Fast Track to Tech — Your Future Career: Why Tech?
Introduction to the Tech Industry and Tech Jobs
Interested in working for companies like AirBnB and Google? This post summarizes key takeaways from YNCN’s Why Tech? event held on September 16, 2020, as part of the Fast Track to Tech Series.
The series aims to provide students with an introduction to the tech industry and common roles (your major does not matter!) such as software engineer, product manager, and designer.
The slides used to facilitate this event are available here.
What is the tech industry?
The tech industry is comprised of companies in various fields (e.g. financial tech, healthcare, advertising, social media, software as a service). Generally, a company is considered a “tech company” if they use software and/or hardware to build their product, help it grow, and make a profit.
Common examples include Facebook (social media), Shopify (ecommerce), Uber (transportation), and Microsoft (software as a service).
What are examples of common roles in the tech industry?
Anyone can pursue a role in the tech industry. You do not have to be in computer science or engineering to do so!
If the tech industry sounds interesting to you, check out the picture below to learn more about common roles that you can pursue.
This is not exhaustive — there are many more careers you can pursue in the tech industry. Google “roles in the tech industry” and you’ll find many more!
Roles in tech seem interesting. What should I keep in mind before pursuing a career in the tech industry?
Pros — Why Tech?
- Opportunity to work in various fields
Since tech roles are similar across diverse fields, you can move around easily. Tech also tends to be a faster-paced industry, meaning you can make lots of impact quickly. - Flexibility for type of work/work location
Tech careers are generally in high demand. It’s easy to find roles in large cities, and you can even find companies that let you work remotely from anywhere in the world. - Great pay, benefits and work-life-balance*
Most tech companies pay competitively due to the demand for tech roles. Many companies also provide benefits such as gym memberships, free food, and health insurance. Many companies have a flex-work or flexible time-off policy. Most companies also let employees work from home as needed, allowing you to balance both work and your personal life.
Cons — Why Not Tech?
- Tech Culture
Tech culture can sometimes be elitist (people comparing each other by the “prestige” of the company they work for or their intelligence). Your role in developing the tech product/service may not always be tangible either, which means sometimes it may be hard to see the direct impact of your work. - Competitive, Work-life balance issues
The tech industry is very fast-paced, and you remain competitive by learning about new in-demand skills. You will likely have to be a constant learner if you pursue a career in tech. This may result in a pressure to stay competitive and may affect your mental health. This may go on to affect your work-life balance. Work-life balance also depends on your team within the company and how it’s set up. - Requires lots of flexibility, communication skills
There is a lot of communication involved, especially if you’re explaining your work or asking for help. Product managers also tend to be in lots of meetings and have to communicate with stakeholders often.
You may also be asked to learn something new to help out with a project, so you need to be flexible and willing to learn.
Now that you know more about the tech industry, we encourage you to take some time to evaluate if tech is the right industry for you.
One thing to note is that there are also opportunities to get involved in the tech side of things in other industries (e.g. you can work at a bank, but in a tech role).
The banking industry has a different culture compared to the tech industry, but you still get to pursue a tech role.
The event was a success and students had the chance to get their questions answered by an upper year mentor with multiple tech internships under his belt! If you are ever looking for more advice, check out the More Resources section below. Feel free to contact YNCN on social media or email for any other questions!
More Resources
- Our next event in the series (on Sept 18 2020) covers how to get tech jobs, starting from the beginning with an empty resume. It also discusses the interview process for various tech roles. You can find more information on our Facebook or Instagram. We’ll also be posting a summary article about it soon!
- Designer’s Guide to Working in Tech
- Career Changer’s Playbook
If you found this content helpful, definitely connect with YNCN on social media to stay up to date on our future career development events, career fairs, and content! Follow us on Medium to never miss an update!
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