In an age where everything is going digital, not only are career opportunities in technology getting more popular but also the variety of them. Regardless of whether you are new to this field, pivoting from another industry, or just want to learn some skills, there is plenty of room for problem-solving, creativity and growth. But for newbies, the tech seems too high which is why we have decided to cover “How to start a tech career”.
By following a systematic process—understanding the roles, cultivating relevant skills, gaining hands-on experience, and networking appropriately—you will be positioned to succeed.
We will touch upon all phases from discovering various roles to writing your first resume to allow you to embark on your new career with confidence.
Step 1: Explore Different Tech Roles
There is a wholeness of roles in the tech industry. Every role varies in terms of what it needs and who it’s for. For a glimpse into common positions and deeper detail to help you see where you shine:
Image source: Freepik
#1. Software Developer
Software developers turn ideas into reality and write the code that drives everything from mobile apps to large-scale systems.
These can be based on particular needs in different areas like front-end (where development work is done for visual parts of the site), back-end (where server and database management happens) or full-stack (combination of both).
Some developers build tools for helping businesses to be more efficient, while some design web apps that are interactive.
#2. Data analyst & data scientist
Data analysts deal with the interpretation aspect of things which helps businesses make informed decisions.
These scientists take it a step further, modeling data statistically, and occasionally using machine learning to predict outcomes and tackle advanced problems.
Skills required — Programming (mostly Python/R), Databases(SQL) and data visualization tools(Tableau, Power BI).
Image source: Freepik
#3. Cybersecurity expert
Cybersecurity professionals defend the programs and data of an organization against digital attacks. It demands familiarity with networks, encryption, and security protocols, in addition to incident response and risk assessment skills. With the ever-evolving nature of cyber threats, cybersecurity roles are on the rise.
#4. UX/UI designer
While UX designers ensure that a product is easy to use, UI designers address the visual aspects of a product. They collaborate with developers and product teams to create user-friendly interfaces that are pleasing to the eye. We require experience in the design software which includes Adobe XD, Sketch or Figma.
#5. Product Manager
A product manager defines the vision, features, and strategy around which new products are developed and shipped to market. They need communication and organization skills, as well as a familiarity with project management tools such as Jira or Asana. They work with engineering, marketing, and design departments.
Take some time to select a function that appeals to you and where you feel confident. If you enjoy being analytical and solving problems, data science or software development may have some appeal to you. For visual creatives, UX/UI design might be the right way to go. If you are more interested in strategy, focusing on project or product management could be a better option.
Researching job descriptions, speaking to professionals and going down the rabbit hole of online material will only help further clarify your direction.
Source: Pexels
Step 2: Choose a Specialization
Identifying your niche within your chosen role will help you deepen and dominate. Specialization doesn’t limit your career prospects; it allows you to gain skills to help you differentiate yourself. Here’s how to decide:
#1. Evaluate job demand
Some specializations—and cybersecurity, cloud computing and full-stack development in particular—trend perennial behind the demand curve. Study local and distant task markets; what abilities are maximum wanted?
#2. Look ahead
Write down where you see your future self in 5 to 10 years. If your goal is to join a startup, you might want to be a generalist (like a full-stack developer). Specialization in larger organizations can drive the path of expertise-based roles around a skill or tool.
Now, try stuff:
Early in your career, you should be trying a lot of different projects. You get to discover what inspires you the most by playing around.
To give you a great example, if you begin with front-end development but find out that you like databases more, it is way easier to migrate over to the back end since both of them are related.
An area of specialization will help you establish your credibility with clients and work/play with advanced tools/practices to help you stand out among stiff competition.
Source: Freepik
Step 3: Learn Essential Skills – How To Start A Tech Career
Education or the lack of formal education is not a reason to learn tech skills. You see, plenty of techies are self-taught or have developed skills through boot camps, online courses, and other forms of self-help education. This is how you should do skill acquisition:
#1. Use online courses
Many tech courses can be found on sites like Udacity, Pluralsight, and Skillshare, for beginners to advanced. Some of them even have certification courses that you can add to your resume.
#2. Join Bootcamps
Coding Bootcamps, such as Lambda School, App Academy and Flatiron School, offer in-person or online project-based learning. These can be pretty intense but aim to prepare you for a job quickly and usually include career services/interview preparation.
#3. Utilize free resources
You will find many free resources such as W3Schools, freeCodeCamp, and YouTube where you can search for an introductory tutorial regarding any programming language, design tool or software development.
To add to that, GitHub has tons of open-source projects where you can check out how different codes are structured and the best practices.
Emphasize the values of practical practice as you progress. You will be better at solving real life problems by working on projects. Use the basic tools; for example, web developers need to use HTML, CSS and Javascript while data analysts should use Excel, SQL and introductory statistics.
