IT Managers
IT Managers plan, direct, or coordinate activities in such fields as electronic data processing, information systems, systems analysis, and computer programming.
Table of Contents
Job description
Computer and Information Systems Managers plan, direct, or coordinate activities in such fields as electronic data processing, information systems, systems analysis, and computer programming.
- Manage backup, security and user help systems.
- Direct daily operations of department, analyzing workflow, establishing priorities, developing standards and setting deadlines.
- Meet with department heads, managers, supervisors, vendors, and others, to solicit cooperation and resolve problems.
- Review project plans to plan and coordinate project activity.
Salary
IT Managers with little to no experience tend to make between $85380 and $110110 while the more experienced ones can earn over $180190 per year.
Top 5 paying states | Hourly | Annual |
---|---|---|
NY | $92 | $190,310 |
CA | $87 | $180,250 |
NJ | $85 | $176,690 |
VA | $83 | $173,290 |
DE | $82 | $169,720 |
One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Computer and Information Systems Manager is to move to a higher paying state like NY. Right now, the highest paying states for IT Managers are NY, CA, NJ, VA and DE.
However, a higher pay at NY doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at NY might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.
Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Computer and Information Systems Manager is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.
Requirements
We asked other IT Managers what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Bachelor’s Degree followed by a College Certificate.
Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.
Computer and Information Sciences, General |
Information Technology |
Information Science/Studies |
Computer Science |
Network and System Administration/Administrator |
Pros and Cons
Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Computer and Information Systems Manager.
PROS |
---|
Suitable for people who likes to start and carry out projects |
Suitable for people who wants job security and a good working condition |
This career is perfect for people who love to work indoors. |
One of the highest paid careers in the world |
CONS |
---|
Not suitable for people who likes to help and teach others |
It is hard to get into this career. A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for this career. |
Long working hours (More than 40 hours per week) |
What is the job like
72% of IT Managers said they were satisfied with their job and 49% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.
I work as an IT manager and a coach to a team of IT engineers in the manufacturing industry (specifically producing medical products).
Our team consists of business analysts whose main task is to create business solutions for operations. I’m a hands-on team executer as well as manager. Our team manages projects and also supports production issues across the Asia Pacific.
My Typical Day
Within the project space
A typical day for me would be having business requirement discussions with our internal customers, assessing their business needs. At times, systems solutions may not always be the answer. Instead, using a business process approach may be the way to overcome the situation. We take active participation in the entire project lifecycle. This includes IT testings, User Acceptance Test support, Go-live preparation as well as production support upon project live. Our projects take typically 4 to 6 months to complete the entire lifecycle.
Within the space of production support
A typical day for me would be addressing production issues via tickets raised by our internal customers. We will need to understand the issues by emailing, messaging, or having a call with the users. Subsequently, some time will need to be spent on troubleshooting, and then providing a finding and solution to the customer.
As I lead a team of analysts, I also play the role of a coach to the team. We have bi-weekly team meetings to calibrate the team’s deliverables and brainstorm solutions for any challenges the team members raised. Team meetings are also a great platform for coaching and sharing. We set a culture where members are encouraged to share their learnings from their work, a book they read, a training they attended, or new technologies they learned.
This is a peek at how my life as an IT manager of a team of business analysts looks like.
Pros and Cons
In my line of work, an IT manager demands a lot of communication with people.
I enjoy public speaking, and this role allows me to expand my speaking opportunities.
Be it negotiating project budgets, reviewing project statuses with the team, or having difficult conversations.
It gives me a lot of work satisfaction being able to deal with people and coach my team to be successful in their own ways.
Being a manager also can be lonely at the top.
You need to make difficult decisions, that may not please every party. But you know that the decision is for the best, factoring in the pros and cons.
Your team’s stress is also your burden to shoulder. Because you are in the IT line, you need to be also up to date on the latest technologies within your industry, so that you can foresee what are better solutions for your organization.
Advice to aspiring IT Managers
My advice to students is to go out of their comfort zone and try out new challenges. Try out various subjects within the line of IT to find out what best suits your interest. Also, weigh what are the industry’s demands within the IT industry. Starting out in an IT consulting firm is a very good stepping stone, that will bring the best skillsets in you, at the same time build your ability to communicate and work with people from different sectors.
Is this right for me
You can read more about these career personality types here.
People who are suitable for this job tends to like starting up and carrying out projects. They like leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business..
They also like following set procedures and routines. They like working with data and details more than with ideas.
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