Many students want to study information technology to work in related fields, such as computer engineer or IT managers. Yet, only some people know about the advantages and challenges of pursuing this career long-term.
Is an IT manager suitable for you? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being an IT manager? From a practical perspective, I will help you answer these questions so that you can easily decide on your career path.
What is an IT Manager?
IT managers are the people who control the performance of the IT staff in their department. They have to handle many tasks, from recruiting staff to day-to-day testing and reporting the results to superiors.
IT managers are the ones who often have to coordinate with HR in the interview round to select the best personnel. In this respect, they are like expert advisors who find the best ones to take up the team’s work.
The manager must also care for the employee’s activities and ensure that every member handles their assigned tasks well. They must also report the team’s work results to the company’s leadership.
If the computer system or the wireless network has issues, the IT managers are the ones who manage the problems and send personnel to handle and verify the results. Their job ensures that systems are always in the best performance.
I want to share the upsides of being an IT manager. When working in this position, you will receive many benefits in professional and other soft skills.
1. Continuous Learning
Operating a computer system is the daily work of the IT department and the team manager in particular.
To handle this task, you must have good knowledge to know the issues that occur with team members. This job will provide continuous learning chances for IT managers, who always have a workspace to handle their knowledge and skills.
2. Good Income
Labor demand for IT professionals is always high, providing good income for all personnel in this industry. For IT managers, the income they receive will often be higher than in other similar positions.
Information technology managers can earn over $70 per hour, equivalent to $150000 a year. Inexperienced IT managers can only earn over $80,000 per year.
And these incomes will increase according to their ability. The seasoned experts can bring over $180,000 after 12 months of work.
3. Strategic Impact
IT managers are people who run all tasks and data infrastructure in enterprises. So, you’ll need connections between tech staff and upper management. Your job strongly influences internal operations and performance in the company.
4. Leadership Chances
IT managers must assign work to subordinates according to many strategies. For example, they may require senior engineers to handle hardware, while other freshers mainly hold wireless networks or software.
They need to follow through with the strengths and weaknesses of each team member, thereby assigning them the right tasks.
5. Value
They are experts that influence all other fields. Without an IT manager with deep expertise, businesses will face many issues.
For example, computer system or internal network problems lead to sudden downtime, while many resources are lost, reducing employee productivity.
The IT manager will help prevent this stagnation and contribute significantly to the company’s overall value.
The work of IT managers also has many downsides. Before pursuing this career, you need to know these issues and ensure you can overcome them.
6. High Pressure
The first difficulty I must warn you about when you work as an IT manager is the pressure due to the heavy workload. Not only do you need good expertise, but you also need skills and a sharp leadership mind.
When irregularities occur, you will be the primary person responsible for higher management. Managing the internal activities of the team in harmony is also challenging. These heavy duties can cause significant health issues for leaders.
7. Technical Expertise
A good leader with good expertise will ensure the efficiency of the entire IT department. Many issues can always happen, requiring you to get an intelligent solution to lead team members.
8. Employee Management
When IT team members work together, they can have conflicts or quarrels. In this case, the IT manager needs to be the one to mediate and maintain a friendly working space in the organization.
This assignment requires managers to have experience, leadership, and high intelligence. Many people feel overwhelmed during their early years in management because of the trouble they have to deal with.
9. Hard Decision
Managers often have to make difficult decisions between work and emotions.
IT managers are people who move up from technicians, so they often have deep personal relationships with other colleagues on the team.
Managers will only quickly issue reprimands or sanction decisions if their close co-workers make mistakes.
Who should be an IT Manager?
Only some people can work as information technology managers. If they want to become leaders, they will need effort, expertise, and thinking skills.
In addition, to become an IT manager, they must have degrees from reputable institutions to prove their competence.
Besides, IT managers have to work for a while in regular positions to accumulate knowledge. They can only become good managers with enough problem-solving skills and experience.
To avoid stress, you need to have good skills and tact in relationships. When you are good enough to lead your employees to work, you will become a highly famous IT manager that people trust and achieve higher income.
Final Thoughts
You will face the ups and downs of work in any career, as well as an IT manager.
As an IT manager, you will receive good learning chances, a high income, and a workspace to improve your leadership skills. Yet, you will face high pressure.
This article has helped you learn more about this job and make the best decision for yourself.
Good luck with your career!