So You Want to Work In Technology: Tips & Tricks to Landing Your Next Role

For the last decade, the job market in the tech field has outperformed every other section.  With all of the job losses that have occurred in the first half of 2020, it is natural to be drawn towards a field that pays well and continues to grow.

So where do you start? At Careerwell, we want to help you understand how to get your foot in the door, how hiring decisions are made, and how to increase your chances of landing your dream job. 

There are many different scenarios in which you might need a career change.  Whether you are coming from a technical background/degree,  transitioning into tech with little previous experience, or following through on a passion project,  educating yourself and practicing your new craft is a must.  

Where to Start

You need to make yourself comfortable with these job hunting tips/tricks:

1. Applying to jobs and waiting for a reply is an inefficient and laborious process.  Even the best resumes/candidates are up against steep competition, and simply applying and hoping for the best simply won’t cut it most of the time.  You’ll need to go above and beyond, to get your foot in the door.

2. Be proactive about your follow up and networking.  Find technology leaders within companies that you admire/respect and connect with them.  Tell them about YOU; both techy and otherwise.

3. Stay relevant in the Technology you are applying for. Take advantage of the abundance of free information out there in places like udacity, coursera, github, LinkedIn groups, etc just to name a few. There are no excuses for limiting your consumption of the tools & information out there on the web.

Landing a technical job doesn’t always mean you will immediately write greenfield software or design the network infrastructure for a company. You have to start somewhere and sometimes that means taking a leap of faith with a company with a well-articulated growth structure. It is important to set realistic expectations and come to grips the barriers you will face for each.

If You Have a Four-Year Technical Degree:

While establishing yourself with a degree in the technology field doesn’t guarantee you a job, but it definitely goes a long way. The fastest-growing jobs in Technology are web & mobile applications, information security, AI, automation, and cloud computing. The hardest job to get in the tech world is your first.  That is very apparent in the number of postings you’ll see, targeting someone with 5+ years of experience.  If you don’t put in the time beyond your coursework, you’ll struggle to get your foot in the door. Be creative when it comes to tinkering with your passions and reading up on different opportunities that excite you. If you can’t demonstrate your technical ability in practical ways you’re going to have a hard time landing your dream job. That can be internships, personal projects, or participating in hackathons.

What about if you don’t have a Computer Science Degree?

To those not pursuing the traditional four-year CS degree, there are plenty of options. There are numerous fast-growing technical roles that don’t require a computer science degree.  Analytics, SEO, and Graphic Design can, for the most part, be self-taught and learned in a relatively short amount of time.  If you’d really like to be a developer – there are options there as well.  In the last decade coding bootcamps have become a popular option for people looking to break into the tech world. Do your due diligence though – because they aren’t all created equal.  They cost a lot of time, money, and there is no guarantee that you’ll find a good job. These same bootcamps have expanded well past software engineering to include training in BI, data analytics, SEO, etc. There are more opportunities than ever before to create a new foundation in a variety of areas.

These 7 careers in tech are a great starting point when thinking about what skills to acquire to ‘break into’ a career in Technology.  With determination, a lot of practice, and a great networking strategy, you can become the next tech success story.