An IT education is a great foundation for a career with lots of job opportunities and decent earnings. You might already know that you will be studying within IT or tech. But with the many opportunities it can be hard to make a pick – and yes, there are a lot of different ways to study IT. So which IT education is the right one for you?
Finding the right IT education can sometimes feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. In this age of technology, you’ll be in high demand with an IT education and you’ll be almost guaranteed a job both during and straight after your studies. No matter if you want to be a contractor or prefer a permanent position, you will be in high demand and have no shortage of choice, but how do you get there?
We have made this brief guide that hopefully can help you choose the right way for you to go.
Want to work in the intersection between IT and people?
If you want to work both with people and IT a bachelor in information technology or information science might be the way to go for your IT education.
In information technology, you will learn about the development, maintenance and installations of both hardware and software, while also focusing on project management in the later part of your study.
Another possibility is to study information science, where you will be focusing on system management but also design and database analysis, depending on where you chose to study. For instance at University College London, where you have the option of designing your study by adding courses such as Digital Resources in the Humanities, Introduction to Digitisation or Legal and Social Aspects of Electronic Publishing to shape your IT education to fit just you.
If you want to go for a more hands-on approach an apprenticeship at either a service helpdesk or IT support company might be interesting. In that way, you will be learning while you are working and through that get crucial experience.
Do you just love IT, formulas and coding?
If formulas and coding are just what makes you tick, then a bachelor’s degree in computer science could be the way to go. If you chose to study computer science at University of Oxford, you will, in the first year, have courses like Digital system, Design and analysis of algorithms and Functional programming. When you have completed your bachelor’s degree, you can either go on to do a master’s or become a computer programmer, software designer or an IT freelancer.
If you want your IT studies to have a stronger focus on software, and less on the hardware surrounding it, a bachelor’s degree in software engineering could be just the study for you. At University of Manchester, you will in the first year get to know about Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence, Object Oriented Programming with Java 1 and 2. As a software engineer, you can start your career in either one of the big multinational organizations like Microsoft, IBM or EA or go for a smaller local company. You would obviously also be qualified for a career as an IT consultant.
If you want more of a hands-on experience an apprenticeship at a tech company like Microsoft could be a way to get some of the same knowledge but in a more practical environment.
Maybe you want to mix IT with business?
If you feel like a mix of IT with business is what drives you, a bachelor’s degree in information technology and management might be relevant. For instance at UWE Bristol, where you will have courses such as business application, understanding business and financial information and IT practice: skills, models and methods. The focus of IT management is to learn how to maximize technology to improve business performance and test your ideas on real business projects. Many of the graduates go on to work in either marketing, banking or tech start-ups technology.
Otherwise, you could apply for an apprenticeship at one of the bigger consultant houses like KMPG, Deloitte or E&Y. There you will also build your network of potential clients for your future career.
Find the style of learning that suits you
Your study will, of course, impact your career, but we also see more people who shape their path through the assignment they choose to take on themselves as a freelancer. After all, you should pick the IT education that fits you. Do you like lectures or classes? Theoretical or practical approaches? Go out and read about the courses, visit the schools, talk to the students and the professors and find out which way you want to go.
For a more compact guide to which way to go, you can download our PDF that shows the different way presented above.
If you are already through your education and wants to become a freelancer, then sign up to our project list by clicking here. We also have projects that are not full-time, so you might even be able to do them while you are studying.
