The Career Satisfaction of IT Professionals With Mixed Job Demands

Career demands on the information technology (IT) professional have evolved. No longer do organizations demand strictly managerial or technical competencies. Instead, IT professionals face demands that require the ability to produce technically proficient software or systems while managing projects and stakeholders in a variety of situations. Prior research in desired career demands and job burnout indicates that this will lead to lower levels of career satisfaction and higher levels of turnover. To address this issue, we draw on the career orientation literature to build and test a model of career satisfaction derived from the organizational demands placed on the IT professional. The results suggest that pure managerial demands lead to the highest satisfaction while adding technical demands lessens satisfaction but in a complex pattern that allows potential compromises. Prior models of career paths should be reconsidered in light of newer career demands.