MaddyAre you wondering what a tech career is right for you?
This article will give you some ideas for deciding which tech career is right for you.
This is not a scientific study.
It comes from personal experiences and from speaking with many different people.
Let's start.
Consider What You Do Outside Of Work
Do you code?
Software engineering, DevOps engineering and platform engineering are the most suitable careers for people who code. All these three roles involve coding and knowledge of technical tools.
Granted that hobby coding is different from professional coding. Still, there's a high chance that if your code is outside of work, you may find software engineering a suitable choice.
Do you write?
Technical writing would be a good choice if you write outside work, own a blog, website, etc.
Do you design?
The three main careers where you can use your skills are UX Design, Product Design and Graphic Design.
Do you help other people solve their problems?
Customer success and customer support are both careers that have a strong
Do you do public speaking?
Public speakers possess strong communication and persuasion skills.
These skills can be helpful in sales engineering or data analytics careers.
In short, a role that will require you to give presentations to either customers or key stakeholders may be suitable for you if you do public speaking outside of your job.
Do you plan for stuff?
Are you the type of friend who always plans for trips, is highly organized, and has excellent time management skills?
Project Management could be a career where you may excel at.
Related: 5 High-Paying Tech Careers That Are Not Software Engineering
Assess Your Personality Characteristics
Where does your energy come from? Are you more introverted or extroverted?
While all jobs in tech require some interpersonal interaction, some roles are heavier on customer interaction than others.
As a software engineer, in my personal experience, I rarely had to interact directly with customers but more with other immediate colleagues, product managers, stakeholders, etc.
The same applies to highly technical jobs such as cloud engineering, platform engineering, etc.
However, I know of people who work as sales and presales engineers who interact with customers almost regularly.
Technical recruiters also interact with candidates regularly before sending them through the Hiring Manager.
Are you detail-oriented?
Data analysts, technical writers, and frontend engineers are some types of jobs that suit highly detail-oriented people.
Primary duties: A data analyst gathers, stores and interprets different company data sets, like logistics, sales numbers linguistics or market research. Other key duties include creating, updating and deleting master data sets, conducting quality assurance reports on imported data, following company guidelines to correctly process organizational data and presenting data sets to leadership teams.[Indeed]
Are you a logical person?
[...]Logical thinking involves objectively studying a situation and using reasoning to develop a viable solution or generate ideas. These skills involve identifying patterns, correlations, and trends that can influence decision-making.[Indeed]
Roles that are highly technical suit people who are logical thinkers.
From my experience, people who excel at maths are likelier to excel at highly-logical roles such as software engineering, cloud engineering, platform engineering, etc.
Are you a leader?
Being a leader means leading, influencing and inspiring one individual or a group of people to achieve better outcomes.
A leader is not the same as a boss (or manager).
A manager tells you what to do.
A leader commits himself to removing barriers (either personal or organizational) that may prevent people from achieving their best.
Tech roles that require strong leadership skills are project management and engineering management.
Related : Jobs In Tech That Don't Require Coding
What Motivates You?
Finally, these questions are designed to stimulate you.
What motivates you?
Here's a list of actions that could spark your motivation:
Solving puzzles.
Solving a customer issue.
Meeting a deadline.
Closing a deal.
Digging into data.
Coaching others.
Key Takeaways
This article lets you know which angles you can take to choose the most suitable tech career for you.
If you enjoyed this article, share it with someone considering joining the tech industry but doesn't know where to start. Also, I have a FREE weekly newsletter you can subscribe to!
Until next time!
🙋🏾
