To ask your advice on moving into a tech career?

[RainbowChameleon]

I am pulling my finger out and starting to think seriously about switching roles. Am I bonkers to consider tech? Late 20s, I have no previous tech experience. Did a tiny bit of social media posting/Web design for a company I used to work at but was all very basic. I have no coding knowledge. I am competent and confident in using a computer. I have a degree and MA in social sciences. I currently work in an unrelated sector which I'm not passionate about.

Why am I attracted to it? It's something different that I would never consider but I'm being open-minded and not limiting my options. I don't particularly want to go back to uni and there seems to be lots of courses in this field that don't require uni. The earning potential and tech seems pretty future proof.

I've just been reading up on old threads, about girls code first and sky get into tech. Can anyone of you share your stories/experiences/advice? Thank you.

I work in learning technologies. Which is basically the interface between teaching and technology. It's been a booming area during the pandemic.

While I did a conversion MSc, I don't do a lot of coding, if any at all. The best people in my field are the ones who can explain complex subjects in a lear and non-frightening way. HIgher education teaching staff can be quite tricky on occasions. If you have done any teaching, even better.

It's not as well paid as other IT jobs, but it's reasonably secure, interesting and fairly well gender balanced die to the large number of ex-teachers who take up the profession. If you could demonstrate the ability to explain a complex process in a way that doesn't make the person feel like an idiot, have some enthusiasm, have used a major VLE platform (Blackboard, Moodle Canvas) even as a student and could comment intelligently on the user experience then I would probably consider you for an entry level position. My last hire was a recent graduate (history) who had done a small amount of tutoring. She's proved to be an utter gem.

Hi OP, do you mean more about the UR work? If so, Google Norman Nielsen, courses expensive but lots of reading material and reports on their site which can give you an idea of what it's all about. General Assembly do a good course which was pricey, poss online during lockdown so maybe a bit cheaper. It can be very flexible, because of the nature of the work you can get lots of short term, say 3 month contracts.

I got into tech in my mid 20s. I'm a Senior QA Egineer after just short of 3.5 years, after taking a junior role when I got fed up of working in call centres and I love it.

You do not need to code to have a career in tech you could be a Scrum Master, Product Owner, Designer, Release Manager, Manual Tester, Business Analyst, Client Relationship Manager...etc etc none of these require coding skills. If you did want to learn to code, there are a lot of resources out there and you do not need a degree. People come to tech from all walks of life now and a lot of the time that doesn't involve a relevant degree at all.

The biggest thing you do need at the start though is patience (mainly with yourself) and a willingness to learn.

This is really interesting. I am utterly fed up in my role/career - admin. I was really good at computing at school. I know that's very general but I always wondered if I should've stuck with it and went down that path. I'm definitely going to look up these suggestions. Thanks!

I did the MSc conversion with a background in psychology (so lots of stats etc.) and it is REALLY hard work. It was essentially second and third year of an undergrad degree plus a masters thesis - all in 12 months. Make sure it’s really what you would want to do and that you have the ‘maths brain’ you need to cope with it. It’s really not for the faint hearted. I ended not going into IT but lots of the lessons around systems design and human factors have given me some great transferable skills. So, go for it if you’re really into it, but it is not an easy option if your brain isn’t built that way.

I did the MSc. in a 5* department so it attracted lots of complete brainiacs, and while I was struggling to build a car parking meter program for an assignment they were building a 3D chess programme for fun!

Depends on which field of IT interest you. Hardware or software. If you are interested in software then I suggest start with programming language like python/c# and a database language like SQL and oracle. If you study seriously for 3-6 months you should be able to get entry level job in IT.

Hi , I am secondary school Computer science teacher with 8 years of experience. Could you please share more information about learning technologies career options. Many thanks!

If you are computer teacher then I guess you already have the computer fundamentals proficency. You should be able to get into 1st line support where you are expected to log tickets and look at knowledge base to solve reoccuring issues.
If you want to get into dev role then you need to know programming basics and software lifecycle. Task managements using tool like Jira, source control like git etc. As I said previously anyone having dedication and 3-6 month of work can get into IT. 70% of projects are maintainence where you dont need to be highly skilled developer.
What you also need is some hands on exp on your CV so that you get interview call.
PM me if you want to dicuss it further.