While information technology (or IT) is best known for its enthusiastic young tech support workers, this broad industry includes a myriad of other specializations, all dedicated to the creation and management of digital data. Like computer science, IT utilizes computers and networks to accomplish its goals, but rather than mainly building interfaces for digital products, IT focuses on solving business problems through tech. However, IT support is only one avenue through which the IT industry aims to solve problems.
It all started in 1958 when the Harvard Business Review first used the term “information technology” to discriminate between multi-purpose digital devices such as computers from single-purpose machines like calculators. The following years saw IT become an umbrella term used to reference all sorts of digital data procedures, from creation, circulation, and storage to protection and restoration.
The industry now includes three overarching branches, each with unique, profitable career paths. One popular path focuses on managing servers, networks, and data, while a second emphasizes digital security. The third path involves keeping digital interfaces and products running at optimum. By and large, however, IT specialists are the people who are responsible for ensuring that our digital systems, including networks, data, and applications, run smoothly.
Are There Prerequisites to Learning IT?
Despite the complexity of IT as an industry, the field is incredibly accessible to newcomers when compared to many other skilled occupations. Fortunately, when you choose an appropriate beginner-friendly class, you don’t need to stress about your lack of experience. Although some IT courses do have specific prerequisites for learners, others only request that you come willing to explore new territory.
Situations that may call for prerequisites include:
- Classes where you learn to work with thornier coding languages (like SQL, Python, and JavaScript) typically require at least basic comprehension of less complicated coding languages (usually HTML and CSS).
- While learning data skills, you’ll need a solid foundation in math to stand on.
- If your data course includes software like Tableau, it doesn’t hurt to have a firm grasp of Excel first.
Preview additional IT skills to bring along as you embark on your learning journey.
To ensure the class you choose is a class you’re fully eligible for, don’t sign up until you have thoroughly read the course description. If you want to fully master a skill, rather than just dipping your toes in, pick a class that offers training in multiple skills. While a JavaScript-only class might seem like a more streamlined pick, you’ll learn JavaScript better if you choose a JavaScript bootcamp that also covers HTML and CSS. For clarification about a vague class description, you can always message or phone a school with questions.
Is It Difficult to Learn IT?
As technology gets better, so does IT education, which is great news for anyone worried about accessibility. Be that as it may, IT does present a few challenges for new learners, but these are 100% surmountable when you have a solid educational strategy to fall back on.
Faced with a gigantic and briskly changing industry, many beginners in IT are overwhelmed by how much there is to learn. The IT industry places such a high value on skills (as opposed to formal education) that skills may need to be upgraded almost as fast as they’re acquired. If you plan on tracking a long-term career in IT, opt for comprehensive bootcamps that offer experiential training in your specialization’s most current tools and techniques.
The second challenge that many beginners face is indecisiveness about which of IT’s manifold career paths to take. If this sounds like you, consider taking some short introductory IT classes to get a feel for the topics you’re interested in and help you figure out where your true passion lies. As an alternative, you can also explore the basics of most IT topics through free online resources.
What Will You Learn in an IT Course?
Even though every IT niche aims to bring tech solutions to business problems, each one does so with different methods and tools. Consequently, your learning journey will be unique to your subject of interest and may differ drastically from that of a future colleague. That said, no matter what your focus is, all IT professionals need a solid foundation in skills relating to software and hardware. As an appendage to these skills, you may study mathematics, coding, user experience (UX) design, user interface (UI) design, or project management. You may also toil to understand the workings of another industry such as finance or business.
Los Angeles Industries That Use IT
IT is so paramount to Los Angeles’ businesses that companies are allocating anywhere between three and six percent of their gross sales to IT services in 2024. The industry looks forward to a promising future, with demand for IT services anticipated to rise by 23-32% before 2032. This high demand has led to zero percent unemployment rates for IT professionals working in fields like cybersecurity.
While IT is considered a key industry of its own accord, its services have also become staples in Los Angeles’s other top-performing industries. This is as true of industries like entertainment and fashion as it is of practical industries like finance, education, and healthcare.
