Series Week 6 - Working In Tech
Hi everyone!! Thanks for coming back for another week of the Talk Like A Developer series! This week I’ll introduce you to some of the common paths you can follow within the tech field!
About this series: This series isn’t going to give you everything you need to roll up your sleeves and start coding. What it will do is give everyone, even the people who have no idea what computer science is, the ability to talk and ask questions about these topics so that if you are interested in getting into the hands-on/technical side of these topics, you’ll know where to start, what to Google, and how to ask for help!
If you haven’t already, check out last week’s post: Week 5 - Basic Terminal Commands as well as Key Coding Terminology For Beginners to get up to speed on the common terminology used in this series!
Acronyms In This Post:
CS = “Computer Science”
AI = “Artificial Intelligence”
SQL = “Structured Querying Language”
API = “Application Programming Interface”
UX/UI = “User Experience/User Interface”
VR = “Virtual Reality”
When thinking about jobs in the tech industry, a lot of us immediately think of a software developer (which isn’t wrong!). However, there are many of paths within this category as well as other categories of tech jobs. Whether you’re planning to study CS or are just generally curious about what you could do with a tech degree, this post will introduce you to some of those options! I’ll also talk a bit about my experiences getting started in tech!
MY EXPERIENCE GETTING STARTED IN TECH
I’d like to start off by saying that CS isn’t just for people who love math, think school is a breeze or have tons of free time and focus. Let’s look at me: I stopped liking math after algebra (yep, that would be 7th grade), I have bad ADHD, I needed to retake a handful of STEM classes in college, and at the start of my degree (when my CS learning toolkit was empty), I was taking 18 credits, taking the bus 45 minutes to campus every day, and rushed a sorority on top of an active social life, so I certainly didn’t have tons of free time!
Before college, I would have loved to go into CS, but I didn’t think I had the right mental toolkit to take it on. It was only because I had to take a CS class for my chem major freshmen year that I realized CS wasn’t what I thought and decided to switch majors. Don’t get me wrong, a CS degree isn’t without its hard work and long hours and there were plenty of times when I wanted to quit!
After getting the hang of it, my CS classes started to create a satisfying and motivating pattern of presenting me with something challenging that I could overcome (a pattern that will motivate you through difficult projects in a tech job)! The more classes I took, the easier learning new languages became, because while all languages are different, they all have tips and tricks you can add to your CS toolkit that will work on any language (or help you know what questions to ask at the very least!).
You may have seen other blogs talk about it and I’ve experienced it firsthand: CS isn’t about math and crazy intelligence. In fact, the only math I did in my CS degree was the separate math classes (which did not involve any coding) required by my engineering graduation requirements. CS is about creativity, problem-solving, resourcefulness, and a willingness to work through trial and error. If you have those qualities, you’ve already overcome one of the most challenging parts of a CS degree and all you need to do is take the classes to give you the language toolkits!
I plan to write more about my tech experiences in posts separate from this Talk Like A Developer series, but if you have any questions, please feel free to comment them below or reach out to me directly on my contact page!
WORKING IN TECH
Now that I’ve covered a bit about what it’s like to get started in tech, let’s look at what you can do with a tech degree! Below I made a list of tech categories and common work that falls under each:
Backend Development:
As mentioned in my post: Backend VS Frontend Development, backend developers program the behind-the-scenes aspects that give a platform (website, app, software, etc.) its functionality using languages such as Python and Java to create, test, debug, and maintain the platform. Roles in this category will also likely work with databases (so that the platform can be populated with up-to-date data), servers (usually programs that provides a certain service to a platform and its users), and APIs (tools that allows separate platforms to talk to each other and work together).
Role title examples: Software Developer, Software Engineer, Developer - [specified backend language]
Frontend Programming/Design:
As mentioned in my post: Backend VS Frontend Development, frontend developers program the front-facing/visual aspects of a platform that users directly interact with using languages such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. In addition to making the platform look good, frontend developers need to strategically design the layout of a platform for optimal user experience, so they’ll study design preferences and predict expectations of their target audience.
Role title examples: Web Developer, UX/UI Designer, Video Game Developer, Developer - [specified frontend language]
Data:
Tech jobs working with data aren’t always technical. They all typically use SQL (an easy-to-learn programming language specifically for working with data and databases), but many business/information management majors will learn it during their degree, so you don’t need to be a CS major for it to be relevant. Non-technical data jobs will focus on analytics and business solutions while technical data roles could focus more on topics such as security, big data, or even software development for platforms that work with data. To learn more about this, check out my post: What It Really Means To Work With Data In Tech!
Role title examples: Information Security Analyst, Data Scientist, IT Analyst, Big Data Engineer
AI/Machine Learning:
There’s so many different roles you could have around AI/Machine Learning such as frontend development of VR goggles, backend development of the logic behind Siri/Alexa devices, AI research, etc.
Role title examples: AI Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer, AI Research Scientist, Neural Network Engineer
Networks/Systems:
This category tends to revolve around being the architect of a system. Responsibilities could be any combination of planning, designing, configuring, testing, maintaining, and securing a given system or network. In addition to problem-solving skills, roles in this area would likely require knowledge of backend programming languages, data security, and operating systems.
Role title examples: Cloud Engineer, Systems Architech, Systems Analyst, Computer Networks Architect
Other:
There are many other well-known tech jobs that overlap with various categories above such as:
App Developer (example: iOS developer who uses Swift (programming language) to make apps for iPhones)
Hardware Engineer (example: designing, building and testing physical components that make up a computer)
Professor/Research Scientist (example: teaching or researching any topic within computer science)
Computer Support Analyst (example: analyzing and supporting computer networks or users of those networks)
Freelance (example: someone who specializes in a particular tech task or has a wide variety of tech skills and is hired by various people for individual projects/tasks)
The nice thing about a CS degree at most schools is that you can graduate undergrad with at lease some experience in all of these areas! This means that if you don’t enjoy the tech path you choose outside of school, you likely already have the education needed to get started on another CS path! I say “most schools” above because some universities require you to pick a specialization during your undergrad, in which case most of your electives would likely revolve around a certain topic. However, even if that were the case, there are so many resources online today that you can teach yourself pretty much anything you want to learn without having to attend a formal course.
Lastly, in pretty much any of these categories, you can also move up to be in project-management roles where you use your knowledge from doing hands-on/technical work in one of these areas to oversee/coordinate developers for those types of projects. This is nice for those of us (myself included) who love technology but maybe don’t want to code all-day everyday for our entire career and also enjoy incorporating some extroverted/leadership aspects into a technical job!
What area(s) of tech are you interested in exploring? Let me know in the comments below!
Thank you so much for reading! This post marks a mid-season finale for my Talk Like A Developer series. I’ll continue to add posts to this series based on topic requests - so if you have any, please let me know! In the near-future, I’ll be posting tech posts independently of this series as well as starting a series on the professional side of this blog! If you have any questions, feel free to comment them below or email our technology blog directly at techblog@apartfromblonde.com!
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