Becoming an IT professional

The IT industry offers excellent earning potential and presents very few barriers to entry. With average reasoning abilities, sound reading comprehension, and some patience, anyone can enter the field and become employable. Your success in the industry will largely depend on your ambition and area of specialty. As the industry continues to grow, there is a constant need for more IT professionals. While some believe that the market is saturated, my experience and the industry as a whole suggest otherwise. Any credible list of "Top Industries in the Future" should include IT (particularly programming) as a growth industry.

I have worked in the IT industry for over 20 years and have never seen a shortage of work or ideas that need implementing. To enter and thrive in this industry, there are four essential things to consider: get technical, avoid being non-technical, continue to learn, and learn to research.

Getting technical requires choosing a specialty and focusing on a set of technologies. Whether you decide on .Net programming, mobile development, system administration, or database development, your career path must have a focused approach. At this stage in my career, I am primarily focused on Microsoft Business Intelligence (MSBI), a growing and evolving technical area.

Avoid becoming an "administrative IT professional" by working only on IT processes instead of technology. You should understand IT processes, but focus on a specialty where you know the technology well enough to break it down at any level.

Continuing to learn is essential to staying marketable in the industry. Free technical discussion and learning sites, such as Microsoft Virtual Academy, and IT eBooks are excellent resources for continuing education. Reading books in your area of specialty with interest is essential.

Having your lab environment is crucial to practice, experiment and test. This is where your best learning will take place, allowing you to practice strategies, follow labs and exercises, and build the confidence needed to experiment in a safe environment. Virtual environments, such as VMWare or Hyper-V, are useful for creating a lab environment to practice your specialty.

In conclusion, IT is an evolving industry, and staying relevant requires continuous learning and skill improvement. Choosing an area that you are passionate about will make it easier to embrace continued learning. IT is a growth industry, and you can have a long and rewarding career if you are willing to evolve with it.