ICT
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is part of almost everyone's home and working life. it can be split into:
- ICT for Practitioners which is about designing, developing, testing, installing, maintaining, supporting and managing hardware and software
- ICT for Users as you would expect is about how ICT hardware and software are used by people at work or in the home.
If you are helping to manage a company's computer equipment or programming, you are most likely to be working in an office. If you are providing technical support, you could spend your day at the end of a telephone answering customer queries, in a workshop repairing equipment or travelling to visit customers and installing cables or connecting or repairing equipment.
Links
Connexions Direct: Computers and IT
The Connexions-Direct Jobs4U Careers Database is a list of job families. You will commonly find the word Sectors used instead of job families. This link will take you to the Computers and IT sector or family of jobs.
e-Skills UK is the Sector Skills Council for IT, Telecoms and Contact Centres. Its vision is to "create a skills pool in the UK that enables the unrestricted growth of IT and Telecoms, with the whole economy ...". Their careers site (linked here) has a range of useful information including job role descriptions, career opportunities, routes into work, training and qualifications.
Three pages of information from the Institution of Analysts Programmers - a professional body - with details of job roles in the industry and some advice on training and qualifications.
LearningDirect Advice: Careers in IT
LearnDirect has a remit from government to provide high quality post-16 learning for all. It operates a network of more than 2,000 online learning centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland providing access to a range of learning opportunities. This archived feature on Careers in IT has some useful job descriptions and details of courses across the country.