What role interests you? Comment and I'll make more videos! I'm a Product Executive in Silicon Valley and wanted to share what I know about different jobs in tech, how much they pay based on where you live, the different types of tech compensation, and which one is a fit for your skills and personality. What are the top 10 high paying jobs in the tech sector for 2021 without a college degree or coding required? Here is a deep dive. #techsalaries2021 #techjobs,#breakingintotech #nodegree #highestpayingjobsintech #highestpayingjobsnodegree #techsalaries #breakintotech #toppayingjobs2021 Learn how you can break into each job with or without a degree. Learn what are the different types of tech salary that have made so many people early millionaires.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video! Gives me hope as I have the experience and skills for some of these rolls, but do not have a degree. I am confident in my abilities and just need someone to give me a chance to prove myself.
I can't thank you enough for going into depth about the different positions and the different stages of a tech company. I would love to learn more about Product Design, how to get your foot in the door for that position!!
I'm a medical Doctor with over 14 years of experience and I am interested in product management. I just enrolled in PM bootcamp last week , would need some guidance from you
Thank you. On the way to be the UX Designer with traditional education courses (non-degree major), self-taught knowledge, online certificate and a mentor. Hopefully get an entry level job after 6 months. It's eye opening to see so many jobs also recruit people without traditional degree as long as you demonstrate your skills and ability.
Glad to hear it! Definitely build that portfolio and go look for some roles. I might even get some smaller contract roles at startups while studying to build your portfolio and resume. Angel List job search at angel dot co is great for that. Just message founders at cool companies there or on LinkedIn. Even if they don't post a role, you can pitch them.
@@ColinLate NO SHIT DUDE!!! FOR REAL, you taught things that no one really teaches and I've scoured the internet while I work on this stiff!! Made me actually feel like I can take stiff like this on!! Instantly subscribed, liked commented added to Playlist Where's your patreon goddammit cause In a year or two I intend to pay this back if it works!
An incredibly informative video, thank you so much! In my case, I have a B.Sc. degree (geology) but after finish university, I realized that I don't want to dedicate my life to that career, although I enjoy science I always had a sensibility to the arts and after a mini existentialism crisis, I concluded that through the design I can have a better approach to both worlds. Also, I understood that technology is shaping our future like never before, and I want to form part of that. For that reason, have spent the last months studying UX and UI to aspire to get a job as a digital product designer. I'm definitely not willing to get a degree in design for this purpose, but I'm not sure if a Bootcamp would be necessary, also I don't have much time and money but I trust that I will reach my goal during the first trimester of the coming year. Thank you again, I will stay tuned to your videos. Greetings from Chile
Great to hear! Just start building a portfolio that you can share (ideally on a nicely designed website or pdf slide deck) that includes not just your designs and user flows, but also the goal, the user persona, what research or thinking went into your designs, and how it came out. Your process as a designer is as important as your visuals. Share on dribbble or behance and follow designers who work at companies you like. You can see what they design and share.
this is really nice to see! seeing a video like this is something to be excited about because a video like this proves that there are many other opportunities besides going to college. I'm not saying that college is completely useless, it's okay to still go to college but nowadays there are many more opportunities to get educated and obtain the skills needed with whatever career field you're interested in (but that also depends what you're interest is). Even when it comes to tech, you don't really have to spend 4+ years of your life for something that you can possibly learn within less that time, maybe for a year or even for a few months. 🙌🏼
I enjoy IT but am not a people person. Well, as far as external customers and having to provide direct support is concerned. But a good variety for right people looking to break in
Ha. Many of these roles don't really require you to be a super people person - at least the software and data roles. PMs and User Researchers help you connect with the end users.
Thank you for your video. Colin, I'm just starting my career in tech in the Customer Success Manager role (telephony company). What do you think could be a roadmap here in terms of professional growth? I have more soft skills rather than hard ones. I'm interested in Product Management, Business Development, Scrum/Agile Management. And trying to build a picture of my career roadmap in my head and reveal what hard skills can I learn.
Hi Karina! Customer Success Managers have a few great transferrable skills: - Collaboration and User/Customer Empathy (hopefully you are able to take insights/recommendations from customer pain points to the engineering or product teams at your company - those would be useful experiences) - Data analysis (If this applies to your role - e.g. measuring key metrics for your customers and acting on them) - Strategic thinking (if you are setting up strategies and plans to make your customers successful and keeping them getting value + renewing) These can all serve you in Data Analyst, Business Analyst, Product Management, and Product Operations roles.
@@ColinLate @faith W. this is also a question I wanted to ask, if I may. I’ve been thinking about switching to tech into customer success mgr. Not sure where to start
Thank you so much sir for making this video! My dream is to become software engineer in silicon valley in any company! Im currently 1st yr college bs it course 😀#FromPhilippines
🔴 Thank you so much for sharing the information with us. It was real very helpful. I'm very interested to know where a position as a software tester would be in this table of jobs that you showed us during this session. Could you please let me know that?
ha nice! But if you're genuinely interested... Really project management at startup is fairly simple to get into. You can spin your past experience in a way that demonstrates your organization and business skills. Plenty of Project Managers at companies I've worked at had non-traditional backgrounds. If you did project work at NPOs, organizations at school, or in your community, you can leverage that. If a job requires PM experience, there are tons of temp contracts at agencies like Randstad in Project Management that can get you some quick paid experience before you move into a tech company. There are plenty of free and cheap courses online to teach you the skills you need and the interview questions you'll need to answer. There are certifications out there, but I'd only use them as a last resort. There are so many different paths that it's easier to walk through your specific situation.
