Maria Luisa Misa-Toyer starts her day at NB Power by checking all batch jobs and making sure everything is working properly.

Then, for the rest of the day, she provides maintenance and development support for the corporation's major systems.

But her work doesn't end after eight hours. As an IT specialist at the government corporation, she's on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Misa-Toyer has been working at NB Power for 10 years now. She started with the organization as an IT consultant for two years and was later offered a permanent position.

Updating her skills is one of the challenges Misa-Toyer faces. She keeps herself in the loop by attending IT training programs and conventions, reading technical publications and checking out online technical sites.

"In a highly competitive field like this, your best means of being successful is to develop your skills. The better and up-to-date your skills and experience are, the more opportunities are available," Misa-Toyer said.

Misa-Toyer said multi-tasking is important in her work.

"We in the Business Support Group do not only maintain existing systems, but we also provide user support, troubleshoot reported system problems and develop new system when required," Misa-Toyer said.

Her job also requires her to think fast and solve a system problem at any time of the day.

"Since we are on-call 24/7, I am expected to respond and resolve any reported problems as soon as possible. It gets very challenging when these calls occur in the wee hours of the morning," Misa-Toyer said.

Despite the challenges, Toyer loves her job. She finds it rewarding when she interacts with the people in their organization, and when she tries to understand where the technical projects fit into the overall corporate strategy.

"It feels great being part of a team, and developing a finished product with a corporate deadline and seeing the customers satisfied," Misa-Toyer said.

"For me, systems development is a form of art, building a new system, an interface program to link different software packages, SAP, CAD, etc, or even just creating a simple adhoc programs."

Heather-Anne MacLean, media relations manager of NB Power said that to land in this kind of job, one must have a university degree in computer science or in another related discipline with relevant IT experience or additional training. An equivalent combination of education and experience is also acceptable.

MacLean said four to six years of relevant and progressive experience is also required.

But education is not the only key to being successful in this type of work. Other skills are also important.

"You must be very client oriented, technically competent, have proven analytical and communication skills, and above all must have a desire to learn," MacLean said.

There is always a demand for IT professional, she said.

"There is a very consistent demand for this work, as companies are continually challenged with using automation to handle increased demand for products and services while helping to improve processes and reduce costs," MacLean said.

Misa-Toyer earned her electrical engineering degree in the Philippines. She also took several computer courses in her homeland. Before she immigrated to Canada, she brought with her 12 years of IT experience.

Leading a team of developers and mentoring developers are part of Misa-Toyer's career goals.

She enjoys working on the latest technology, and she strives to do her best.

"I hope to be able to do further studies to keep up with constant changes and advances in technology and to make myself technically strong and to stand out among the pack," Misa-Toyer said.

The fine print

• Education: Computer science or another related discipline with relevant IT experience or additional training, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Demand: There’s a consistent demand.