We are living in a fast-paced, unstable time period where things can change swiftly and dramatically. The corporate world is more dynamic and chaotic than ever, and the impact of COVID-19 on businesses has sped up the adoption of digital technology from a work and personal perspective by several years. During the crisis, the most successful companies reported a range of technology-related capabilities and skill sets that other companies lacked.
Technology is revolutionising almost everything. Even if you don’t work in tech, there is a high probability that you will need to know some coding. The future landscape for stock traders will make coding as important as “writing an English sentence,” according to Marty Chavez, retiring co-head of the trading division at Goldman Sachs. (Forbes)
In the somewhat daunting world of technology, change is constant. But there’s one myth that feels like it will be around forever; that digital skills are only for those working in tech. WRONG.
From Lawyer to Project Manager to Marketing Executive and more, the basics of tech skills are invaluable in future proofing careers, proving that anyone can benefit from upskilling in technical skills. And then there is the option of retraining altogether, as companies look to revitalise their workforce and accelerate their digital transformation. Almost half of UK firms are looking to recruit tech workers (Computer Weekly, 2021); these companies are on the lookout for employees who can bring fresh ideas paired with the technical and digital know- how to achieve them.
So how do you future proof your career?
Keep a clear and open career path: Review your options for career progression and be proactive about responding to a lack of opportunities, even if it means changing your job, or your career.
Continued learning: Staying on top of future trends and developments whether online/offline, attending industry events or webinars, networking with peers and company colleagues etc. Investing the effort now will help with your self development and self-confidence in the increasingly tech focussed world.
Develop transferable skills: Yes tech skills are very valuable but let’s not forget the importance of professional skills. Leadership, communication, innovation, and stress management, for example, are core competencies in the jobs of today and tomorrow.
This is something we place huge emphasis on here at _nology as we embed professional skills training throughout our courses. We believe these skills are just as vital as tech skills and are what helps us to create job-ready developers that are confident in tech and have an array of professional skills.
Join a technical training course: At _nology we exist to break down the boundaries into the tech industry. Anyone can learn to code, you don’t need previous experience to join a training course such as the _nology course. Our self paced course can give you a fundamental understanding of tech, software development and other aspects of all things digital. Graduates have gone on to use their new found skills to join more technical teams in their workplace or switch roles entirely. The opportunities are endless in tech, you could go on to work for yourself, become a web designer, ux designer, app developer and more. Check out where our graduates have taken their new found tech skills here
What are the benefits of future proofing your career by learning to code?
- Job Security – During the turbulent year of 2020 a new UK technology business was created every 30 minutes (Computer Weekly, 2021). Companies on a global scale are crying out for tech skilled individuals, as the skills gap continues to grow anyone retraining in tech and gaining those highly in demand skills is guaranteeing future employment for years to come.
- Salary/ Benefits – The tech industry has the majority of the highest paying jobs for career changers due to the demand for tech skills. In order to retain good tech talent many companies have fantastic benefits on offer such as remote working, flexible hours, extra holiday, sabbaticals, paid child care, gym memberships and so on.
Here are just some of the in-demand jobs in IT with approximate average salaries for each role:
- Data Architect – Annual pay £71,750 – £95,750
- Project Manager in IT, Systems or Digital Transformation – Annual pay £54,200 – £65,000
- Business analyst – Annual pay £40,000 – £56,000
- Data scientist – Annual pay £70,000 – £85,000
- Data Analyst – Annual pay £28,000 – £35,000
- Database Administrator – Annual pay £36,500 – £48,000
- Network Engineer – Annual pay £50,000 – £65,000
- Developer – Annual pay £42,000 – £57,000
- Test analyst – Annual pay £35,000 – £48,500 (Computer World, 2021)
If you’re interested in learning to code and future proofing your career, you might want to join one of our informational webinars on how to take the leap into tech, or join one of our coding taster sessions.
More information on our self-paced flexible coding course can be found here.