/ How to Become an IT Professional - Career Salaries, Job Stats & Education
Thinking of a Career as an IT Professional?
***Open Colleges does not currently offer any IT courses***
Empower yourself in a career as a computing professional with a course in information technology from Open Colleges. These online courses can open up a whole world of new opportunities for the IT professional, allowing you to better understand the technology behind many of today’s top business environments.
Independent market surveys indicate that demand for IT graduates is escalating, while professionals in the IT industry are concerned with a shortage of talent. Discover more about digital environments and software architecture while you hone your problem solving and communication skills.
| Job Outlook | Average Salary | Work Hours | Age Groups |
| Education Level | Skills Trends | Courses | Interview with a Pro |
The graph shows historical and projected (to 2017) employment levels (thousands) for this occupation.
Source: *Job Outlook Government website. ABS Labour Force Survey, DEEWR trend data to November 2014 and DEEWR projections to 2019. Estimates have been rounded.
Over the five years to November 2019, the number of job openings for ICT Sales Professionals is expected to be average (between 10,001 and 25,000). Job openings can arise from employment growth and people leaving the occupation.
Employment for ICT Sales Professionals to November 2019 is expected to grow moderately. Employment in this medium sized occupation (16,000 in November 2014) rose moderately in the past five years and rose very strongly in the long-term (ten years).
Source: *Job Outlook Government website. ABS EEBTUM survey August 2014 cat. no. 6310.0. Estimates have been rounded and consequently some discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.
Note: These figures are indicative and cannot be used to determine a particular wage rate.
Payscale.com lists the average pay for an IT Professional as $79 000 and up to $110 000 for management staff.
ICT Sales Professionals have a high proportion of full-time jobs (91.8 per cent). For ICT Sales Professionals working full-time, average weekly hours are 40.5 (compared to 40.9 for all occupations) and earnings are average - in the ninth decile. Unemployment for ICT Sales Professionals is average.
The graph shows the average weekly hours (by gender and full-time and part-time) worked for this occupation, compared with all occupations.
Source: *Job Outlook Government website. ABS Labour Force Survey, annual average 2014.
As expected, the IT industry has a strong appeal amongst young people, making it a vibrant and dynamic work environment.
Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, annual average 2014.
Demand for IT professionals remains strong and some areas actually saw pay rises, according to the latest quarterly survey from Peoplebank.
Source: *Job Outlook Government website. ABS Labour Force Survey, annual average 2014.
In two sentences, tell us what an IT Professional is.
This is a tough question to answer because IT is a very broad industry but to my mind an IT Professional is someone who takes an analytical and methodical approach to solving problems. Personally I like to extend this definition a little since a professional also needs to have a sound understanding of the business processes that drive the need for IT systems.
What does an IT Professional do on a day to day basis?
The industry is much too broad to provide a meaningful generic answer – but I can give you a little insight regarding my role as an IT Consultant: In the first instance my job is about unearthing the questions that our clients are trying to ask. In essence, most of our clients know that they have a problem – profits are down, costs are up, IT is not providing the answers they need – but they don’t really know where to start. I pull apart the issues until I get close to the root cause. It might be something as simple as someone on the factory floor is not getting information quickly enough to process an order on time.
What are the best parts of the job?
Without doubt it’s about contributing to the success of our clients. This is measured in various ways across different businesses and industry sectors but in simple terms I want our clients to switch their thinking from IT being an expensive cost to their organisation to IT being an investment that is generating a positive return.
What skills/attributes do potential IT Professional need to have?
There’s no doubt that every IT Professional needs to have some solid technical training – whether it be industry based certifications or a degree in computer science or a related discipline. However this is only part of the story. A great IT Professional must be consultative and a very good listener. He or she must also be creative – the solution that was a perfect fit for your last client may only be an okay fit for your current client.
What’re your favourite things about being an IT Professional?
Probably the favourite element of my job is the variety of industries that I get to work in. Every engagement brings new challenges and leaves me with more knowledge and experience. This allows me to share experiences and processes across industries – sometimes in ways that had not been previously considered.
Thanks Craig, for sharing your story with Open Colleges.
Enter your details below to receive a free course guide and a consultation with an Education Advisor.
Open Colleges Pty Ltd ABN 61 000 011 692 Provider Number 90796 | Integrated Care & Management Training Pty Ltd ABN 82 003 899 527 Provider Number 90197 | YourLife Health & Learning Inc t/a Open Colleges School of Health ABN 39 742 730 429 RTO 40049 CRICOS Provider 03733E
© Open Colleges 2020-2026. Except as permitted by the applicable copyright law, you may not reproduce or communicate any content from this website, including any files downloadable from this website, without the permission of Open Colleges.
