Information technology has entered and benefited all sectors of industry. IT professionals design, support, and maintain computer hardware and software for various industrial and individual applications and are much sought after for their expertise and experience.

Career paths in IT industry can be broadly classified into two main fields of hardware and software. After completion of your BSc IT you can choose the following:

• Under hardware, you have manufacturing, maintenance, research and development, and management.
• Under software, you have manufacturing, development, programming, software testing, maintenance and support. Among related areas are computer operations, database administration, sales/marketing, and data-centre management.
• Popular job designations include computer hardware engineer, software engineer, information systems manager, programmer, network systems and data analyst, systems analyst, database administrator, systems administrator, support specialist, computer and information scientist, school/college computer teacher, and college or university professor. Companies also advertise positions in the areas of networking, web designing, search engine optimisation, computer programming, gaming, system/database administration, software testing, security, desktop support, technical writing, e-commerce, and software training.

Software Developer

Software developers implement software solutions by building programs, applications and websites. They write and test code, often using development tools. their work can involve talking to clients and colleagues to assess and define what solution of the system is needed, which means there is a lot of interaction as well as technical work. A computing, software engineering or related degree is often needed.

Systems Analyst

Systems analysts examine existing IT systems and mark requirements for new ones. They analyse how well software, hardware and the wider IT system fit in the business needs of their employer or of a client and mark on the requirements for new systems. They may also help implement them, train users and monitor their effectiveness. Travel is a key feature of the job as the majority of work is undertaken at clients’ premises.

Business Analyst

Business analysts are equally happy interacting with people associated with technology business managers and end-users. They identify opportunities for improvement in business operations using information technology. The role is project-based and begins with analyzing a customer’s needs, gathering and documenting requirements and creating a project plan to design the resulting technological solution.

IT Support Analyst

IT support analysts provide technical set-up, support and advice to IT users via email, phone, social media and in person. They either provide support within a particular organisation or to external businesses, customers of a particular product or on an ad hoc basis. For example, there is a growing market for on-demand services for home and office tech repair, set-up and troubleshooting.

Network Engineer

Network engineering is one of the more technically demanding IT jobs. Broadly speaking the role involves setting up, administering, maintaining and upgrading communication systems, local area networks and wide area networks for an organisation. Network engineers are also responsible for security, data storage and disaster recovery strategies.

IT Consultant

The term ‘consultant’ can be a tagline for many IT jobs, but typically technical consultants provide technical expertise to and develop and implement IT systems for external clients. They can be involved at any or all stages of the project lifecycle: pitching for a contract; refining a specification with the client team; designing the system; managing part or the entire project; after-sales support or even developing the code