Career Connections Newsletter

The IT department ensures that the organization's systems, networks, data and applications all connect and function properly. The IT team handles three major areas:

1. deploys and maintains business applications, services and infrastructure (servers, networks, storage);
2. monitors, optimizes and troubleshoots the performance of applications, services and infrastructure; and
3. oversees the security and governance of applications, services and infrastructure.

• Administration. Administrators handle the day-to-day deployment, operation and monitoring of an IT environment, including systems, networks and applications. Admins often perform a range of other duties such as software upgrades, user training, software license management, procurement, security, data management and observing adherence to business process and compliance requirements.
• Support. Help desk staff specialize in answering questions, gathering information and directing troubleshooting efforts for hardware and software. IT support often includes IT asset and change management, helping admins with procurement, handling backup and recovery of data and applications, monitoring and analyzing logs and other performance monitoring tools and following established support workflows and processes.
• Applications. Businesses rely on software to perform work. Some applications are procured and deployed from third parties, such as email server applications. But many organizations retain a staff of skilled developers that create the applications and interfaces -- such as APIs -- needed to deliver critical business capabilities and services. Applications might be coded in a wide array of popular languages and integrated with other applications to create smooth and seamless interactions between different applications. Developers might also be tasked with creating interactive business websites and building mobile applications. The trend toward agile or continuous development paradigms require developers to be increasingly involved with IT operations, such as deploying and monitoring applications.
• Compliance. Businesses are obligated to observe varied government- and industry-driven regulatory requirements. IT staff play a major role in securing and monitoring access to business data and applications to ensure that such resources are used according to established business governance policy that meets regulatory requirements. Such staff are deeply involved with security tasks and routinely interact with legal and business teams to prevent, detect, investigate and report possible breaches.

Computer and information technology (IT) professionals in the US made a median salary of $97,430 in May 2021, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) [1]. That’s significantly more than the $45,760 average salary for all occupations.

Keep in mind that many factors can influence your salary, including your level of experience, skill set, the cost of living of your location, your education level, and what certifications you have.

So what do IT workers in these roles actually make? The following are average annual salaries from different IT positions in the US.

*All salary data is sourced from Glassdoor as of August 2022

• Product support specialist: $71,139

• Desktop support analyst: $76,221

• Hardware analyst: $85,579

• Systems administrator: $99,399

• Systems analyst: $109,531

• Scrum master: $109,071

• Cloud computing analyst: $100,981

• Database administrator: $103,977

• Systems engineer: $109,392

• Network/cloud engineer: $118,750

• DevOps Engineer: $120,750

• Site reliability engineer: $119,011

• Network security engineer: $117,636

• Big data engineer: $121,484

• Security architect: $166,919

• Network/cloud architect: $132,860

• Information systems security manager: $127,895

According to Global Knowledge, 12 percent of those who received a raise in 2020 credit gaining new skills, through training for certifications or otherwise. IT professionals who received raises related to getting new certifications saw their salaries rise by an average of $13,000

Degrees aren’t always necessary to land a job in IT. But higher education levels are linked to higher incomes—the BLS found that those with a bachelor’s degree made a median income of $1,474 a week in 2021. Compare that with high school graduates, who made $817 a week [7].

Employers may also still favor job candidates with at least a bachelor’s degree, or even master’s degrees, for certain IT positions. Though going back to school might be intimidating, the financial and career benefits can be rewarding. If you’ve already received a bachelor’s degree, pursuing a master’s degree in IT or computer science can help you advance in your current role, or pivot to a new one.

So yes—a degree in IT has its benefits. But it'll also cost you time and money. In making your decision, think about where you want your career to go. Are you willing to make a long-term investment for salary increases and a faster track to managerial positions? Then a degree might make sense. If you're looking for a quick way to find a new job or get a raise, other options like a certification might be what you're looking for.

Read more: Do I Need an Information Technology Degree? 4 Things to Consider

Beth Gaubatz

tesc_bgaubatz@tccsa.net

Website: youresc.k12oh.us/
Location: 741 Winkler Drive, Wooster, OH, USA
Phone: 330-345-6771