The IT industry offers one of the most diverse, well-compensated, and rapidly evolving career landscapes of any sector. Whether you're starting as a helpdesk analyst or mapping your route to CISO or Principal Engineer, this roadmap provides a structured progression path, salary expectations, and certification priorities for technical IT careers in 2026.
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Entry Level (0–2 Years)
You don't need a degree to start in IT
CompTIA A+ costs ~£250 and is widely accepted as a signal of foundational technical competency. Many IT managers value evidence of hands-on work (home labs, GitHub projects, CTF competition results) over degrees.
| Role | Average UK Salary | Core Skills Needed | First Certification Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| IT Support / 1st Line | £22,000–£28,000 | Windows 10/11, M365, ticketing systems, customer service, basic networking | CompTIA A+ |
| Junior Systems Administrator | £25,000–£35,000 | Windows Server, Active Directory, bash basics, virtualisation (VMware/Hyper-V) | CompTIA Network+ |
| Junior Web Developer | £25,000–£35,000 | HTML/CSS/JavaScript, React basics, Git, command line | AWS Cloud Practitioner or Google Associate |
| SOC Analyst Tier 1 | £25,000–£35,000 | Log analysis, SIEM basics (Splunk/QRadar), alert triage, threat intel fundamentals | CompTIA Security+ |
| Junior Network Engineer | £25,000–£35,000 | Routing & switching, TCP/IP, VLANs, Cisco IOS basics | Cisco CCNA |
IT Support / 1st Line
- Average UK Salary
- £22,000–£28,000
- Core Skills Needed
- Windows 10/11, M365, ticketing systems, customer service, basic networking
- First Certification Target
- CompTIA A+
Junior Systems Administrator
- Average UK Salary
- £25,000–£35,000
- Core Skills Needed
- Windows Server, Active Directory, bash basics, virtualisation (VMware/Hyper-V)
- First Certification Target
- CompTIA Network+
Junior Web Developer
- Average UK Salary
- £25,000–£35,000
- Core Skills Needed
- HTML/CSS/JavaScript, React basics, Git, command line
- First Certification Target
- AWS Cloud Practitioner or Google Associate
SOC Analyst Tier 1
- Average UK Salary
- £25,000–£35,000
- Core Skills Needed
- Log analysis, SIEM basics (Splunk/QRadar), alert triage, threat intel fundamentals
- First Certification Target
- CompTIA Security+
Junior Network Engineer
- Average UK Salary
- £25,000–£35,000
- Core Skills Needed
- Routing & switching, TCP/IP, VLANs, Cisco IOS basics
- First Certification Target
- Cisco CCNA
Specialisation Deep-Dives (2–5 Years)
| Specialisation | Key Roles | Core Technologies | First Certs | UK Salary Range (Mid-level) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud Engineering | Cloud Engineer, DevOps, SRE | AWS/Azure/GCP, Terraform, Kubernetes, Python, CI/CD | AWS SAA / AZ-104 | £50,000–£80,000 |
| Cybersecurity | Security Analyst, Pen Tester, Security Engineer | SIEM (Splunk/QRadar/Elastic), EDR, Cloud Security, Python | CompTIA Security+ → CEH or OSCP | £45,000–£75,000 |
| Network Engineering | Network Engineer, Network Architect | Cisco/Juniper, BGP/OSPF, SD-WAN, Firewall, MPLS | CCNP → CCIE | £45,000–£70,000 |
| Software/Web Development | Full-Stack Developer, Frontend, Backend | TypeScript + React/Next.js, Node.js/Python, PostgreSQL, AWS | AWS Developer / GCP ACE | £50,000–£90,000 |
| Data Engineering | Data Engineer, ML Engineer, Analytics Engineer | Python, SQL, dbt, Spark, Kafka, BigQuery/Redshift, Airflow | Google Professional Data Engineer | £55,000–£90,000 |
| IT Management / ITSM | IT Manager, Service Delivery Manager | ITIL framework, ServiceNow, vendor management, budget ownership | ITIL 4 Foundation → ITIL Managing Professional | £50,000–£75,000 |
Cloud Engineering
- Key Roles
- Cloud Engineer, DevOps, SRE
- Core Technologies
- AWS/Azure/GCP, Terraform, Kubernetes, Python, CI/CD
- First Certs
- AWS SAA / AZ-104
- UK Salary Range (Mid-level)
- £50,000–£80,000
Cybersecurity
- Key Roles
- Security Analyst, Pen Tester, Security Engineer
- Core Technologies
- SIEM (Splunk/QRadar/Elastic), EDR, Cloud Security, Python
- First Certs
- CompTIA Security+ → CEH or OSCP
- UK Salary Range (Mid-level)
- £45,000–£75,000
Network Engineering
- Key Roles
- Network Engineer, Network Architect
- Core Technologies
- Cisco/Juniper, BGP/OSPF, SD-WAN, Firewall, MPLS
- First Certs
- CCNP → CCIE
