You might have heard about everything a career in tech has to offer: flexible schedules, remote work, great pay. You might think that tech work really isn’t for you because you’re not computer science inclined but there’s in fact a very good chance that tech really IS for you, in ways that are so obvious you just haven’t thought of them. Take a look at the questions below to see if tech work is for you.
1. Do you like to create things?
Do you like turning your ideas into reasonable things? In fact, creativity is the basic foundation behind almost everything in tech, making it an ideal field for showcasing your passions with dependable employment. Remember, at the end of the day any piece of tech hardware, software, app, or website is ultimately a creative work of art. If you’re creative, you’re a natural for this kind of work.
2. Do you like solving problems?
In addition to being a creative industry, tech is a living, evolving network of problems to be solved. There is no end point in tech, just the next problem to be solved before moving on to the one after that. If you answered “yes” to being creative, you’ll most likely answer “yes” to being a problem solver as well. Creativity and problem solving go hand-in-hand, since the process of creating is basically solving problems.
If you enjoy the process of problem solving and the challenges and rewards it brings, tech might be right for you. Tech problem solving is no different than figuring out a way to make a persuasive argument in an essay or finding out how to sculpt a vase in the shape you’ve envisioned—it’s just a different framework and a new set of tools.
3. Do you Enjoy Learning?
If you are creative AND a problem solver, you probably MIGHT also be a lifelong learner. You’re probably not the type who slammed the books shut the second school was over and walked away, never to inquire again. More likely, you’re the kind of person who is constantly taking on new information, learning new skills, and finding new ways to look at and think about things.
So why not learn to code? Take on HTML and CSS. Then move from there to JavaScript. If you’re a lifelong learner, learning these skills will be a reward in itself. But they’ll also yield a ton of practical use when you’re done, including employment in a field where you’ll be challenged to learn new things.
4. Are You on the Outside Looking In?
One of the biggest obstacles to pursuing a tech career is feeling like you’re on the outside looking in. If you’re new to the idea of working in tech and don’t know a lot about it, it might seem like you don’t have direct access to an inside track. Happily, your status as an outsider might actually be a benefit to your tech ambitions. Since tech is always changing and evolving, the more perspectives you can bring to the table, the better. Think of all the non-tech experiences in your life so far as a positive. You aren’t operating inside of a tech bubble so you might be able to think about things in a way someone inside that bubble can’t, or see things that others in the bubble can’t see.
By learning tech skills and combining them with your own unique pre-existing set of skills and experiences, you’ll be bringing a mind and a voice to tech that has spent time outside the confines of computer science degrees. And that’s certainly not a bad thing.
5. Do You Like Innovation?
If you’re bored or unchallenged by a job where the same things happen every day, then you’re more into innovation than you are unoriginality. An interest in innovation goes hand-in-hand with all the other qualities listed so far. And if innovation, newness, and the growth and evolution that come with charting new terrain sounds promising to you, then start pursuing a career in tech right now.
By working in tech you will literally be working with new technologies as they emerge.Being an industry of innovation, tech also applies that innovation to itself, and chances are most tech jobs you’ll find won’t involve a 9 to 5 linear work environment either.
More likely you’ll be able to find a job with a schedule that tailors itself to your needs, or even one that allows you to work remotely. Do you like the idea of being on the cutting edge of technology AND the cutting edge of work environments? Then tech is right for you.
If you answered yes to any of the above combinations, then a career in tech might just be for you after all.
