IT is it for me? We look at the many career options available in Information Technology.

1. IT is it for me?
Tom Henricksen
IT Career Coach, Author, Speaker

2. Introduction: Tom Henricksen
● 15 Years
● MyITCareerCoach.com to help people in IT

3. Agenda
1. Career Match
2. IT Career Choices
3. Career Transition Plan

4. Career Match
Skill Inventory
● Review Career History
● Look for proficiency
● Soft skills

5. Activity
List your top 3 qualities
1. _________
2. _________
3. _________

6. Career Match
Find your “Zone”
● StrengthsFinder 2.0
● Perfect job?
● Revisit childhood favorites

7. Career Match
“The master in the art of living makes little distinction
between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure,
his mind and his body, his information and his recreation,
his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which.
He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he
does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or
playing. To him he's always doing both. ”
-James A Michener

8. Agenda
1. Career Match
2. IT Career Choices
3. Career Transition Plan

9. IT Career Choices
3 Myths of IT
● Only jobs are for Help Desk and Developers
● All IT jobs have been off-shored
● IT jobs require years of college

10. Activity
Review IT Careers
1.____
2.____
3.____

11. IT Career Choices
Systems Analyst
● Organizational link
● Find details
● Strong communicator

12. IT Career Choices
Web Design
● User Interface - UI
● User eXperience - UX

13. IT Career Choices
Quality Assurance
● Test applications
● Isolate issues
● Analyze results

14. IT Career Choices
Help Desk Technician
● Support computer systems
● Diagnose issues
● Implement solutions

15. IT Career Choices
Database Administrator - DBA
● Setup Database
● On-going tuning
● Implement security

16. IT Career Choices
Information Security Analyst
● Protect organizations
● Threat analysis
● Monitor security

17. IT Career Choices
Network Administrator
● Establish network
● Monitor communication
● Troubleshoot issues

18. IT Career Choices
Network Security Specialist
● Monitor Network
● Access control
● Confidentiality

19. Questions
What have you learned?
What are you looking for tomorrow?
What has surprised you?

20. Day 1 recap
1. Career Match
2. IT Career Choices
3. Career Transition Plan

21. Day 2 starting up
1. Career Match
2. IT Career Choices
3. Career Transition Plan

22. IT Career Choices
Network Operations Center
● Manage network
● 24/7 Uptime
● Industries
○ Telecommunications
○ Computer
○ Satellite

23. IT Career Choices
Network Operations Center
● Operator
● Technician

24. IT Career Choices
Network Operator
● Monitor
● Maintain
● Support

25. IT Career Choices
Network Operations Center Technician
● Install equipment
● Troubleshoot issue
● Resolve problems

26. Data Communications
● Network Design Engineer
● Outside Plant Specialist
● Fiber Optics Specialist
● Switching Specialist

27. Data Communications
Network Design Engineer
● Design and Plan
● Install
● Test

28. Data Communications
Outside Plant Specialist
● Design and build
● Modifications
● Evaluate

29. Data Communications
Fiber Optics Specialist
● Installations
● Maintenance

30. Data Communications
Switching Specialist
● Design LAN
● Setup switches
● Ensure QoS

31. IT Career Choices
Data Center
● Large data storage
● Racks of servers
● Climate controlled
● Secured

32. IT Career Choices
Data Center Technician
● Troubleshoot
● Deploy Infrastructure
● Design layout

33. IT Career Choices
Web Development
● HTML
● JavaScript

34. IT Career Choices
Mobile Development
● iOS
● Android

35. IT Career Choices
Software Development
● Integration
● Architecture

36. Activity
List 3 Careers of interest
1. _________
2. _________
3. _________

37. Agenda
1. Career Match
2. IT Career Choices
3. Career Transition Plan

38. Career Transition Plan
Explore your options for training and Education
● Certificates
● Diplomas
● Degrees

39. Career Transition Plan
Explore your options
● Certification
● Course completion
● Internships
● Volunteer work
● Job shadow

40. Career Transition Plan
Stumbling blocks
● Background
● Appearance
● Attitude

41. Career Transition Plan
Find Networking options
● User groups
● Clubs
● Conferences
● Online groups - LinkedIn
● Find a mentor/Coach

42. Career Transition Plan
● Periodically check your course
● Become a lifelong learner
● Enjoy your new career!

43. Conclusion
● Questions
● Connect with me!
○ LinkedIn
○ website: myITCareerCoach.com
■ Newsletter
○ Twitter: @tomhenricksen
○ Facebook, Google+
● Let me help you out!