All businesses today have an Information Technology team. This team is the backbone of the entire company. They keep all the data secure and ensure employees are able to do their work smoothly without any hitches. As people are finding more ways to utilise IT in their companies and daily lives, so is the demand for trained IT experts.
Some of the top universities and colleges in India like Terna Nerul have several IT courses. There is even a choice of different IT specialisations to choose from. So how does a fresher or a student who is about to graduate, make a successful career in this field? Let us find out how.
Guide to Building A Career in IT
There is, undoubtedly, no one way to carve out a career in any field. Each student and individual’s journey will be different. However, to generalise, the following are some steps to build a sustainable career in IT.
Investigate qualifications to get: The first step is to look into what degrees and qualifications one needs to earn to work in the IT sector. Colleges and universities offer several different degrees in information technology. There is even a wide choice of specialisations to choose from. Take into account, financial availability, duration of the course, placements, and infrastructure at the college. Moreover, take careful note of the admissions process and eligibility criteria. There could be a requirement to attempt and score qualifying marks in an entrance examination.
Earn a degree: With the degree or qualification decided, take admission. Attend all classes and be sure to attempt extracurriculars as well. Keep in mind that besides academics, many recruiters pay special attention to the extracurriculars a candidate has on their resume. If the extracurricular is in the same field as information technology, all the better. Talk with professors for tips and tricks for breaking into the field of information technology. Many colleges require candidates to complete a mandatory internship which is a valuable addition to an IT candidate’s resume.
Research the jobs: There are many jobs in the field of information technology, as mentioned above. As a student, it is essential to research all available jobs, the responsibilities, salary scale, and also career paths. Get an understanding of what skills are necessary for a prospective employee to work in this role and the skills one can possibly learn when working that are transferable. Transferable skills are skills that can be effectively used in other jobs. Keep in mind, for each job there will be multiple interviews and one must aim of gaining experience in interviewing and not just nailing the first interview they sit at.
Understand skills and passions: Another one of the most important aspects of a career in information technology is to develop the right skills. Here, skills refer to both technical skills and soft skills. The field of technology is hard and quite demanding. Most ME colleges in Mumbai concentrate on helping their students get an understanding of what their passions are besides theoretical classes. Based on this knowledge, students will receive help with earning the right skills. This is done by mentoring professors or enrolling in a short-term online or offline course. This step is important to not burn out in the chosen job and have the motivation to keep striving.
Learn coding: Coding is necessary for higher-paid jobs. There are several coding languages and each job profile will require knowledge of a different language. Most recruiters will need knowledge of HTML as it is easier to learn. Other languages that must be known to supplement this are Javascript, C++, Python, and Ruby. There are, without a doubt, more advanced languages that will require a significant amount of training. Luckily, there are online classes available for each specific language. Besides learning the language, these courses also provide the opportunity to practice the learned skill through projects that can be added to the resume later on.
Get experience: It is not enough to simply have the necessary qualifications for a job. One must also be able to prove that one knows how to utilise their skills. Engineering college in Mumbai and across India provide projects for students to participate in. As mentioned above, these projects are excellent ways to identify which areas one is lacking in and which areas to work on. For freshers, open-source projects are best to get used to a platform. Once done, add them to the resume which will be referred to later during interviews. Another way to earn experience is to do internships. Look for companies that have jobs in the same field as one is interested in and send in applications for internships.
Network: Not just in IT but every field requires individuals to do networking. Networking helps immensely when looking for jobs and in many other ways. The best way to start networking is while at college. Talk to college professors and seniors for any help when needed. Attend IT events which are a hotspot for freshers and experienced IT professionals. These events are best to earn job referrals which are extremely useful in the highly competitive field of IT. Not just for referrals but this network of like-minded people is helpful for general advice regarding one’s career.
Prepare for and give interviews: With a resume full of projects, a job referral from an IT professional, and knowledge of coding languages, the last step is to interview for jobs. BE colleges in Mumbai and across India that provide IT courses have placements that help with this process. Recruiters from across the nation will come to the campus to interview candidates for open job positions. Brush up on technical questions that will be asked in the interview. Many interviews also have a coding round. Apply for all jobs that seem suitable and sit for the interviews. Be courteous and remember to thank the interviewer afterward. It might take some time before landing one job but do not give up.
Conclusion
IT jobs are some of the most rewarding jobs, right from the start. However, getting started in this field takes a lot of groundwork and preparation. Get the right qualification like a full-time degree or otherwise, network with local IT professionals, and also keep the social media pages up to date. Hopefully, the write-up stated above has been helpful in giving direction to new IT students about to graduate. And if you want to look at the course structure of the IT course at TERNA Nerul, visit the official website for the same.
