To break into the IT industry it helps to decide which job role you are looking for.
IT jobs fall into a few different categories:
IT Support
Networks
Cyber security
Software and application development
Database Administration
Cloud-based roles
It helps to focus on the skills that are required for the job you want. For example, if you are looking at developer jobs you will usually need experience in the language that a company is asking for.
Some of the bigger companies will want strong computer science fundamentals and any object-oriented (OO) language. Usually, companies that aren’t Google or Facebook e.g. an agency, or a large private company will be trying to find someone to work with their existing technology and codebase.
Technologies generally are grouped together – you can look at a job description to see the requirements.
e.g. a .NET developer will be expected to know C#, ASP.NET, Razor, Entity Framework, and Web API. The database is most likely going to be SQL Server and any deployment tool is likely to be .NET focussed like TeamCity and Octopus deploy with IIS server.
A Ruby or Ruby on rails developer would be expected to know a different set of technologies as that is what is used in the job.
The stack overflow survey lists technologies used in development: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2023/#technology
It is now common for web developers to be “full stack” – meaning they are expected to know JavaScript and front-end development. In practice, this is knowing one of the SPA frameworks like React, Angular or Vue.
Training resources
It is worth seeking both books and video training to help with your career in IT. Tech moves fast so to keep yourself employable you may need to upskill frequently.
There are many paid and free resources available online.
It helps to create sample projects to get experience.
If you are already in a FT role the company may pay for your training. There are popular day or week-long in person courses to become trained in a new technology. QA.com is one such provider.
If you are a computer science student or on another course and interested – the reading list of the computer science course is a good place to start. Courses like multimedia technology and informatics also will have useful reading lists. It helps to go beyond what is required for the coursework. It is worth reading the entire book about the language you are learning – and trying out some of the more advanced concepts. Even if you don’t use that language in your job many skills are transferable. e.g. learning one skill in Java may help if you end up working with .NET or Python.
CompTIA
The CompTIA certifications are always worth looking at.
If you are a complete beginner to IT then the CompTIA A+ will teach you the basics. It will teach you about the components of a PC and how to build one.
Network+ is great for learning about computer networking. The benefit to these qualifications is they will teach you skills that you need to know on the job. If you are looking for an entry-level role e.g. as a 1st line support tech these certs will give you the info you need.
Security+ is another cert which is almost an entry requirement to cyber security jobs. These certifications are not easy – but with enough reading, studying and practicing you can learn what is required to get a foot in the door.
Note: CompTIA update the names and contents of their certs so the above names may change.
Databases
With databases, there are many different types.
To be a database admin it may help to be focussed on one product – master it and then branch out later.
There are many different database systems – each with its own version of the SQL query language. Each RDBMS requires different setup and administration tasks.
e.g.
SQL Server – Microsoft DB – has its own SQL variant Transact SQL
Oracle – Has PL-SQL
Maria DB, MySQL, Postgres – other popular databases with their own query syntax.
Whilst most query commands and concepts are similar – each database has its own syntax.
The same goes for installing and configuring these databases.
The best thing to do is download the free or express versions and try installing it.
Mastering the management tools for your database of choice is another key factor
e.g. SQL Server management studio (SSMS) for SQL Server/Azure SQL
SQL Developer for Oracle
Closing
There is a lot to IT – this post doesn’t begin to cover it all.
It is important to work towards a certain role so as not to waste your time.
If it turns out it is not what you want you can always change – it is best to get started though.