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What is the best IT career for me?

Struggling with career choices, what would the best IT career path be for starting in 2014?

  • Hi, I'm an almost 23 year old who is struggling trying to find a career path suitable for my skill set. After my A levels, I went onto to do my degree in computer games programming but dropped out due to personal problems. I'd love to go back to University but it's way too expensive and I'm afraid the same issue will happen again. Since then I did 1 year freelance web development(Just basic scripts and fixing problems) then moved onto 1/2nd line support which I hate. It's killing me not knowing what career path I want to choose and was hoping someone could help guide me. Experience: Web/Software Development I'm still a rookie when it comes to development, I created a website showcasing my portfolio which just consists of a blog I created and demos of the Unity games I've created. I tried applying for Html/CSS and junior C# jobs but never get a response. So I don't think I'm quite skilled enough for a career revolving around development. Networking/CCNA route I started doing my CCNA training but never finished it, I enjoyed it quite abit but alot of people are saying that CISCO paths are quite dated. This would be easier to get into due to having experience with 1/2nd line support. IT Business Analyst I've not read a few books about becoming a business analyst and it seems very interesting. I did Business at A level and GCSE which could come in useful + I have 1/2nd line support which shows I have experience dealing with clients/customers. QA Tester This seems like a great choice for my skill sets but I have no experience in software testing. This would utilize my web development skills and help improve my business analysis skills. There are many more career paths that I'm unsure about but these are the ones I think I'd be more suitable for. Choosing a path is only the first step, I need to find out how to actually get onto them form where I am now E.g: Networking route would be getting my CCNA etc..

  • Answer:

    Career paths need to be fluid today so choosing any path should be seen as a step and sometimes that step is forward but other times to the side or even back. One of the best ways to select a path is to first clarify what you like to do. Very clearly identify the types of tasks you like to perform, the types of environments and people, the parts of projects (the beginning, middle, end ongoing, getting started, application, design maintenance and much more), were your skills are applied naturally and where you have to work a little harder. You cannot necessairly begin by looking at career options but at yourself. I suggest a detailed assessment - I use personality assessments Typefocus -  (http://Typefocus.com), Career-leader (http://careerleader.com) but the CareerKey, StrengthsFinder and many more could all provide informative. They help you pinpoint your real interests in tangible ways that you can use to identify options and evaluate them once you find them. Then you must gain more in-depth knowledge about career paths - but researching them and talking to people in those career paths. Your observations about the possible careers you are considering have some accuracy but you need more information. Is CISCO outdated or C++ - they have been around for awhile and there are many people with these skills so the question also needs to consider if there are opportunities or what other doors these open. QA is not as stable as it used to be, but it remains an option if you can grow with the field. IT Business analyst but you need to evaluate the full scope of that direction. Take a look at the recent article from Money on the  http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/slideshows/11-hottest-tech-jobs-of-2014 and Computer world http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9242548/8_hot_IT_skills_for_2014 and Tech republic http://www.techrepublic.com/article/top-it-job-skills-in-2014-big-data-mobile-cloud/Analytics Analytics, mobile, cloud and more all have emerging opportunities - you have to understand yourself and position yourself to take advantage of emerging opportunities. If you do not like the commitment of a long term education look into diploma and certificate programs that are specific for one task, but keep taking them and evolving and adding all the time. Some people are not going to excel in a traditional, full time education program and need other options. Today, that may be you do explore all your options carefully - which again includes understanding yourself as an ongoing starting point.

Tara Orchard at Quora Visit the source

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"Choosing a path is only the first step, I need to find out how to actually get onto them form[sic] where I am now ..." I was pleased to read this. For some reason, a great many people seem to take degrees and then try to work out what they can do with them. At almost any age you're more likely to be successful if you choose an occupation that is in reasonable agreement with your interests and that also agrees with other aspects of your life such as family, income expectations, and so on. As far as interests are concerned I suggest that you use the http://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip. You will receive a code of at most three letters, your Holland Code. The go to http://www.onetonline.org/explore/interests/Artistic/ and put those letters in the boxes provides, and click on 'Go'. (I've given you the 'artistic' link, incidentally, because that's my top interest score.) You will receive a list of possible occupations. These are American occupational titles but you will be able to think of British analogues. You can get what might be a better list for some purposes by using google: site:http://onetonline.org "interest code rec". Also try the permuted codes rce, erc, ecr, cre, cer and truncated codes such as re, rc, etc. Look for occupations in the IT area obviously. The purpose of this exercise is to (a) eliminate occupations that are likely to be of little interest to you; and (b) help you to consider the implications of occupations for other aspects of your life. For instance, a person can become a member of an oil tanker crew but what will this mean for their family life? One other thought: Have you considered the Open University? Here are courses that can be taken one-at-a-time without committing to degree studies: http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/computing-and-it/index.htm?sc=CIT&at=U&l=1&o=L#product-courses. Overall, the price of a year of study seems to be considerably less than the price of even the cheapest of other universities in the UK. If I can clarify please write in the comments.

Bill Bell

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