Day in the life
A Day in the Life of an IT Manager
What IT managers actually do from the start of a shift to the end: the tasks, tools, schedule and realities of the job.
Review overnight incidents and security alerts. From there, the day usually includes lead and develop IT staff, plan technology strategy and budgets, and manage infrastructure, security and applications. Most work full-time, often more than 40 hours, with after-hours work during outages and projects.
Hour by hour: a typical shift
No two days are identical, but this timeline reflects a realistic day for an IT manager working full time.
- Review overnight incidents and security alerts.
- Meet with the help desk lead about ticket trends.
- Review a cloud migration project plan.
- Negotiate a software renewal with a vendor.
- Present the IT budget to the executive team.
- Hold one-on-ones with team members.
- Review security policies with the compliance officer.
Where IT managers work
IT managers work in offices, often in hybrid arrangements, with frequent meetings and on-call responsibility for major incidents.
Hours and schedule
Most work full-time, often more than 40 hours, with after-hours work during outages and projects.
Tasks you’ll do most often
- Lead and develop IT staff
- Plan technology strategy and budgets
- Manage infrastructure, security and applications
- Select and manage vendors
- Lead IT projects
- Set policies and ensure compliance
- Report to executives on technology
Tools you’ll use every day
- IT service management platforms such as ServiceNow
- Project management tools
- Cloud consoles
- Security monitoring tools
- Budget spreadsheets
- Collaboration tools
The best and hardest parts of the job
What people like
- Very high pay
- Leadership and strategic influence
- Demand in every industry
- Variety of challenges
What’s hard
- High responsibility for outages and breaches
- Long hours
- Balancing budgets and demands
- Constant change
You’ll likely thrive if…
- I like leading people
- I understand technology deeply
- I can make tough budget decisions
- I communicate well with executives
- I stay calm in crises
- I want a top-paying tech career
Not sure? Take the free IT Manager fit quiz or the Career Match Quiz.
Staying safe on the job
- Maintain tested backup and disaster recovery plans
- Enforce strong security practices
- Protect sensitive data and privacy
- Manage team workload to prevent burnout