NOTE: The actual contents and opinions are the sole views of the author who maintains editorial independence.
By Jean Hartley – The IT-industry is actively developing, which means a constant influx of specialists, there are more and more of them. The industry is in constant need of new personnel. But what to choose, because there are so many areas : cybersecurity, Data Science, gaming, UX-design. Let’s look into it.
How to choose an IT-specialty for yourself
It is necessary to determine whether you are ready to work in IT. After all, in this area not only the salaries and social packages are high, but also the requirements for personnel. To become a truly in-demand specialist, you need to constantly learn. You need self-discipline, time and, of course, desire.
If the willingness is there, then you can move on to the next point – the choice of specialty.
To do this, you need:
- Determine your own preferences and interests, because they will play the most important role in achieving success. The level of motivation must be high, only in this case you will be able to realize your plan. What kind of technology do you like most – design development, writing applications, or cybersecurity? Read articles on these topics, see what the representatives of these specialties are doing.
- Analyze your own abilities. This is a very important step, because it is not always possible to work effectively in the field we like. For example, if mathematics is far from you, then Data-Science will not be given easily. Or if you are not keen on drawing and drafting, then the design can be not all right (of course, not always).
- Assess the labor market. The labor market plays an important role in choosing an IT specialty. Not all IT industries are equally well paid, and not all specialists are equally in demand. Having studied the nuances, dynamics and volatility of the labor market, you can make a rational decision.
Read: Understanding the Latest Cybersecurity Trends
Cybersecurity, Data Science, Gaming and UX-Design
There is a huge variety of digital professions on the market right now. There are many in-demand professions, but cybersecurity specialists, data scientists, game developers and designers are in particular demand.
Cybersecurity
These days, almost every company has services, programs, and network devices on which the efficiency and profitability of the business depends. If any of these elements is damaged due to intrusion of malefactors, the company will lose money and possibly suffer reputational losses.
Examples of major hacks include the theft of 148 million customers’ data from the credit bureau Equifax in 2017 or the theft of personal data (including passport and credit information) from 500 million customers of the Marriot hotel chain.
Read: 6 Cybersecurity Strategies for Handling Fraud and Data Breaches in Business
What a cybersecurity professional does
He or she is in charge of preventing attackers from attacking company resources. This is the main task, which is implemented through the analysis of external and internal risks and threats. Information security specialists know how specialized security tools work and how to use them.
A cybersecurity expert can be part of the software and device development team, dealing with user data protection. A good specialist should know not only the technical part, but also understand the legal basics of information protection and understand what to pay special attention to.
Another option for applying the knowledge and skills of cybersecurity is penetration testing. This is testing of resistance to cracking of software and software. The profession is needed in order to identify possible problems of the product even before its release or the start of sales.
Read: Eliminating Cyber Risk With Strong Data Retention Policies
Data Science
Data scientists work with big data (Big Data). This data is collected by commercial companies as well as government and scientific organizations. By analyzing Big Data, answers important to business, science, or government management can be obtained.
What a data scientist does
Regardless of where exactly such a specialist works – a business, government or scientific organization – he or she processes data sets, finds correlations, connections, and patterns using machine learning algorithms and builds models. They can be used to solve the problems mentioned above.
For example, in banking organizations, specialized models make it possible to determine who to give credit to and who to refuse; in insurance companies, business models make it possible to assess the likelihood of an insured event.
This is a very challenging job that requires excellent knowledge of higher mathematics, programming and related industries. The entry threshold into the specialty is quite high.
Game Development
The games market is actively developing. Largely due to the development of technology and the cheapening of online communications, computers, tablets and smartphones. Over the past few years, the games market has grown by more than 12% per year. According to forecasts, by 2025 the games market could grow to $300 billion.
Read: Best online browser games without download or installation
What does a gaming specialist do?
There are several answers to this question at once, as the game development industry is very broad. Typically, a development team includes a game designer, artist, programmer, tester, and map designer. But there are even more specialties.
Artists, which is logical – they draw, creating images of the characters and the game world. Programmers implement game mechanics, map designers work on game levels, game designers think through and implement the overall game concept.
Regardless of their specialization, the overwhelming majority of game dev representatives are very passionate about their work – without this, developing a good, exciting game simply will not work.
UX Design
If you want to be part of a company which specializes in UX design, you have to understand that it is an extremely important area both in the creation of websites, web services, and in the creation of games and apps for any platforms.
If a site or app is incomprehensible to the user, it will most likely never be in demand and popular. There are exceptions, of course, but they are extremely rare. As a rule, the user interface should be simple and clear from the outside, but provide access to all the functions of the service or application.
This is why UX-design is an extremely in-demand profession and will remain so in the near future.
What a UX designer does
There are many directions within this profession. But most often the work of a user interface designer deals with the creation of design layouts and the development of maps of the site or application.
In the first case, the functionality of the product is thought through to make it as user-friendly as possible. In the second – thinking about the appearance of various elements.
A UX designer can work in almost any modern IT-company engaged in the development of web services, games or applications.
Read: Best Free Graphic Design software for Linux
Conclusion
It is worth emphasizing that the chosen specialty should not become a job, but a hobby. Of course, you can just be conscientious about performing your duties and be a good professional. But specialists who are passionate about their work usually become truly successful. Therefore, I will repeat my advice – choose the specialty that you like, do not make the size of the salary the main criterion.
If you don’t like your job, money will quickly cease to please. There is a danger of quickly burning out or even falling into a prolonged depression.
Jean Hartley is a professional writer. She also has experience in IT and technical writing experience. Jean follows the tech world and writes about it often on his blog.
If you like the content, we would appreciate your support by buying us a coffee. Thank you so much for your visit and support.
