Shifting to a Career in Technology: What’s In It For You?
As we move through the generations, more and more people are taking up education to re-start their career. You may have gone to university at 18 and studied for three years, but 10 years on you may have decided that the world of tech is for you. With children now learning to code at school and online, this industry has never been more accessible. So, if you are considering a move to the world of technology, what could you possibly gain from it?
Genuine job diversity
You may want to get a career in technology for the traditional job roles; coding, creating new hardware, software development. However, this doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to work for all the big tech giants, or make your way over to Silicon Valley. Instead, you could well find yourself becoming a 3-D graphic designer, a web-designer for a fashion label or developing sports technology. A career in this sector can just about be applied to any area of interest.
This job diversity is transferable skills in the real sense of the word. Having knowledge and experience of technology could see you not just hopping from job to job and sector to sector, but also around the globe. The need for highly-skilled technicians and developers is a global and universal demand. Becoming educated and trained in this area really could make the world your oyster.
An ever-changing sector
If you join the technological sector, you won’t be joining an industry that’s in decline or coming to a halt. Instead, you will be joining an industry that is ever-changing and evolving. Employees who earned their degree in information technology 30 years ago have learned to acclimatize and learn throughout the generations of new technology. It’s for this reason that tech is not a dead-end career. You can go into the information and technology world and know that it is possible to side-step into a similar realm. As technology moves forward, your skills will be applied, just in a different way. If you apply yourself and are willing to learn and take on new knowledge, you will never fall behind. You will be at the forefront of modernization and development.
Managerial positions
Like many industries, job security gets far more diverse and exciting as you climb up the ladder. The senior roles in technology are not only well-paid, but they also allow you to learn other coveted managerial skills. Project management in the tech world is incredibly important. Projects in this sector can be incredibly advanced, require a lot of protection of embargoed content and organization. On top of that, they also require a lot of team work, which has to be supervised and managed on a daily basis. Keeping the team on side while you develop a new and exciting project is a skill in its own right. If this is a skill you would want to work on then getting a degree in project management, on top of your technology degree will put you in good stead. These can easily be done online with Southern Cross University, allowing you to build on your skills set around your work schedule. Combing your previous set of expertise, your new skills in technology and education in leadership and project management could make you invaluable to many companies.
Problem Solving
If you really enjoy getting your teeth stuck into problems, or love the process of figuring out how to tweak and fix unresolved issues, then tech could be a potentially great industry to work in. This industry practically thrives on the need to resolve issues or improve the functionality of software and hardware. Whether you’re a software developer, a network technician or IT support, there will never be a boring day. Having an analytical mind or even just the simple enjoyment of working as a team could really benefit you in this industry.
Innovation – in every sense
The need for technology to grow and adapt means that you will have a certain amount of job security, depending on what sector you’re in. As well as being in an industry that pioneers new technology and software improvement, you could also find yourself in a sector that is forward-thinking in other areas. It has been found that around a quarter of finance employees are interested in making the move to the tech sector. A suspected reason for this is that tech companies provide meaningful work, and have to practice what they preach when it comes to forward thinking, resulting in more flexible working hours. It looks as if the days of burning the midnight oil for high-paying finance jobs are being swapped for purposeful, interesting professions that maintain a work-life balance for employees.
What are your non-tech skills?
If your reason for jumping sectors is your dissatisfaction with your current job, have you ever wondered what you could personally bring to the tech industry itself? For example, if you studied a Bachelors in History, have been working in communications and are about to join a software development company, you could have the upper hand. Your niche, bonus set of expertise could fill a surprising void in either a company or the industry itself.
It’s important that you don’t see your background as your Achilles heel – it could really be a benefit to you. It really should be emphasized that you don’t necessarily have to have a techie background to move into this industry. Your own unique set of skills could truly benefit many companies. Even if you aren’t as into the mathematical data-driven side of technology, you could find yourself working in the visual or technician realm. What you do with technology will ultimately come down to your interests and the experiences you pick up along the way.
No boredom
Job dissatisfaction can often come with boredom. Feeling as if you’ve been wasting the days completing mundane and meaningless tasks can be hugely draining on your morale and sense of purpose. A huge benefit of joining the IT or tech sector is that you will always be engaged. The aspect of problem-solving and learning as the tech industry progresses is ideal for a person who likes to keep their brain stimulated. Coding and technician work are two prime examples of jobs that require you to frequently think on your feet and figure out some complex ideas.
A social job
A combination of stereotypes, and people’s own personal singular experiences, have built up the image that the tech sector is full of anti-social workers, hurriedly working on their own. However, this isn’t always the case. As a result of this job requiring a large amount of problem-solving, you will be required to work closely with others. While you may of course find yourself completing projects on your own, you shouldn’t approach it as a solo career. Working as a team will help you overcome large tasks, develop new ideas and generally improve your working social life.
There’s no such thing as a boring time to join the tech industry. As our personal, work and utility devices become more advanced, we will need the people-power to develop ideas and solve problems. If you’ve ever relished the achievement of troubleshooting a problem or learning how to complete a basic piece of code, then a career in technology could be for you. Whether you want to stay in the development sector of the industry or work your way up through management, this industry has an infinite number of doors that could be open to you one day.
