People who work in tech seem to be like the cool dudes, dressing informally or in casual formal styles to meet new clients and investors and generally a career path for just a selected few. However, this has been proven to be NOT true. In fact, people from different walks of life, age, gender, background and educational qualification can be found in the tech industry. Every day, people are switching career path into tech and organizations are adapting more tech operations on their processes. Today, I will be sharing some common misconceptions people have about the tech industry. Follow me!
- You Have to Have a Computer Science Degree to Get a Good Job in Tech : Gone are the days when you needed to study Computer Science or Computer Engineering in school to get a good job in the tech industry. Every year this is proven untrue with the number of graduates who either start up a co-tech company such as a fintech, agritech or edutech company or they learn programming languages by themselves (self-taught) and go on to land jobs that pay more than entry level graduates in their field of study earn.
- You Will Spend Long Hours Coding The word tech is synonymous to coding for most people and the image that comes to mind is a geek with round thick rimmed glasses staring at the computer screen for long hours while others are asleep before he can get a “Eureka!” moment. Learning how to code does not necessarily mean you have to be hunched in front of the computer screen typing away lines of code. The codes that are created are gotten from several sessions of brainstorming, questioning and reading to understand customer behavior. Additionally, there are other variations of tech skills that do not require coding; such as UI/UX, data analysis etc.
- Everyone in Tech Plays Video Games Like every other industry, people in tech have verily interests, hobbies and personalities. I have a friend who loves to party and is learning taekwondo. I do know some others who love languages and can speak 3-4 different languages apart from English while some others love arts. People who work in tech are usually unpredictable and do not fit the stereotype; this is usually their unique selling point.
- You Do Not Need Soft Skills to Work in Tech Fortunately or unfortunately, soft skills matter. A lot. Working in tech usually involves a kind of mindset or personality that is not taught in school or in the online courses. As such, soft skills such as interpersonal skills, communication skills, tenacity, and flexibility amongst others count. Some tech companies in their adverts put up questions that show each person’s individuality in the forma. This helps gauge whether the job seeker is a good fit for the company culture and can work well in a team.
- Everyone Who Works in Tech Can Hack Movies and animations have ingrained a picture of the tech industry as people who decrypt codes and uncover secrets. While this is true for some, it isn’t for others. Ethical hacking as a skill is one of the broad aspects of tech that can be learnt under cybersecurity. Consequently, you do not need to suspect your techy friend of hacking into your social media account because of his skills. Although, he may be able to that because he is privy to some of your personal information.
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Featured Image source: CNN