10 Entry-Level IT Jobs and What You Can Do to Get Hired

Information technology (IT) is a growing field that features many career opportunities. You can start at the help desk and work up to any specialized job as you grow in your knowledge and skills. Or, if you have some background knowledge, you can jump straight into a field you’re interested in. In this article, we'll go over 10 entry-level IT positions to consider as you begin your job search.

1. Help desk technician

Average annual Canadian salary: $46,550  [1]

Requirements: Knowledge of computer systems and troubleshooting. Certifications, related college coursework, associate degrees, or bachelor’s degrees may be requested.

When a computer user or employee has problems with hardware, software, or a network, they call on a help desk specialist to assist. A help desk technician might maintain, install, or troubleshoot hardware and software, resolve networking issues, or help resolve other problems for other company employees. 

The title for this role might vary. Help desk technicians can also be called help desk analysts, desktop support technicians, service desk technicians, and computer support specialists, among several other titles. Collectively, these positions are sometimes referred to as help desk positions.

Many IT professionals start their careers in help desk roles. If you don’t know where to start in IT, this is a good role to consider, as it’ll expose you to other areas of IT you might be interested in. As you gain experience, you can move into other jobs, like system or network administrator, cloud engineer, or information security analyst.

Four common help desk technician interview questions

• What is your troubleshooting process?

• Can you describe a time when you’ve had to work with someone you didn’t get along with?

• What would you do if faced with a technical issue you didn’t know how to solve?

• How important are IT skills in a service desk role?

2. IT technician

Average annual Canadian salary: $51,695 [2]

Requirements: Knowledge of computer systems and troubleshooting. Certifications, related coursework, associate degrees, or bachelor’s degrees may be requested.

Like help desk technicians, IT technicians support the technical issues within an organization’s computer system. However, while help desk technicians might spend more time resolving user issues, IT technicians are more likely to spend time doing the actual technical work to resolve the issue. An IT technician should be able to troubleshoot, know how to use several operating systems, and understand the basics of IT networks.

IT technicians can also be called IT associates, IT analysts, or IT specialists. Some companies may have IT technicians do help desk work as well.

Four common IT technician interview questions

• Can you tell me what an IP address is?

• What do you like about being an IT professional?

• Tell me about a time you worked on a team.

• What do you do to maintain your technical certifications?

3. Web developer

Average annual Canadian salary: $62,938 [3]

Requirements: Ability to program. Many employers will require at least a bachelor’s degree or completion of a college program in computer science, computer programming, web development or software engineering.

Web developers create websites businesses use to operate and interact with their customers. This field breaks down into three main areas: front-end, back-end, and full-stack developers. Front-end developers design the parts of a website that users interact with. Back-end developers build and maintain the server, application, and database that power a website. Full-stack developers do both.

Requirements for entry-level candidates will vary by company and industry. You can get a web developer job with a high school diploma or an associate’s degree, especially if you’ve done some web development on your own. 

Front-end programming languages you’ll want to learn include HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Back-end programming languages might include Python, Ruby, or PHP.

Four common web developer interview questions

• Can you tell me about a project you’re most proud of?

• What APIs have you worked with?

• What are the differences between developing for mobile and desktop?

• Explain long polling.

4. Systems administrator

Average annual Canadian salary: $71,797 [4]

Requirements: Experience with computer systems and programming. Many employers will require at least a bachelor’s degree or completion of a college program in computer science, computer engineering, or mathematics.

System administrators, also called computer administrators, install, configure, and maintain operation of multi-user computer systems and servers. A successful sysadmin uses their knowledge of software, hardware, and networks to keep businesses running smoothly. Their roles can overlap with network administrators.

Keeping up with the latest network technology is a lifelong learning process. As you expand your skill set and learn to use the latest products, you can advance to roles like systems engineer or systems architect. 

Four common systems administrator interview questions

• What is a frustrating support issue you’ve encountered?

• What is DNS and how does it work?

• How would you go about troubleshooting a problem you don’t understand?

• What experience do you have with hardware components?

5. Systems analyst

Average annual Canadian salary: $73,440 [5]

Requirements: Many employers will require at least a bachelor’s degree or completion of a college program in computer science, computer systems engineering, business administration, or a related discipline. They may also require related professional certifications. 

Systems analysts might sound similar to systems administrators, but they’re quite different. A systems analyst aims to make a company’s computing systems more efficient and effective. They identify opportunities for improvement and design, test, and deploy systems to execute those improvements. 

While not always a requirement, a bachelor’s degree in computer or information science can make you competitive for this job.

Four common systems analyst interview questions

• What is a DHCP server and why would you use one?