Thanks, Alex! I actually watch your videos and they're very useful for people getting into Product Management. Caught you originally when you chatted with Exponent.
A few things to consider in 3 categories: Your interests/skills, desirability of the role coming from Nigeria, and how much effort each requires. 1) Are you more interested in user problems and creative visual work? Then design is best. If you are creative, but also enjoy actually building things and spending long focused time solving sometimes small technical challenges that block you, then coding may better fit your interests. 2) Desirability: Developers are more in-demand and there are more roles out there. Not that designers are not, but this may make it easier to get freelance jobs to build apps and build your portfolio remotely to improve your career outcomes. It is also sometimes easier to get work visas with developer roles if you want to move. 3) Coding will take longer and is more challenging than design to learn if you are already skilled somewhat at design and design thinking. It may take you up to a year or more to get confident in your coding skills (some people do this much faster before getting a job, but design takes less time). Hope that helps!
Certainly if you have a degree in anything (even unrelated) you have a higher chance of getting these roles, but there are non-traditional paths to these roles. It takes more networking, more effort to practically demonstrate your skill (side projects, starting companies), and more applications to get a role. You need a hiring manager who respects hustle/experience over degrees, which is tougher to find, but once you get that first or second role (even if on contract), your lack of a degree means much less.
@@ColinLate Do you think that getting a bachelor's degree in something unrelated and getting an associate's degree in computer science would be worth it over just going for the unrelated bachelor's degree?
@@metis3097 That is a good question. I don't really have a great answer, since I never did this. You can try to search on LinkedIn and see how many folks with an associate's degree got into tech vs. with a non-tech bachelors. My guess is that non-tech bachelors wins out, but you save money and time by doing an associate's degree and you will have actual practical skills you can demonstrate. In the end, your education will affect mainly your first few years in the workplace. If you can get great experience up front by working for startups or just networking/selling yourself well, then it won't make a huge difference down the line.
Hello I just came across this video, I am interested in career transitioning into tech and where would a good foundation point be to become more familiar with the tech language
I am not sure if this guy really understand the future of the tech industy? I did not see Cyber Security mentioned. Right now and in the future is the way to go. With myself in the Cyber Security field, I get on average about 45-50 emails per day and the average starting salary is approximately $85 per hour and many companies tech and non-tech industry are hiring like crazy. Software design, yes we need them but Cyber Security is where its at
Good call. Cybersecurity roles are typically tech roles at non-tech companies. This was a list of the top roles at tech companies. There are only 6000 people working in Cybersecurity at Google and Microsoft combined, for example. I would definitely recommend Cybersecurity as a stable, in-demand, well-paid role. It is not going anywhere and even the big tech companies will need these more and more. It has more geographic diversity too because you can get roles at many non-tech companies in 2nd and 3rd cities throughout the world. $85/hr * 40 hr/wk * 50 working wks/yr = $170,000. A very good salary, but without the benefits and equity of other roles at big fast growing tech companies. A new hire Software Engineer at a Series D startup out of college in Silicon Valley will make more than this in total compensation and have benefits on top, but Cybersecurity is probably less competitive.
This video is packed and informative. Never seen any like this. Thank you so much for this impactful video. I'm kinda having a hard time making a choice of what path in tech to go in. I have a business admin/mgt degree, I'm not the best at statistics or math, im business savvy to an extent but not great at marketing/sales, sociable. However I took a course in data analytics by myself, but couldn't finish because I got lost and it became technical. Now, after reassessment, I'm thinking of joining a business analysis/agile bootcamp for an easier pathway into tech. I'd like to know your thoughts on this and also, would being a business analyst make it easier to go into other tech roles like product mgt/product ops mgt? Would I still be able to work in the Health IT sector with this career path? *A response from you would mean alot* thank you.
Hey Barbara, I am so glad to see you are aiming to start your career in tech. First off, I wouldn't let challenges taking math, stats, or data courses in school make you think you aren't "great at" them. I know some great data analysts and PMs who did pretty terrible in stats or marketing. Some people also just need to get into the job before it "clicks" for them, so I would keep your mind open. You have the ability to do a lot of these jobs, just not the right experience yet. Some options to start with: Data Analysis requires a bit of stats understanding, but you're not doing heavy stats day-to-day - it's way simpler than that and more about investigating issues and exploring user behavior, which is fun. Marketing Operations is a good way to see if marketing is a path for you. You help coordinate and analyze and project manage for marketing while you get exposure. Business/Agile isn't going to be a very valuable bootcamp for most tech companies, unless you are working for a more traditional company in your market that focuses on business analysis and traditional agile methods. Look for these roles as a start: Data Analyst, Product Analyst, Operations Analyst/Specialist, and even Customer Success if you are a people person. Marketing Operations is another way in. I would take a look on LinkedIn at a mid-size tech company in your area and look at the people and roles in that company. You may see some you haven't heard of. Try getting coffee with some of those people to see if it's for you. Also, you can start getting some experience right away (for lower pay) at small startups just doing operations, community management, and "jack of all trades" roles.
what i want to know is how to tailor my searches such that they return quality metrics like the graphics you've presented.. my search engine is a flood of sponsored advertising that doesn't even remotely look as academic as the sources I'd present
Hi. I'm interested in some of these roles but my background is mostly science and teaching. How can I actually transfer to one of these roles without much difficulties? (I think I could work at positions in lines: 1,3,5, 9,11. )
With a Science background, you'll have a slightly easier time getting into tech companies in science-based fields. Operations roles and perhaps even product management or product operations roles could be within reach. You should look for science-based companies, and network with the managers and directors. There may be a place for someone with your knowledge who is willing to take on one of these roles. Sometimes Customer Success and Sales are open to scientists, too, in B2B companies who sell to scientific industry clients.
