How To Become An Information Technology Contractor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an information technology contractor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Ranganathan Chandrasekaran,

Alexey Kolmogorov Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an information technology contractor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $34.86 an hour? That's $72,515 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 83,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an information technology contractor?

Ranganathan Chandrasekaran

Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, University of Illinois

As we roll into another month of the COVID-19 pandemic, graduating students are facing one of the worst moments of their lives. They face several uncertainties; due to financial challenges, uncertainty about completing their degrees on time, adjusting to online and hybrid modes of learning, and worst of all, facing the worst job market. As a result, I see the stress and anxiety levels among the graduating students to be significantly higher, at levels I have not experienced in my academic career.

Several businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic, and they have rolled back their offers made to students for internships and jobs. Businesses have also resorted to downsizing and layoffs, and we are likely to see that continue, at least in the near term. However, two sectors that are showing promises of a quick turnaround are technology and healthcare.

It might take many months for the economy to get back on track, but the demand for information systems graduates is likely to grow, as a large number of businesses have turned to increased use of technology in this pandemic period. As more companies go digital, we need more professionals to manage the remote-work, technological infrastructure and meet the other demands of the business. Students pursuing education in information systems, computer science, and healthcare are going to be in greater demand.

On the positive side, the uncertainties induced by the pandemic have also helped students to prepare themselves better for a tougher job market. I found many students rise up and use the lockdown period to have a serious introspection and invest their time and effort in upgrading their knowledge and skills. The internship drought and rescinding of job/internship offers brought their dreams crashing down, but I found several students to quickly get over their disappointments, and engage in improving their skillsets utilizing the pandemic lockdown as an opportunity. I am aware of many students, especially in the information systems disciple, who spent time doing online courses, completing certification programs, and take up DIY projects on data analysis, developing analytical and forecasting models, and visualization of various aspects of the pandemic. The pandemic has resulted in massive amounts of data, released by several organizations worldwide, that have provided a stimulant for students to indulge in DIY-projects. I had several students approach me over summer to do some projects, and we have done some interesting projects using public datasets related to COVID-19.

ScoreInformation Technology ContractorUS Average

Salary

5.7

Avg. Salary $72,515

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 13.93%

Black or African American 10.99%

Hispanic or Latino 15.79%

Unknown 5.35%

White 53.54%

Gender

female 13.70%

male 86.30%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an information technology contractor

Explore information technology contractor education requirements

Most common information technology contractor degrees

Bachelor's

51.7 %

Associate

31.3 %

Master's

6.9 %

Start to develop specific information technology contractor skills

Skills	Percentages
Desk Support	12.33%
Customer Service	10.85%
PC	9.98%
Network Printers	6.69%
Troubleshoot	5.39%

Complete relevant information technology contractor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New information technology contractors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an information technology contractor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real information technology contractor resumes.

Gain additional information technology contractor certifications

Information technology contractor certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific information technology contractor certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for information technology contractors include IT Information Library Foundations Certification (ITIL) and Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP).

More About Certifications

Research information technology contractor duties and responsibilities

Act as liaison with on-site networking company, deploying and managing wireless access points and LAN.
Lead enterprise-wide virtualization effort, overseeing and completing vendor/hardware qualifications, architecture/design, installation, configuration, migration and documentation.
Advance knowledge of Microsoft networking and TCP/IP.
Set up VMware ESXi hosts for high-availability environments and reduce downtime.

Prepare your information technology contractor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your information technology contractor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an information technology contractor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable information technology contractor resume templates

Build a professional information technology contractor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your information technology contractor resume.