Top IT Disciplines for Vets
One of my favorite things that we do at LeapFox is help veterans get the IT training they need to have a successful career in their chosen discipline. One question we get from our GI Bill students is what are my options. A lot of the time we see veterans that know they want a career in tech but they don’t know where to start. It doesn’t help that a lot of job titles and jargon can be confusing for someone new to the field.
We decided it was time we simplified the process and got all of the information in one location. In this post we’ll list out the top disciplines in tech and give a brief overview of each. Keep checking in with our blog because in the following weeks we will be adding some posts that will dive into each of the disciplines a little deeper. I’ll make sure to update this original post with links to the new posts as we add them so make sure and bookmark it!
Here is the list in no particular order:
Helpdesk or Support
“There is always a need for effective support staff.”
Most IT professionals have worked as a help desk technician at some point in their career. For a lot of people this discipline is where they get their start in the field. Some people even enjoy working in this discipline so much that they stay in it. There is always a need for effective support staff. This is a great discipline to consider if you really enjoy helping others.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure IT is one of the largest disciplines in IT. IT Infrastructure refers to the computer infrastructure in use at companies today. This includes the hardware (desktop computer), software (applications), and network that connect employees at a company. Job titles you may have heard that are in the infrastructure discipline are system administrators, infrastructure engineers, and system architects. A job in IT infrastructure can delve into topics like server management, virtualization, and networking. This is a great discipline if you are looking for a career with a plethora of advancement options. The help desk discipline will often lead to an infrastructure job.
Security
The security discipline of IT is one of the fastest growing career fields today. According to Forbes Magazine, the cybersecurity job market is expected to grow to $170 billion by 2020. That’s not the only good thing about this discipline though. A career in this field also come with six-figure salaries, and plenty of options for advancement in addition to solid job
“The cyber security job market is expected to grow to $170 billion by 2020.”
security. Beyond that, cybersecurity jobs can be found commonly in the top 10 of best jobs list. You would think with a reputation like that, that jobs would be filling up quickly, but that isn’t the case. The bureau of labor statistics estimates that there are currently over 200,000 available jobs in the U.S. alone.
Cloud
The cloud. It’s been a buzz word for a while now, but more importantly it’s a promising career field in IT. Like security this is a discipline that is seeing a lot of growth right now, and should continue to grow for a while. Currently many corporations are looking to adopt their infrastructure strategies to take full advantage of the cloud for storage as well as computing power. Because the technology is still relatively new there is a huge skills gap for IT professionals who can handle cloud technologies.
“There is a huge skill gap for IT Professionals who can handle cloud technologies.”
Network
“More than 160,000 jobs will remain unfilled…”
If you are this far down the list you are going to start to notice a pattern. That is that all of these jobs are in demand, and network jobs are the same way. Right now there is a massive demand for certified network technicians. It is estimated that more than 160,000 jobs will remain unfilled over the next two years. Another benefit to specializing in networks is that most of the hardware is fairly standardized. Almost everyone uses Cisco equipment so getting Cisco certifications means you will be useful to almost all businesses.
Developer
The developer role is slightly different from the other disciplines listed here. The other disciplines are complimentary in the sense that it is easy to transition between them. They share a lot of fundamental principles, and many jobs include facets of a few of the disciplines. There are several types of development that you can look into if you want to learn to “code.” There is web development, software development, database development, and more. These jobs can be some of the highest paying in tech next to Security. A developer job is great for people who are good problem solvers and it helps to be detail oriented.
Conclusion
After taking a look at these common IT disciplines its easy to see that the IT career field is growing. It seems like there is a skills gap that matches almost every discipline, with the biggest gaps appearing in security and cloud-based infrastructure jobs. These new technologies make it the perfect time to start a career in IT. There is none of the uncertainty with tech that persisted in the early days of the personal computer.
If you are ready to start your journey and begin working towards a career in tech ASAP then get in touch with one of our career counselors to find out what learning track makes the most sense for your wants and needs
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