Launching a tech career is exciting, but it’s also surprisingly challenging. In many cases, people underestimate how many tech career paths are available. As a result, figuring out which option is right for you is daunting on the surface.
Fortunately, it’s possible to select a field that leads to excellent job satisfaction and suitable growth potential. Here’s a look at how you can figure out which tech career path is right for you.
Do You Prefer Independent, Team-Oriented, or Customer-Facing Work?
Among the various tech career paths, there are options that can suit nearly any personality type. If you’re introverted, you might favor positions that are independent in nature. For example, coder, network administrator, graphic designer, and data analyst jobs do involve team elements, but much of the work is done independently.
If you enjoy interacting with colleagues, focusing on tech careers that are commonly project-oriented or that involve a significant amount of collaboration is a better choice. IT project management is a solid field to consider, as well as software, UX design, or web development.
For customer-facing jobs, help desk positions are an ideal choice. Exploring tech sales is another option worth considering.
Are Your Process-Driven, or Do You Prefer Creative Pursuits?
While all tech roles come with some set procedures, some are more process-driven than others. For instance, networking, telecommunications, and data analytics rely heavily on established processes. The same is true of most application development roles, as programming languages work a particular way. As a result, those fields work well for professionals who prefer a degree of consistency in how work is accomplished.
If you enjoy creative pursuits, it’s best to focus on tech career paths that have room for some artistic flare. Graphic and UI design both fall into that category. Web development can create opportunities for stylistic choices, and augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) design commonly have creative elements.
What Are Your Views on Work-Life Balance?
While it may seem like achieving work-life balance as a tech professional isn’t impacted by your exact field, that isn’t the case. Some technology jobs are more likely to involve on-call hours, ensuring critical systems remain operational continuously. For example, some networking positions may come with mandatory on-call time. With cybersecurity, being on-call to respond to incidents is also potentially a must.
Certain other tech jobs can remain relatively contained in more traditional work hours. For example, internal help desks usually only need to operate during a company’s normal operating hours. Graphic designers aren’t commonly asked to work late as long as their deliverables are provided on time.
There are also tech jobs where occasional after-hours availability is necessary. For instance, a software developer may need to take on some overtime when the end of a project draws near, ensuring the project completes by the deadline.
Ultimately, you want to factor in your views on work-life balance and whether extended or on-call hours work with your lifestyle. Then, you can determine which fields work best for you.
If you’d like to learn more about how to choose the right tech career path or are ready to explore opportunities, TempStaff can help. Contact us today.
