There is no two ways about it. IT professionals are in high demand across all sectors and businesses. This means candidates will literally be spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing their next position and where they wish to work. Different sectors require a different mix of hard and soft skills. However, what sort of sectors are actually available for those who are considering a career change into IT altogether? We will take a look at the leading sectors where prospective candidates can choose to work as IT professionals.
Sectors available to IT professionals
IT consultancy
One of the most popular IT jobs is that of an IT consultant. They work alongside clients and assist them with using IT systems in order to meet any particular needs of their business or solve issues that their current systems are experiencing. Overall, they work to improve the efficiency of IT systems in a business and deploy various solutions in order to help business owners meet those needs. Consultants, while technical in nature, are not necessarily involved in technical duties and these will often be assigned to other IT personnel within the business. Consultants are more on hand to provide guidance and user training when a solution to a problem has been found.
Solution providers
Solution providers are largely certified roles. This means that someone in an IT solution provider job will only be required to provide insight into one particular operating system, application, piece of software or other computer program that they have been explicitly trained in and have proven their competency for. They will not be as well rounded as consultants, who are typically educated to postgraduate level as opposed to holding several certifications for specific applications, but will provide the same level of insight and problem-solving skills for those applications that they have been trained for.
Banking and finance
Banks understandably run on IT systems and, therefore, IT professionals are continuously in demand to meet the needs of large banks across the United Kingdom. There is quite a bit of opportunity for specialisation within the finance industry, with some IT professionals working on a more customer-focussed level from technical support and live chat queries through to system developers and programmers who are assigned to deal with IT issues as they arise and affect customers. A high degree of competency is required and rarely do financial organisations hire candidates for IT banking and finance jobs who do not hold respectable degrees at undergraduate level and may even require some to hold postgraduate qualifications.
Telecommunications
Digital telephony is a rapidly growing IT solution that is becoming increasingly popular in households. With VOIP and other digital phones on the rise to challenge the mobile market, it is clear why IT professionals are needed to fill IT telecoms jobs in this sector. Telecommunications specialists often hold Cisco certifications, which is the leading provider of telephony solutions and certifications for IT professionals.
Retail
Retail is increasingly dependent on IT systems in order to facilitate their day-to-day transactions. Managing EFTPOS systems is a specialist application that requires trained IT professionals and is likely to continue expanding into the future as supermarkets and larger stores continue to rise across the United Kingdom.
Consumer electronics
Focusing more on sales, those who hold IT qualifications, but not necessarily the experience may choose to start with a consumer electronics role at a more local level in order to become more actively involved in IT. These are ideal entry-level roles for those who otherwise have the ambition and drive to succeed, but require their 'first break' in order to become more professionally experienced.
