The Internet of Things (IoT) is a very hot area in the business world, if not one of the hottest!
In layman’s terms, an IoT-enabled device should monitor and control all internet-related “things” that happen, regardless of where you are in the world. IoT is all around us, and we can talk about IoT in architecture, IoT in transportation, etc.
With the overall advancement of our technology and 5G in line with it, jobs in the IoT sector are highly likely to rise on the world’s most-wanted jobs list.
In this article, you’ll learn all about different job opportunities and careers in this line of work.
Towards the end of our guide on careers in IoT, we’ll present you with a list of skills that you would have to master to get a job in this line of work, along with a couple of useful courses you can take up and study to make that skillset worthy of a job position in IoT.
List of IoT Careers and Opportunities In This Sector
Here’s a list of a couple of job positions and job opportunities for the IoT sector. Read the description of each thoroughly to see whether or not you’d be suitable for such a job posting.
Make sure that, if you think you are suitable, you can set enough time aside to upgrade your skillset and take any additional courses you may need to be proficient in that line of work.
We know it’s no walk in the park and these job positions require a lot of coding and great programming skills.
However, like every other job in the world, becoming an IoT developer will take time, responsibility, persistence, and effort.
Don’t become discouraged on the first try, and try to take up courses that can help you become an expert in one of the job positions for IoT before it’s too late.
Embedded Programs Engineer
This type of job position in the IoT world is all about handling the control code and software. If you become an embedded programs engineer, you’ll have to deal with designing a couple of PCBs that should match the problem’s utility.
In other words, you should program non-negotiable and predefined functions to enable cross-access to the networking of your devices concerning the firmware of the devices. Other than that, you should be able to integrate software engineering with devices other than PCs and understand how to work closely with the hardware.
Actuator and Sensor Professional
Once we dive deep into the hardware world, we can find an Actuator and Sensor Professional job. For this job position, you need to be proficient in knowing actuators and sensors and set the right type of each of them.
Therefore, you will serve as an application manager who meets all the power requirements and design specifications of your particular system.
In a nutshell, your job would be to test various tools and always pick the most optimal ones for application.
In addition, you would be responsible for staying up-to-date with the IoT industry as a whole and practicing constant research for the best technologies. You can start small and complete less complex projects first and build up from there.
Security Professional
In the world of IoT, safeguarding all internet protocols from malicious programs and hackers is essential. Therefore, a particular job position is dedicated to the security of devices.
When a breach occurs, a hacker can gain control over your device and put all your data at risk.
To prevent such breaches, professionals in this field have to regularly rest and fix all flaws in internet security to ensure that the system won’t fail.
They’re responsible for creating a secured and smooth connection bubble with an IoT device.
The skills needed for this job position are proficiency in Public Key Encryption, Vulnerability Evaluation, and knowledge of techniques for securing the wireless network properly. The first step to preparing yourself for this job position is understanding cybersecurity to a tee.
What Skills Should You Have and What Should You Study to Become an IoT Developer?
If the IoT world is something you consider your cup of tea, you should study and opt for a course that will make sure you learn how to cover all of the following skills:
- Proficiency in communication protocols such as SPI, I2C, UART, 1-wire, DALI, and MODBUS. By studying these communication protocols, you should develop skills of excellent communication, analytical thinking, and problem-solving;
- Experience in working with logic on wireless stacks and embedded environments with the aid of a test-driven methodology on platforms such as RTOS (but on non-ROTS platforms too, for that matter);
- In-depth technical knowledge regarding 32-bit ARM cortex M3/M4 types of controllers;
- Experience in working with Linux-OS and the needed processes to handle and manage files;
- Experience working with multiple programming languages and carrying out coding with their aid, such as Python and -C or C++.
If you’re wondering how you can have a skill set that encompasses all of the six points of strengths we mentioned above, you should consider Udemy, Coursera, and Linux Foundation courses. They can be a perfect start for making yourself a suitable person as an IoT developer.
These three courses will be perfect for offering you an in-depth understanding of the Linux OS. As far as learning about coding in Python -C/ C++ is concerned, courses such as DSA, GeeksForGeeks, and Coursera can greatly help.
Additionally, you can further expand your skillset, but that will solely depend on the job position you opt for and the additional skill set requirements that job position will open.
IoT Professional’s Annual Salary
From a Nov 8, 2021 estimate, a US resident’s average annual salary in the IoT sector was around $118,086 per year.
If you can’t do fast math in your head right away, we’ll just tell you that that’s around $56.77 per hour, making it approximately $2,271 per week and about $9,840 per month.
Indeed, the annual average salary for an IoT job can vary from state to state, suggesting that there are different opportunities for advancement in this field depending on the location.
Regardless of these minor differences, we can conclude that the annual pay of an IoT professional is highly lucrative and that becoming an expert in this line of work will be everything but a mistake.
Final Thoughts
The world of IoT is growing rapidly, and there’s no doubt about it. The careers in the IoT sector we’ve listed above are generally new and are waiting to be filled with skilled individuals.
As we’ve lined it out for you, there’s much to choose from, so you can either go into the design, security, etc.
The choices are vast, but the fruit of your labor will be worth it, which is why, if you’re interested in one of the job opportunities we’ve discussed, you should set on getting the required skillset and becoming a successful IoT developer today.
We hope our in-depth analysis of job requirements and job positions in this line of work has helped. Good luck!
