| An IT career may not be the first thing that springs | | | | businesses. Anyone who has to maintain a list of |
| to mind when someone asks what you want to do in | | | | clients, customers or contacts can benefit from an IT |
| life. Doctor, teacher, nurse or vet are certainly the | | | | system that will store their details in a way that |
| more likely answers given by younger children at any | | | | makes life easier for the business. |
| rate. | | | | Programmers build databases, and there are often |
| But as children grow, IT very quickly becomes a part | | | | positions within organisations as database managers |
| of everyday life, and for many will become an area | | | | or administrators. |
| to focus on when thinking about which career to | | | | For those who are more creative, there are also |
| choose. All those hours spent in front of video games | | | | many jobs in IT that might appeal. |
| won't be wasted if you end up working in the UK's | | | | Website designers talk to clients, understand the |
| impressive video games industry, which earns | | | | concept of what they are trying to do with their |
| £100 million a year in exports. | | | | website and then devise a design that suits the |
| And while IT is still a male-dominated industry, more | | | | client's needs. A good understanding of how websites |
| and more women are choosing a career in | | | | work is crucial, as well as a creative eye. |
| information technology and doing very well at it. | | | | Games developers and software developers also |
| There are hundreds of different kinds of careers in | | | | need imagination, to come up with new concepts and |
| IT - and it is one area that is certain to grow as | | | | ideas. |
| technology develops at a seemingly unstoppable | | | | Telecommunications is another growing area of IT as |
| space. | | | | phone systems become digital, opening up a whole |
| For those who are technically minded, a job as a | | | | new world of digital and mobile communication |
| systems analyst or IT developer might appeal. | | | | systems. |
| Systems analysts will investigate a business problem | | | | Technology is changing fast, as is the world of work. |
| and try to design a computer system that can be | | | | More people will work from home and keep in touch |
| used to handle the problem. They have to be good | | | | with office hubs as the need for cutting carbon |
| at communicating, as a fundamental part of the job is | | | | emissions becomes more pronounced and commuting |
| working out what the computer system needs to be | | | | into town centres becomes a trend of the past. |
| capable of doing. | | | | Most of us will end up using some form of IT in any |
| Developers, or programmers, take ideas from the | | | | job we do. For those who think they may want an |
| analysts and write the code on which the systems | | | | IT career, a new diploma in IT was introduced for |
| are based. This is an incredibly detailed, meticulous job | | | | 14-19 year olds in 2008, designed to be of direct |
| and is normally done by a team of people. | | | | relevance to the workplace. |
| Databases are a vital part of the workings of most | | | | |