High Tech Careers and How to Find Them

It's no longer adequate to decide to go into Information Technology. Today, to achieve success, you must specialize. Instead of looking for a job in IT, successful candidates narrow their search by focusing on a specialty, such as network administration, network security, computer forensics, or something more arcane such as chip design.

The first thing to remember in pursuit of a high tech career is to specialize. Often, this is done by combining the traditional four-year degree with specialty certifications that highlight proficiency in specific areas. While your college education covers the basics and the theory, vendor-specific certifications cover how to work with very specific types of equipment. Many employers want both theory and practical, vendor-specific experience. You may have never administered a Microsoft network in your job before, but if you have an MCSE certification, you can prove that you know how to do it.

In addition to gaining a certification, you can also further your career pursuits by either engaging in volunteer work, or by taking on an internship during summers. Internships at high tech companies, whether they are paid or not, are valuable experience and often lead to full-time positions. If you intern at a big high-tech firm, your job responsibilities may have revolved around bringing coffee to the late-night code jockeys, but nonetheless, you will have become a familiar face--and that is an advantage when the real jobs get passed out.

A few things to remember: the classified pages of your local paper should be at the bottom of your list of job-finding resources. Most high-tech jobs never make the classifieds. Instead, cover the online job boards. Also, make out a list of targets--companies you would like to work for--and monitor their online job postings on a regular basis.

High-tech career fairs are another valuable resource. When you go to a career fair, you have to be in best form. At most, you will have about two minutes of face time with the hiring manager, and that's if he likes you. However, you should avoid the temptation to attract attention by providing highly-stylized resumes. Resumes gathered at job fairs are usually scanned and processed by software, and stylized fonts and graphics don't always come through the software.

Information is for educational and informational purposes only and is not be interpreted as financial or legal advice. This does not represent a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Please consult your financial advisor.