Find Your Path: The Top Careers in Information Technology

It’s always a good idea to find a career in a promising technical field. A hundred years ago, people who wanted to make good money and engage their mind went into the new areas of automobile and airplane design and management. A hundred years before that, ambitious folk could be found tinkering with new-fangled steam engines mounted on locomotives or in factories. Today, the information technology (IT) field is the modern equivalent to those revolutionary concepts, and the people who work in IT find both exciting challenges and ample rewards. The question, then, is which career in information technology to pursue.

We’re here to make the task a bit easier for you. In our guide, we examine the best careers in IT that you can find today, and we’ve tapped the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to include each job’s expected salary. While these jobs are far from the only IT career routes you can take, the ones we highlight are both intellectually stimulating and financially lucrative. Take a gander at our choices and see if one of our selections scratch your particular itch. You never know—it could be the start of a whole new life for you.  

IT Security Specialist

An IT security specialist focuses on keeping the good guys safe and the bad guys out in the cold, which is a job that will only increase in importance as time goes on. IT security specialists constantly study trade publications and sit for exams to stay abreast of current computer and network security threats. They conduct regular network scans and server inspections, and they ensure that their organization follows all digital security best practices.

You’ll make a pretty penny in this role, too. IT security specialists make $103,000 a year on average, and senior specialists can make a lot more than that. It’s a gig for folks who want to interact with executives and staff, as you’ll have to facilitate educational staff and investigations regularly.

Video Game Designer

For the gamers among us, the notion of being in on the creative process is similar to offering a toddler the keys to a candy store. If you get excited at the thought of collaborating with dozens or even hundreds of fellow gaming enthusiasts and developing something new and engaging that people can play for years, then consider video game designer as an information technology career.

As a game designer, you’ll be expected to work well with other team members, and you might be required to meet release deadlines in some jobs. You’ll be well compensated at about $80,000 a year, and you’ll be able to find work in most major cities around the globe.

Mobile Application Designer

That fancy rectangular doodad you carry around in your pocket? It turns out that mobile devices need a ton of new applications and operating system revisions like clockwork, and companies are happy to pay mobile application designers a nice salary to keep the mobile apps coming. The demand isn’t going anywhere, either; industry growth is only expected to increase in the next few decades and beyond.

Plan on making about $100,000 a year as a mobile application designer, and don’t slack off on the book learnin’, either. You’ll need to keep up with the newest phones, tablets, and other mobile platforms, and you’ll have to study new programming languages as well as changes to the current ones.

We hope that you’ve enjoyed this guide to the top information technology careers. There’s no better place to be right now than in IT, and it’s imperative to narrow down your options to make an explicit and informed career decision. Get your facts straight, and before you know it, you’ll have your own satisfying IT career.