On top of that, your understanding of the scientific method allows you to understand A/B testing, data analysis, and overall experimentation which is useful in Data Science and Product Management roles. Even Marketing roles need this.
Is going to college pointless for going to tech I feel like company’s won’t take me serious without a degree other than just certs and I guess projects is that really enough?
Have you ever applied? Has anyone told you they don’t take you seriously? You’ll hustle to get your first job but then that is the major thing that matters to your future recruiters: how did you perform and progress in that job?
@@ColinLate true I haven’t tried I’ve just been told all my life school is the only way people will even notice you on the resume that’s why I wasn’t sure if people were just landing jobs by luck but thanks for the reply just subscribed 👍🏽
To be clear, though. College isn't "pointless" for getting into tech. Your odds go up, but if you can use that 4 years and tons of money/debt to hustle your way into tech jobs and get experience, you can get ahead. If you can get into Stanford CS or something similar, I would not tell you to turn down that opportunity.
Generally the average age of population is lower in tech than other sectors. I cannot tell you how much is attributed to ageism vs. other factors, such as the earlier retirement age, average age of population in the tech hub cities, risk tolerance decreasing with age leading to older designers going to more established companies or starting their own agencies to gain freedom, etc. I don't have the data now, but the perception is that some tech companies tend to have older populations than others.
I've taken the Google fundamentals course for digital marketing and am currently the LinkedIn one before taking the Meta digital marketing course/exam. I have been seeing a lot of recruiters say they don't value certificates really. Any insight?
I worked in edtech. It’s helpful if you come from non traditional background, but recruiters care more about what you did with those skills (work experience, side projects, products launched) than the certificate itself.
For digital marketing, you can market a simple email course or newsletter for example and prove your skills with the metrics and a/b testing you do. Requires some funds for paid marketing. You can also do projects on Upwork or contact small startups and do small contracts to help them with digital marketing as a freelancer. You can use their budget for ads and show your skills
Hopefully I can spin my customer service and fraud prevention background for this somehow. Working with a startup sounds great because I'd get paid to learn.
Hey Colin First things first it's really great of you sharing this immensely helpful information. Thanks a lot. But I've got a query since most(or maybe all) of these jobs are based in USA how can an international apply for them. I mean everything from application process to interview and all that stuff. Plus what visa will one would need and who would help in getting the visa. I've got no formal college degree so I guess H1b gets ruled for me or if that it isn't the case please let me know the same. See I really am very much interested in the jobs you mentioned and am ready to do whatever it takes to get them but my only problem is that will I be able to come us to do these jobs and if yes who would file a visa for me and most importantly how? What do I need to to do to get one .Please let me know about the plausible solution to my issue. I'll be really grateful if you reply. Nick
You can find a lot of this information online, but the simple answer is that these companies hire many people from countries around the world. That includes countries who have 10+ year long Green Card waiting lists. You can still get a job. I would Google your specific country and how to get a job in tech in the United States. There are websites from immigration lawyers that have some public info on how to go through the process and which visas are available. It's not simple, but a good company will have lawyers to help you.
What are the skills for each of the positions? That’s what I’m trying to know so that I don’t make a fool of myself applying. Obviously computer languages for software engineers, sales experience for sales, but what about things like a project manager etc what am I going to say on a CV to prove I know what I’m talking about and fit for the job? Thank you @colin late
The job descriptions are pretty straightforward. You’ll need resource planning, prioritization, spreadsheet modeling, people coordination, root cause analysis, and other related skills to making sure projects are tracked, done on time, hit targets, prioritized properly, and have a continually improving process. But this changes by role and company. You should talk to people who work there to learn more before interviewing.
@@ColinLate great thanks but are there any online courses that you specifically know from companies like Google, IBM, Apple, etc all don’t require a degree anymore. I have like 3 years of college but I find it to be a waste of time and gets in the way of learning actual skills I need. Do you know of any legitimate coding/IT boot camps that are worthwhile? In university you literally learn nothing about the skills you need for a job except for the senior level courses 400lv that start to teach useful stuff and the amount of money it cost doesn’t justify it. Especially when I can buy the books and learn myself. Do you know of anyone who didn’t rely on the college route that’s gone into tech? Thanks in advance, appreciate it
@@fullsendcirca9255 I recommend getting your degree at this point. If you had 3 more years maybe, but 1 more year is worth it. You can just work on the side and in the summer.
@@fullsendcirca9255 The process for getting jobs at Google, Apple, etc. is a little too complex for a YT comment, but I recommend looking on Medium for posts by folks who tell the story of how they got jobs. Exponent also has guides to getting jobs there, as well as igotanoffer .
@@fullsendcirca9255 The courses for each role (e.g. Product Alliance for Product Management or Exponent for some others) have guides for big companies if they're good usually. Interviews are similar at most companies with key differences, so you need to learn the core stuff then customize based on the company and role.
There are a lot of jobs in Cyber Security. Some are operational or analyst type roles, admin roles, but many are also engineering. It's more of a vertical or flavor of various roles than a single role general across the industry.
I Have 5 plus Automation Selenium Testing Experience i am interested to work in us. what about Testing Profiles in Us, please reply i need info about Testing jobs in us .
Thank you so much for making this video, it was really informative! Do you have any tips for someone like myself who is a recent Biology graduate looking to break into tech (without coding ability)? Which jobs do you think would leverage my skills as a biology graduate the most?
