Getting Employed with ITIL: the IT Service Management Qualification

Approximately 60% of IT Service Management jobs advertised in the UK require the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) qualification. This corresponds closely to a 2008 global survey by Axios Systems, which found that almost 90% of organisations follow ITIL guidelines.

The ITIL qualification is based on a series of books issued by the Office of Government Commerce, each dealing with an aspect of IT Service Management or a stage in the Service Lifecycle. There are four tiers of ITIL certification: Foundation and Intermediate level certificates are awarded for passing certain ITIL course modules, ITIL Expert is automatically attained when a student has accumulated a certain number of modular credits; ITIL Master is assessed through peer-review and written/oral examinations, and is based on practical expertise as well as understanding of the ITIL method.

IT Service Managers
Over half of all IT Service Management jobs advertised in the UK in 2008 specifically required ITIL certification. The average UK salary for an IT Service Manager was £47.5k, but a high frequency of jobs were cited offering £50-£59k per year. The highest average salary for an IT Service Manager was £69k, in Sussex.

An IT Service Manager is responsible for the products and solutions provided by IT departments and organisations for businesses, projects and teams. Good sources of UK-based IT Service Management jobs are:

IT Jobs Watch UK
The Grey Matters Recruitment Organisation

Who needs ITIL?
It is not only IT Service Managers who need ITIL. Other positions that require knowledge of ITIL are Analysts, Test Environment Managers, Service Desk Engineers, IT Project Managers and IT Architects. The average salary for an IT professional with an ITIL qualification is £42,206.

Who uses ITIL?
IT is now fundamental to almost every business and organisation, and ITIL guidelines are invaluable to every IT department. Official users of ITIL include:

• Microsoft
• IBM
• Barclays Bank
• HSBC
• Guinness
• Procter & Gamble
• British Airways
• Ministry of Defence
• Hewlett Packard

How to get ITIL-qualified
The ITIL Foundation exam usually follows a three-day training course, which covers the key concepts and principles, the terminology and selected roles, processes and functions of ITIL, as well as providing a general overview of the Service Lifecycle. ITIL Foundation is essential to proceeding to the Intermediate, Expert and Master levels.