To ask about career options in tech?

[GingerAle1]

Hi. Put this here as the Work topic doesn't seem to get a lot of traffic.

I'm not techie at all but looking at a career change/development. Clearly the future is tech but I'd be starting from zero and looking to work part time. (47 and have family responsibilities).

Does anyone have experiences of doing free courses and building a career? I don't know where to start, but my normal work in marketing is being revolutionised and I'd like to get trained up to make the most of that. Or perhaps it will be lost to Chat GPT? I need to future proof my career where possible.

Also, how does this work for a woman my age? Are people mostly looking to hire youngsters? Is there home working potential? I guess essentially I'm asking if the dream that is sold is really true - can you work from anywhere? Is the market saturated already?

I have so many questions! All advice welcome. I have time to learn but I don't have spare cash to put into training.

Thank you.

so to be clearer, mundane is okay with me. If there's much in freelancing, would people make, say, £15 ph at the start? Then potentially I could do it alongside my current job and make a gradual transition?

The problem is the market is huge at the lower level and with no experience you are at the risk of automation and a flood of ready to go scripts and outsourcing companies, it depends on the language you choose, what you are suggesting is the contractor/freelancer route. As a contractor you will be paid a day rate and you will be given very strict deadlines on workable code, unless you hit lucky you won't be given time to trail and error and look around the system, you will be expected to deliver x code in x amount of time or you don't get paid especially at entry level. The same can be said around freelancing, most are very specific software specialists but the work is very piecemeal and at the lower level competing with code factories in india etc.

A decade ago you could have made that type of money being a Wordpress expert or CSS specialist, nowadays it is ready to run scripts that you buy from a website and run and use a WYSIWYG editor to tailor to your needs, have a look at sites like freelancer.com to see the competition you will be competing against

You can become a subject specialist in the some software/website builder that will require some coding knowledge to get the best out of it, but again those wanting the knowledge expect a certain level of experience.

I would take a look at that freelancer site and have a look around, see what interests you and what you area you want to work

I don’t think there is much schmoozing in an agency. People skills needed yes, but it’s more about strategising, planning and keeping marketing plans on track. You’ll usually be liaising with suppliers and other teams to get plans in motion. Communicating with clients on briefs, plans and resolving any issues. Any sales ‘schmoozing’ is normally done by business development or sales teams, in larger agencies.

For instance, squarespace is widely used as a website builder for small businesses. You can customise it via adding css/html and javascript. Becoming a specialist in that is something you can pick up and do an hour by hour basis, it could then lead onto the UX designer role that a PP has mentioned (but considering I know UX designers and UX team leaders at Microsoft/Apple and Google I wouldn't be aiming for 100K in 6 years, I would set your limits to be a bit more realistic)

Or maybe look at PM work, you're in the mix of dev but rely on the subject specialists seniors to relay issues and deal with the day to day, you will pick up a lot by simple osmoses.

Learn Python and data analysis.
Sounds perfect for you. No having to be overly people focused, get to code and use your brain and be an important part of the business.
Plenty of open roles - loads of companies take on juniors

Thanks to everyone here
I will definitely research this and see what I can do.

You don't need to be qualified in Prince 2 any more.

I'm a project manager in technology and I have an understanding of the key concepts but really learning agile is more important.

Great people skills, herding cats, it's what you need.

Many PMs in my firm are contractors on fewer days per week.

It's this type of 'just learn to code' which is causing a problem.

Graduates are now coming out with Python experience with added IP, TCP, DHCP experience for actual coding, if they are going down the data analyst route they have added SQL SSIKS/SSRS real world knowledge, and on top of that there is a ready supply of female graduates.

The OP isn't someone in their 20's wondering where to start a career, it is someone with commitments wanting to future proof her career, 'Just learn Python and X' is one level above the meme of 'just learn to code', for the OP to get a rounded knowledge of Python and Data analysis on top of working and possible childcare will be a simple task(and doable from free or even basic paid online courses) where she then can compete at junior level with recent grads and overseas freelance firms is not realising there is a real person asking the question.

Confused about your past regarding cyber. Are you saying it is a no because of working with people?

*SSIS

Blob "Great people skills, herding cats, it's what you need"

Honestly? My last two or three bosses would say my best skill is herding cats without them resenting it and in some cases, without them realising I'm doing it.

But I'd like to stop herding cats. Between work and family life, I feel like there's a lot of cat herding going on. I'd like to do something more measurable, with more direct benefit to me, and get away from workplace politics.

I'm thinking that a role involving less contact with people would be a nice change. I feel very peopled out.

Cyber does not have to be people based.

Many organisations are creating entry roles not just for youngsters e.g early careers. There are new laws and directives coming into play which means this area will explode even more. You don't need to go via help desk route.

We personally will be looking to recruit early careers targeted at women wanting to enter. It's worth while having cyber as a job search on LinkedIn even just for info.

Just to give an alternative view, I work in the tech industry, for a global software company. I have no tech experience, beyond one semester of c++ coding class, which I forgot the minute I handed in my final project. I work as a functional analyst, my role is to come in after the customer has decided to buy and implement our product, and to specify the product out for them, walking them through the process of customisation and set up to the point of implementation. I have a dev team who do the tech stuff, so I don't need to be an expert, although it helps to have an understanding of what's achievable and what's not. My role is to understand the client's needs, understand the product from a user perspective, and get the two to match up.

Our marketing team at the moment is working on positioning the company as a thought leader in the industry we create software for, as a way of building the company's brand awareness and general trust within the industry. So knowing the technical ins and outs of the product is not as important at the moment as knowing and understanding the industry, clients, potential clients and issues, legislation, future developments etc in that area.

My advice would be to look at industry areas you want to work in. They probably use tech. What companies do they use? Those are the companies that you might want to look at working for.

I'm thinking that a role involving less contact with people would be a nice change. I feel very peopled out.

The thing I have found working in tech is that you are almost always working very closely with other people as to get anything done involves quite large teams working together at pace. I would love to have time working on my own too but often spend 5-6 hours of my day on calls! This may be different if you are a software developer working on smaller projects alone, rather in a big team though.

I also saw comments on freelance - the thing with being freelance is most people (as I did) will want until they have acquired some skills and experience (e.g. working in an agency or in house) before going freelance, as when a company hires you on a freelance basis with a day rate they want you to be able to take something and run with it, not to have to hand hold a little. So they may be less likely to choose someone without that prior experience. if you can get that little bit of experience first freelance is great though!

Sustainable marketing or green marketing is very much in at the moment. Green digital skills also next big thing to add to your skill set. INCO Academy currently do free short courses online in both.