Career transitions have become more convenient than ever before. Thanks to the Internet which provides us with numerous learning opportunities. Nowadays, a person with no prior education in computer science can have a tech career by upskilling themself.
Do you want to have a promising career in tech? Is your non-technical qualification holding you back from working in your dream job? Let’s dive and understand how to get along the tech career pathway.
Firstly, remember career transition is like a turning point in your career; hence it requires a lot of perseverance and patience. To get into an unfamiliar industry and establish yourself, you need to start from scratch and learn from the basics. For a tech job, You need to spend endless hours learning coding, framework, and other technical concepts.
What are the Best Ways to Prepare Yourself for a Tech Career?
Tech careers require a strong hold on your skill sets like programming, web development, etc. There are various ways to learn and upscale yourself, let’s understand them individually.
1. Online platforms and Boot camps
Remote learning makes it easy to get the best of knowledge and skill set from the comfort of your home. You get to network with like-minded tech enthusiasts. There’s a structured format, assignments, and feedback system for an engaging learning experience.
Bootcamps are one of the most effective ways to get into tech. Learning from bootcamps gives industrial insights and doubt solving support systems. And you get a certification at the end of the boot camp.
Various platforms are available for studying different streams of Tech.
- Coursera – You can gain certification or degree courses from the best universities and tech companies collaborating with Coursera. Learn demanding skills like big data, machine learning, or data science.
- Cloud Academy – As the name suggests, Cloud Academy specializes in courses in cloud computing. You get an understanding of cloud computing from its fundamentals. Their practical assessment technology encourages students to build cloud environments, experiment with skills and enhance their knowledge.
- Udacity – From programming to product management, Udacity has structured courses for every tech career stream. The courses are 1-2 months short and very helpful to clear concepts from basics to advancement.
- Cybrary – For gaining knowledge in the cyber security field, Cybrary is a recommended platform. Learn through on-demand courses taught by industry experts. Implement your learnings into practice labs and skill assessments.
Read – 7 Certifications to Land the Best of In-demand Tech Jobs, 5 Best Online Platforms for Tech Skills and Portfolios
2. Mentorship & Networking at Tech Events
Along with the technical skills you learn, networking is a crucial aspect of a tech career. Having a professional network or knowing someone who is from a tech background is very beneficial at the time of job hunting. For example, let’s say you have a friend or relative working in tech who can help you with referrals for your first jobs. Request them to share their interview experience to help you prepare for the job post. There are online mentorship platforms where you can interact with tech professionals and have one-on-one discussions for your tech projects and all career-oriented queries.
Similarly, attending tech conferences, webinars, and events, makes you aware of the latest advancements in the tech industry, and you meet many professionals to guide you with their expertise. Be curious, and don’t miss any opportunity to pitch your ideas. You can communicate with these professionals at tech events and share your willingness to work under their guidance and mentorship. Remember, if you don’t ask, the answer will always be no!
Read – The Dynamic Duo: Networking with Mentorship for Tech Careers
3. Apprenticeships
Tech Apprenticeships are structured training programs that provide individuals with an on-the-job learning experience and classroom instruction, enabling them to develop practical skills and knowledge in specific tech roles. Apprenticeships benefit individuals looking to switch careers and gain hands-on experience working alongside experienced professionals. We can say,” Learning and earning go hand in hand!”
Google has apprenticeships in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and New York and a few remote opportunities. Each location offers one or more professional tracks like data analytics, digital marketing, information technology, project management, software engineering, and user experience design. Individuals get paid for the hours they spend in training. After training and performance evaluations, Apprentices will join a Google team for track-specific learnings and career workshops throughout the program.
Read – Top 5 Tech Apprenticeships in 2023
How to Showcase and Enhance Your Technical Skill Set?
With this question, let’s discuss the next phase of your tech career. With sheer resilience and determination, you have developed your technical skill sets through boot camps or self-learning but lack the practical implementation of these valuable skills. What to do next? How to showcase your skills and make an earning out of it? Let’s understand.
