Software and technology
What does an IT Support Specialist do?
Building and keeping running the systems other people work in.
What the day is like
- Indoors, under a roof.
- A screen and a keyboard.
- People all day.
- Right or wrong, to a standard.
- No two days alike.
- Answerable for your own work.
The facts
- Pay
- $62,890 a year, median
- Computer Support Specialists, May 2025
- Usually needs
- Varies; see the handbook page
- Weeks to months. Most people can start from where they are.
- Jobs
- -3% projected change in jobs, 2025-2035 projections
- Demand looks shrinking
What is good about it
- No two days are the same, if that is what you want from a week.
- You answer for your own work rather than for other people, which suits more people than admit it.
What people find hard about it
- Repeated basic problems
- Frustrated people
- Being interrupted constantly
Employment is expected to fall as first-line support automates; it remains a common way in.
Will machines take this job?
What machines will do to this work. Writing routine code and first-line support are the most exposed parts; system design and accountability are not.
How to find out whether it suits you
Spend a day on a service desk and listen to how problems are described.
Would this actually suit you?
CareerDNA works that out from what you choose rather than from what you say about yourself: two minutes of choosing between real jobs, a few puzzles, and some questions about what you are like. It is free, it saves as you go, and it will tell you plainly where the answer is thin.