• What would you include in a software audit?

• What’s the largest project you’ve worked on in the past?

• What is your process for analyzing and evaluating existing systems?

6. Database administrator

Average annual Canadian salary: $75,754 [6]

Requirements: Computer programming experience. At least a bachelor’s degree or completion of a college program in computer science, computer engineering, or mathematics.

Database administrators (DBAs) store, organize, and secure data. This is an especially critical task for companies with large information systems, such as banks and hospitals. Ensuring databases operate efficiently helps companies analyze and leverage this data for growth. 

Build a foundation for a job in database administration with a bachelor’s degree in a computer or information-related field. You can also set yourself up for success by learning database languages, such as Structured Query Language (SQL).

Four common database administrator interview questions

• How do you prevent data loss during a migration to the cloud?

• How do you troubleshoot database problems?

• How do you learn about new applications?

• Describe your workflow without direct supervision.

7. Site reliability engineer

Average annual Canadian salary: $113,324 [7]

Requirements: Site reliability or DevOps experience and related skills. Bachelor’s degree in engineering, specifically a technology-focused engineering degree.

Site reliability engineers (SREs) keep the websites and apps we use up and running smoothly. SREs develop automated solutions for common development and operational tasks, like latency monitoring, capacity planning, and emergency responding. As long as technology continues to play a role in our day-to-day lives, there will be a growing demand for SREs. 

Besides a computer science degree, you can elevate your resume with a certification in DevOps or SRE. You may also expand your job opportunities by learning a scripting programming language like Python. As you start out as an SRE, you’ll develop skills that transfer to other roles in IT, including cloud or full-stack engineering.

Four common SRE interview questions

• What does your current deployment pipeline look like?

• What’s the difference between DevOps and SRE?

• What are some common architecture bottlenecks?

• What is cloud computing?

8. Software developer

Average annual Canadian salary: $80,326 [8]

Requirements: Experience with programming languages. Most employers will require a bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, or another programming-heavy discipline. 

Software developers (sometimes called software engineers) build the systems and applications that run on computers, phones, and other devices. These programs are typically designed to allow companies or employees to perform specific tasks, like managing data or collaborating across teams. 

Many software developers have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or software engineering. You can also gain relevant experience through coursework or a bootcamp, or an internship.

Four common software developer interview questions

• What are your top programming languages?

• Can you tell me about a tough development problem and how you solved it?

• How would you diagnose and resolve a bug in a critical application?

• What projects are you currently working on?

9. Information security analyst

Average annual Canadian salary: $75,482 [9]

Requirements: Many employers will require at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer systems engineering, business administration, or a related discipline. They may also require related professional certifications. 

Information security analysts (also called cybersecurity analysts) protect a company’s computer networks and systems from attacks and hacks. This involves planning and implementing security measures and quickly addressing security breaches as they occur. As technology continues to advance, so does the need for robust security. 

Develop your skill set through an entry-level information security certification like the CompTIA Security+. Many information security analysts have a bachelor’s degree in information assurance or computer science. If you can’t land an information security analyst position immediately, try getting your foot in the door with a help desk or IT technician position and build experience from there.

Four common information security analyst interview questions

• What process would you use to secure a server?

• How do you defend your personal wireless access point?

• What tools do you use for performing security assessments?

• What are three ways to authenticate someone?

10. Cloud engineer

Average annual Canadian salary: $95,694 [10]

Requirements: Knowledge of cloud platforms. Most employers will require at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, computer systems engineering, software engineering, or mathematics. Some may even require a master’s degree. You may also need provincial or territorial licensing depending on where you work. 

Cloud engineers help businesses migrate applications, functions, and processes to the cloud. They typically oversee the design, configuration, and monitoring of cloud-based services, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and the Google Cloud Platform. As more companies move their IT infrastructure to the cloud, the demand for cloud engineers continues to rise. 

Many companies look for entry-level candidates with at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. That said, having relevant experience can make you competitive for the job as well. If you’re working your way up to become a cloud engineer, try starting in positions like system or network administration that expose you to some work with the cloud. As you gain experience, you can advance to become a cloud developer, cloud administrator, or cloud architect.

Four common cloud engineer interview questions

• What is the benefit of cloud computing for a business?

• How do you design for failure?

• Can you describe your most challenging cloud computing project?

• What are the advantages of cloud computing?

Next steps: Landing an entry-level IT job

Now that you have an idea of what kinds of entry-level IT jobs are out there, you can begin looking for opportunities. If you’re just starting to build relevant IT skills to put on your resume, consider enrolling in a Professional Certificate, like Google's IT Support, on Coursera.