- UK Salary Range (Mid-level)
- £45,000–£70,000
Software/Web Development
- Key Roles
- Full-Stack Developer, Frontend, Backend
- Core Technologies
- TypeScript + React/Next.js, Node.js/Python, PostgreSQL, AWS
- First Certs
- AWS Developer / GCP ACE
- UK Salary Range (Mid-level)
- £50,000–£90,000
Data Engineering
- Key Roles
- Data Engineer, ML Engineer, Analytics Engineer
- Core Technologies
- Python, SQL, dbt, Spark, Kafka, BigQuery/Redshift, Airflow
- First Certs
- Google Professional Data Engineer
- UK Salary Range (Mid-level)
- £55,000–£90,000
IT Management / ITSM
- Key Roles
- IT Manager, Service Delivery Manager
- Core Technologies
- ITIL framework, ServiceNow, vendor management, budget ownership
- First Certs
- ITIL 4 Foundation → ITIL Managing Professional
- UK Salary Range (Mid-level)
- £50,000–£75,000
Certifications Roadmap
| Certification | Provider | Level | Exam Cost (approx) | Value / ROI | Who Should Get It |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CompTIA A+ | CompTIA | Foundational | £250 (2 exams) | High for IT support entry | Anyone starting an IT support/sysadmin career |
| CompTIA Security+ | CompTIA | Associate | £380 | Very High - DoD baseline | Anyone moving into security, SysAdmins, Cloud Engineers |
| AWS Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) | Amazon | Associate | £120 | Extremely High - #1 cloud cert | Developers, Cloud Engineers, anyone touching AWS |
| Microsoft AZ-104 (Azure Admin) | Microsoft | Associate | £165 | High in M365/Azure shops | SysAdmins, Cloud Engineers at Azure-first organisations |
| Google Associate Cloud Engineer | Associate | £150 | High for GCP-heavy environments | Engineers at GCP-first organisations | |
| Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) | CNCF | Professional | £350 | Very High - significant premium | DevOps Engineers, Platform Engineers, Cloud Engineers |
| OSCP (Offensive Security) | OffSec | Professional | £1,300 (incl. course) | Extremely High - gold standard pen test | Penetration testers, red team operators |
| CISSP | ISC2 | Expert | £650 | High for security management/CISO track | Security managers with 5+ years experience |
| CCIE (Enterprise/Security) | Cisco | Expert | £600+ labs | Very High - distinguishes true experts | Senior Network/Security Engineers, ~20% salary premium |
CompTIA A+
- Provider
- CompTIA
- Level
- Foundational
- Exam Cost (approx)
- £250 (2 exams)
- Value / ROI
- High for IT support entry
- Who Should Get It
- Anyone starting an IT support/sysadmin career
CompTIA Security+
- Provider
- CompTIA
- Level
- Associate
- Exam Cost (approx)
- £380
- Value / ROI
- Very High - DoD baseline
- Who Should Get It
- Anyone moving into security, SysAdmins, Cloud Engineers
AWS Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03)
- Provider
- Amazon
- Level
- Associate
- Exam Cost (approx)
- £120
- Value / ROI
- Extremely High - #1 cloud cert
- Who Should Get It
- Developers, Cloud Engineers, anyone touching AWS
Microsoft AZ-104 (Azure Admin)
- Provider
- Microsoft
- Level
- Associate
- Exam Cost (approx)
- £165
- Value / ROI
- High in M365/Azure shops
- Who Should Get It
- SysAdmins, Cloud Engineers at Azure-first organisations
Google Associate Cloud Engineer
- Provider
- Level
- Associate
- Exam Cost (approx)
- £150
- Value / ROI
- High for GCP-heavy environments
- Who Should Get It
- Engineers at GCP-first organisations
Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
- Provider
- CNCF
- Level
- Professional
- Exam Cost (approx)
- £350
- Value / ROI
- Very High - significant premium
- Who Should Get It
- DevOps Engineers, Platform Engineers, Cloud Engineers
OSCP (Offensive Security)
- Provider
- OffSec
- Level
- Professional
- Exam Cost (approx)
- £1,300 (incl. course)
- Value / ROI
- Extremely High - gold standard pen test
- Who Should Get It
- Penetration testers, red team operators
CISSP
- Provider
- ISC2
- Level
- Expert
- Exam Cost (approx)
- £650
- Value / ROI
- High for security management/CISO track
- Who Should Get It
- Security managers with 5+ years experience
CCIE (Enterprise/Security)
- Provider
- Cisco
- Level
- Expert
- Exam Cost (approx)
- £600+ labs
- Value / ROI
- Very High - distinguishes true experts
- Who Should Get It
- Senior Network/Security Engineers, ~20% salary premium
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