How To Get An Entry Level IT Job

Entry-level IT roles are the jobs that the majority IT professionals start at. They’re attractive to individuals who have just finished studying or those searching for a career move. If you’re looking for an entry-level job or questioning how to get one, read on.

What Is An Entry-Level IT Position?

Entry-level positions are the ones which can be directed at people with no experience in the IT sector. It’s how people enter the IT field, generally. Most of the people who take these entry-level IT positions are straight out of college or university, or have just been certified. They don’t usually ask for experience - merely the expected knowledge. They usually have a low level of responsibility, involve you working beneath someone or in a team, and are quite technical.

Get Yourself Qualified

The easiest way to get an entry-level IT role is to get certified. Almost all of these roles require one of two things - a degree or a certification. A degree typically refers to a Bachelor in Information Systems/Computer Science/some other IT area. You may have already gotten this, or are on the way to obtaining the degree.

Certifications refer to the IT qualifications which are developed and administered by several organisations on a specific topic. They are available in all levels of experience. Among the most common entry-level IT certifications are those available from CompTIA. It’s commonly suggested that three of their certifications are a good start for IT professionals hoping to get into the network support or hardware areas - the A+, Network+ and Security+ certifications. Having these provides you with a better chance of obtaining a job than without them.

Get Experience If You Can

Now, entry-level roles are typically those that don’t demand experience - as they’re targeted towards fresh graduates. However, a little experience can be a great help over the job hunting and interview process. You could try to obtain a part-time job at a computer retailer, or another IT related business, to gain experience about what it’s like to work in the field. This will give you an edge over other candidates while searching for a job - if recruitment teams note that you've got a couple of months of experience working part time maintaining computers in a computer sales store, or administering computers in a small business, it will work in your favour.

Look For Employer Graduate Programs

Many IT businesses run graduate employee programs. These are essentially programs that the company establishes, where they hire more graduates than normal. They can offer a kind of internship, have you on a rotation program within the company, or just get you started in a regular graduate role. The downside is that they only offer them a couple of times per year - generally once the university courses finish. In Australia, they’re generally available in July (after the mid-year graduates finish in June) or in February (after the November graduates have completed and just after the holiday season).

It’s simpler to get a graduate job in those times. They are most likely only offering entry-level positions, but that’s OK, as that’s what you’re after. Do a Google search for companies in your area that offer graduate programs. Find out when they're offered, how to apply, and if there are any presently open.

Start With The Common Entry-Level Roles

A number of roles in the IT industry are common for entry-level staff. They often have a higher number of graduate staff than other roles. A lot of IT professionals could have started in these roles.

A couple of the most frequent roles are help desk support and desktop support. These kinds of roles are often filled by graduates - they are really a great place to begin an IT career. They let you build the skills you need to have a prosperous career, and let you put the knowledge to use that you learnt - either in your degree or in the certification.

My first role was in application support - I achieved a degree in software development and my initial position involved supporting an existing system in a team of other IT professionals. It has been helpful as I got to use the skills I learnt and also learn what it was like to work in the IT industry.