Back in college, I landed my first IT job, earning a modest $12/hour. TV shows like the IT Crowd offered only a small glimpse of what it truly meant to work in IT. Among the various facets of IT, Helpdesk/Customer Support was known for its abundance of jokes.

Helpdesk employees were some of the most humble and down-to-earth people I had ever had the pleasure of working with. Contrary to their often intimidating appearance, the Helpdesk staff were usually the nicest individuals. I discovered that most of them genuinely enjoyed problem-solving and interacting with users, despite occasional encounters with users who were frustrated or irate. It was apparent that these interactions sometimes took a toll on them, but I digress.

IT industry consists of numerous teams, including System Engineers, IT Security, and Network Analysts/Engineers, each specializing in a different part of a company’s internal infrastructure.

This led to a common question: “Do you need to go to college to pursue a career in IT?” The answer was no. While many corporate companies listed a bachelor’s degree as a requirement, startups and small enterprises are increasingly considering work experience and certifications as viable qualifications. I wouldn’t say that obtaining my degree was a waste of time, but I realized that the learning curves in the IT field were unique.

Another question I often faced was whether coding was necessary for an IT job. The answer depended on the role. For Helpdesk positions, coding wasn’t always mandatory, but it certainly helped. However, for more specialized roles, coding became a requirement. Despite that, I didn’t feel discouraged because I found myself often Googling coding-related topics to solve problems in my Helpdesk role. Additionally, I made an effort to connect with the engineers, showing an interest in their day-to-day tasks and even requesting to shadow them for a week, which proved to be a valuable learning experience.

When I first started in IT, I was one of only two IT employees in a team of 30. In my subsequent role, I was among eight in a team of 120. While there had been an increase in women in leadership roles in IT, the number of female CIOs remained significantly low compared to their male counterparts. This was likely due to the IT industry being predominantly male-dominated and the prevalence of imposter syndrome among women. In fact, a recent survey revealed that women CIOs accounted for only 25% of Fortune Top 500’s IT leaders, marking a 315% increase since 1995.

I want to emphasize that being a CIO isn’t the ultimate goal in IT, but it’s certainly a viable career path for those aspiring to lead large companies. Fields such as Network Engineering or Security Engineering are also highly sought after in companies of any size. However, if Helpdesk is where you excel and feel comfortable, that’s great! There will always be people who prefer interacting with a human rather than a virtual assistant or chatbot, regardless of how advanced AI technology becomes; but I’ll delve further into that in another post.