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Your ideal career options allow you to focus on your interests and use your skills. Success in a suitable career field can be rewarding, which is why it’s a good idea to develop a career plan when you’re in high school.
Today, many people are interested in pursuing information technology (IT) careers because of the high demand for IT professionals and high salaries. Most positions in the IT field are limited to applicants with postsecondary education. Let’s look at how to get a masters IT management degree to prepare you for a career in IT management and career options you can consider with this graduate degree.
Start preparing in high school.
Preparing for your chosen career in high school ensures you take courses required for acceptance to suitable college programs. Without the prerequisites for your chosen program, you may have to take bridge courses when you start college, increasing the amount of time and money it takes for you to earn your undergraduate degree.
Work with a college admissions counselor to identify ideal college programs for your chosen career and ensure you’re taking required high school courses. For example, many IT careers require strong math skills, so taking algebra, calculus, and geometry ensures you have the academic knowledge required for postsecondary studies. Your counselor can also identify extracurricular activities that demonstrate you have the skills needed for your chosen career field. IT professionals also benefit from logical thinking skills, and joining your school’s chess club or debate team can help you develop those skills.
Your counselor can also serve as a college essay counselor. College applications include transcripts, recommendation letters, and essays. Creating a compelling essay can set your application apart, ensuring your dream school’s admissions committee approves your application for your chosen program. Getting help during the writing process can also help you refine the skills you’ll need to apply for scholarships.
Earn a bachelor’s degree.
A bachelor’s degree is required to apply to a master’s program. Graduating from an IT undergraduate degree program with a 3.0 GPA enables you to start your master’s degree without taking bridge courses. Suitable majors include information technology, information technology management, computer science, and computer information systems.
Applicants who have a major outside the IT field must complete bridge courses equaling 12 credit hours before beginning the master’s degree program. Applicants who don’t have a 3.0 GPA must also complete the bridge courses.
Complete an accredited Master of Science in Information Technology.
Earning a master’s IT management degree involves completing 30 credit hours of graduate studies, including a capstone project. Course options cover cybersecurity, mobile apps, storage technologies, statistical data analysis, machine learning, research methods, and systems administration. Master’s students can complete their studies online, enabling them to earn their graduate degree while working if they choose. Master’s students also qualify for scholarships and student loans to cover the cost of tuition and academic fees.
Career options for master’s degree program graduates.
Earning a master’s degree in IT or IT management equips you with the education required to pursue a career as an IT manager. IT managers lead projects and enjoy median annual incomes of over $150,000, making this a financially rewarding career option.
Master’s degree graduates can also pursue opportunities in cybersecurity. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that information security analysts can expect job opportunities to grow by 33 percent between 2020 and 2030. The BLS also reports these IT professionals enjoyed median annual incomes of $103,590 in 2020.
Master’s degree graduates may also pursue roles as computer and information research scientists. The BLS projects a 22 percent job growth rate between 2020 and 2030 for these professionals, who earned median annual salaries of $126,830 in 2020.
Earning a master’s degree in IT management involves completing 30 credit hours of graduate courses. You must earn a bachelor’s degree to be admitted to a master’s degree program.
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