How the IT industry is structured
IT jobs fall into four broad groups: Application, Infrastructure, Data & AI, and Management. Within each group are more specialized roles. Most professionals start broad and narrow down over their first few years — picking one specialty early isn't the norm.
Overview of all 10 roles
Two roles that didn't fit in the chart: SE (Systems Engineer — defines requirements and designs systems) and IT Consultant (analyzes business challenges and proposes solutions). SE is often the first assignment for new grads; it demands design thinking and communication skills.
What each role does and typical salary
New grads tend to get better starting conditions at AI companies, security firms, foreign-owned companies, and large web platforms — but competition is fierce. Most engineers start with general development or operations and gradually specialize. Use the salary chart to understand which specializations are valued, not to rank which roles are "better."
How teens should approach the 10 roles
You don't need to memorize all 10 names. Instead, pick 2–3 roles that spark your curiosity and read one article by a working engineer on each (try Qiita or Zenn). If you like visual design, frontend is a match. If you're curious about what happens behind the scenes, backend. If you love looking at data and graphs, data science. Connecting your interests to roles makes career decisions much more concrete.
If you're stuck, think backwards from what you want to build. Want to make a web page look amazing? Frontend. Want to handle logins and data storage? Backend. Curious about Wi-Fi and servers? Infrastructure. Enjoy numbers and charts? Data-related roles. Focus on "what problem do I enjoy solving?" rather than memorizing job titles.
Watch out for these pitfalls
- Picking only by salary. Even AI engineers have wildly different conditions depending on company and experience. Choose by what the work actually involves.
- Locking in one role too early. Most professionals spend their first 3 years dabbling in adjacent roles before finding their fit.
- Relying on outdated images. Fast-moving fields like cloud and AI require regular check-ins with official sites and job listings.
How this helps your future
Knowing the 10 roles makes your job-hunting pitch much more specific. "I want to work in IT" is vague. "I want to be a frontend engineer building great user experiences" lands better in an interview. When requesting a team assignment as a new grad, being able to say "I prefer frontend, but backend is fine too" lowers the risk of a mismatch that leads to early resignation.
Start today
- Pick 3 job names
- Write one imagined daily task for each
- Choose only one to read next
Summary
Check IT jobs are?