You may be thinking of starting a career or making a career shift into the tech industry but with the lots of information out there it can be daunting. 

There’s so many career paths, certifications, coding languages, all these can make you feel overwhelmed. 

The good thing about tech is; there is no limit to what you can do with it. A tech career is a career with lots of opportunities.

In this post, we will look at what to do if you want to start a career or make a career shift into the tech industry.

Let’s get started

1. Give yourself time

Take your time to think about what you want from starting a career in the tech industry. There are lots of career paths and options in the tech industry, there are those that require coding and those that don’t, some require advanced schooling and others you can learn on your own or by taking online courses. 

How do you know where to start with all of these? It’s important to give yourself time to reflect and process what it is that you want out of the tech industry. Be honest with yourself about what you want and why you’re interested in getting into tech. This leads us to point number 2

2. Research 

Technology is a broad field so you must do a lot of research before jumping in to start a career in tech. Do your research on the available job opportunities, career paths, type of schooling and certifications required for different jobs and opportunities. 

Use the information you get out of your research to decide on the career path that would offer you what you want. This would help you to be aware of the type of work environments that are related to the type of career path you might be interested in.

It is also important to research the types of certifications or skills that you need to learn for this career path. For example, if it involves coding, you will need to know what languages you need to learn to be successful in that career. 

Do not rush this process, take your time to research because this is vital to starting a new career. 

3. Follow trends of things that are going on in the tech industry.

The tech industry is one of the fastest evolving industries. This is why it is very important to stay on top of the trends. 

Getting Google trends on certain keywords can help you stay on top of current trends and be alert when things are happening in industries, positions or career paths that are directly going to affect you as you are learning. 

For example, if you are a frontend developer who deals with the visual aspects of the website, how would you know if there are new trends in interface designs or user experience design? Following these trends would help better your work and save you from being outdated. 

4. Focus on project-based learning

There are many resources out there like videos, e-books, tutorials, etc. One mistake a lot of people make while learning a new skill is that they remain stuck with the book knowledge, or just watch one tutorial to the other without practising what they are learning. 

This method of learning can make you feel overwhelmed and with time lose interest in what you are learning. 

The best way to learn a new skill is to focus on building things, this will help you apply the knowledge you have to real-life situations. 

It will make the learning process interesting and fun. For example, you can start by creating small projects like building your calculator or build a to-do list.  

5. Find a community

Find a community of like-minded people, this can be online or physical. It is so important to have people who are on the same learning journey as you or similar experience of starting a career in tech because they are going to understand the struggles that you are having, they are going to be able to empathise and help you in that area. 

Joining a community early can help you build friendships and connections that could potentially help you down the line in finding jobs, learning opportunities, resources and tools and also build your confidence etc. 

Examples of such communities are

6. Make a plan

It’s important to make a consistent and learning plan. Make a plan that would guide you through this process. 

You may have to learn new skills, take classes, and gain certifications. It is important to set some goals for yourself, you need to set a timeline as well as deadlines. Having a plan is vital to the whole process.

Starting a career in tech can be overwhelming but going through these steps and giving yourself time would help you make a difference.