6 Career Pathways For Students Looking To Jump Into Tech
So, you want to get into the tech scene and are unsure what type of field is best suited to your current abilities. As a student, there are thousands of online digital marketing courses at your disposal and choosing which pathway is a vital step for your future career.
Maybe you have creative talents and would like to get into design? Or, perhaps you’ve always had a knack for figures and the thought of analyzing data to help a company make informed commercial decisions gets you a little excited.
Of course, skills within any form of technology discipline will always come handy. However, wouldn’t it be nice to find the perfect field the first time around?
Here are the top 6 most common career paths and why they might be suitable for you!
1. Digital marketing
A key focus for businesses of all sizes is digital marketing, as it is the most effective way to reach your audience and serve them the content or information that they most require.
Digital marketing has really become a catch-all for the many areas that it covers, so students will have lots of scope in the areas they choose to pursue. However, a broad understanding will play out well with your career.
Most notably, of course, are the 5 key marketing channels such as social media marketing, paid advertising, content marketing, search engine optimisation and video marketing. Skills within any of these core money making channels will serve you well both working within a company and running your own business in the future.
2. Web development
Web development is an area that is always going to be interesting, with so many different CMS platforms being launched and changes occurring to the staple platforms we all know and use.
Students can get started with web development through formal or informal courses, or they may choose to start creating something small like a blog and see how they can make it grow through content and marketing. In addition, a web developer can make a considerable amount of money, and students could work for agencies or become a freelancer in that role.
Another consideration that students should note is that being fluent in lots of different CMS platforms will make it easier to take on a wider breadth of work and clients. It can be tempting to stick with the programs and tools we know best, but when you are absolutely agnostic in your approach to web development, you can make smarter decisions for the project and ultimately produce a better outcome for your clients.
3. Data analyst
Analytics is a subject we know is important, but there are few out there who can actually conduct data analytics in a way that is commercially effective for the business.
Students may choose to pursue a degree in Data Science or they may take a short course in Google Analytics and other programs that measure data insights. Being successful in digital marketing and web development is one thing, but if you cannot show your employer or client how you have been successful with tangible insights then that’s a whole new level of credibility.
Regardless of whether you were good at maths at school, data analytics tools often take care of the calculations on your behalf. The real skill with data analytics is how you interpret the data to formulate good commercial decisions and this is something that you will learn on your course.
4. Digital design
There has been a huge spike in the need for digital designers, with businesses and brands desiring highly skilled professionals who can create visuals through online tools and traditional design elements.
A digital designers will not only create in a static format, but they can create moving images and transition features that appear on websites and other digital products. If you have ever entered a website that has moving elements that are bespoke to the brand, then this has been created by a digital designer.
5. Search engine optimisation (SEO)
SEO is a huge industry, and brands that avoid this area do so at their own peril. Effective SEO can bring thousands of new customers to your website and look at your products and services for consideratio
Even if your business is heads and shoulders above competitors, if they are implementing SEO and you are not, then they will see the lion's share of traffic and potential sales. Students should absolutely consider a career in this field as there are many roles that an SEO team performs. It is also a profession that works with digital marketing, web development, analytics and other technical disciplines.
6. Project management
A project manager is a role that can be seen in so many disciplines, and they are very often seen in the technology industry. As much as you might think a project manager is more of an administrative role over a technology position, project managers are often some of the most technical members of a project tea
Working to deliver a piece of work, whether it is a website build, a website migration, a data security program or even just general maintaining the workflow of the business, a project manager will not necessarily have intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of technology, but they will be able to discern what processes are required of each field so that they can spot any blockers and issues.
If you are someone who has a good handle on time management and is fascinated by technology but doesn’t necessarily have a strong technical background, a project manager role might just be the perfect go-to solution for you.
Here are just 6 career pathways for students looking to jump into technology, and there are a lot more roles out there. Being proficient in one or a few of these areas can make students really stand out from the growing talent pools, especially if these students have a general interest in that discipline already.