There was a time when the IT explosion made every Tom, Dick and Harry who knew anything about computers in demand. The dotcom bubble made things even more advantageous for the tech geeks who were now capable of making more money than they had ever dreamed of. But then the bubble burst and with it, many dreams came crashing down and immense amounts of money were lost. In spite of this setback, the IT field is still a relative goldmine if you want to earn a comfortable living, and besides finding a well paying job at a multinational software company, here’s how you can make money when you’ve graduated with a degree in information technology:

Freelance :If you’re really good at what you do and/or if you have a few years of experience under your belt, you could make money by freelancing and offering your services to people who need IT services. Most online job forums and sites hook you up to potential clients, and if you can prove your expertise and establish a reputation as an efficient and effective freelancer, you could even quit your regular job. Be careful though if you’re moonlighting while holding on to your job, because most employers may not take too well to the idea.

Teach :If you’re good at what you do and comfortable working with others, you could pass on your expertise and knowledge in this field to others who are interested in learning. You could choose to work in a regular school or college as a teacher or set up your own gig where you conduct classes and workshops to train professionals in a specialized IT field. This option too requires a lot of experience and confidence in what you do.

Design :With all the new gadgets and applications that are now gaining in popularity, you could make money if you’re a tech geek who knows how to design apps for the iPhone, Facebook or any of the hundreds of gizmos and social networks that we now use regularly. If your app becomes popular, there’s no limit to the amount you can make.

No matter how you choose to earn money in the IT field, it’s important to:

Keep updating your skills: When you don’t continue to learn and keep your IT skills updated, you’re going to lag behind your colleagues and the competition because this is one field that is constantly undergoing change. We’re being bombarded with newer applications and gadgets with each of them using new technology, so unless you stay ahead on the learning curve, you’re going to be left behind and find yourself redundant and obsolete.

Learn to work with a team: Most IT projects are team efforts, with each member’s role being defined and all members working together to achieve the end result. So unless you’re a freelancer who prefers to work on individual (but small) projects, you need to be able to cooperate and be able to get along with members of a team.

This guest post is contributed by Shannon Wills, she writes on the topic of Online Engineering Degree . She welcomes your comments at her email id: [email protected].