Job Market Snapshot

By default, no two IT careers are alike. 20th century job titles such as "COBOL Programmer" that entailed only one or two technologies have given way to vague, versatilist titles such as "Web 2.0 Developer" that require a large subset of tech skills within cross-platform frameworks. What does it all mean, and how do you distill the ultimate dream job from your own library of interests?

Although it's impossible for us to recommend the exact path for you, we have compiled a small snapshot of IT software and networking field categories, a cross-section of jobs and estimated median salaries within those categories, and suggested technologies to learn for each. Keep in mind that this is not a comprehensive list for IT, as it overlaps many other extensive fields such as computer hardware, bioinformatics, and management information systems.

Job Categories in Information Technology

Demand for IT professionals continues to grow

In 2007 the IT job market looks like it will continue to grow on the crest of the current Web 2.0 wave. In 2006, the compensation for IT professionals grew faster than most other professions as indicated by the Dice Tech Salary Survey. We've seen a drastic rise in Corporations adopting Web 2.0 ideas and learning new ways to implement the web into their businesses. As such, programmers and system administrators are needed to help implement these ideas. For example Robert Half recently predicted that Web Developers would be in high demand in 2007 and that base compensation would continue to rise at a 4.2% rate. See Top Five Professions in Demand for 2007. Also a recent article on CNNMONEY.COM declared that Software Development and IT analysis as two of the Top 10 jobs in America.

Still, Unversities in America are seeing relatively low enrollments in Computer Science since the Dot Com bust earlier this decade with a 60% drop over that past few years. This combined with growing need for IT professionals means that demand should outpace supply in the near future making Information Technology a desirable place to be.