Appendix

Making a Living in Digital Technology

In This Chapter

Discovering how digital technology has changed the workplace

Finding out what careers are available for a computer-literate person

Learning about information worker jobs

Learning about professional IT careers

Finding out about developer positions

Computers are everywhere, especially in the workplace. By becoming a digitally literate person, as this book has prepared you to be, you greatly increase your career marketability.

In this appendix, I tell you about some careers that you might find interesting, all of which require some sort of computer literacy background. Some of them are simple administrative jobs in which you work with Windows and Office; others are more specialized and require years of advanced education.

The Changing Workplace

Remember the days when people used to go into an office in the morning, stay there and work all day, and leave in the evening? That model still works for some people and some companies, but it is no longer the only model out there. The great connectivity that the Internet and wireless networking has brought our society has led to some dramatic shifts in the way people work.

Now that our phones go with us everywhere we go, salespeople don’t have to stay in their offices to communicate with clients on the phone, for example. A salesperson can take a call from an airport, a limousine, or his own back porch with equal ease. When someone works in his own home, or in some private location away from the office, it’s known as telecommuting. The “tele” part comes from the olden days when remote employees communicated with the central office via telephone, but today this communication generally occurs via the Internet.

Computers used to be such bulky, expensive devices that a typical worker had access to only one of them, and it was usually inside an office building. Workers had to go to an office every day because that’s where the computer was. Even if a worker had a computer at home, there was no fast and efficient way to connect it to the central office without running expensive dedicated lines. Nowadays, though, workers can work anywhere that there is computer and Internet access. They can work from their own homes, from coffee shops, from libraries, and even from their tablets and smartphones while on public transportation.

Many job descriptions are also evolving. In the days before computing (and the automation that comes with computing), work consisted of taking input, doing something well-defined and routine to it, and delivering output. For example, an administrative assistant would take hand-written notes and produce typed transcripts of them. Nowadays, however, most businesspeople do their own typing, and an administrative assistant’s job is more likely to involve generating original content (like making a PowerPoint presentation based on an annual report) or scheduling in-person, telephone, or online meetings.

Careers for a Computer-Literate Person

Just for discussion’s sake, consider a computer-literate person as someone who knows the basic information that’s covered in this book. If you have a basic familiarity with computer hardware and software, Windows, Office, networking, the Internet, and the other topics I covered in this book, you’re ready to take a job that involves using a computer for at least part of the workday.

In the following sections, I describe some careers that a computer-literate person might apply for.

Administrative assistant

An administrative assistant provides office and document support to a manager or executive, freeing up that person’s schedule by handling many of the everyday administrative tasks. An assistant might answer phones, plan meetings, and send email. An assistant may have access to his boss’s calendar and scheduling in Outlook. Although an administrative assistant might not spend all day on a computer, he is expected to know how to use one whenever a computer is the best tool to complete an assignment.

Supervisor

The primary job of a supervisor is to monitor and support workers as they do their jobs. That isn’t computer-related necessarily, but there is very often paperwork involved — and that paperwork is very often filled out on a computer. It is assumed in most companies that a supervisor will be able to use a Windows-based computer with minimal training, and to enter basic data into a variety of applications. A supervisor may use Excel to enter or verify hours worked, Word to write performance appraisals and document safety violations, and Outlook to exchange email with supervisors in other departments and on other shifts.

Project manager

Project managers make things happen. They keep all the workers, equipment, locations, and materials on track for a building project, an event, a manufacturing process, or any other rollout that requires advance planning. Project managers need training in a variety of fields, including accounting, logistics, people management, and, of course, office productivity software. Excel is the go-to tool for project managers because it has so many different uses. A project manager can store financial data in Excel to calculate a project’s budget, lists of items and their prices and availability, and scheduling constraints for multiple departments.

Accounting assistant

In large companies, the accounting department is much more than just a bunch of accountants. There may be dozens of clerical workers who handle the bulk of the everyday data management tasks, such as opening mail, tracking invoices and purchase orders, and printing and mailing checks. An accounting assistant might use a computer to key the data from received invoices into the company’s accounting system, to print checks, and to run reports that summarize the day’s activities.

Customer service representative

Most companies have telephone customer service available so that people who have questions about products or billing can call in and get them answered. The person who answers the phone calls must not only have good people skills, but must also be proficient with the software used to document the calls. She must be able to multitask, to type notes into a computer program or look up customer information, and at the same time project a professional and friendly image verbally to a customer.

Some customer service representatives work using text chat programs rather than telephone calls. A user on a website can click a Customer Service button to be connected with a representative who can communicate in a proprietary instant messaging program.

Careers for Information Workers

An information worker is someone who works with computerized information extensively on an everyday basis. Information workers typically have a high school diploma and perhaps a two-year associates degree as well. The term information worker refers to the fact that people in these jobs work mostly with information, rather than handling physical objects.

An information worker is a proficient end-user of computers. This person should be very familiar with Windows, Office, and the Internet, and may have specialized training in other applications as well, such as financial/accounting software or a proprietary business management program that’s specific to the company.

Word-processing specialist

Although anyone can learn the basics of word processing, some people take that extra step to become really proficient in all aspects of the software. A word processing specialist is able to create consistent, professional-looking documents, including memos, forms, legal reports, letters, and technical articles, in a variety of formats. Word-processing specialist may be a full-time career in itself, or the duties may be combined with those of a general administrative assistant or receptionist. To prepare for this career, you should have specialized word-processing training. Microsoft Office Specialist certification in Microsoft Word at the Expert level is recommended.

Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) is a certification you can earn by taking a series of computerized tests at a testing center. There are three levels of certification. You can earn a Microsoft Office Specialist certification in each application. For Expert-level certification, you must pass the Expert-level exams for Word and Excel. For Master level, you must pass the Expert-level exams for Word and Excel plus the basic level exam for PowerPoint and one other basic level exam of your choice (Outlook, Access, or SharePoint). See www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/mos-certification.aspx to learn about the certification program.

Social media marketer

A social media marketer specializes in helping companies promote themselves using social networking tools such as blogs, social networks, and microblogs, including Twitter. Their purpose is to increase public awareness of the company and its products. The role requires marketing expertise and a thorough understanding of how search tools work and how to call attention to the client companies. Using this knowledge, the social media marketing person adds keywords and hashtags to the content they create. This helps the client company’s web pages appear more prominently and frequently in search results and rank higher in page rank indexes. The process of writing content in this way is known as search engine optimization (SEO). Marketing and business skills and professional courses in SEO marketing are expected for such a role. A successful social media marketer will demonstrate her expertise by maintaining her own use of social networks.

Researcher/fact-checker

Newspapers, magazines, and non-fiction book publishers sometimes employ researchers or fact checkers to make sure that what they are about to publish is accurate. A researcher spends all day on the web and in computerized reference books, looking for whatever information is needed at the moment. She is an expert at using web searches to pinpoint information, evaluating the reliability of sources, and pointing out where sources may disagree.

Careers for IT Professionals

An IT (information technology) professional is someone with a two-year or four-year college degree in an information technology discipline such as Computer Information Technology, Computer Science, or Computer Graphic Design. IT professional jobs require formal education. A well-rounded IT professional should know at least a couple of programming languages, should be able to set up and troubleshoot networks, should be an expert-level Windows user, and should know her way around at least one other operating system besides Windows.

Information systems manager

An information systems (IS) manager is like a project manager but for computer systems. She looks at the “big picture” of a company’s computer systems. An information system consists of people, procedures, software, hardware, and data. The IS manager is the person who brings them all together to get results. An IS manager might oversee an initiative to satisfy an information need, such as for production managers to receive daily reports. This initiative might include assembling a team of programmers, identifying the required hardware and software, developing procedures for handling the information request, and delivering the data to the managers in an easy-to-use format.

Health IT specialist

In many countries, governments have recently enacted laws that require health-care providers to computerize certain parts of their practices. For example, patient health records, medical billing, supply and drug inventories, and medical equipment maintenance records will soon need to be in electronic form if they are not already. This requirement opens up many job opportunities for health IT specialists. A health IT specialist plans and sets up healthcare recordkeeping systems that meet all government requirements, and keep such systems up to date and in good repair.

Network installer

Technicians who install networks have an active work environment. Rather than sitting at a desk all day, as most IT professionals do, installers are out crawling around in the ceilings and basements of buildings, running cables and mounting satellite dishes. They set up closets with stacks of switches and routers in them, configure network security settings, and make sure all network hardware is installed correctly and functioning well. To install networks, you should have at least a high school diploma, plus a technical certification such as CompTIA Network+. To learn more about Network+ certification, see http://certification.comptia.org/getCertified/certifications/network.aspx.

Bench repair technician

A bench repair technician is like a mechanic for computers. As the word bench implies, this technician works primarily at a workbench in a repair shop, although mobile repair technician positions are also available. Bench repair technicians can diagnose system problems with computers that customers bring in for repairs, including both hardware problems like defective parts and software problems like virus infections. It is a good job for someone who prefers working mostly with the computers themselves rather than with their users.

Database administrator

Businesses store large amounts of data, and that data is often much more valuable than the hardware on which it is stored. Information about customers, orders, product inventory, suppliers, and market trends must be readily and reliably available for the business to thrive. A database administrator is an expert in managing, summarizing, and safeguarding large amounts of data. Database administrators also plan and create well-organized database systems for storing new and existing data.

Help desk technician

If you enjoy working with Microsoft Windows settings, as you learn how to do in this chapter, you might like a career as a help desk technician. In this career, you assist end users in making system changes, troubleshooting problems with Windows, managing a database of authorized users, and helping decide on appropriate policies for the company’s computers that will allow users to do their work in safety and privacy.

Security specialist

Computer security is among the biggest growth areas in IT. With this comes a growing demand for engineers who have the skills to protect computers and networks. Security specialists are responsible for ensuring that all the security devices in a company are correctly configured. These specialists must also be able to spot different types of attacks and know how to respond to each one.

Careers for Developers

A developer is an IT professional who specializes in computer programming and/or web design. Many developer jobs are now going overseas, especially to India because foreign programmers will work for less money. However, there are still plenty of U.S.-based development positions for those who choose to specialize in that area.

Programmer

A programmer writes the instructions that become computer programs. Whether it’s an operating system, a utility, or a game, a programmer takes a general concept like “open a dialog box with user controls for adjusting the graphics quality” and makes it a reality by writing the exact instructions needed, line by line. The programmer then compiles those instructions into a usable program or combines them with the instructions written by another programmer or group of programmers to make a larger program. More experienced programmers may also participate in developing the requirements for a program.

Web designer

A web designer creates websites for businesses, schools, organizations, and individuals. Web designers not only have a strong background in programming tools like HTML, Java, and ASP, but also an eye for what makes a page not only functional but attractive and easy to use. If you are interested in being a web designer, you will want to study computer technology, programming, user interface design, and computer graphics.

Instructional designer

An instructional designer uses a variety of computer development tools to create computerized education and training, both for academic courses and for worker training. Instructional designers create interactive content that teaches new concepts and then quizzes the students on those concepts, creating a full learning package. Although an instructional designer is not a programmer, he may use some high-level development tools to accomplish certain phases of a project.