Entertainment
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Los Angeles hosts America’s densest cluster of entertainment professionals. As a result, the local entertainment media industry generates billions of dollars for the city’s economy. As Hollywood’s base of operations and the filming location for 50% of all movies, the city is full of entertainment media companies that are producing content for the big screen and TV. Of particular interest to developers and IT professionals, however, are the city’s many game development companies currently working on exciting projects in gaming, VR, and AR.
Healthcare and BioTech
The life sciences provide more than 202,000 jobs for LA residents and generate $61.5 billion each year for the local economy. Weighing in at over 80 hospitals, LA’s healthcare industry is well in need of IT professionals who know how to safely manage data, preserve online security, and create user-friendly patient interfaces. In addition to hospitals and patient care facilities, LA’s nearly,000 life science organizations include hundreds of biotech companies that focus their attention on creating digital solutions for problems that often come up in the biomedical world.
Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics
Producing more than $31 billion in products throughout 2021, Southern California has made a name for itself as an aerospace manufacturing hotspot. Along with traditional airplane components and weapons, LA’s manufacturing industry is pioneering advanced robotics machines for research conducted in space and on the sea floor. With over 85 companies bidding for programmers and Machine Learning Engineers, there’s plenty of variety to choose from when it comes to jobs. Here in LA, robotics companies like Honeybee Robotics face off against well-known aerospace companies such as Space X and the world’s number two military supplier, Northrop Grumman Corporation.
IT Jobs & Salaries in Los Angeles
Thanks to the IT industry, it’s perfectly possible to earn a modest living in Los Angeles despite the city’s notoriously high cost of living. Nearly 17% of the local population lives in poverty, and still, LA’s IT professionals are earning salaries that average $70,000 every year. Along with higher-than-average wages and the repose of job security, LA’s IT industry provides an inclusive spread of career paths that allow each professional’s unique talents to shine.
Although there are jobs that don’t fit the traditional mold, the bulk of IT roles fit into three classes.
Development and Software Engineering
Masters of coding, development professionals generate digital products like software, apps, websites, and video games. Rather than covering all of these topics in one, most developers narrow their emphasis to web development, mobile development, or software engineering. LA-based Full-Stack Developers brandish several coding languages for a salary of $88,000 to $214,000, while Software Engineers generally collect between $83,000 and $216,000. Programmers who choose to highlight only a single coding language, like SQL or JavaScript, can vary significantly in terms of income but generally range between salaries of $39,000 and $137,000.
Data
Keepers of all the local servers and networks that enable you to transmit or access data online, data professionals are experts at managing and processing data. For their handy interpretations of digital information, LA’s Data Analysts are paid between $59,000 and $112,000, while the city’s System Administrators earn between $49,000 and $134,000 for keeping the online world buzzing. As artificial intelligence and robotics software become more sophisticated, Machine Learning Engineers merit greater demand along with annual salaries in the range of $115,000 to $251,000.
Cybersecurity
Each day, cybersecurity experts defend against digital data breaches that could expose private information. In LA, the average Cybersecurity Engineer can look forward to an income of $56,000 to $156,000, similar to $93,000 to $133,000 for Cybersecurity Analysts. Meanwhile, top-dog IT Security Specialists in LA can bank anywhere between $123,000 and $203,000.
Are you on a quest to obtain one of these IT jobs? Streamline your online job search with keywords such as Artificial intelligence (AI), FinTech, DevOps, EdTech, Machine Learning (ML), Big Data, Blockchain, EdTech, Cybersecurity, AdTech, Internet of Things (IoT), and HealthTech.
Best IT Classes & Schools in Los Angeles
With dozens of local schools offering IT classes, Los Angeles is a great location to start or continue your learning journey. As one of the top-paying industries in LA, IT is a popular topic, and as a result, it shouldn’t be hard to find a class that fits your subject of interest, time constraints, and personal learning style. While browsing upcoming classes, you’ll have the freedom to choose from in-person, virtual, full-time, part-time, and even brief beginner classes.