You have generalizable skills in data, business, working on technical subjects, etc. You can take most non engineering roles unless you can also code. You can also target tech companies working in the health industry if you need a competitive edge over other applicants.
Depends on the role. There are tons of cyber jobs that don’t, but there are even more that only require limited scripting knowledge you could probably pick up in a few months. Check out the multitude of courses and bootcamps online in cybersecurity with and without coding
The most common ones are Cybersecurity Analyst or Specialist ($90,000 to $160,000), Computer security incident responder ($80k), and Penetration Tester ($80,000 to $130,000) - Testers need to do some scripting.
@@ColinLate okay that's cool. Is there any way that I can get into these jobs? I am studying business right now and I am about to finish. Is a cybersecurity bootcamp a good thing to try out if I want to get into tech?
Good question. Most headquarter jobs in a tech company are considered "jobs in tech." A marketer or HR person at Facebook would say that they work in tech. They receive similar benefits to engineers, company equity, and more pay than similar jobs in non-tech companies. I have seen people transition from a Customer Support role in a tech company to a data analyst or product manager. For most people trying to get into tech, all of these jobs are relevant.
I am sure that having no degree in some markets will make it tough, especially when there is a much greater supply of degree graduates in STEM fields. I do hope that with the growing startup communities in India they will start to adopt some of the flexible thinking around hiring that exists in many other markets.
Can you give me more context? Applying to a bunch of jobs with the same resume for example will not help your chances. There are many articles on how to prepare your experience, get your story straight, then ensure you have the right checkboxes checked on your resume in the right format. Then, especially for your first role, you should be networking and thinking creatively about where you have an advantage or different related roles to get similar experience. I did not get my first job by just sending in online applications with a resume and no experience.
@@ColinLate sir I applied for some jobs which you described in video. I made mistake which u elaborated by replying but since I m fresher even if i try my best to highlight myself it's not working
@@piyushamule4200 It's really great that you took the first step and started applying! A lot of people don't do that, so that's great. Can you tell me a bit about which roles you are applying for, what experience or education you have that matches those roles, what resources you used to find out how to best apply for those roles, etc. ?
@@ColinLate sir since I m an Indian so applied for companies for project management but no reply .... I even tried for teramind company which u might be knowing I applied for project management since it's 100%remote and required no experience and specially can work from home country which was best for me ..... I redesigned my resume made best as I could and allied but no reply 😭
Unfortunately it’s usually not as simple as applying. Companies get many resumes. If your experience as written isn’t better than the other applicants you won’t always get an interview. It’s too hard for me to tell whether it’s an issue with your resume or just that you need to do some networking or apply to different roles. You might even need to get more related experience or take contract work to get experience.
Thats BS...no way a PM can be or Should be ever paid more than the software engineer...all places I worked project manager dont know any technical stuff at all
Hi Ricky, Thanks for your comment and looking to learn more. There is a major difference between a Project Manager and a Product Manager. Product Managers make much more money, too. I even say that many engineers make more than Product Managers at tech companies depending on the role and company, but they are both the highest paid roles outside of the executive team. Go to levels.fyi and select Software Engineer then Product Manager. You can tap around and see how much each makes at the top companies for different seniorities. There are actually roles somewhat between Project Manager and Product Manager called Program Managers that you may also be interested in learning about.
What role interests you? Comment and I'll make more videos! I'm a Product Executive in Silicon Valley and wanted to share what I know about different jobs in tech, how much they pay based on where you live, the different types of tech compensation, and which one is a fit for your skills and personality. What are the top 10 high paying jobs in the tech sector for 2021 without a college degree or coding required? Here is a deep dive.
#techsalaries2021 #techjobs,#breakingintotech #nodegree #highestpayingjobsintech #highestpayingjobsnodegree #techsalaries #breakintotech #toppayingjobs2021
Learn how you can break into each job with or without a degree. Learn what are the different types of tech salary that have made so many people early millionaires.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video! Gives me hope as I have the experience and skills for some of these rolls, but do not have a degree. I am confident in my abilities and just need someone to give me a chance to prove myself.
I can't thank you enough for going into depth about the different positions and the different stages of a tech company. I would love to learn more about Product Design, how to get your foot in the door for that position!!
Wow. Thank you for this video. It most definitely helped answer questions I had unavailable as I explore tech as a new career path.
I'm a medical Doctor with over 14 years of experience and I am interested in product management.
I just enrolled in PM bootcamp last week , would need some guidance from you
No degree!
1- product manager
2- software engineer
3- data scientist
4- sales manager
5- product ops manager
6- program manager
7- product designer
8- recruiter/ HR manager
9- operations manager
10- Marketing manager
11- Customer success manager
You win! Thank you
Thank you. On the way to be the UX Designer with traditional education courses (non-degree major), self-taught knowledge, online certificate and a mentor. Hopefully get an entry level job after 6 months. It's eye opening to see so many jobs also recruit people without traditional degree as long as you demonstrate your skills and ability.
Glad to hear it! Definitely build that portfolio and go look for some roles. I might even get some smaller contract roles at startups while studying to build your portfolio and resume. Angel List job search at angel dot co is great for that. Just message founders at cool companies there or on LinkedIn. Even if they don't post a role, you can pitch them.
so much info in this video! thank you
Really great break down. Thx
You basically taught me what my entire college experience failed to teach me about careers in less than an hour. And I went to Berkeley
This made my day. Thanks, Dominic! Hopefully you can use your Berkeley network to help get into one of these tech companies!
