How to Start a Career in Tech: 10 Tips from Experts

Tech can be a rewarding but competitive industry, especially when you’re just starting out. Many companies have a rigorous recruitment process, complete with assessments and multiple rounds of interviews.

The good news is that a little bit of preparation can go a long way in helping you stand out from other applicants. And with our expert tips, you’ll be well-positioned to impress recruiters and land yourself your ideal tech role.

Identify Your Preferred Niche

Tech is a broad industry, so start by deciding what you want to do. While you can’t predict exactly how your career will turn out, especially in an industry that’s constantly evolving, you do need to know the field and role you want to work in. There’s a big difference between being a video game graphic designer, a biotechnician and a computer science college professor, after all.

Take the time to investigate potential tech roles, and ask yourself these questions:

• What impact do I want to have?
• What skills do I want to use?
• What work style do I want?

Knowing your priorities will help you narrow down your options.

Keep Learning

Working in tech means being an eternal student. There’s always a new program or technology that you’ll need to use, so make sure to keep learning. This could be through:

• College courses and bootcamps
• Free courses
• Podcasts
• Newsletters
• Experimenting with your own code
• Internships and apprenticeships
• Collaborating with other people in tech

Fortunately, the tech scene is generally collaborative and passionate about education. There are plenty of ways to learn for free. And if you sign up to tech sites and forums, someone will always be willing to answer your questions (assuming it’s not something you could find out yourself on the first page of Google).

Sign Up for Tech Websites

GitHub is probably the most famous tech-related social media site for sharing code and collaborating. If you want to go into programming, a GitHub account is a must-have. Not only will it help you learn more quickly, but recruiters will probably want to view your profile.

Of course, GitHub isn’t the only tech website you could sign up for. Other sites for sharing code include GitLab, BitBucket and SourceForge. You’ve also got plenty of options for forums, including specialized ones such as the WordPress Forums.

Build a Portfolio (And Keep Building It)

In the tech industry, your portfolio often carries more weight than your education levels or even your past experiences. Make sure you add interesting projects to your portfolio in all the languages, programs or technologies that you want to work in. Keep updating it as your skills progress.

Work on Your Soft Skills

Soft skills, such as social skills, verbal communication and emotional intelligence, can give you a competitive edge when there’s a large number of qualified and passionate candidates.

Even people working in tech need to get on with other humans, as well as machines. Recruiters will want to know that you can work well with their marketing and accounting teams, as well as your techie teammates.

So, work on your soft skills, and make sure to highlight them on your resume.

Network

Networking is an excellent way to discover job opportunities and make a strong first impression on potential employers and coworkers. Plus, you’ll get insights into the direction the tech sector is heading in.

The tech industry has a huge range of online and in-person networking events. MeetUp is a great way to browse local and online groups, but you can also find them through your college (if you’re attending one) or more specialist forums and websites.

Prepare for Assessments

Assessments are a common part of tech job applications. They’re often timed, and you’ll be expected to discuss what you did with the recruiter afterward.

The more familiar you are with common tech assessments, the easier it will be to hit the ground running when that timer starts. Do a few common assessments at home, and then practice explaining your programming or design choices.

Practice Your Interview Skills

Interviews can be nerve-racking experiences, but good preparation is the key to success. Practice introducing yourself to an interviewer and answering common interview questions. You might be invited to video, phone or in-person interviews, so make sure to prepare for all three.

Hone Your Resume

While your portfolio will tell potential employers about your tech skills, your resume will tell them about who you are. It’s equally important.

Make sure your resume is up-to-date and well-written. You can read our guide to resume do’s and don’ts to avoid common pitfalls or use one of our tech-related resume templates.

Oh, and watch out for one very common error tech applicants make in their resume: using beautifully designed graphics to demonstrate their proficiency with different skills, languages and tech stacks. They look great, but they often aren’t machine-readable and don’t give employers/recruiters an idea of how proficient you really are in those areas. Sometimes, basic is better.

Don’t be Afraid to Say No

Whether it’s a role that doesn’t match your career goals, unpaid work or a boss that isn’t supportive, sometimes you have to say no to a potential opportunity. It’s better to turn down a job offer or quit a toxic workplace than to waste your time and energy.

Your goal is to build a career, which means each job should be a stepping-stone to the career you want. And while you’re working on the wrong project, you’re not developing the skills or connections you really need.

Remember: saying “no” to this job could allow you to say “yes” to the right opportunity.

Launch Your Tech Career to Success with a Stellar Resume

When hunting for entry-level roles, you don’t want to settle for any old tech job. You want to sign on for a role that will kickstart your ideal tech career, whether that’s a front-end web developer, cybersecurity analyst or machine learning R&D officer. That means you want to be choosy about the company, job title and starting salary.

A strong resume will help you take the right first step on the career ladder. The better your resume, the more invites to interview you’ll receive, the more relevant those companies will be and the more easily you’ll be able to negotiate your salary offer. You’ll be well-positioned to select the ideal first role for your dream tech career.

Your resume should be tailored to your preferred career path and company, as well as highlighting your strengths as a candidate. It also needs to be machine-readable, concise and professionally presented.

Our tech-oriented resume templates will help you get started. Plus, our resume builder makes customizing them quick and easy. It will suggest the ideal structure based on your career history, as well as recruiter-recommended phrasing for your skill sets.

Build your resume now to begin your career in tech.