Possible Tech Paths for Beginners

Possible Tech Paths for Beginners

So you have been considering a career switch for a while now and you have been looking loftily into the “tech” space. That is what draws your attention but you are not quite sure which specific path you should take. There are obviously a lot of them as you see each time you browse through social media.

The good news is that you are not alone. Your feelings are not strange. And the more exciting part is that it does not defy solutions.

Tech and digital transformation are going on everywhere around us. Companies need designers to flesh out product ideas, marketers who can literally rub products on customers’ faces, developers, cyber security experts, and a lot more. And there is you. You who want to jump ship.

The point of this piece is to save new entrants into the “tech” space some stress. The stress of having to exhaustively push around before they finally settle for something and begin the life-long journey of perfecting their choice.

This is not to say you have to stick with the choice you make today — or later — “till death do you part.” On the contrary, many paths intertwine and people make switches from time to as occasion demands. Or as career growth demands. That’s the fun part of the entire thing.

I won’t bother going into all the tech paths that there are in this piece. There is no room for them yet as they would probably require volumes of publication. I would simply touch on a few quite common and in-demand ones. Ones with…well…not so sharp learning curves. Don’t get me wrong. You have to put in the work and a lot of it for that matter. But if you’re coming from certain backgrounds, you could catch up with some of them faster.

By the time you finish reading this, I expect you would be able to better define what path you would take.

Product Management

If you’re coming from a management background, this might be something you consider. Just a little bit of thought. Relax. Don’t worry. Calm your nerves. Breathe in and out freely. It’s a no-code role. We haven’t got to that area yet.

I like to call the Product Manager (PM) everybody’s dad — or mum. In the lifecycle of a digital product, this person is basically the product owner. They interact with everybody working on the product from the designers, marketers, developers, data analysts…and clients too. Everybody.

The PM’s job starts from product ideation. They have to work with the UX designer — and data analyst — (we’ll come to these in a bit) to plan the product, interaction with interview respondents, creating user stories, and product release strategy.

The PM is responsible for defining the requirement of the product and determining which features of the product are to be released and when depending on available data. They monitor research about the market and competitors.

As stated earlier, they work with developers too to make sure tasks are promptly delivered and to standard. Essentially, the PM is the first point of contact with regard to anything related to the product they have at hand.

Product/UI/UX Design

In the actual scheme of things, the product designer, UI designer, and UX designer should be completely different guys taking up distinct roles. But I’m going to lump them all up as one in this piece. There is a reason for that. For one, I bet you always see the term “UI/UX” so written all the time. Right. Let’s keep it that way for now.

This is also a no-code path. So, in case you’re so scared that everything in tech might require you to learn how to write code, this is another piece of evidence to the contrary.

User Experience (UX) design is a track that works to ensure the smooth flow of web and mobile applications, software, and any product for that matter. The UX designer studies the user and designs products in tandem with their habits, motivation, and other factors, so the user can ultimately enjoy using the product while they seamlessly carry out tasks.

How easy is this product to use? How can we make it better? In what ways can we improve the experience of the user while using this product? How smooth is the overall flow? These are some of the questions UX designers find themselves confronted with and strive to solve daily.

The User Interface (UI) design, on the other, is where man and machine finally meet. It deals with the look and feel of a digital product’s interface. How elements in the product are eventually laid out.

The UI designer creates the visual effect of the product. The data for this gotten from the UX designer’s work and what they flesh out directly subsists from what comes out of the UX research.

This is the part of the product lifecycle where you begin to see beautiful images, colors, fancy buttons, and CTAs. The product literally starts breathing at this stage. Note that the UI designer is not a graphics designer. No. Please eliminate that thought. Quick.

The reason you find the UI and UX written together is that both roles are usually played by the same person, except in large companies that are able to break every unit down. Think Google or Twitter.

Lest I forget…UI/UX designers are colloquially called Product designers. Let’s not unpack the whole story here. Let’s take it as is for now.

Web Development

It gets thicker here as the design, which is the result of the hard work of the UI/UX designer in conjunction with the PM, gets a new form of life with code. As you would know, a fantastic and aesthetically looking web/app design as it is has no real use to anybody. It has to come to life, and become interactive and usable. That’s where the developer come in.

Oh, there are many forms of web and app development, as well as many languages which the scope of this piece will not cover. I want to limit it to web development for certain reasons.

Moving on, there are two phases of web development. The front-end and the back-end. No doubt you might have heard of this dichotomy but wonder what exactly they mean. Well, that’s why you’re reading this.

Front-end web development is the client side of the website or application. You’re reading this piece and interacting with this site currently on the front-end. It is the part you see and engage. The back-end, on the other hand, is the part you don’t see. You clicked on a link and it brought you to the website where you’re reading this, you exactly don’t know what happened behind the scene to land you here. That’s the business of the back-end guys.

Furthermore, there are those who are specialized in both front-end and back-end web development, they are called full-stack developers. This is not to say that the full-stack developer is more valuable that front-end or back-end specialists. Not at all. So, no pressure.

There is yet an interesting part to web development for those who might be scared of writing code. A number of no-code web development tools are now available and they work just fine. You just have to know how to design websites and you’re good to go. So, think Webflow, Wix, and Bubble, for example.

Software Development

Don’t mistake this for web development as many uninitiated folks would do. In case you are one of them, this is where you stop. Congratulations!

As you know that web development is the technique of making existing web designs active, Software development is the technique of creating computer programs. Succinctly.

There are, thus, three types of computer software. These are system software, application software, and utility software.

A system software developer builds operating systems on which hardware is run. Think your Android, iOS, Windows, and the like. The application software developer builds applications that run on operating systems like your web browser, or design tool. Utility software are built to perform a certain task on your computers. Think of your anti-virus software.

Data Analysis

Data is the lifeblood of modern economies and every form of technology. Once products are released into the market, companies want to know the feedback with regard to user receptibility, behavior, and trend among other things. This will inform future product updates and business strategies that would further enhance the position of that product in the market.

The data analyst collects data on product users, and analyzes them, so the product team can come up with actionable plans. This will guide the product owners to make better business decisions.

They typically set up the systems they use to collect data. They are also responsible for cleaning up acquired data. They have specific tools used to analyze various data.

Cyber Security

Cyber security experts help firms to build security and defense systems that protect their devices and sensitive data from malicious attacks, damages, security breaches, and other unauthorized incursions. Statistics have that this field will see a rapid increase and a lot of demand in years to come as companies are investing more in data protection.

Wrap Up

There you go. Six tech career options that I think anyone would be able to latch on to and get moving within about a year. If you are still not sure of what your gut might be saying, of course, do further research, but ultimately, take that leap!

Importantly, don’t forget what I stated earlier that you are not tied to one thing. This is the tech space you have heard so much about. Explore!