@@ColinLate NO SHIT DUDE!!!
FOR REAL, you taught things that no one really teaches and I've scoured the internet while I work on this stiff!!
Made me actually feel like I can take stiff like this on!!
Instantly subscribed, liked commented added to Playlist
Where's your patreon goddammit cause In a year or two I intend to pay this back if it works!
@@DkKombo Thank you for the kind words. What else would you like to learn?
Thank you so much, this is soooo valuable! Pure gold.
Thanks! What else are you looking to learn?
OH MY GOSH! Thank you for this information and thank you for speaking really fast!
Haha. I didn't know my fast speaking was a benefit, not a bug!
An incredibly informative video, thank you so much! In my case, I have a B.Sc. degree (geology) but after finish university, I realized that I don't want to dedicate my life to that career, although I enjoy science I always had a sensibility to the arts and after a mini existentialism crisis, I concluded that through the design I can have a better approach to both worlds. Also, I understood that technology is shaping our future like never before, and I want to form part of that.
For that reason, have spent the last months studying UX and UI to aspire to get a job as a digital product designer. I'm definitely not willing to get a degree in design for this purpose, but I'm not sure if a Bootcamp would be necessary, also I don't have much time and money but I trust that I will reach my goal during the first trimester of the coming year.
Thank you again, I will stay tuned to your videos.
Greetings from Chile
Great to hear! Just start building a portfolio that you can share (ideally on a nicely designed website or pdf slide deck) that includes not just your designs and user flows, but also the goal, the user persona, what research or thinking went into your designs, and how it came out. Your process as a designer is as important as your visuals.
Share on dribbble or behance and follow designers who work at companies you like. You can see what they design and share.
You can also do freelance design work online at sites like Upwork and Fiverr
Kickass video
Keep up the gud work!!
Thanks! Hope it's helpful
What an amazing breakdown 🙌🏾
Appreciate it! Glad it was helpful! What role are you targeting?
Great insight into the Technology industry opportunities
Thanks
No problem
In depth video on Customer Success please!
Thanks for the interest!
very thorough. thanks.
hope it was helpful!
Please more emphasis on the data science pls
Currently in tech right now and I would definitely want to go into Marketing
Nice! Much easier to get into marketing than eng/product roles. Do you have a big marketing team at your company?
Interesting narratives
Thank you
This video was pure gold.
Appreciate that, Cesar! Glad it was helpful.
this is really nice to see! seeing a video like this is something to be excited about because a video like this proves that there are many other opportunities besides going to college. I'm not saying that college is completely useless, it's okay to still go to college but nowadays there are many more opportunities to get educated and obtain the skills needed with whatever career field you're interested in (but that also depends what you're interest is). Even when it comes to tech, you don't really have to spend 4+ years of your life for something that you can possibly learn within less that time, maybe for a year or even for a few months. 🙌🏼
Great insight into the market trends
Thanks!
Super deep dive. Will I make more as a Product Uber Driver? Seriously though, do more videos on the non coding jobs for sure
More to come! You can definitely get a job at Google or Netflix without needing to code. Any roles in particular interest you?
Keep doing what you are doing
Thank you!
I enjoy IT but am not a people person. Well, as far as external customers and having to provide direct support is concerned. But a good variety for right people looking to break in
Ha. Many of these roles don't really require you to be a super people person - at least the software and data roles. PMs and User Researchers help you connect with the end users.
Thanks for this video
Hope it helps!
Thank you for your video. Colin, I'm just starting my career in tech in the Customer Success Manager role (telephony company). What do you think could be a roadmap here in terms of professional growth? I have more soft skills rather than hard ones. I'm interested in Product Management, Business Development, Scrum/Agile Management. And trying to build a picture of my career roadmap in my head and reveal what hard skills can I learn.
Hi Karina! Customer Success Managers have a few great transferrable skills:
- Collaboration and User/Customer Empathy (hopefully you are able to take insights/recommendations from customer pain points to the engineering or product teams at your company - those would be useful experiences)
- Data analysis (If this applies to your role - e.g. measuring key metrics for your customers and acting on them)
- Strategic thinking (if you are setting up strategies and plans to make your customers successful and keeping them getting value + renewing)
These can all serve you in Data Analyst, Business Analyst, Product Management, and Product Operations roles.
How were you able to get your position as a customer success manager? What did you do before for work?
@@ColinLate @faith W. this is also a question I wanted to ask, if I may. I’ve been thinking about switching to tech into customer success mgr. Not sure where to start
Thank you so much sir for making this video! My dream is to become software engineer in silicon valley in any company! Im currently 1st yr college bs it course 😀#FromPhilippines
Awesome to hear! Let me know how it goes in the Philippines
Please I want insights into software engineering roles and product manager roles and customers success roles
Great
🔴 Thank you so much for sharing the information with us. It was real very helpful. I'm very interested to know where a position as a software tester would be in this table of jobs that you showed us during this session. Could you please let me know that?
I'll cover it soon
Would love a detailed video on the Program/Project management role.
Good idea. Tons of these folks around and it's different at each company.
Your content is extremely good,please continue making more videos to help college students like us.
Thank you, I hope to. Time is tight, but I love to hear it helps.
How do you become a project manager in a tech job? (with NO Degree NO Code)
ha nice!
But if you're genuinely interested...
Really project management at startup is fairly simple to get into. You can spin your past experience in a way that demonstrates your organization and business skills.
Plenty of Project Managers at companies I've worked at had non-traditional backgrounds. If you did project work at NPOs, organizations at school, or in your community, you can leverage that.
