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All my women gather here! It's time to transition to tech roles!
For many years, there was a stereotype that women were built for the kitchen, and business, limited to only corporate job roles like being a receptionist, secretary, or customer care representative, and seemingly small roles with tedious tasks and little pay. Since the last decade, the world has gradually advanced beyond that level, thanks to civilization.
The need for quicker and more sophisticated results in companies has increased the demand for more technologically savvy workers. Women, fortunately, fill an important space in this quest. For this reason, many women are breaking the bias by transitioning to tech roles in these times.
As enlightening as this sounds, it is not a smart move to jump into any tech field for the fun of it. Learning and mastering any tech skill is a process that requires patience and consistency. This is why I have extracted how to transition to tech roles in 6 steps.
HOW TO TRANSITION TO TECH ROLES
1. Find your motivation
Before switching to any tech role, understand that there are multiple roles to choose from. Only a few will appeal to you.
If the role you transition to doesn’t drive you, you’d tire out almost the moment you get into it. For instance, if you are someone who is good with the concept of colors, arrangement, and organization, being a UI/UX designer or product manager won’t be a bad idea at all.
If it is the cool pay that interests you, then, that is still not a bad idea as long as something is spurring that interest.
2. Do your research
Tech is so broad and filled with many interesting elements that can get you easily confused trying to choose a focus. Before choosing a tech niche, identify what your interests and passion are, and streamline them to one or few field(s).
Brittany City, who is a female YouTuber, announced her tech job roles in one of her videos. She stated that as a data scientist, she was able to hone skills in data analysis and data engineering which she merges simultaneously, depending on the role she’s being assigned per time.
From this, you can understand that even if you decide to hone your skills in more than one tech field, they should go hand-in-hand with what is required at work.
For instance, as a digital marketer, you should be able to have the practical knowledge of basic UI/UX design principles, data analytics, CMS (Content Management System) like WordPress, and photo and video editing tools like Adobe Premiere.
Go deeper by dialoguing with mentors, friends, and colleagues in tech concerning;
What they do
The tasks required in that field
Why the job role is suitable for them
Their response will open your mind to decide on what field to choose. If their response doesn’t seem inspiring, then, your list just got smaller.
3. Develop your skills
After you have chosen a tech field, the next thing to do is to sharpen it. How do you do that?
Research the skills required for that tech field.
Invest in the resources necessary to master your craft. You can take online courses on Udemy, Coursera, Jobberman, etc. Go develop yourself in training academies such as Bulb Africa and Qala.
Schedule a plan to follow through with the process of your learning. You may decide to section the skills into those to be completed in the short term and long term. More than taking these courses is to get certified, which will open doors to many job opportunities.
If you have to select more than one role (which I recommend), my advice to you is to select similar roles, such that if you don’t feel interested in a particular role anymore after trials and errors, you can easily switch to the next and flow with it.
4. Build on your existing profile
As I mentioned in the last point, you should build on your role by honing transferable skills. This is one of the best strategies for being marketable. You may decide to switch to another tech field (Insert the link to the ‘10 most in-demand tech jobs’ on the bolded texts) at any moment.
These skills will look great on your resume, portfolio, LinkedIn, and other social platforms. Asides from this, you will be one of the first options for employers when they discover you are multifaceted and can fit in where necessary.
Note that some tech roles may be hard to master simultaneously. Some roles if combined may leave you half-baked unless your intelligence is a very rare kind.
5. Network
If you intend to transition to tech, you shouldn’t be missing networking opportunities on platforms like the ‘WorkitOut with Careerbuddy' House party, organized quarterly by Career Buddy
In platforms like this, many women who intend to transition or have transitioned to tech have met great minds in the field of tech who end up as their mentors, employers, business partners, friends, or colleagues.
Gatherings like this will expose you to different people’s experiences, especially in the particular field your eyes are on. There, you will learn, unlearn and relearn. You will equally be privileged to avoid making certain mistakes those advanced in your desired field have made.
Also, join social platforms to interact with people of similar interests as you. A few of such platforms are Reddit and the occasional digital spaces on Twitter.
6. Apply to jobs
Finally, apply for jobs! It is time to show off your girl power. You naturally may feel inexperienced because it’s a whole different line of work from what you have been exposed to. But trust me, it is only a feeling.
Do you know that many people today get called for job interviews where their skills barely match the job description? How much more will you be with all the efforts you have put into upscaling yourself?
There are several remote and onsite firms (Insert ‘Find remote work online in 2022’ link here) that need technical employees to grow their market where necessary, and you cannot miss out on these opportunities.
If you are confused about the steps to take to get a job as a first-time tech job seeker, click this link to guide you on that path. By chance, if you want to start a developer job role, click here.
Ultimately, tech fields do not accommodate quitters. No matter how difficult it may seem at the beginning of your tech journey, don’t stop pushing for success. In due time, you will come out as a tech guru. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so, you can’t hone your skills and start cashing out immediately. But you will thank yourself for taking that leap of faith.
If you ever decide to switch careers to a field in tech, these tips will guide you extensively. All the best.