Unit #2 Objectives: IT Careers

The objective of unit IT Careers is to learn to recognize and understand the 16 key unit vocabulary terms. This is accomplished by completing the readings and other activities.

Unit Vocabulary

Below is a list of key vocabulary terms in this unit. You can also Print out the vocabulary list.

an executive position responsible for internal processes and practices; normally has a stronger business administration background than technical background

The CIO's work is often quite varied, ranging from managing a company's IT budget to overseeing staff outsourcing.

an executive position responsible for all scientific and technological issues related to a company; normally has a strong technical and somewhat less strong management background

The CEO decided to fire the CTO after the company's IT department lost a year of financial records due to poor backup procedures.

a person in charge of managing and maintaining relational databases and their access rights

The requirements for the DBA job position were: advanced SQL, performance tuning, and disaster recover for ORACLE systems.

a position responsible for programming and optimizing databases

The database developer spent three months refactoring the company database to obtain 3NF (third normal form).

a high-level position responsible for understanding a business's overall needs and then designing an IT structure to support it

The firm hired an enterprise architect to oversee the development of the new software platform.

a position responsible for the creation of images, typography, mock-ups for an organizations's front end systems; normally works under a company Art Director

The graphic designer had an iMac with a 27" screen, a graphics tablet instead of a mouse, and the latest version of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop software.

a position responsible for making complex data structures easy to understand and navigate; especially critical at the beginning of new software development projects to ensure the application performs in a useful way for it's intended end-users

The information architect came prepared to the meeting with some wireframes and a glossary of target vocabulary for the project.

a job position acting as a bridge between upper management and IT; one who encourages personal development in IT staff; the boss of an IT worker

The IT Manager said the new junior developer's attitude was unacceptable.

a position responsible for setting best practices for securing wi-fi networks, servers, backups, laptops, and VPNs.

The IT security manager ran a password cracker on his own network users to sniff out weak passwords.

a position responsible for front-line maintenance, repair of the Office IT infrastructure and well as on-demand support for end-users

An IT support engineer must be able to troubleshoot and fix almost any hardware, software, or network problem that can affect an end-user's PC.

a position responsible for maintenance of all aspects of a computer network; often a specialist in TCP/IP, Linux, and related routing technology such as Cisco

"The Network is down" is a phrase a good network administator never wants to hear.

a position responsible for organizing and delivering a project on time and on budget; often acts a bridge between developers and stake-holders

Software project managers are increasingly turning to Scrum and other Agile practices to get good results from their teams.

a job title whose responsibilities include ensuring appropriate performance for a software project and organizing and instructing testers

The QA manager organized a massive usability test to try to squash bugs before the software's release date.

a position responsible for gathering information around a programming task and performing it

Software developers often specialize in a specific software framework or paradigm such as Java applications, Python, or CSS.

a job title whose responsibilities include ensuring that a software project meets established quality guidelines.

The software tester spent all day documenting a nasty bug in the ERP software.

a position responsible for the creation and maintenance of documentation relating to an IT project including online help, user guides, white papers, and design specifications

The technical writer wanted to write novels when she was young, but now she is documenting accounting software applications for IBM.