If you’re a business professional who’s looking for a beginner-friendly way to delve into big data or IT project management, Out of Bounds Technology (OBT) can get you started. From their location on Hollywood Boulevard, they offer a fun-filled Big Data Overview course that covers technologies like Hive, Hadoop, and SQL (no experience necessary). While most of their courses are specially created for novice business professionals, OBT also offers occasional courses geared toward IT professionals.
Through Global Knowledge in El Segundo, you can sign up for thousands of in-person IT classes exploring topics like business analytics, IT project management, application development, cybersecurity, and cloud computing. Partnered with industry leaders like Cisco, Amazon Web Services, IBM, and Microsoft, Global Knowledge offers both short beginner classes such as Cybersecurity Foundations and comprehensive career development courses. In addition to exploring niche topics in classes like Palo Alto Networks: TRAPS 3.4: Install, Configure, Manage or SonicWALL Network Security Basic Administration, Global Knowledge can help you prepare for certification exams like the Security+ Certification.
For all things IT security, InfoSec Institute has you covered. Retrieve lost treasures with skills from their Data Recovery Training or learn how to test security systems in Advanced Ethical Hacking. In addition to common skills topics, InfoSec’s course catalog also includes classes like CISA Boot Camp and SCADA Security Course, which explore issues unique to specific security systems. With multiple courses for every security topic, InfoSec makes it possible to target problems from your preferred angle.
From their campus in Los Angeles, ONLC Training Centers provides a miscellany of IT courses for professionals who are ready to move up a notch by taking a certification exam. While skills alone can get you pretty far in the IT world, having an official certification that validates your expertise can help you earn your way to better jobs. With help from experts at ONLC, you can prepare to score high on exams for topics like CompTIA Security + Certification, Tableau Certification, Scrum Project Management, and ITIL 4 Foundation Certification. In addition, you can explore individual tools through introductory courses like their Tableau Desktop Level 1 course series.
Best Live Online IT Classes & Schools
If traditional in-person classes aren’t your style, who would blame you for swapping out a draining commute in favor of convenient online IT classes? In addition to on-demand education resources that offer the flexibility of learning at your own pace, there are thousands of live online that offer an interactive class experience through digital platforms such as Zoom.
One of the best resources for live online IT education is Noble Desktop, a training school that offers beginner-friendly classes for both early-stage exploratory learning and comprehensive career preparation. With bootcamps like the Data Analytics Certificate and Full-Stack Web Development Certificate, you’ll receive skills-oriented training from an industry expert who can mentor you one-on-one and coach you through your career plan. You can access the same real-time support in Noble’s single-subject classes. In addition to Excel for Data Science, these popular classes explore subjects like Tableau, WordPress, Python, SQL, and JavaScript.
If you’re getting ready for a cybersecurity career, consider upping your job application game by preparing to take taking a certification exam. You can do this online with classes from the Technical Institute of America (TIA). While many certification exam prep courses are only available on-demand, TIA offers classes like the Cisco Certified Network Associate Training, the CompTIA Security+ Certification Course, and the CEH: Certified Ethical Hacker Training Course 100% live online.
Are you a teen preparing to graduate high school and enter the workforce? While college is a great option for some, learning IT at a bootcamp is one of the quickest routes to a higher income and lasting job security. NextGen Bootcamp offers IT summer classes that won’t interfere with your high school schedule, making it possible to earn the experience and skills to get a job soon after you graduate. While their course catalog includes a diverse mix of IT topics, alumni favorites include the FinTech Summer Program, the Java Programming Course, and the comprehensive Python: Data Science & Machine Learning Bootcamp.
If none of these classes are the right fit, online IT training is also available from schools like General Assembly, ONLC Training Centers, American Management Association, BrainStation, and Computer Training Source, Inc.
Corporate and On-site IT Training
Corporate IT training is a streamlined solution for companies that are ready train an in-house IT team or maintain the competitive edge in an existing one. Noble Desktop’s IT training is available onsite and online to give your workforce customizable training in topics like data science, data analytics, machine learning, development, and coding. To learn more about discounted group training in your preferred class format, contact Noble Desktop.