The future of work is upon us in today’s increasingly tech-reliant world. Almost everything we do these days has been touched at some level by the tech industry, from our once lively office meetings that now take place virtually to the order for that new gadget we just have to get. Even daily tasks like using an ATM to withdraw cash for a night out or ringing up our groceries with a self-checkout kiosk. That’s not to mention how well connected our lives are with each other through smartphones that are more powerful than computers ever were a decade ago, and that keep us constantly plugged in with social media apps.
It’s no secret that the tech industry is booming, leading the charge in innovation that makes our world a safer place, and makes our lives easier. But have you thought about who are the technology professionals that are driving this innovation? What jobs are responsible for building and running the websites, mobile apps, and software that we use every day? And moreover, how can you learn the necessary skills to join them?
Luckily, the days of needing a computer science degree, or even a more specialized degree like software engineering or information technology are a thing of the past. These days, anyone can learn the coding skills necessary to start a new career in the tech industry from coding bootcamps. These are short term, intensive programs that will teach everything you need to succeed in the tech industry, and best of all, you can complete a bootcamp in less than a year.
Most of the schools that offer bootcamps, such as Flatiron School, provide flexible tuition repayment options like deferred tuition payment where you don’t have to pay until you finish the program or even income-shared agreements that allow you to wait until you start making money in your new tech career, and then pay a small portion of your new salary back to the school.
Let’s a take a look at the top tech skills that you should learn to begin your new career in the tech industry.
Data Science
Data Scientists are the tech professionals who are tasked with the development of processes that help record people-created data. They are also tasked with creating systems that break down all that data into sortable, trackable, and visualization capable segments so that we know what the data actually tells us.
The data collected by the systems built by Data Scientists helps businesses in many ways, such as knowing what to buy, what to sell and when to sell it, and who is buying what products and when they are buying. All of these decisions are made easier thanks to the hard work of Data Scientists.
Data Scientists are skilled programmers who build data collection systems and processes by using programming languages like SQL, R, and Python, and database software like Hadoop, MongoDB and Tableau to manage all of the data they collect.
A coding bootcamp can teach you all of the necessary skills you will need to succeed in a data science career. Unlike a traditional computer science degree from a two or four-year university, many of these schools offer flexible program options, including in-person, online, self-paced, and even part-time.
Data Engineering
Data Engineers are responsible for creating the scalable methods used to analyze the data collected through the systems and processes built by Data Scientists. Data Engineers are also responsible for maintaining the way the data is stored inside the databases and creating the queries and the pipelines that help streamline the processing of information that the data can tell us.
Data Analytics
A Data Analyst is often an entry-level data science professional who is responsible for analyzing the data collected and sorted by the Data Scientists and the Data Engineers. Once the data has been analyzed, it is up to the Data Analyst to write a report with recommendations on what decisions can or should be made based on what the data shows.
Data Scientists enjoy a handsome national average salary of $108,000, with entry-level Data Analytics positions paying over $95,000.