If a job requires PM experience, there are tons of temp contracts at agencies like Randstad in Project Management that can get you some quick paid experience before you move into a tech company. There are plenty of free and cheap courses online to teach you the skills you need and the interview questions you'll need to answer. There are certifications out there, but I'd only use them as a last resort.
There are so many different paths that it's easier to walk through your specific situation.
@@ColinLate Awesome. thanks
What a terrific, thorough and accurate video! Spot on! 🙌
Thanks, Alex! I actually watch your videos and they're very useful for people getting into Product Management. Caught you originally when you chatted with Exponent.
@@ColinLate that’s awesome!!
I just subscribed 😁👍
Thanks for subscribing! What are you hoping to see more of?
What a great video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I can't decide between product designer or front end developer, help!!!!!!!
I've got a B.sc in geology but I want to transition to tech. From Nigeria
A few things to consider in 3 categories: Your interests/skills, desirability of the role coming from Nigeria, and how much effort each requires. 1) Are you more interested in user problems and creative visual work? Then design is best. If you are creative, but also enjoy actually building things and spending long focused time solving sometimes small technical challenges that block you, then coding may better fit your interests. 2) Desirability: Developers are more in-demand and there are more roles out there. Not that designers are not, but this may make it easier to get freelance jobs to build apps and build your portfolio remotely to improve your career outcomes. It is also sometimes easier to get work visas with developer roles if you want to move. 3) Coding will take longer and is more challenging than design to learn if you are already skilled somewhat at design and design thinking. It may take you up to a year or more to get confident in your coding skills (some people do this much faster before getting a job, but design takes less time). Hope that helps!
@@ColinLate coding it is, I guess 🙂. Thank you
I honestly have a hard time believing that one can get a role as a product manager with no degree or even become a data scientist.
Certainly if you have a degree in anything (even unrelated) you have a higher chance of getting these roles, but there are non-traditional paths to these roles. It takes more networking, more effort to practically demonstrate your skill (side projects, starting companies), and more applications to get a role. You need a hiring manager who respects hustle/experience over degrees, which is tougher to find, but once you get that first or second role (even if on contract), your lack of a degree means much less.
@@ColinLate Do you think that getting a bachelor's degree in something unrelated and getting an associate's degree in computer science would be worth it over just going for the unrelated bachelor's degree?
@@metis3097 That is a good question. I don't really have a great answer, since I never did this. You can try to search on LinkedIn and see how many folks with an associate's degree got into tech vs. with a non-tech bachelors. My guess is that non-tech bachelors wins out, but you save money and time by doing an associate's degree and you will have actual practical skills you can demonstrate. In the end, your education will affect mainly your first few years in the workplace. If you can get great experience up front by working for startups or just networking/selling yourself well, then it won't make a huge difference down the line.
Would you please do a video how to get in to UX/UI design? Your video is very informative 👌 👏 👍 😀
Glad you enjoyed it! I have hired UX designers, but would probably want to ask some friends for input before putting together that video.
What role will you put the word "Product..." in front of to make more money?
Product Real Estate Investor? *Unlocks lowball offer success*
Hello I just came across this video, I am interested in career transitioning into tech and where would a good foundation point be to become more familiar with the tech language
Proc manager lol
Hi, what about scrum master? Could u do a video on that?
It's less prevalent these days. Mostly replaced by more general bigger scope roles that also use some of those skills
I am not sure if this guy really understand the future of the tech industy? I did not see Cyber Security mentioned. Right now and in the future is the way to go. With myself in the Cyber Security field, I get on average about 45-50 emails per day and the average starting salary is approximately $85 per hour and many companies tech and non-tech industry are hiring like crazy. Software design, yes we need them but Cyber Security is where its at
Good call.
Cybersecurity roles are typically tech roles at non-tech companies. This was a list of the top roles at tech companies. There are only 6000 people working in Cybersecurity at Google and Microsoft combined, for example.
I would definitely recommend Cybersecurity as a stable, in-demand, well-paid role. It is not going anywhere and even the big tech companies will need these more and more. It has more geographic diversity too because you can get roles at many non-tech companies in 2nd and 3rd cities throughout the world.
$85/hr * 40 hr/wk * 50 working wks/yr = $170,000. A very good salary, but without the benefits and equity of other roles at big fast growing tech companies. A new hire Software Engineer at a Series D startup out of college in Silicon Valley will make more than this in total compensation and have benefits on top, but Cybersecurity is probably less competitive.
Hey do you have a degree or just certification?
This video is packed and informative. Never seen any like this. Thank you so much for this impactful video.
I'm kinda having a hard time making a choice of what path in tech to go in. I have a business admin/mgt degree, I'm not the best at statistics or math, im business savvy to an extent but not great at marketing/sales, sociable. However I took a course in data analytics by myself, but couldn't finish because I got lost and it became technical. Now, after reassessment, I'm thinking of joining a business analysis/agile bootcamp for an easier pathway into tech. I'd like to know your thoughts on this and also, would being a business analyst make it easier to go into other tech roles like product mgt/product ops mgt? Would I still be able to work in the Health IT sector with this career path?
*A response from you would mean alot* thank you.
Hey Barbara, I am so glad to see you are aiming to start your career in tech. First off, I wouldn't let challenges taking math, stats, or data courses in school make you think you aren't "great at" them. I know some great data analysts and PMs who did pretty terrible in stats or marketing. Some people also just need to get into the job before it "clicks" for them, so I would keep your mind open. You have the ability to do a lot of these jobs, just not the right experience yet.
