Eddie Teaches IT
Career Path Tool

Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Career Overview

Sample Job Titles

• Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
• Chief Security Officer (CSO)
• Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
• IT Director
• Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Typical Salary

• $80,000-400,000 ($40-200 per hour)

Typical time and cost to complete training

• 32 months
• $13,000

Eddie Teaches IT Courses Needed to Complete Training for this Position

Networking

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Analysis

Advanced Security

Databases

Servers

Cloud

Programming in Any Language

Website & Application Creation 1: Design and Front End

Website & Application Creation 2: Back End

Data Analysis

Project Management

Business & Entrepreneur­ship

(click/tap course to view details)

Job Description

The IT Director, CTO, or CISO is the head of the Information Technology Department or Cybersecurity Department.

Generally a smaller business would call the position “IT Director” and a larger business, such as a corporation, would call it CTO or CISO. An IT Director probably has a much smaller budget and is more likely performing more hands on IT-related duties than a CTO or CISO. A CTO or CISO usually has a deep understanding of IT and of management. These positions are highly coveted, prestigious, and pay very well. There can be intense competition for these from internal employees and external candidates.

Getting a Job

Perhaps the easiest way to become a CTO would be to find a tech startup and to work for free or relatively little money in exchange for equity in the company. For a more traditional route, a bachelor’s degree in IT or Computer Science along with an MBA could be helpful, along with enough IT and management experience to show you understand the different areas of IT and how to run them.