If you are still in High School and want to get prepared for an IT career there are some things you can start working on to make yourself more successful in that career area.
The first thing is to start taking High School computer courses if any are available at your school. Sometimes High Schools have agreements with local colleges so Jr. and Sr. students can take college classes while you are still in HS. If your HS has a computer club that is a good idea also. If your school has a computer lab find out how you can volunteer to work in the lab and help the instructor. Many High Schools will offer courses in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other office applications. I would encourage you to take these courses. Part of IT is being able to convey your ideas and so being proficient in all those applications will be very useful.
One way to get exposure to people in the IT field and to make valuable future contacts is to attend user group meetings in your area. Various operating system or applications user groups exist in many cities. Microsoft, Cisco, VMware and others may have free seminars in your area. Be sure that you are present at all these and collect and pass out business cards.
You will likely get your first job in IT because of who you know and not what you know.
If there are any small computer retail stores near, you see if they will hire you to put together motherboards and cases for them and perform other hardware and software tasks. Remember that there is not really any money in working on hardware as far as a career but this experience will help you become familiar with the computer components and also perhaps earn a few dollars.
Go out and start looking at study materials and sample test questions for the CompTIA certification tests. There are many web sites where you will find sample questions. Eventually when you feel ready you will want to take the 2 A+ certification tests and get that cert. When you are old enough this will help you get a better job at a large computer retailer like Best Buy or Staples. This may not sound like a big deal but just remember some of your friends may still be working in fast food.
There are two main computer areas of study: Programming and General IT studies (Networking, Computer Security, Systems Administration, etc). You will need to decide which one is best for you. Many people think programming sounds like a good major and career until they realize it involves advanced math courses. If you are poor at math, Programming is probably out for you. However, don’t be discouraged as there are many IT jobs that don’t require programming advanced math. Here are some of those non-Programming jobs.
If you are not sure if you want to go to college I will tell you there are a lot of reasons – actually a million reasons. The most recent salary study shows a 4 year college degree graduate will earn $1 million more than a HS grad over their lifetime. I’ve given you a link to salary studies that discuss this. There are two main goals that you want to accomplish while in college: 1. Get good grades 2. Save money on your education. Even if your parents have the capability to help you pay for your education, saving money is still wise. Going to a 4 year school can be expensive and for some students they may not be able to adjust easily to the more difficult courses and additional homework. Look into attending a 2 year local Junior College or Community College near your home. This will ease you into college easier and will be less expensive. At the end of two years you will earn a 2 Associates degree. After you complete that you should transfer your credits to a 4 year school and finish out year 3&4 of your degree. Some colleges will offer what is called a “degree completion program” and this may compress the two years of college courses into 14-16 months. At the end of that you will have a 4 year Bachelor’s degree. Try to find schools that will allow you to live at home. Living in student housing is very expensive. The last thing you want is to graduate from school with a huge student loan to pay off or a huge loan you hope your parents will help you pay off.
As far as what you need to get an IT job: The Holy Grail for IT employment is a 4 year computer related Bachelor’s degree, some industry certifications and some work experience. Also another optional thing that may help is some skill and training in a specialization area like Scripting, Database Administration, Virtualization, Computing Security or other similar topics. If you have all 4 (degree, certs, experience and special skill) of those you should be good. If you have only one element that will help but you may be competing with other people who have two, three or perhaps all four elements.
Best wishes!