different types of jobs in company
What jobs are available in the computer industry?
Question
What jobs are available in the computer industry?
Answer
Below is short listing of different 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 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), 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), or job listing for available positions and the requirements.
Job quick links
3D Animation / Graphic design
Customer service
Data Entry
Database
Engineer
Hardware
Networking
Programmer / Software developer
Quality Assurance (QA) / System analyst / Tester
Sales
Technical Support (Technician / Help Desk)
Technical Writing
Security expert
WebMaster / Web Designer
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 or arts, it is a must that you 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 the animation 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.
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 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.
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 adatabase for easy sorting and locating.
Requirements: Generally requires someone capable of typing 40-50 or moreWPM, familiarity with computer, and usually requires familiarity with aword processors.
Recommendations: Practice your typing and take online typing tests to determine your overall speed.
Difficulty: (LOW) Most data entry jobs are beginner level jobs and don't require much or any prior experience or formal education.
Description: A job that requires creating, testing, and maintaining one or more database.
Requirements: Requires a familiarity with or extensive knowledge ofdatabases 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.
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 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 job change depending on the 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, or years of past experience.
Recommendations: Get training and 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 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.
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 or create hardware devices often require that the person has a good understanding of electronics, circuits, firmware, or design. For this position the person will often need to have several years of prior experience or a degree in the field.
Recommendations: If you're interested in this 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.
Description: Computer networking jobs involve designing, setting up, and 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 network and network relatedcertifications 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 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 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 or a degree before even considering you.
Recommendations: Learn one or more programming languages. Depending on what programs or scripts you wish to create may change the language you wish to learn. See the dictionary programming languages definition for a listing of popular programming languages and programs they 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 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.
Description: Selling a product or service to another person or company.
Requirements: Good communication skills and a general understanding of computers and 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 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 hardware.
Recommendations: Become as familiar as possible with computers, computer software, and 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 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 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.
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.
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 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.
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, 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 job is to create your own web page. Keeping in mind that 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, 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