Some options to start with: Data Analysis requires a bit of stats understanding, but you're not doing heavy stats day-to-day - it's way simpler than that and more about investigating issues and exploring user behavior, which is fun. Marketing Operations is a good way to see if marketing is a path for you. You help coordinate and analyze and project manage for marketing while you get exposure.
Business/Agile isn't going to be a very valuable bootcamp for most tech companies, unless you are working for a more traditional company in your market that focuses on business analysis and traditional agile methods.
Look for these roles as a start: Data Analyst, Product Analyst, Operations Analyst/Specialist, and even Customer Success if you are a people person. Marketing Operations is another way in. I would take a look on LinkedIn at a mid-size tech company in your area and look at the people and roles in that company. You may see some you haven't heard of. Try getting coffee with some of those people to see if it's for you.
Also, you can start getting some experience right away (for lower pay) at small startups just doing operations, community management, and "jack of all trades" roles.
what i want to know is how to tailor my searches such that they return quality metrics like the graphics you've presented.. my search engine is a flood of sponsored advertising that doesn't even remotely look as academic as the sources I'd present
Hi Ray - Would you mind elaborating? How can I help?
Hi. I'm interested in some of these roles but my background is mostly science and teaching. How can I actually transfer to one of these roles without much difficulties? (I think I could work at positions in lines: 1,3,5, 9,11. )
With a Science background, you'll have a slightly easier time getting into tech companies in science-based fields. Operations roles and perhaps even product management or product operations roles could be within reach. You should look for science-based companies, and network with the managers and directors. There may be a place for someone with your knowledge who is willing to take on one of these roles. Sometimes Customer Success and Sales are open to scientists, too, in B2B companies who sell to scientific industry clients.
On top of that, your understanding of the scientific method allows you to understand A/B testing, data analysis, and overall experimentation which is useful in Data Science and Product Management roles. Even Marketing roles need this.
Is going to college pointless for going to tech I feel like company’s won’t take me serious without a degree other than just certs and I guess projects is that really enough?
Have you ever applied? Has anyone told you they don’t take you seriously? You’ll hustle to get your first job but then that is the major thing that matters to your future recruiters: how did you perform and progress in that job?
I know literally dozens of SWEs and PMs who have completely unrelated degrees like English literature
@@ColinLate true I haven’t tried I’ve just been told all my life school is the only way people will even notice you on the resume that’s why I wasn’t sure if people were just landing jobs by luck but thanks for the reply just subscribed 👍🏽
To be clear, though. College isn't "pointless" for getting into tech. Your odds go up, but if you can use that 4 years and tons of money/debt to hustle your way into tech jobs and get experience, you can get ahead. If you can get into Stanford CS or something similar, I would not tell you to turn down that opportunity.
is there ageism in tech specially in product design cuz I've heard that companies don't hire product designers above age of 50.
Generally the average age of population is lower in tech than other sectors. I cannot tell you how much is attributed to ageism vs. other factors, such as the earlier retirement age, average age of population in the tech hub cities, risk tolerance decreasing with age leading to older designers going to more established companies or starting their own agencies to gain freedom, etc. I don't have the data now, but the perception is that some tech companies tend to have older populations than others.
@@ColinLate thanks for answering.
I've taken the Google fundamentals course for digital marketing and am currently the LinkedIn one before taking the Meta digital marketing course/exam. I have been seeing a lot of recruiters say they don't value certificates really. Any insight?
I worked in edtech. It’s helpful if you come from non traditional background, but recruiters care more about what you did with those skills (work experience, side projects, products launched) than the certificate itself.
For digital marketing, you can market a simple email course or newsletter for example and prove your skills with the metrics and a/b testing you do. Requires some funds for paid marketing. You can also do projects on Upwork or contact small startups and do small contracts to help them with digital marketing as a freelancer. You can use their budget for ads and show your skills
Thank you
Hopefully I can spin my customer service and fraud prevention background for this somehow. Working with a startup sounds great because I'd get paid to learn.
Hey Colin
First things first it's really great of you sharing this immensely helpful information. Thanks a lot.
But I've got a query since most(or maybe all) of these jobs are based in USA how can an international apply for them. I mean everything from application process to interview and all that stuff. Plus what visa will one would need and who would help in getting the visa. I've got no formal college degree so I guess H1b gets ruled for me or if that it isn't the case please let me know the same. See I really am very much interested in the jobs you mentioned and am ready to do whatever it takes to get them but my only problem is that will I be able to come us to do these jobs and if yes who would file a visa for me and most importantly how? What do I need to to do to get one .Please let me know about the plausible solution to my issue.
I'll be really grateful if you reply.
Nick
You can find a lot of this information online, but the simple answer is that these companies hire many people from countries around the world. That includes countries who have 10+ year long Green Card waiting lists. You can still get a job. I would Google your specific country and how to get a job in tech in the United States. There are websites from immigration lawyers that have some public info on how to go through the process and which visas are available. It's not simple, but a good company will have lawyers to help you.
What are the skills for each of the positions? That’s what I’m trying to know so that I don’t make a fool of myself applying. Obviously computer languages for software engineers, sales experience for sales, but what about things like a project manager etc what am I going to say on a CV to prove I know what I’m talking about and fit for the job?
Thank you @colin late
The job descriptions are pretty straightforward. You’ll need resource planning, prioritization, spreadsheet modeling, people coordination, root cause analysis, and other related skills to making sure projects are tracked, done on time, hit targets, prioritized properly, and have a continually improving process.
But this changes by role and company. You should talk to people who work there to learn more before interviewing.
