Due to the state of the economy, the IT industry is now more competitive than ever. People with careers in this field are constantly improving and gaining new skills and pushing their creativity and innovation to the limit in order to beat the competition. For someone who is new to the IT industry, breaking in can seem very difficult to impossible. Here are a few tips for breaking into the competitive industry that is IT.
Unlike a more static field like law, Information Technology is a field that is constantly changing and developing. New technology is always being developed and new skills are always popping up just waiting to be practiced and mastered. To successfully break into the IT industry, you're going to need to be informed of new developments when it comes to technology.
You need to stay current and be informed of all IT trends. Visit websites, such as Computer World and Tech Spot to ensure that you know all the necessary information to find and keep a job in the Information Technology industry.
Learning and development is important for all people in the IT industry. Since technology is always changing and new skills are constantly being developed, employees in the IT industry are going to have to constantly be learning mastering new skills to be employable. The IT industry is a fast-paced industry, and you won't survive if you aren't willing to change your ways and be very flexible.
In most professions, gaining new qualifications is greatly encouraged and recommended but not necessary. However, employers in the IT industry actually expect their employees to value and practice learning and development.
If you want to break into the competitive IT industry, you can get some certificates in Cisco, SQL, and UNIX. Although it is possible to get a job straight out of school, it's much better to get a few qualifications to give yourself an advantage over the tons of competition.
Fortunately, you don't need to spend a lot of money trying to get qualifications when you're in the IT industry. You just need to sacrifice some time and put in some effort. For most skills, you can learn them at home on the computer. In fact, there are many online courses that are actually for free. If you're looking for a career in the IT industry, you can practically get qualifications for free.
However, once you learn the skills, you're going to need to get certified, which almost always costs money. Google has a training center, and once you master the skills you were learning, you can take the corresponding certification exams. Each certification exam costs $50, but the qualifications look very good to employers on a resume.
Once you have the skills necessary and more, it wouldn't hurt to gain some experience. You can look around for internships or make your own samples of your work. If you get an internship, especially one that's paid, the company may decide to hire you at the end if you do your best.
As you can see, breaking into the IT industry isn't as hard as it seems, but you will need to exert some effort if you want to get a secure job in the IT industry that pays well.
Written by Lucy Hunt, a technology and business blogger with a keen interest in career development and the IT industry. Lucy currently writes on behalf of QA, leading providers of technical IT and learning development courses in the UK.
