Reference number: CH000764
What types of jobs are available in the computer
industry?
Question:
What types of jobs are available in the computer industry?
Answer:Below is short listing of different types of computer related jobs
in the industry. This list was created for users who enjoy computers
but are uncertain about what field to enter. In the below list we
have described each of the jobs, the type of requirements, and
recommendations what to do if you're interpreted in the job.
If you're looking for the average pay or the highest paying jobs
in the computer industry, this document does not contain that
information because of the wide variety of salaries depending on the
company and its location. However, it's safe to assume that with the
increased difficulty and experience required for a job, the higher
you'd get paid. If you're looking for a pay range, refer to your your
local listings (newspaper) and/or job listings for pay grades.
If you're looking for your first job in the computer industry or
just want to get your foot in the door, we suggest looking at Data
Entry, Sales, Quality Assurance
(QA) / Tester, or Technical Support (Technician /
Help Desk) jobs. The qualifications and requirements for these
jobs vary, so it's best to refer to your local listings (newspaper)
and/or job listing for available positions and the requirements.
Job quick links
3D Animation / Graphic
design
Description: A position where you design and create either
a graphic or 3D animations for software programs, games, movies, web
pages, etc. Position may also require that you work on existing
graphics, animations, movies, etc. done by other people.
Requirements: An individual applying for this job would
need to be talented in design and creating visuals, for most people
this is not something that you could train for. In addition to being
talented in design and art you must have a good understanding of the
software programs being used to create the visual designs or 3D
animations.
Recommendations: If you wish to get into graphic design /
arts, learn major graphics programs such as Adobe Photoshop. In
addition to this program, there are numerous other programs used to
create your own pictures or edit photos; see document
CH000760 for a listing of these programs. See our
animation
dictionary definition for additional information about this term
as well as a listing of some of the more popular animation programs.
Difficulty: (MEDIUM
- HIGH) Many of the programs used to create a graphic, edit a
photo, or create a 3D render are complex programs and often require
a lot of learning and experience; and in some cases, training or
schooling.
Customer
service
Description: Helping customers with general questions
relating to the company, ordering, status on orders, account
information or status, etc.
Requirements: Good communication skills and a general
understanding of the company and its products.
Recommendations: Great starting position for anyone who is
looking to get their foot in the door at the company and/or who are
not yet that familiar with computers.
Difficulty: (LOW) customer
service will require that the employee be familiar with computers
and be able to navigate through the companies system. However, will
seldom require the employee to be skilled with computer.
Data Entry
Description: A job that commonly
requires the employee to take information from a
hard
copy or other source and enter it into an electronic format.
Position may also be taking electronic data and entering it into a
database for easy sorting
and locating.
Requirements: Generally requires
someone capable of typing 40-50 or more
WPM,
familiarity with computer, and usually requires familiarity with a
word processors.
Recommendations:
Practice your typing and take typing tests to determine your
overall speed. Additional information about improving your typing
can be found on document CH000752. See
document
CH000751 for additional information about how to test your
typing skills.
Difficulty: (LOW)
Most data entry jobs are beginner level jobs and don't require
much or any prior experience or formal education.
Database
Description: A job that requires
creating, testing, and/or maintaining one or more database.
Requirements: Commonly requires
that the user is familiar with and/or has an extensive knowledge
with the database at the
place of employment. For example: Access,
FoxPro,
MySQL,
SQL, Sybase, etc.
Recommendations: Become familiar
with the database being used at the business. If the job is for
developing or continuing the development of a database, you will
need to have a great understanding of the database as well as how
to program it. Often this knowledge requires past experience or
formal education.
Difficulty: (MEDIUM
- HIGH) Developing or maintaining a
database can be a difficult and sometimes very complex job. As
mentioned above you will need to have past experience or formal
education with maintaining or developing a database before most
companies will even consider you.
Engineer
Description: An engineer is someone
who is at the top of their class and almost always someone who has
or is working on a college degree or several certifications.
Although used broadly in this document, the type of engineer is
usually specified in the job requirement. For example, a software
development engineer may be a highly skilled computer programmer.
Requirements: The requirements for
this type of job change depending on the type of engineer you plan
on being. However, as mentioned above, any engineer job will require
an extensive understanding of the job. Usually, this understanding is
obtained from a school, certifications, training, and/or years of
past experience.
Recommendations: Get training and/or
education in the subject of interest from a school or other
location. Learn as much about the subject as possible from books,
the Internet, and other sources. Often before you can qualify for
many engineer positions you will need past experience; therefore,
it's a good idea to get an entry-level job in the same field. For
example, if you want to be an engineer in software development, get a
job in programming and/or create your own software programs. If you
want to become a network engineer, get a job that requires you to
setup, maintain, or otherwise work with networks and setup your own
home network.
Difficulty: (HIGH)
This is a job / position that requires a lot of work to obtain and
is not likely something you will be able to get as your first job.
Hardware
Description: A position as a
hardware designer, circuit design, embedded systems, firmware,
etc. is a job that requires you to design and create a complete
hardware package or portions of a hardware device.
Requirements: Jobs that design
and/or create hardware devices often require that the person has
a good understanding of electronics, circuits, firmware, and/or
design. For this type of position the person will often need to
have several years of prior experience and/or a degree in the
field.
Recommendations: If you're
interested in this type of field we suggest you get a degree in
the field.
Difficulty: (HIGH)
Hardware design is a difficult position to learn and understand
unless you get training or a degree.
Networking
Description: Computer networking
jobs involve designing, setting up, and/or maintaining a
network.
