The skills for IT jobs are highly transferable because most large organizations use similar kinds of technology to get their work done. That is, an expert-level journalist could not seamlessly transition to working as a nurse at a hospital – the skills required are simply not the same. However, an IT professional at a news agency could make the transition to IT work at a large hospital without too much difficulty. While the specific systems and softwares used do vary across organizations, there are many commonalities as well. Every large organization has to have things like networks and internet access and data storage. If you are skilled in these areas you can thrive as an IT professional across any industry.
While all IT jobs will offer opportunities (and, often, a decent salary), there are a variety of different roles to pursue. In this post we are highlighting some of the best and most in-demand IT jobs in the U.S.
Help Desk Technician
A help desk technician is there to provide real-time IT support to anyone in the organization or the customer base who is struggling with a technical issue. Oftentimes, this role requires communicating advanced technical concepts to users who may not have a full understanding of computers and networks.
Help desk technicians spend much of their time troubleshooting and digging into issues. Sometimes, they might lead trainings on using new software or setting up a new type of account.
Most help desk technicians work as part of a team. Work is often assigned through a ticketing system in which a manager receives support tickets from users and assigns them out to a help desk technician.
Average Salary for a Help Desk Technician in the U.S.: $60,000
Systems Administrator
A systems administrator plays an important IT role in any large organization. They are in charge of setting up, maintaining and integrating all the technical elements of the organization’s infrastructure. This includes employee portals, software programs, emails systems, databases, and phone systems.
Systems administrators may also be asked to provide recommendations on new software acquisitions to help an organization run as smoothly as possible with the most up-to-date tools.
Average Salary for a Systems Administrator in the U.S.: $88,000
Security Engineer
Security engineers devise and implement the cybersecurity systems to protect an organization from attack or data breach. While infrastructure building is a huge part of this role, an equally important part is planning for the worst. This means preparing the steps to take to stop and mitigate any cyber attack that makes it through the security infrastructure.
Sometimes Security Engineers must take it in turn to work through the night to ensure 24 hour security coverage. This depends on the sensitivity of the data used by the organization. For example, hospitals keep large quantities of extremely sensitive health data about many people. Organizations like this need a large contingency of skilled security engineers
Average Salary for a Security Engineer in the U.S.: $114,000
Network Engineer
Network engineers are in charge of building, implementing, and maintaining the network infrastructure used by a large organization. This includes monitoring internet connection and troubleshooting bugs as well as ensuring a robust firewall to keep the network safe from attack.
Network engineers spend much of their time monitoring their network’s performance and finding areas of improvement using tests and new software products.
Average Salary for a Security Engineer in the U.S.: $94,000
DevOps Engineer
DevOps Engineers use coding and engineering skills to complete technical projects to improve an organization’s infrastructure or external-facing products. This role often takes on a managerial role, which requires them to plan human and financial resource allocation, weigh the pros and cons of a project plan, and report on project goals.
Average Salary for a DevOps Engineer in the U.S.: $113,000
IT Support Manager
An IT Support Manager must have a strong technical background in addition to top-notch people skills. This role manages a team of other IT professionals like help desk technicians and systems administrators.
IT support managers are often in charge of assigning support tickets out to other members of the team, monitoring team members’ progress, and proposing improvements to business processes.
Average Salary for an IT Support Manager in the U.S.: $93,000
Technical Project Manager
A Technical Project Manager is a senior role on an IT team, in charge of planning and prioritizing high-level department projects. They typically discuss priorities and resources with executive-level management and translate this information into a concrete, actionable plan to be followed by other members of the team.
A Technical Project Manager should have excellent people skills and the ability to stay organized and stick to deadlines. They often use tools like Jira and Agile for support.
Average Salary for a Technical Project Manager in the U.S.: $108,000
Chief Information Officer
A Chief Information Officer is the most senior-level member of an IT team. They are involved in all IT operations and are in charge of prioritizing goals and initiatives. They then delegate these responsibilities to mid-level managers who execute with their teams and report back progress.
CIOs often work closely with other C-level executives to stay on top of the entire organization’s financial, strategic, and growth goals. In order to reach this level, one must have extensive experience in both technical and leadership roles.
Average Salary for a Security Engineer in the U.S.: $202,000
Chief Data Architect
Like a CIO, a Chief Data Architect is also a senior level executive at an organization. While a CIO focuses on all IT operations, a Chief Data Architect is primarily responsible for data and data infrastructure.
This can be highly sensitive and critical work since data is often an organization’s most vulnerable and most valuable asset. Chief Data Architects must have extensive knowledge of their organizations practices and needs as well as an extensive technical toolkit.
Average Salary for a Security Engineer in the U.S.: $194,000
Ready to train up for one of these roles? Browse our bootcamp selection to find one that sounds right for you and get started on your career journey!
