Why it’s a great time to look for a job in tech in 2022

(Photo Credit @jasongoodman_youxventures)

You might be wondering - should I take this leap? Am I really interested in pivoting to a career in tech? How can I feel more confident in making this move?

It’s ok to wonder - in fact, it’s a smart move to think about the reasons you are making a change.

(This is actually a great skill to develop to work in tech - challenging your assumptions...more on that later.)

Here are 3 insights to help you understand why it’s a great time to be looking for a job in tech (Updated for the 2022 Job Market Outlook):

1. There is considerable growth in all kinds of jobs in tech companies.

• As you can see from the first chart, the number of net tech jobs is increasing year over year (despite the pandemic, or in response to it).

• Chart #2 dispels the myth that all of the available jobs in tech are related to coding — in fact, 43% of jobs at tech companies fall into the ‘non-tech’ category!

• And chart #3 shows that there is long-term growth in the tech industry so if you pivot now, there will still be many jobs for you to occupy for decades to come.

CompTIA Cyberstates 2022 Report

CompTIA Cyberstates 2022 Report

2. Tech values many of the same things you do

Me using my Google Glass to think extremely hard about the students I worked with every day

• If you are someone who values creativity, innovation, dynamism, flexibility, navigating ambiguity, and data-driven decision-making, the tech industry is for you! 

• Core values are a driving force behind a company’s day-to-day activities and are an essential building block for creating culture. As you look to transition into tech, start looking at the core values expressed on the website of your potential employers, and see if they resonate with you. 

• When I started working at Google, I loved the core value “Focus on the user, and all else will follow.” I appreciated that by listening and focusing on the needs of the person in front of you, big strategic decisions would naturally become clearer.

3. Tech companies have really great compensation and benefits packages.

For many people, the first thing that comes to mind with ‘tech company perks’ is the image of the ping pong table. It’s an iconic representation of the benefits that come from working in tech…but it’s not nearly the most important one.

Instead, here are 3 key points on the money side of things to consider when looking at working in tech:

1) Depth & Breadth of benefits options: Take a look at all of the benefits that are standard for some of the largest tech firms, like Google, Facebook, Adobe and Salesforce. Some of these benefits packages can be valued upwards of $20,000 each year!

• https://www.techrepublic.com/article/12-tech-companies-with-impressive-benefits/

• https://tech.co/hr-software/best-companies-employee-benefits-perks

• You can use this tool to compare the benefits offered: https://www.levels.fyi/benefits/

2) Flexibility with Remote/Hybrid Options: Tech companies are also more able to support remote or hybrid working options. The number of technology and IT jobs offering remote work has boomed by 77% in two years, with more than a million tech roles offering hybrid or WFH options in 2021.

3) Higher than average salaries: Tech also has a significantly higher median wage than the national median wage.

CompTIA Cyberstates 2022 Report

These are just some of the great reasons that you should consider a job in the tech industry. Reach out to me if you’d like to discuss how we can work together to help you pivot into a great new career in tech!

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Want personalized career guidance? Take a look at my Career Strategy Session options.

Interested in working with a small group to support each other during your tech career pivot? Check out the Digital Orchards Fellowship.

What Do You Know About Group Coaching?

(Photo Credit @hannahbusing)

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Have you been hearing more about the topic of group coaching lately? I know I have! Companies like Medley and The Cru are on the rise along with many other niche players to help individuals grow and develop in the areas of leadership and career coaching. When we were all locked in our homes over the past few years, we lost many of the connections we’d normally make through work, volunteer, and other activities. I get the sense that many people today are looking for additional support to know they are not alone in facing their personal and professional challenges. 

I launched the Digital Orchards fellowship program to bring together a small cohort of early to mid-career professionals who want structured guidance on how to navigate a career change into tech AND want to work with like-minded individuals to achieve that goal. If you are interested, join the waitlist digitalorchards.com/fellowship

Are you curious to know whether a group coaching program is right for you?

Check out the statements below and see how many you put a Yes next to. 

1. I appreciate the ability to share my career change concerns with a group of trusted individuals facing similar challenges and get & give feedback to expand our collective understanding of changing careers. 

2. I’ve tried working on my own but haven’t seen the progress or results I want. 

3. My goal is to have a clear and well-defined tech job search strategy at the end of the program month.

4. I know I’m capable of achieving this big change, but I struggle with overcoming a lot of self-doubts (I mean, I don’t know how to code - can this pivot even work?!)

5. I prefer to work alone and struggle in silence. 

6. In the past, I’ve really enjoyed being on a team where we struggled together and then finished a project or won a competition - the confidence boost was amazing! 

