Sample exercise: Locate resources useful for researching Information Technology-related occupations and preparing to begin a job search.
Getting Started
The purpose of this guide is to familiarize students with some of the many online tools that can be used in the process of preparing for a job search in the field of Information Technology(IT). The following topics will be explored:
Researching Job Titles
Researching Job Responsibilities, Trends and Pay Benefits
Researching Job Postings
Researching Information Technology Job Titles:
One of the characteristics of researching IT professions is that there are myriad job titles along with a wide range of responsibilities. Most jobs are specifically linked to the technical tranining you receive. The first step is to review the various job titles under general IT categories. The following is a list of some of the most commonly used job titles in the IT field. They are arranged into the four categories that ITT Technical Institutes use for IT programs. Exploring job titles will help you narrow your search to desired job positions.
Networking
Network administrator
System administrator
Computer operators
Network technician
Computer security technician
Software Programming
Computer programmer
Software engineer
Software developer
System developer
System analyst
Web Development
Webmaster
Web developer
Graphic designer
Multimedia
Graphic artist/designer
Multimedia designer/programmer/specialist
Multimedia illustrator
Other
Computer consultant
Computer help desk associate
Researching Job Responsibilities, Trends And Pay Benefits
After you have identified which job titles best suit your skills and interests, you should further research other important aspects of the job such as:
Job responsibilities
Job trends
Pay benefits
You can access useful Web resources for career research via the Virtual Library under the "Careers" category of REFERENCE RESOURCES (Main Menu).
Responsibilities
To identify job responsibilities, review the following Career resources:
The Occupational Information Network, is a comprehensive database of occupational skills, abilities, knowledge and work activities.
An overview of career planning with a list of links to various IT career-related Web sites.
Trends
Job forecasting is a valuable tool for your career planning process. You may utilize the following links found under the "Careers" category of REFERENCE RESOURCES (Main Menu).
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides access to news releases, earnings data, state occupational employment projections, and publications including OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK QUARTERLY and CAREER GUIDE TO INDUSTRIES.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates of the number of people employed in certain occupations and provides estimates of the wages paid to them. Available at national, state, and metropolitan area levels.
Projections of occupational employment growth.
This site sponsored by the National Association of Colleges and Employers provides reports on the current job market for graduates, future forecasts and advice on career planning.
Computer and Mathematical Occupations.
Pay Benefits
You can research your marketable value from the following list of Web sites:
This site provides up-to-date salary information for various IT jobs.
This site provides a comprehensive analysis on salaries based on job titles as well as geographic locations.
Released 10/28/02.
Computer support specialist
Researching Job Postings
After you complete the first two sections of this guide, you should have good idea of what kind of job you are interested in and the responsibilities and pay benefits for that job. You can then start researching postings of available positions in the industry. There are two primary ways of researching:
local newspaper listings
online search engines
For local job listings, you should check the newspaper's classified section under appropriate headings. Many newspapers also offer online versions. To utilize online job search engines, access the following list of links:
In addition to these IT-specific sites, there are many general online job posting sites that may include IT-related jobs. Sites such as Monster and Career Builder offer access to online postings from many fields. These sites may be searched using keywords related to the IT industry.
After you have successfully retrieved possible job openings with various companies, you can further research the background information on those companies to determine your interest in working for them.