5 Easiest IT Jobs to Find Right Now

The job market can be overwhelming, but finding a position in IT doesn’t have to be difficult. Since the global pandemic in 2020, many roles have shifted to hybrid or work-from-home positions, opening the job market for many IT professionals.

We have gathered some roles you should consider if you're on the certification track for your dream job; these opportunities may be easier to find than you think. That isn’t to say you won't need to work at upskilling and learning, but the barrier to entry for good-paying IT jobs has never been easier to hop over.

1. Help Desk Technician (First and Second Line)

Help desk positions are a great place to start if you are new to IT. The average helpdesk technician provides first-line tech support to employees and customers with desktop support, remote diagnostics, and much more. Your primary responsibilities generally include diagnosing and resolving hardware, software, network, and other technical issues via phone, email, chat, remote support, and various ticketing systems. 

Because of the required communication, you will need strong customer service skills as you regularly deal with frustrated end-users. If you want to get a little practice and sharpen your skills, then a help desk role is the place to do it. You'll need attention to detail, analytical thinking, excellent communication abilities, and fundamental IT knowledge to do well in this role. 

Pay rates for help desk roles vary, as each company has different responsibilities and technical requirements. However, according to recent ZipRecruiter data, the average salary is roughly $48,154. The key point is that help desk roles serve as a pathway to more advanced positions.

By earning certifications and gaining experience, you can level up to other roles like specialized technician, desktop support, systems admin, or network admin roles with higher pay. 

Day-to-Day Responsibilities: You'll respond to IT inquiries, resolve technical issues, maintain IT documentation, and connect with other IT staff when complex issues arise.

Key Skills: You must have a solid technical understanding and excellent communication, problem-solving, and customer service skills.

Career Progression: Helpdesk roles open up opportunities to move into more technical roles like network or systems administrator, IT specialist, or IT manager. Starting at the help desk also provides a holistic understanding of the business, giving you insights into how the organization works and making you an asset to your team.

2. Cloud Engineer

This role has become very popular in recent years thanks to companies strategically moving to cloud services. Cloud engineers are in charge of the remote cloud infrastructure that organizations rely on to keep their systems running.  

With an average salary of $145,416 reported by Dice in 2023, key duties as a cloud engineer cover much ground. Your work in this role includes configuring cloud security and networks, ensuring optimal performance, troubleshooting issues, and managing day-to-day cloud operations.

Many different cloud offerings are available, meaning you need experience with major cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. The job you apply for will list the company’s preferred platform. Still, some organizations use a combination of services from different cloud providers, so knowing about all the major players is always a plus.

Other often overlooked skills that are very helpful for a cloud engineer include:

• Project management abilities

• Communication

• Time management

These are important because you need to be able to work with multiple teams during deployments and upgrades, where various teams need to hit goals without going over time or budget restraints.  

Day-to-Day Responsibilities: You’ll find yourself designing and managing cloud environments, ensuring system security and efficiency, troubleshooting, and liaising with clients or internal teams to keep the wheels turning.

Key Skills: Proficiency in cloud services (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), understanding of networks and databases, strong analytical and project management skills.

Career Progression: The potential to become a senior cloud architect, cloud consultant, or move into managerial positions is all on the table with this role.

3. Data Analyst

Data analysts are the data whisperers — skilled at teasing out important tidbits of information and insights from oceans of data to help executives make important business decisions. 

A data analyst uses cutting-edge techniques like statistical modeling, data mining, and analytics to spot trends and correlations inside complex data. This may include analyzing customer behavior, sales patterns, web traffic, operational metrics like uptime, and almost any other measurement.

A fun part of this role is creating data visualizations and dashboards for non-technical people —using tools like SQL, Tableau, Power BI, and Python to make sense of numbers through attractive graphs, charts, and interactive reports. 

When all is said and done, the data analyst's role is to bridge the gap between raw, nonsensical data and usable information that can be turned into business strategies. A data analyst’s findings help businesses better understand markets, customers, and potential outcomes and speed up growth. 