7. I thrive when I know that others will help keep me accountable for my big & audacious goals. 

Scoring: Give yourself 1 point for every YES you write down. (Except #5 - deduct a point for that one - just checking to see if your inner fears had popped out!)

Where did you land?

4-6 = We welcome you to join the DO Fellowship, my friend!

1-3 = Let’s learn more about your goals.

< 1 = Maybe a bit more research will help?

Despite the humor woven throughout the quiz above, many of the benefits of participating in a group coaching program to support you during a career change into tech should be obvious. Expert guidance from a coach who has seen it all, camaraderie from a cohort who is in the trenches with you, and a rise in your confidence that you will succeed. 

In my program, you will learn from an experienced coach (that’s me) the information & tactics you need to achieve your tech search pivot AND you will get support from folks going through the same challenges as you are. Everyone will end the program with a clearly articulated plan for a successful job search. Sign up today to learn more! digitalorchards.com/fellowship

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Develop a Learning Path

(Photo Credit @madebyjens)

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April 29, 2022

Job Search Strategy, Pivoting into Tech

(Photo Credit @aaronburden)

INTERESTED IN JOINING THE DIGITAL ORCHARDS FELLOWSHIP TO HELP JUMPSTART YOUR TECH CAREER PIVOT ALONG WITH A SMALL COHORT OF AMBITIOUS INDIVIDUALS?

JOIN THE WAITLIST HERE: DIGITAL ORCHARDS FELLOWSHIP

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This final post in the ‘Pivoting into Tech’ series focuses on learning. One of the hardest parts of a career change is to recognize that you will need to learn new things and that it’s going to feel uncomfortable. Today we’ll discuss how to design a self-paced learning curriculum so you will gain confidence in your tech knowledge. 

1. Become comfortable with being uncomfortable 

   • I have clients seeking to pivot into tech because they are bored with their current role, which can be a great motivator to jumpstart your learning process. However, while they are excited to learn more about tech, it feels a bit strange to not be the expert anymore. This is normal and totally ok! 

   • This is the part where a lot of career changers get stuck - as they struggle with how to show prior competence and demonstrate transferable skills while also not posing as an expert in areas where they are still learning. 

   • What helps in tech is that many companies are often looking for candidates who strike a balance between experience and potential. And in order to assess potential, interviewers often ask hypothetical or scenario-based questions that don’t have a specific answer. Instead, they are assessing your overall thought process - ie how you learn and apply those learnings! 

2. Identify 3 skills to develop and 3 concepts to learn

   • As a career changer, you likely don’t know what you don’t know - so how do you figure out what skills/concepts you need to learn? There are a few ways to identify these skills. 

   • Use what you learned from your connections to write out 3 key topics or skills you’ll need to develop or refine. 

   • Select 3-4 job postings for roles that you are interested in and scan them to see what concepts they discuss, skills they request and/or certifications they require. You can also try using tools like JobScan to help highlight missing skills in your resume. 

   • Again, the law of threes appears here so you don’t get overwhelmed and try to learn *everything* about tech. No one knows everything about tech (well, except maybe Peter Norvig) so don’t feel you have to become an expert overnight.  

3. Find the resources to help you learn

   • There are a plethora of online courses these days that will cover tech topics like ‘What is cloud computing?’ or ‘What is cryptocurrency?’ as well as teach you how to use SQL or Tableau, often in 2-3 hour courses. And many of these resources are free or low-cost. 

   • You can check out sites like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, Udemy, and Code Academy and search for the topic or skill you need. 

   • This is also helpful if you’re not sure what area of tech you want to focus on. Review some of these tech topics to help you figure out whether your new tech focus is climate tech or fintech (as knowing your tech niche will be important once you get to resume re-development and company selection). 

4. Add all of this learning to your resume! 

   • It’s important to add all of these courses, certifications, etc to your resume to visually demonstrate your growing tech domain expertise. 

   • There are many ways to incorporate all that you have learned into your resume, depending on the format & the overall story you are trying to tell. And remember, you don’t need to be an expert to put a new skill on your resume! Work with a tech career coach to help you map this out - there’s no need to do this alone.

   • Likely, you’ll also end up using this information during your future interviews to demonstrate knowledge - so recognize its value in the whole tech career pivot process. 

Remember, everyone who pivots into a new career needs to learn about their new target industry. Even with a strong tech job market, you need to show you know something about tech or recruiters will likely pass on your candidacy. And honestly, it’s a great sign when a candidate has invested the time and effort to show a growing area of tech domain expertise. It gives confidence that this isn’t just a passing interest, but instead a thoughtful career change.

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