Skilled Trades IT Jobs You Didn’t Know Existed

|   FIND AN EXPRESS LOCATION   |   SEARCH EXPRESS JOBS   |   APPLY NOW   |   HIRING PROCESS   |  

 IT Skilled Trades That Could Be Your Next Career

Technology is advancing so rapidly that as businesses are looking for ways to continue to grow, one option they turn to is hiring more IT staff. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects computer and IT occupations to grow 12% in the next eight years. This rapid change and need for staff has resulted in an opportunity for anyone ready to learn new skills and enter the growing and fast-moving industry of IT professionals.

Here are four specific jobs that you could begin training for now, to start preparing for your new career path.

Cyber Security

If recent news stories of data breaches, online fraud, and identity theft haven't made it clear, cyber security and a career in protecting digital information is a viable option with a high upside. It will take investing in a bachelor's degree, but you're looking at a field of work expecting a 32 percent increase in jobs through 2028.

Whether you're working for a small or large organization, there are several common tasks for people in cyber security roles. Typically, you will be responsible for identifying and communicating about current and emerging security threats, creating solutions that balance business requirements with IT and cyber security requirements, and training team members on how to keep their personal and the organization's data safe.

Website Design and Development

With a healthy mix of creativity and technical skills, website designers and developers are skilled at taking the blank canvas of a new website and making something both visually appealing and functional for the user. Generally, you'll need at least an associate degree to dive into this field, but there are many developers who are self-employed, and in that case, a strong portfolio of work is your biggest asset.

Because building a website requires communicating with multiple departments and teams, this role requires people to have good communication skills and the ability to get along with many different personality types.

Computer/Network Support

One of the advantages of choosing to work in computer or network support is that you typically don't need a four-year degree or higher before starting your career. The education requirements for these roles can vary but usually, you'll only need basic computer knowledge and maybe a few computer-related classes in your background. One constant for these roles is the need to keep up with changes in technology, so you should be ready and willing to keep learning and growing.

Knowing all of that, jobs in this area typically involve answering inquiries from both internal and external computer users. You'll be expected be able to run various diagnostic tests to find the cause and solution for the issues. Additionally, computer and network support staff will occasionally assist with installing software.

Health Information Technicians 

There are few industries that are immune to economic downturns or slowdowns, but healthcare is one that is likely to be safe for the foreseeable future. If you're not ready to spend eight or more years in school though, there is another path into healthcare-as a health information technician.

Those in this position work closely with documents related to patient health, so privacy and security are often the most important aspects of your day. A typical day could include medical coding, managing digital records systems, submitting and processing patient data for reimbursement, and checking data for accuracy.

The outlook is very positive with an 11% growth in jobs expected through 2028, and most employers only ask applicants to have earned their Registered Health Information Technician certification.

Express Employment Professionals places more than 552,000 job seekers annually in a variety of positions. Contact one of our locally-owned Express offices today to learn more about opportunities available with the more than 83,000 client companies we work with each year.

Express also offers a free educational video series on selecting a career path and succeeding in that role. To access this resource visit YouTube and search Job Genius or visit ExpressPros.com/JobGenius.