Glassdoor salary data suggests that data analysts earn between $53K—$75K in the U.S., making this career attractive for people who have (or want to learn) skills in SQL, Python, and statistical modeling.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities: Your role will involve collecting and analyzing data, preparing reports, identifying trends, and supporting decision-making processes where your data is involved.

Key Skills: You'll need strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret and visualize data and use data analysis tools like SQL, Tableau, Power BI, and Python.

Career Progression: Data analysts may eventually transition into specialized roles like data engineer, scientist, or BI analyst.

4. Information Security Analyst

Information security analysts are a company's infrastructure's first and last line of defense. They lock down all sensitive systems and ensure only authorized users can access company resources. Cyberattacks have become commonplace, making cybersecurity a growing area for IT professionals looking to branch out.

Duties range from configuring firewalls and penetration testing networks to enforcing security policies and responding to cyberattacks and other security incidents. Information security isn’t always glamorous and exciting like we see in the movies, with much of the work focusing on prevention rather than mitigation.

This means much time is spent auditing logs, creating user awareness, and crafting reports for management. This role is constantly evolving, and analysts must monitor growing trends in cybersecurity and adapt to new threats like malware, ransomware, and phishing. 

To be successful, you'll need critical skills in multiple areas of IT, such as network security, encryption, and analytics, and also be good at problem-solving, especially during incidents. If you want to enter this field, consider certifications like the Security+, CISSP, CISA, and CEH as starting points.

Cyberthreats are growing globally, making infosec roles an excellent place to look for job stability and good pay. According to ZipRecruiter, The average base salary is currently $96,652, making this a highly desirable profession for anyone interested in information security.

Day-to-day Responsibilities: You’ll implement and monitor current security measures within the organization, conduct risk assessments, and respond to security breaches.

Key Skills: You'll need to know cybersecurity principles and best practices, have experience with security tools and investigation methods, and have excellent analytical skills.

Career Progression: Once established as an information security analyst, you have potential career paths like becoming a security manager or chief information security officer or specializing in penetration testing or cybersecurity consulting. 

5. Business Intelligence Developer

BI developers create platforms that allow data analysts to extract data so leadership can make critical business decisions. Put simply, they build pipelines and platforms that provide visibility so organizations can make the most of their data.  

The platforms they implement allow data analysts and other teams to transform raw datasets into analytic solutions like interactive reports, easy-to-understand dashboards, and predictive models. The whole process turns seemingly meaningless numbers into goldmines of information, enabling executives to spot crucial trends and opportunities they might have otherwise missed. 

On the job, BI developers may code a cloud-based pipeline in SQL, visualize sales funnels in Power BI, review a Qlik dashboard with stakeholders, or translate business needs into a design document full of technical specifications for a potential solution. 

Again, strong analytical abilities and expertise in BI tools are needed to shine in this data-centric role. Over time, BI developers may specialize in certain data areas or move towards senior architect, manager, or C-level roles guiding enterprise data strategies.  

According to ZipRecruiter, BI developers earn an average of $111,882 in the U.S. You’ll need skills in SQL, data modeling, ETL processes, and data visualization tools, which are essential.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities: In this role, you’ll develop BI solutions, create dashboards and reports, and work with stakeholders to understand their data needs.

Key Skills: You’ll need skills in SQL, data modeling, ETL processes, experience with BI tools (Power BI), and excellent analytical abilities.

Career Progression: From here, you have the potential to advance to senior BI developer, BI architect, or roles in data management or analytics leadership that large enterprises need.

Wrapping Up

Finding your dream job is the easy part — putting your skills and knowledge to use is where the challenge begins. Learning how to upskill for these jobs is essential if you want to break into the market, and the right learning resources will help you get there.  

Whether you are just getting started in IT and need to learn the ropes in a help desk role or a seasoned IT administrator looking to move on with your career, you have more options than ever.

While these roles may be easy to find, they are not necessarily easy to perform. You'll need experience and certifications to match the role, but with the right study path, you can work your way up to any job you set your mind to. 

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