How do I Choose the Best IT Management Job?

When looking for the best IT management job, there are several important factors to review. The priority of these factors is a very personal decision, based on your own needs, desires, and pressures. These factors include salary, number of staff, breadth of responsibility, training programs, career opportunities, and support from the business structure. An information technology (IT) manager is responsible for delivering and supporting technology solutions to business problems.

The steps required to secure an IT management job vary, but typically include a combination of formal training and experience working with technology. Within this context, the manager can be a specialist in hardware, software, business process analysis, IT support, or system development. The ability to explore the different options and decide which one works best for you is very important when looking for the best IT management job.

People who enjoy a challenge, are detail-oriented, and have well-developed technical skills find this type of career rewarding. The primary task of an IT management job is to bridge the gap between business operations and technology, selecting tools that support the business, while ensuring staff are able to complete these challenging projects.

Salary is very important for anyone when looking for a job, so it is essential to make sure that your evaluation of salary offers is based on the appropriate assumptions and understandings. The general perception is that IT careers pay very well. This is true for specific skills, but not necessarily true for all positions.

For example, two IT management jobs are posted: one is for a hardware network manager with specific certification, and another for a desktop support position. The hardware network manager position pays significantly more than the desktop support position, due to the additional training required, risk, and requirements of the position. Desktop support is important, but does not have the same level of risk, and so has a lower level of compensation.

Information technology is a very broad industry, but the ability to move from one area of expertise to another is quite limited. This is due to the sheer volume of information and training required to become skilled in a specific area of IT. These skills do not necessarily translate well to other areas, requiring additional investments of time and money to learn new skills. When selecting a position, make sure that there are other IT manager positions with similar skill sets, so that you can move from one area to another.