Requirements: Although most users
today have their own home networks, setting up, troubleshooting, and
maintaining a corporate network can be a much more complicated task.
Often, networking jobs also require a good understanding of how a
network works, and in some cases how all the underlying protocols and
structure of how networks work.
Recommendations: There are numerous
types of network and network related certifications
available today, such as the CCNA,
MCSE, etc. Often depending on the
level of certification and the job you're applying for, the certifications
will be more than enough to quality you for most network jobs. Some
of the higher networking positions, especially in the development of
network hardware or programming side, may also require past
experience in networking and/or a degree.
Difficulty: (MEDIUM
- HIGH) Depending upon the job
specifications and the complexity of the network usually
determines the difficulty of this job.
Programmer / Software
developer
Description: A job that requires
the development and/or continued development and maintenance of a software
program.
Requirements: A basic to extensive
understanding of a programming language. Because most job positions
will require a person to develop sections of a program or the whole
program, they often require several years of past experience and/or a
degree before even considering you.
Recommendations: Learn one or more
programming languages. Depending on what type of programs or scripts
you wish to create may change the type of language you wish to
learn. See our dictionary
programming languages definition for a listing of popular
programming languages and what type of programs they are used to
create. If you need experience, creating your own software programs
is a great way to learn a language and demonstrate your abilities at
a job interview.
Difficulty: (HIGH)
Learning a programming language can be as difficult as learning a
second language and takes a lot of experience and practice to
become a skilled programmer.
Quality Assurance (QA)
/ System analyst / Tester
Description: This job requires that the employee test out
all features of a product for any problems or usability issues.
Requirements: Requires that the person have a good
understanding of computer software, hardware, and the product being
tested.
Recommendations: Become familiar with computers, software,
hardware, and/or the products the company makes.
Difficulty: (LOW -
MEDIUM) Depending on what is
being tested and how much needs to be tested usually determines the
difficulty of this job. However, for users familiar with the product
or similar products, you should not have much difficulty locating and
reporting issues.
Sales
Description: Selling a product or
service to another person or company.
Requirements: Good communication
skills and a general understanding of computers and/or the product
that is being sold.
Recommendations: If you're selling
computers, computer hardware, or computer software, become familiar
with all aspects of the product. Sites like
Computer
Hope are a great resource to learn about computers. If you're
selling a specialized product developed by the company you will be
selling for, visit their web page and become as familiar with the
product as possible.
Difficulty: (LOW)
Sales for computer software, hardware, electronics, or related
products is a good first job and can be a good way to learn more
about computers.
Technical Support (Technician / Help
Desk)
Description: Helping an end-user or
company employee with their computers, software program, and/or
hardware device. A technical support position is a great first step
for people interested in working in the computer industry.
Requirements: A basic understanding
of computers, computer's software, and/or hardware.
Recommendations: Become as familiar
as possible with computers, computer software, and/or computer
hardware, depending on what you will be supporting. Almost all
technical support centers that help end-users with their computers,
computer software, or computer hardware products have training that
all employees go through before you actually start work but will
still often require that the user be familiar with computers.
Help desks for corporations do not usually
have any type of training; these positions require that the person
being hired already have a very good understanding of computers and
troubleshooting computer problems.
Difficulty: (LOW
- MEDIUM)
The difficulty of this job is really depending on the type of
training you get. However, someone who is familiar with computers or
works with computers often will generally have an easy time with
these positions after a few days working at them.
Technical Writing
Description: This position often
involves creating or editing technical papers or manuals.
Requirements: This position often
requires that the individual has a basic understanding about the
subject being written about and have good writing skills.
Recommendations: Many of these
positions will require that the person have a degree and will often
test a user before hiring them. In addition to having good writing
skills, you should also be familiar with a major
word
processor.
Difficulty: (LOW
- MEDIUM)
For someone who has good writing skills and familiarity with the
subject, this job can be an easy job.
Security expert
Description: Test and find
vulnerabilities in a system, hardware device, or software program.
Requirements: This position is for
someone who has a strong familiarity with how software, hardware,
and/or networks work and how to exploit them. Often, you will need to
have a good understanding of how the overall system works as well as
good programming skills.
Recommendations: Keep up-to-date
with all security news, advisories, and other related news. The
majority of security vulnerabilities are through software, and in
order to understand these vulnerabilities or find new security
vulnerabilities, you'll need to understand how to program and have a
good understand of how software works and interacts with computers.
Difficulty: (MEDIUM
- HIGH) The difficulty of this job
really depends on what you're testing or trying to find any
vulnerabilities in.
WebMaster / Web Designer
Description: A job where a person
creates, maintains, or completely designs a web page.
Requirements: For basic web
designing positions you should have a good understanding of
HTML,
the Internet, and
web
servers. More advanced positions where you will be working with
more advanced web pages and not just static web pages may also
require that you be familiar with such things as
CGI,
CSS,
Flash,
FTP,
Linux,
Perl,
PHP,
RSS,
SSI,
Unix,
and/or XHTML.
In addition to having a good understanding
of the technologies and code used to create a web page, you're also
often required to know the software programs they are created in.
Recommendations: One of the best
learning experiences for people who are interested in this type of
job is to create your own web page. Keeping in mind that simply
designing and posting a web page using Microsoft FrontPage without
understanding HTML or the code of how it works may not be sufficient
enough for most jobs.
Difficulty: (MEDIUM
- HIGH) The complexity of this job is
really dependent on how difficult of a project you're working on,
simply creating and posting a simple web site with no interaction is
not that hard. However, creating an interactive site with forms,
databases, and overall more interaction with the user and the server
can increase the difficulty of the job significantly.
Additional information:
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