Four Places to Look for IT Employment
Posted by TestOut Staff on
In our previous blog post, we noted that information technology employment is everywhere. IT is part of every modern business. No matter where you look, there's a role at some level of the organization for a skilled IT pro. So if you're transitioning to IT from a different career path, then you may not even need to switch employers — you may just be moving to a new department, or taking on a new job role. If you're making a clean break, on the other hand, and want to concentrate your job search on one or two different areas, then there are some places to look that are generally more fruitful than others.
For their most recent annual Salary Survey, the good folks at Certification Magazine asked survey respondents to indicate what industry their job is part of. Where do you park your car from 9 to 5? As noted above, you can find IT pros anywhere. Both Certification Magazine and others sources, however, frequently indicate four industries that have a major claim on the IT talent pool.
Not surprisingly, two industries that heavily rely on IT wherewithal are technology industries. The software industry was the biggest employer tracked by Certification Magazine, with 16.1 percent of all survey respondents. Not far behind was the computer and network consulting industry, which took in 14.9 percent of all survey respondents. So if you're going by the odds, and you have the right IT skills, then you're likely to find a strong level of opportunity in both fields.
The two industries that claim the next-largest share of IT pros among Certification Magazine survey respondents are a little more surprising. Government has a significant claim, at 11.3 percent of all survey respondents, followed by finance at 10.5 percent. Since government at all levels tends to manage a variety of public services and projects, there are many different and intriguing opportunities for IT pros. The world of corporate finance includes banking, accounting and trading, so if you have a head for currency in addition to your IT know-how, then there are many opportunities for gainful employment.
The overall rule for IT job hunting is seek, and ye shall find. If you want to look in the areas with the highest concentration of jobs, however, then the four sectors discussed above should keep you more than busy sending out resumes.