software Developer
- Web Developer
- Computer Programmer
- IT Manager
- System Administrator
- Project Manager
- IT Analyst
- Network Administrator
See anything missing?
I think the job of “Social Media Coordinator” will soon top that list. More and more companies are hiring for a similar position. It may not be a paid, but it’s a great starting position for an intern or junior administrator! The position can develop into managing the Analytics, Adwords, SEO optimization, and more.
As a member of Generation Y, I have found that my bosses are members of the Baby Boomers or Generation X. This has provided me with an advantage of handling social media, website development, SEO optimization, and more. I think people of the older generation enjoy learning the new technology but they may not necessarily enjoy managing the numerous sites. Has anyone found a similar pattern in the workforce?
I feel as technology becomes more powerful many of these jobs could disappear. Soon programmer may be phased out for supercomputers that can complete the job faster and possibly more precisely. I truly hope this is not the case, as we would lose millions of jobs, but it is a sad reality.
I can actually do all these jobs here at a regular call center even if i apply for a specific one, they will always find a way of saving resources and having me do something i didn’t sign up for LOL. But now that i think about it it is very important to notice how jobs for new generations have really improved and excelled in the past 20 years, its amazing how back in the 80’s no one would think of themselves in an office with a computer in front doing big money transactions or handling information without having to leave the office.
I’m kind of wondering where the line is between software developer, web developer, and computer programmer. I’m surprised software developer tops web developer unless software development contains the entire market share of phone apps —> a huge market.
Interesting post!
I think that maybe a decade in the future many of these jobs will merge into just one or two professions. Also as technology evolves new ones will probably emerge. This is indeed an interesting post.
I also see it that way. As computing power and capabilities increase I think we will see less differentiation between these job titles and descriptions. One person may have the capability to do a variety of these jobs.
As for the future, who knows? Just as desktop publishing reduced the need for people to seek out the services of printing presses and typesetters, in the future we may see end users themselves able to do what seem like very complex jobs today.
As a systems administrator, I highly doubt that your typical computer user would have the time, patience or ability to perform my job. It’s one of those things that requires constant updating to remain on top of, and in my opinion, is not simple enough to pick up in an afternoon of trying. You need some fundamental knowledge and skills to perform many of the roles mentioned in the article.
LIke many things… “it depends”. Software development has a strong foundation in coding, and ultimately a web developer is just a subset of programming. Software development can really span a huge range of products, and pay ranges to reflect it. You could be working for a Fortune 500, or a tiny 3 man shop.
How I wish I were an IT expert. It is a very lucrative profession in today’s generation, and anyone who is in an IT-related job gets paid more because the computer age is still a booming era. This field will flourish in the years to come–that’s a fearless forecast coming from me, and I’m definitely sure of that. Maybe I’m gonna start familiarizing myself with the IT terminologies starting right now, and try to go with the current flow.
The great (and awful) thing about IT is that you need to stay on top of the game in order to remain relevant. If you leave the field for 5-10 years, the knowledge that you had will no longer matter. Theory and best practice might not change too much, but the technical stuff will evaporate very quickly in an environment that stays current.
Addendum:
Which means that you need to stay sharp to remain in the field, but it also means that you can break in to the field relatively easily because there aren’t decades worth of knowledge to learn just to enter the field.
Neat list. My brother just started a university course in management technologies. I will forward him this list and tell him he is on the right track. For my part, I will continue to teach myself how to program and create webpages. The future is at hand 🙂 It seems that “Web developper” fits nicely in this category.
Wow! This is absolutely great to know for an upcoming student in the Information Technology field of work. My whole life I knew I either I wanted to become a Computer system analyst or a software developer. I really hope to get a job in the wonderful field of technology because I am very good at it and I would feel like I wasn’t even working because it is a dream job.
Good for you iPaolera, I admire your enthusiasm. There are a lot of interesting jobs for the IT people. And by the time you graduate I think it will expand it to much wider field, thus means more jobs for us.
I’m a systems administrator for a small managed services provider and am finding that the field is expanding quite well, at least in my city. Our company has grown by about 50% in the past year and will probably continue growth through the next year as well.
That being said, I think that salaries, in my city any way, have not quite caught up to the supply/demand of available workers. It seems a tad on the low side.
I see a few of these jobs that really just role into one. Between some of the listed jobs there really is not that much differentiation, but then it can come down to the size of the business.
I work in a company of 75 people, and the IT manager covers at least three of those roles on his day-to-day work. Our software developers also evenly split web development work up between them + they are all pretty much programmers as well.
In large companies, these jobs are definitely more split up and dedicated to specific people though.
As more and more people enter the IT industry, a lot of these jobs are going to diminish simply due to the fact that companies are going to want their IT employees ticking at least three of the above list.
I see a few of these jobs that really just role into one. Between some of the listed jobs there really is not that much differentiation, but then it can come down to the size of the business.
I work in a company of 75 people, and the IT manager covers at least three of those roles on his day-to-day work. Our software developers also evenly split web development work up between them + they are all pretty much programmers as well.
In large companies, these jobs are definitely more split up and dedicated to specific people though.
As more and more people enter the IT industry, a lot of these jobs are going to diminish simply due to the fact that companies are going to want their IT employees ticking at least three of the above list.
Good list. But should it be so short? I mean if you go deeper into this IT jobs list there are other jobs too. But if I had to choose I would be in a dilemma between Software developer and Web Developer , hence I suppose there should be a job that is about both these fields as a developer. Anyway I speak on a whim because I am a novice in IT.
If I’m not mistaken, I am currently doing at least three on that list, and yes it is definitely important in the IT field to know more than one thing. It makes you more valueable and more irreplaceable so as to speak.
For the non-IT people, you must learn the basic of It now because much more likely, this will also be integrated in most office jobs in the near future.
As long as most of our population is tech-illiterate, I don’t think any of these jobs will be a part of desk jobs like sales, accounting, or marketing. While it’d be nice to have people learn basic troubleshooting, most people see computers as “magic.” Literally. I don’t expect people to remove a virus, but at least learn to look whether your computer is plugged in.
My perception of IT jobs is that you don’t have to be interested in the work to perform your work. That is what makes them fundamentally different than other passionate jobs out there. A project manager does not to be its software’s own user, and the testers have the option to make the move from users to programmers. Analytics jobs are also on the rise, as people are getting to know the data in their line of works.