1. Self-projects or Voluntary Work
Self-projects not only demonstrate your technical skills but also your creative thinking and problem-solving abilities. So choose a simple issue and work on finding solutions through your technical skills. For example, if you are into web development, help a local shop or NGO by creating a website.
2. Hackathon events
A hackathon/code fest is a coding event that brings programmers and other tech professionals together to improve upon or build a new software program. Participating in hackathons will enhance your coding skills and essential soft skills like leadership, effective communication, and team management. Winning the hackathon is beneficial for your portfolio and applying for high-paying jobs.
3. Open source Projects
For freshers, open-source projects are the best way to gain experience and work on their skill sets. An open-source project is a software development project made available for anyone to view, modify and distribute. It encourages collaboration and community-driven development, allowing individuals to contribute their skills, knowledge, and expertise to improve the project. Individuals can provide solutions like writing code, fixing bugs, working on new features, etc.
Open-source projects develop your critical thinking abilities and add credibility to your portfolio. You get to work with tech professionals at a vivid level of experience. It’s a powerful opportunity to network and gain industrial insights.
We have curated a detailed article on open-source projects. Do go through it and start working on open-source projects.
Read – Make Your First Open Source Contribution: Beginner’s Guide & Tips
What are the best platforms for Portfolio Creation?
A Tech portfolio has become an essential evaluation tool for most tech job roles. A portfolio collects your prominent projects, work samples, and experiences. The purpose of a tech portfolio is to add credibility to skillsets and the resume.
Let’s explore the platforms that can help in your portfolio creation process.
- GitHub is helpful for version control and code collaboration. It allows you to create repositories to store your code projects and collaborate with others. You can showcase your coding abilities, contributions to open-source projects and create a portfolio website using GitHub Pages.
- Behance is a platform dedicated to creative professionals, including designers, illustrators, and UI/UX experts. It highlights your visual design projects, including graphics, animations, and user interfaces. You can also network with other professionals and get feedback on your work.
- LinkedIn is widely used by professionals in various industries, including technology, and provides an excellent platform to connect with potential employers or clients. And hence a LinkedIn profile with all your latest accomplishments, work experiences, and projects is a must for all tech professionals.
Read – What Makes an Impressive Tech Portfolio: A Beginner’s Guide
Hacks for Job Hunting in Tech
Tech Job hunting is a long-term process that requires consistent efforts each day. Job searching has many levels, from finding your target companies to altering your resume and reaching out to your recruiters.
LinkedIn Jobs, Indeed, Glassdoor, StackOverflow, and Monster are some of the trustworthy platforms for tech jobs. Several websites are available for searching specifically remote jobs like DailyRemote, JustRemote, Remotive, etc.
We are now experiencing the AI era; how can we not include AI to ease our job search hassle? AI can help alter your resume, optimize your LinkedIn profile, and much more.
We have curated a detailed article on proven strategies for job hunting using AI applications. Many individuals have tried these techniques and landed their desired job roles. Now it’s your chance!
Check out the article – Proven Strategies for Tech Job Hunting in 2023
The next step after job hunting is cracking the job interview and selection process. And for most tech companies, the selection process is very intensive. We have a bunch of tips and pieces of advice for tech interview preparation. We will be launching an exclusive article dedicated to interview preparation and do’s and don’ts in an interview.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the tech industry values skills, experience, and demonstrated abilities over formal academic qualifications alone. Aspiring tech professionals can optimize the wealth of learning resources available today and craft a compelling portfolio to showcase their capabilities.
By actively participating in tech communities and utilizing various strategies for job hunting, individuals can carve their paths into rewarding tech careers, regardless of their academic background. Embracing a proactive and self-driven approach to skill development and career advancement is the key to unlocking a bright future in the ever-evolving tech world.
Fortunacademy aims at helping young students and professionals find their passion and lead them towards a successful tech career. Stay tuned for the most awaited article about excelling in the tech job interviews and selection proceedings.