Step 4: Build a Portfolio
Having a portfolio shows and proves your worth along with examples of what you can do. Follow these steps to create a portfolio that retains interest:
Use your imagination about A; personal projects If you are interested in web development, create a blog site or an eCommerce demo.
If data is your thing – make some analysis on something you are interested in (sports stats in the case of Jeremy or finance/market data for others), visualize your results, and present it.
#1. Record your method
Describe the problem & procedure, tools used and result per project. When you document your work, it shows that you think deeply and play the long game.
#2. Get involved with open source
Contributing to open-source projects on GitHub signals your willingness and ability to work within the industry frameworks. You can begin by contributing code (start small, fix a bug or improve documentation) and start increasing to advance tasks.
A collection of past work gives you a solid base from which to approach job applications and interviews — it shows you are prepared for a tech role.
Source: Freepik
Step 5: Network in the Tech Community
Networking is your tool to find mentors, job referral and receive inside information on trends, and opportunities in tech. So here are some simple suggestions to help you begin:
#1. Participating in tech meet-ups and conferences
Events (real or virtual) are a good opportunity to build connections with people having similar interests. Websites such as Meetup,
Eventbrite, and Dev. For listing local and global tech events. Go to these for updates, discourse, and introductions to potential mentors or collaborators.
#2. Participate in online communities
Tech forums (Like Stack Overflow, subreddits for tech discussion on Reddit & other specialized Slack groups) are great places to ask questions, find new resources, and collaborate.
An example could-R/learnprogramming is a sub-specialized for the programming noobs and Dev. to provide a comfortable living environment for developers.
#3. Have a presence
Document your learning journey on LinkedIn or Twitter. Share what projects you are working on, articles you find useful or tech concepts you are trying to learn.
Being part of the conversation on social media opens up direct opportunities with other individuals working in your field that you may not have access to otherwise.
Part of the art of networking is offering as much as receiving.
If you offer a helping hand, share what you learn or perhaps document your learning and post it, people will be more than happy to offer help back.
Step 6: Gain Practical Experience
Experience is situation-specific in tech, but it’s absolutely necessary, and you don’t need a full-time job to start gaining experience. A practical way to do this is:
#1. Internships & Apprenticeships
A lot of tech companies have internships that are designed for people with no experience. Apprenticeships — training programs for jobs, such as those offered by Microsoft and IBM.
Freelancing can provide flexible work in addition to developing your skills and experience. You can get entry-level projects by using some websites such as Toptal, PeoplePerHour, and Freelancer.
You can initially start with small tasks and then try your hands at tougher ones as you gain more confidence.
#2. Volunteering
Use your programming skills for nonprofit or school or community organizations. This allows you to gain practical experience while also getting the chance to help others.
In the same manner, platforms such as Catchafire and Taproot pair professionals with volunteer opportunities.
Be it the tiniest project or an epic one, all of it gives you material to learn from and use in your portfolio.
Real-world experience is what builds you and prepares you for technical interviews, it also shows employers that you’re capable of handling real-world projects.
Source: Freepik
Step 7: Guide to Creating a Strong Resume and LinkedIn Profile
An easy-to-read resume and LinkedIn profile can help you get your foot in the door. Here are some steps to ensure that both shine:
#1. Customize your profile for every role
Highlight the skills and experience that are most relevant to each job you apply for For example, if you are applying for a front-end developer job, highlight your experience with javascript frameworks, css and UI libraries.
#2. Use keywords
A lot of companies now utilize applicant tracking systems (ATS) to sort resumes.
Use keywords from the job description, in particular programming languages, tools or methodology.
Include a link to your portfolio or GitHub profile. Don’t forget that a portfolio should be well-structured and functional for navigation purposes since the reader (i.e. recruiter) needs to quickly evaluate your work.
Get active on LinkedIn (sharing content, groups, use of hashtags).
Participating in industry conversations, and networking with practitioners in your space.
Think about seeking recommendations from colleagues, teachers or mentors to bring an authoritative perspective to your profile.
A good LinkedIn profile with connections can get you referrals, and networking often helps become a name visible to other members of the tech community, who may know you already or who are also getting frequent updates from your profile on their network.
Step 8: Take Research to Apply to Tech Jobs
In tech, applying to jobs is a numbers game, but if you take the opposite approach, you can make your applications count and increase the odds in your favour. Here are a few ways to best utilize the applications you do decide to make:
#1. Research each company’s culture and values
Do yourself a favour and research the culture, values, tech stack of the company before applying. In cover letters and interviews, mention something you truly admire about the company or team — that can go a long way as well.
#2. Utilize job boards and company websites
The best place to start is the big job boards like LinkedIn, Indeed and Glassdoor however niche tech job boards must not be ignored like AngelList (startups), GitHub Jobs or Stack Overflow Jobs.
In addition, companies usually advertise jobs externally on their websites before publishing their details onto public job boards.
