`My day varies all the time'

"An ideal job" - that's how Joe Conway, sales and marketing director for Computer Resources, an IT company selling accounting software, describes his work. He has always had an interest in computers.

There is a lot of variety in his job and every day he deals with different people and issues. "My day varies all of the time," says Conway. "I could be in the office, in meetings or on the phone contacting customers. It's essential for this job to have technical knowledge about the product as I sometimes I get involved with technical issues like modifications of software."

As the company deal in accounting software, it is necessary for employees to have knowledge in this area, preferably through some sort of qualification. Joe started out on his career with a degree in commerce from UCD and during this time, he built up an interest in computers. He described his time in college as fantastic and said he would recommend the course to anyone.

After four years studying, Joe was employed by IBM in an administrative position for three years. However he did not enjoy his time in administration and decided to change. During the next few years, he worked for a couple of small computer companies but unfortunately, neither of these were very successful and eventually closed down. From there he moved to a sales position in Pitney Bowes where he was involved in selling fax machines. He stayed in this position for a year and gained valuable sales experience. Joe already had experience in computers but had never been involved in sales before and found this to be a challenge. "Sales was not in my nature and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it." Joe really enjoyed this position and proved to be good at it. A year later he took on a position in Computer Resources, in which he used both his sales and computer experience. "It was an ideal job for what I was looking for."

Joe says he really likes his job and especially the "variety and challenges, it is rewarding in many ways including financially". He also enjoys the social side of the job: "It is a nice place to work, there is a good atmosphere and we have a good team." Joe couldn't think of anything he didn't like about his job but the one thing he sometimes finds difficult is "the increasing complexity of technology, you always have to keep up with latest developments".

IT is, without doubt, a growing industry and Joe says that because of this, there is a wide range of opportunities available. "There are many areas where there are openings and many of these require different skills."

Joe also gives me examples of new career areas within the IT sector ranging from call centres, web and Internet design and telecommunications.

For students wanting to follow a career in IT, Joe says he would recommend a third level qualification of some sort. From his own experience he says he would recommend going to college to do a degree."