Roles in Tech
<This page is currently under revision>
Adapted from Techtonica Roles in Tech:
Learning objectives:
Showing understanding of a variety of software engineering specialties
Showing understanding of a variety of non-engineer roles in the tech industry
Talking about how these tech and non-tech roles fit together within a company
Web & mobile development job descriptions
Engineering specialties job descriptions
Security & testing job descriptions
Data & analytics job descriptions
Developer support job descriptions
Management job descriptions
Your education in full-stack web development is just the first step in your career journey. Just like going to medical school can prepare you to be a researcher in the lab, an oncologist treating seriously ill patients, or a pediatrician working with children, there are many different roles that you can pursue with your new education.
As you think through the different options to pursue, consider your work style, your interests and other factors that can make a difference in your work environment. Do you like working with people? Consider a customer-facing role such as Customer Success or Sales Engineering. Do you enjoy travel? A solutions consultant may work for several different clients all over a geographic region over the course of a year. Are you motivated by social causes? Consider applying for developer roles at non-profits or other mission-driven organizations.
Read this blog post about a bootcamp student who discovered the field of Sales Engineering.
Common Mistakes / Misconceptions
'Since I'm attending a software engineering program, the only job in tech I'll be able to get after this will be as a junior software engineer.' Programming skills are useful in a wide variety of jobs, not just software engineering jobs. Though we think Techtonica best prepares you for a job as a software engineer, your unique background may lend itself to find work in another field within the tech industry.
'If I take a non-software-engineering job after CodeYourFuture I'll be a failure. I'll have let people down.' We will celebrate your successful career transition regardless of what role you take. CodeYourFuture's overarching goal is to improve people's lives through tech employment. If you take a job that helps you improve your finacial and career stablity, we consider our goal achieved! We also know that some folks might complete the program and be inspired to do non-engineering work. As long as you're happy, we're happy.
'CodeYourFuture can't guarantee me a job as a software engineer after I complete the program.' We do our best to guide you through the process of finding your 1st job in tech. We have strong connections with our hiring partners but we don't guarantee you will get a job with them. If we aren't able to match you to a sponsor company, we'll mentor you through your job search and do our best to help you land your first role in tech.
'The only employees at a tech company who really matter are the engineers.' Engineers do get a lot of attention but the engineering department is one of many, and every department is essential in a growing company. The marketing department makes sure the product that the engineers built gets out into the world and brings in revenue. The product management department makes sure good and useful products are being built by the engineers. The HR and recruiting departments make sure the best people are hired into the company and that they're treated well while they're there. It's a whole ecosystem, and every person in it has an important role to play.
Group Practice
Collaborate to come up with an email template that can be used to ask for informational interviews. Here are some good tips.
Independent Practice
On your own, choose 3 to 5 roles from the session that sound interesting to you and do some research on Google and YouTube about those roles. Jot down a few notes about each role, such as what interests you, what you might like about that role, what questions you have about the role, etc.
Of the roles you researched, choose the top 2 or 3 that really stand out to you. Using LinkedIn, find 2 or 3 people who work in your area doing the jobs you're interested in. Reach out to them and ask for an informational interview using the template we came up with during the Group Practice activity.
Go to 2 to 4 informational interviews within the next 4 weeks and take notes on your conversations. Be ready to share your notes with the group in your Buddy groups or in our next PD Day.
Challenge
On your own, look up job ads for roles you are interested in and make a list of the common skills and job responsibilities needed in order to qualify.
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