Designing a Tech Career Roadmap

Tech Career Roadmap is a free online resource for anyone who wants to break into the tech industry or has already broken into it, choose and define their career path and learn about the skills needed to build themselves in the chosen career.

Evaluate where you are

Firstly, there are two main career roles in tech;

The Developer role and
Non-developer role.

Which ever one you are into, it is important to take note of /evaluate where you are before moving on, you need to ask yourself some questions, like;

What do people say you are good at?
What is your motivation?
What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most?
What do you find yourself doing in your spare time?
What is one topic/skill you know more than people in your circle?
What aspect of your work do you enjoy least?

In order for you to grasp where next you want to go. Cause what most most tech beginners or tech novice do, is that they fail to answer these questions before moving on, which makes them get disoriented from the goal they are pursuing, which makes it important to tackle these questions before moving on to the next stage.

Understand your strength and skills

The next is to understand your strengths and skills, that does not mean that you should be thinking of what serious professional skill to see if you have one, take a look at your day to day activities, the things that you can do without thinking much about the process, are your strength. One example from Yewande, you are about to go on a vacation with your family or friends, and you prepare everything your need for the trip, that is co-ordination and planning skill. Also keep in mind that skills can be transferable, you do not have to base on the strengths or skills that comes easily to you but go for other skills that you could learn, example; life coping skill, manipulative skills, even negotiating skill.

Two main tech career roadmaps

Check yourself, what tech career road map are you likely to have? There is the Linear and Non-linear.

The linear is taken step by step from ascending order, example from an Engineering intern - Junior developer (Frontend) - Mid-developer (Frontend) - Senior developer (Frontend) - Team leader (Frontend) - Principal - CTO/VP Engineering.
That of Non-linear evolves as you grow, somewhat as changing career paths as you grow, life changes and for you to keep up you have to evolve as well. I would say 90% of people who are into technology go through this path not because it is difficult or easier than the other, but mostly because of the concept I explained above, example from a Design Intern - Junior developer (Full stack i.e. both frontend and backend) - Mid-level developer (Backend) - Product manager - Senior product manager - Chief product officer - CEO.

Transition into Tech

Now you have come to a stage where you put everything into practice. What do you do?

Explore your interest, we are all curious, find and start with what you are drawn to.
Take an introductory classes or courses.
Join a community or group.
Try out side projects or volunteer.
Get a mentor or shadow someone be it online or offline.
Identify your transferable skill and highlight them on your resume/CV.
Build on your new knowledge and start apply for jobs.
Most of all keep learning.

Using the concept "IKIGAI" when is a Japanese meaning for Reason for Being. You move from what you love, what you are good at to what you can be paid for, what the world needs. To be able to actualize and attain your technological goal.

If you ask me I intend to use these to help boost my status both academically, mentally, socially and otherwise.

Credits

Yewande O., Treford. "Designing a Tech Career Roadmap". Youtube, 22,Jan.2022. Click Here