The Most Common Questions About Finding a Job in Tech

Am I too old to switch to the tech industry? Who will hire me? Does working in tech always mean working from home? People who’re dreaming about a new career in tech tend to have many questions. And they might feel uncertain simply because they are new to the field. 

In this article, we’ll address the seven most popular questions, backing up our responses with research and examples from TripleTen experts and grads. Let’s dive in.

Do I need a university degree to switch to tech? 

In short, no. You don’t need a degree to switch to the tech industry. In fact, 59% of employers are considering entirely eliminating college degree requirements for their hires. Companies look for candidates who have the right skills and strong portfolios. Your education and previous professional background are usually not as important as your know-how. 

But what if you don’t have a portfolio of work from previous employers? You can launch some independent projects and use them as samples of your work. They could be, for example, a mock-up website or a bot that you wrote yourself. For more, check our guide to creating a strong portfolio_{Secrets of a Stellar Portfolio: Guidelines and Checklist}.

However, crafting a portfolio alone does have pitfalls. What if you make mistakes in your projects? What if your portfolio looks irrelevant to the labor market? To play it safe, it’s better to complete a high-quality course. It will be quicker and cost less than a university degree. Experienced teachers will share the most up-to-date info with you, and they will supervise your tasks and provide feedback.

At TripleTen, all programs involve hands-on tech projects that you can include in your portfolio. They mirror the ones that you’ll need to complete in your future work, so they will serve as solid proof of your skills. For example, you might create an animated webpage or a prototype platform for pitching startups to investors.

You can also build out your portfolio via an externship, which is almost synonymous with an internship. The only difference is that you complete tasks for a company without joining it. This will give you hands-on real-world experience that hiring managers find impressive.

Is 40 too late to get into tech?

The average age at which Americans change their careers is 39. So if you’re 40_{A Tech Career After 40: Why It’s Worth It}, it’s the right time to try your hand at tech.

Tech might seem like a field for younger professionals, but 54% of tech employees are actually over 40. Then, 30% are between 30–40 and only 16% belong to the 20–30 age group. It’s unlikely that you’ll be surrounded by people who are considerably younger than you, which can be good for your psychological comfort.

By 2030, the global tech industry is projected to experience a shortage of 85 million workers. The demand for these tech occupations is projected to be particularly high at the beginning of the next decade:

• Data scientist
• Software developer
• Information security analyst
• Computer systems analyst
• Web developer
• Sales engineer
• Information technology manager
• Computer research scientist
• Network and systems administrator
• Computer support specialist

Employers will be competing for talent even more fiercely. If you start learning soon, it should be easy for you to enter the tech labor market by the time you complete your education.

As you see, there is not a single reason why you should avoid switching to tech if you’re 40.

Can I work remotely in tech?

Nearly half of all tech professionals work fully remotely. You’ll be able to choose from all types of jobs: in-house, remote, or hybrid.

Companies deliberately hire remote workers with little or no experience in order to:

• Reduce expenses — employers don’t need to pay for office space, meals, and supplies for their remote team members
• Have a more productive team, as it’s been proven that remote professionals tend to perform better than their in-office counterparts
• Nurture you from scratch within the company’s culture

What is the easiest company to get hired at?

Here are the three types of employers that eagerly take recent tech graduates with little or no experience:

• Organizations with limited budgets. They hire several senior-level professionals and ask them to teach their mid-level and junior colleagues on the job.
• Companies that want to nurture techies from scratch. Many companies are looking for specialists who can easily adapt to their work culture. People new to the tech scene don’t have any preconceived notions from other organizations and so are much more flexible.
• Businesses that have partnered with the organizers of the course that you complete. It makes sense to choose courses that offer career support and employment guarantees. For instance, TripleTen has 42 partner employers. These companies know that this online bootcamp provides top-notch education and trusts its graduates.

The demand for tech specialists comes from many industries: manufacturing, healthcare, telecommunications, education, retail, and more. It shouldn’t be a problem for you to join the sector that attracts you the most.

At TripleTen, we have a dedicated career center. It helps our students land jobs not only in our partner companies but in many other organizations, too.

How quickly can I get a tech job?

Graduates of high-quality courses successfully sign contracts with employers soon after getting their certificates — or even while they’re still studying. At TripleTen, over half of all students get employed before graduation. Then, 87% of students get hired within six months after graduation.

Some tech bootcamps offer money-back guarantees for students who fail to get employed within a specific period of time after graduation. To qualify for such offers, you need to diligently attend all the classes, submit tasks on time, and meticulously follow the career tips that your teachers share with you. Attentively read the terms of the money-back guarantee before joining a course. At TripleTen, we allow you to recoup 100% of your tuition fee if you fail to land a job within six months of getting your certificate.

How do I kickstart my tech career?

To increase your odds of getting employed, you should:

• Compose a compelling resume and accompanying cover letter
• Create a LinkedIn profile, fill it in, and start building your network of contacts on this platform
• Prepare a portfolio with projects that you completed
• Enhance your soft skills to impress the HR manager at the interview

The TripleTen team will help you with all of the points above. They will teach you hard and soft skills_{Soft Skills at TripleTen: What, Why, and How We Teach Them} as well as provide comprehensive career guidance.

It would also be great if your tech classes recreated real-life working conditions. This won’t necessarily help you get employed faster, but you’ll better understand what to expect from your future job and ultimately feel greater professional satisfaction. At TripleTen, studying is divided into two-week sprints during which you master specific knowledge and complete projects to put the new know-how into practice. But how and when you approach the learning is up to you. This reflects how the tech industry operates. Tons of tech teams use such an approach to organize their projects.

What is the best tech career to get into?

There are dozens of occupations in the tech industry. It makes sense to opt for an occupation that lets you start earning money quickly. At TripleTen, you can choose from software engineering, data science, quality assurance, and business intelligence. All these occupations have a relatively shallow learning curve and can provide you with an annual starting salary of at least $65,500. In addition, you won’t need to quit your current job to study because the education is fully remote and part-time.

To understand which option suits you best, take our career quiz. It has only eight questions and takes ninety seconds to complete. And, if you’re still wondering about getting into tech, it can also give you some guidance.