@@ColinLate great thanks but are there any online courses that you specifically know from companies like Google, IBM, Apple, etc all don’t require a degree anymore. I have like 3 years of college but I find it to be a waste of time and gets in the way of learning actual skills I need. Do you know of any legitimate coding/IT boot camps that are worthwhile? In university you literally learn nothing about the skills you need for a job except for the senior level courses 400lv that start to teach useful stuff and the amount of money it cost doesn’t justify it. Especially when I can buy the books and learn myself. Do you know of anyone who didn’t rely on the college route that’s gone into tech?
Thanks in advance, appreciate it
@@fullsendcirca9255 I recommend getting your degree at this point. If you had 3 more years maybe, but 1 more year is worth it. You can just work on the side and in the summer.
@@fullsendcirca9255 The process for getting jobs at Google, Apple, etc. is a little too complex for a YT comment, but I recommend looking on Medium for posts by folks who tell the story of how they got jobs. Exponent also has guides to getting jobs there, as well as igotanoffer .
@@fullsendcirca9255 The courses for each role (e.g. Product Alliance for Product Management or Exponent for some others) have guides for big companies if they're good usually. Interviews are similar at most companies with key differences, so you need to learn the core stuff then customize based on the company and role.
What about cyber security?
There are a lot of jobs in Cyber Security. Some are operational or analyst type roles, admin roles, but many are also engineering. It's more of a vertical or flavor of various roles than a single role general across the industry.
I Have 5 plus Automation Selenium Testing Experience i am interested to work in us. what about Testing Profiles in Us, please reply i need info about Testing jobs in us .
I don't know too much about the testing world.
Thank you so much for making this video, it was really informative!
Do you have any tips for someone like myself who is a recent Biology graduate looking to break into tech (without coding ability)? Which jobs do you think would leverage my skills as a biology graduate the most?
You have generalizable skills in data, business, working on technical subjects, etc. You can take most non engineering roles unless you can also code. You can also target tech companies working in the health industry if you need a competitive edge over other applicants.
I know bio majors who do product management, data science, and even marketing.
does cybersecurity require programming??
Depends on the role. There are tons of cyber jobs that don’t, but there are even more that only require limited scripting knowledge you could probably pick up in a few months. Check out the multitude of courses and bootcamps online in cybersecurity with and without coding
@@ColinLate what are the highest paying jobs in cybersecurity that don't require programming?
The most common ones are Cybersecurity Analyst or Specialist ($90,000 to $160,000), Computer security incident responder ($80k), and Penetration Tester ($80,000 to $130,000) - Testers need to do some scripting.
@@ColinLate okay that's cool. Is there any way that I can get into these jobs? I am studying business right now and I am about to finish. Is a cybersecurity bootcamp a good thing to try out if I want to get into tech?
If you’re studying business, are you sure you want to go into cybersecurity? Why that vs all the other tech business roles?
How is HR and Marketing considered Tech Jobs?
Good question. Most headquarter jobs in a tech company are considered "jobs in tech." A marketer or HR person at Facebook would say that they work in tech. They receive similar benefits to engineers, company equity, and more pay than similar jobs in non-tech companies. I have seen people transition from a Customer Support role in a tech company to a data analyst or product manager. For most people trying to get into tech, all of these jobs are relevant.
In india with out degree jobswont
I am sure that having no degree in some markets will make it tough, especially when there is a much greater supply of degree graduates in STEM fields. I do hope that with the growing startup communities in India they will start to adopt some of the flexible thinking around hiring that exists in many other markets.
Sir I applied to many jobs but I didn't get any reply .... Not understanding need help
Can you give me more context?
Applying to a bunch of jobs with the same resume for example will not help your chances. There are many articles on how to prepare your experience, get your story straight, then ensure you have the right checkboxes checked on your resume in the right format. Then, especially for your first role, you should be networking and thinking creatively about where you have an advantage or different related roles to get similar experience. I did not get my first job by just sending in online applications with a resume and no experience.
@@ColinLate sir I applied for some jobs which you described in video. I made mistake which u elaborated by replying but since I m fresher even if i try my best to highlight myself it's not working
@@piyushamule4200 It's really great that you took the first step and started applying! A lot of people don't do that, so that's great. Can you tell me a bit about which roles you are applying for, what experience or education you have that matches those roles, what resources you used to find out how to best apply for those roles, etc. ?
@@ColinLate sir since I m an Indian so applied for companies for project management but no reply .... I even tried for teramind company which u might be knowing I applied for project management since it's 100%remote and required no experience and specially can work from home country which was best for me ..... I redesigned my resume made best as I could and allied but no reply 😭
Unfortunately it’s usually not as simple as applying. Companies get many resumes. If your experience as written isn’t better than the other applicants you won’t always get an interview. It’s too hard for me to tell whether it’s an issue with your resume or just that you need to do some networking or apply to different roles. You might even need to get more related experience or take contract work to get experience.
Thats BS...no way a PM can be or Should be ever paid more than the software engineer...all places I worked project manager dont know any technical stuff at all
Hi Ricky, Thanks for your comment and looking to learn more. There is a major difference between a Project Manager and a Product Manager. Product Managers make much more money, too. I even say that many engineers make more than Product Managers at tech companies depending on the role and company, but they are both the highest paid roles outside of the executive team. Go to levels.fyi and select Software Engineer then Product Manager. You can tap around and see how much each makes at the top companies for different seniorities.
There are actually roles somewhat between Project Manager and Product Manager called Program Managers that you may also be interested in learning about.
Only 1 answer - LEETCODE grinder
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