Technology, computing, coding and web or app development – what all of these disciplines have in common is the level of education you’ll need to start your career in a role in which you’re contributing to high-level tech development. You’ll need both experience and education in order to find your way into these complex and rewarding roles – and more than that, you’ll not be considered for most of them without high-level certification that’ll guarantee your merit in a company.
This article examines the ways in which you can build this education in your own time, through a variety of means.
University and College
With the right grades attained at high school, you’ll be able to apply to the relevant courses at university or college that’ll help you gain an undergraduate degree that’ll be all-important propulsion for you towards better roles in better tech companies.
Naturally, the more you’ve achieved at high school, the better universities and courses you’ll be able to attend. In the world of technology and computing, you’ll want to have concentrated on the STEM subjects – science, mathematics, computing and IT. With good grades in these disciplines, the world will be your oyster in terms of your opportunities to study under some of the finest professors in the best institutions in the world.
While at University
While you study at university, you shouldn’t be simply focused on your course. You happen to be surrounded by some of the most exciting talent and teaching in the world of technology – and it’s something you should tap into with gusto whenever you’ve got some spare time to devote to gaining extra skills.
You might consider some of the following extra-curricular activity:
- Working on independent projects with your classmates or other peers at university
- Attending extra lectures, talks, and conferences to gain important industry knowledge
- Broadening your horizons by taking additional modules in different disciplines
- Scheduling extra meetings with your professors to discuss your ideas
Essentially, the advice here is to be a good and proactive student. How this will look in practice will depend on your interests and your ability to make the very most of your time in an academic institution. Of course, university is also about fun, socializing and living independently, so make sure you’re working hard while playing hard in your leisure time, too.
Online Degrees
There is an important alternative to attending university in situ: taking online courses that are the equivalent of degree programs. These are best-suited to those individuals who may not have the capital to attend university, and instead would prefer to work a full-time job while studying around their work on a flexible and in-your-own-time basis.
While you may think that online courses are less instructive than their offline counterparts, these online courses are in fact composed of incredible learning materials, multimedia presentation methods, and instructive guides. Professors and tutors are at hand to schedule Skype sessions or otherwise exchange ideas and queries over email. And all of this is supported on a professional, easy-to-use platform that you can log into from anywhere in the world.
If this is something that interests you, check out the offerings presented online. You can study an online electrical engineering master’s degree at Kettering University, for instance, to help you get those all-important qualifications to display on your resume to the companies you’re most interested in working for. Master’s qualifications serve to set you apart from other candidates, as employers understand just how much work you have to put in to acquire these qualifications.
Other Online Materials
Aside from university courses, there are hundreds of other courses online to help budding tech development professionals gain important extra skills. Some of these are quick courses that you can easily complete within a week. Others are advanced, long-term and in-depth, helping you learn the intricacies of code: the method behind the madness of computing technicalities.
These materials are just a simple search engine browse away. There are huge providers of these services – the most notable being EdX and others in the online educational space – whose courses are well mapped-out, often created by industry professionals who know exactly the kind of qualifications and experience new employees will need to make themselves into the most valuable of employees.
Then there are simpler, less formal resources that you should also consider. There are blogs online that update with interesting developments in the tech world. Magazines and periodicals are also useful in keeping you abreast of developments. YouTube tutorial series are wonderfully instructive in some elements of tech development education, while there are hundreds of tech forums on which you can ask searching questions to receive in-depth answers from professionals in your given industry.
You May Also Want to Read: Why Online Colleges and Education is Good for your Career
On-The-Job Learning
Some of the finest learning in the world comes on-the-job. Its where you can apply all the theory and ideas you’ve dabbled with in the classroom in practical, actionable ways. If you’ve already started your career in tech, the chances are you are in a junior position in a tech company, managing the less advanced aspects in the tech development repertoire.
Of course, everyone has to start somewhere – and you shouldn’t be disappointed, necessarily, that you’re not enacting the great leaping changes in the tech world that you first imagined. Furthermore, a junior position in a large tech company also comes with multiple benefits that’ll directly impact on your ongoing educational progress, such as:
- The availability of experienced colleagues to help you solve difficult problems
- Paid training and on-the-job evaluations to keep you gaining skills
- Industry education packs to get you up to speed with your company’s offerings
- The opportunity to travel to attend conferences and seminars in the tech world
- Mentors who’ll spot your talent and nurture it towards positions of greater responsibility
Never be afraid to take the bull by the horns and ask for greater responsibilities, or more training, when you’ve secured yourself a job in the tech industry. Fortune favors the bold, and education should remain a key concern for you as you climb your own personal career ladder.
With several educational pathways open to you at all times, there’s no excuse not to be gaining skills at all times, helping you become a more knowledgeable, more employable individual as you progress in your career.