#3. Reference gets Interview
They Are New Candidates With a Reference If you know someone who works at a company that you would like to work for, do not be afraid to ask them if they would refer you. If they are unable or unwilling, just be courteous, professional and understanding.
#4. Keep records of your applications
Create a spreadsheet for your applications with information on the company, job title, date submitted and other follow up actions.
It keeps you organized so that you remember to follow up appropriately and do not apply twice to the same job without realizing it.
So a strategic approach to job applications saves you time, and allows you to show up as a prepared and deliberate candidate; and an employer will appreciate that!
Read also: Does a Business Analyst require Coding?
9. Be ready for technical and behavioural interviews
There can be tech tests along with behavioural questions when it comes to interviews for tech roles. Another way to put it, thrive at both things:
#1. Coding Interviews
For technical positions, you will probably need to complete coding challenges or problem-solving exercises. Problem Solving — Practice coding on LeetCode, HackerRank or CodeSignal Practice frequently used algorithms, data structures, and approaches to solving problems. For more data-intensive roles, be prepared to talk about things like writing database queries, statistical methods or techniques you use for data visualization.
#2. System design interviews
If you are interviewing for a mid-level or senior developer position, you might be asked to design systems (common in backend, full-stack or DevOps roles). Get well-versed with things like scalability, load balancing, and system architecture patterns. Books such as Designing Data-Intensive Applications: Martin Kleppmann and System Design Interview: An Insider’s Guide by Alex Xu can be useful.
#3. Behavioural interviews
Identifying how a candidate works under pressure resolves communication gaps, and can be a value-add to the organization.
Utilize the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique to build your responses. Specific examples of a challenge that you have overcome, or an account of work as part of a team, will do well to stand out.
I like to call them Mock interviews — with a friend, mentor, or even via an online mock interview platform. Certain platforms, such as Preamp and Interviewing. io, even match you up to practice with other candidates.
Well, preparation is necessary to feel confident and create a favourable impression in the interviews. Clearly articulate your thinking, explain your reasoning and ask clarifying questions when required. Instead of giving “perfect” responses, employers usually appreciate problem-solving abilities and flexibility.
Source: Freepik
Step 10: Network and Stay Up-to-date on New Technologies
However, the tech industry evolves rapidly and it is relevant to be aware of the most recent tools, trends and best practices. So, here is how you can keep polishing your skills and remain abreast:
#1. Keep an eye on tech news outlets
sites like TechCrunch, Wired, and Ars Technica deliver up-to-date news on the latest technologies and industry trends.
Staying informed about innovations and changes within the tech landscape is something that can be achieved simply by regularly reading articles.
#2. Take Specialized Courses
Websites such as Coursera or Udemy offer warrant-related courses (e.g., in AI, Blockchain or Cloud computing) By doing this, it lets you have a little bit more competition under your belt as you further in your career.
#3. Take part in Hackathons
These generally involve working with a team on short-term projects, which will sometimes deal with real-world problems.
Here you can use your skills, learn from others, or win prizes and gain exposure. There are always upcoming hackathons listed on platforms like Devpost and Major League Hacking.
#4. Open-source contributions
It often happens that we need to contribute ourselves on GitHub or GitLab with open source projects so that it would help us a lot in polishing our skills & keeping up records of the work done and most probably with other developers as well.
Having contributions to open-source on your resume adds a certain value to it as you develop various skills like how one works in a team, GitHub knowledge, coding abilities and most importantly taking the initiative to contribute.
Source: Freepik
#5. Attend industry conferences
Google I/O, AWS re: Invent, DEF CON to name a few always give us a sneak peek of the latest technology and tools at our disposal. It also gives the chance to network and learn from industry leaders.
Multiple conferences offer virtual attendance by default, which makes them easier to attend.
Keeping abreast of the current skills ensures that you do not lag behind in this competitive world, and this will also help keep your interest alive within your tech career. Change will always be part of the cycle, so instead of fearing it, celebrate it, and embrace every opportunity to rise.
Read also: 12 Project Management Strategies to Improve Efficiency
Wrap-Up: How To Start A Tech Career
Starting your career in tech takes time, perseverance and planning but the rewards make the long road less bumpy! The first step can be to dive deeper into the different types of roles available and pick one that excites you or matches your strengths.
With some experience under your belt, focus on a skill set that meets demand in alignment with where you see yourself long-term. The path from mastering the basic skills to creating a solid portfolio, engaging in networking and landing your first position is never easy; but it is always rewarding.
This field is all about networking and on-ground experience. You need exposure and you will be able to avail some real-time projects by communicating with your people, which further leads to job opportunities and mentors available.
Having a direct resume and LinkedIn with applicable job applications allows employers to see you louder, helping you get more interviews.
Note that the world of tech moves incredibly fast, so being up-to-date and continuously learning is something we do for life.
