How to Help Your Child Pick the Right IT Career

Information technology, or IT for short, is a massive subject that encompasses a lot of different fields. There are many different specialisations to pick from. What your child will enjoy solely depends on their interests now, and it’s important that you don’t funnel them down a specific route in IT if they don’t enjoy it.

So whether your child is interested in programming or even video games, here are a couple of ways to help them pick the right courses for their future so they can succeed.

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Computer Networking

Networking typically focuses on methods to link multiple computers and servers together over a network. For instance, it could be linking together office computers for the sake of improving workflow, or it could be something a little more simply like connecting home computers together through a router. There are specialised colleges, such as the College of Westchester, that have focused courses on topics like networking. It’s important to choose a school that teaches specific networking courses because it’s highly specialised and relies on a lot of real-world examples in order to learn correctly.

Computer Science

This is an IT career that should be targeted if your child loves to discover new things. Computer science teaches you a lot about the inner workings of computers, how they came to be, and future advances on where computers are going. It’s a highly technical subject that can branch off into many different fields and the knowledge you pick up can help in other fields such as engineering. One of the best ways to utilise a computer science degree is to actually become a researcher. Since your child will learn a lot of detailed information about computers, it will form a base of knowledge that they can build on to discover and invent new things.

Computer Programming

Computer programming is typically something that branches off from computer science. While computer science is all about research and creative thinking, programming is all about logic. Programming typically means learning a few programming languages that can be used to create anything from video games to operating systems. It’s a demanding subject that problem solvers will love. If your child enjoys doing puzzles now, then they’ll grow up to become a fine programmer with their curious and logical mind. Some of the most popular programming languages right now are Java and Python, both of which are fairly accessible and easily taught to any child that wants a head start.

Web Design

Lastly, we can’t forget the creative design aspects of IT. Web design is perhaps the most popular IT-related career that mixes design with computer science. Designing a website is mostly about creativity, but there are certain elements that also require some programming and logic-based coding. Web design is incredibly popular because it’s a highly sought-after skill, and it’s easy to turn into a freelancing career if your child is interested in becoming their own boss.

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