Careers in IT

“Whenever cool things happen, an IT expert was involved – trust me!!”

The exciting life of an Information Technology expert – the driving force behind many of the cool and exciting things happening today!!

Why can you use your cell phone to phone a friend? – because an IT expert developed the computer software to make it happen!

Where does your favourite computer game come from? – from an IT expert who developed the computer software to make it happen!

Where does MixIT come from? – from an IT expert who developed the computer software to make it happen!

Why can you surf the Internet? – because IT experts created the Internet and developed the computer software to use it for a growing number of services!

Why can you watch TV on your cell phone? – because an IT expert developed the computer software to make it happen!

Where does the characters in ‘Lord of the Rings’ come from? – from an IT expert who developed the animation software

The Information Technology profession is growing in popularity as a profession – international efforts are far advanced to create an international status for the IT industry. This will at last recognize the pivotal role played by this profession in the daily lives of every person.

Basically everything we do every day is in some way related, driven, supported or controlled by some IT system, and that will only increase in the future. The power of computers are today making things possible which were not possible a few years ago.

Looking at some of the aspects mentioned above, the use of mobile phones would not have been possible without the power of computers and computer networks.

The field of computer graphics, the raw computational power of computers and the development of algorithms and software make it possible to graphically create virtual environments and worlds which would surely not have been possible without computers and the experts to exploit the power of these computers!

So what is an IT expert?

Generally, the term is widely used, and includes about everybody who works with computers in some way. This is however not really true – for the really exciting things, as mentioned above, some advanced education in Computer Science, Informatics, Information Systems and related fields are necessary. It is important to realize the fact stated above – if you just take some course in programming, you will probably stay with the ‘boring’ and very often non challenging use of computers. To get to the exciting and leading edge of computer usage, you have to get a solid and formal education to get exposed to and acquire the knowledge needed for these leading edge works. Very often, years of research takes place before new IT-based technologies are ready for the market – to get involved in this ground breaking areas, you must be part of the relevant research teams. It is in the computer related research areas where many of the really nice stuff are taking shape.

What are the exciting new fields for the IT expert?

Many of the fields in which IT experts are working today were not even known a few years ago. Therefore, in 4 or 5 years, we will have job areas in IT which do not exist at this stage – this is the excitement of this fast developing field!

However, the interesting areas today include:

• mobile environments (cell phones, mobile TV, wireless networks)
• medical IT (the human gnome project, 3 dimensional ECGs, MRI scans)
• space and aeronautical applications
• nanotechnology
• graphics, games and animation
• defense IT (war games, remote controlled (by computers) aircraft and other weapons

…..and many more

Watch developments in the IT area for the new interesting jobs!!

Also remember that if you studied IT at school, it often does not reflect the wonderfull and exciting aspects discussed above – do not be ‘switched off’ if IT at school is not what you expected – on tertiary level it will be much more interesting!

Therefore, to be part of this fascinating future, get a tertiary degree, and move towards post-graduate studies which will lead you to the relevant research areas.​