How to Change Careers and Get a Job in Tech – With No Previous Experience
Thank you, Coursera, for sponsoring this post on changing careers into the tech industry! I’ve done a lot of online courses on their amazing platform. I couldn’t recommend it more for anyone looking for awesome online courses or programs.
Are you thinking of switching careers and going into the tech industry? If that’s the case, you might be facing an overwhelming number of options as well as some fears associated with this transition. If you’re not sure yet what you would like a job in, check out this post!
Changing careers can be scary, but it will also be rewarding. And especially if you aren’t happy or fulfilled in your current position! In fact, a 2013 study examining job satisfaction among American workers found that only 14% of respondents felt like they were on the right career path. That means that 86% of respondents in the US were in the same boat as you!
The main barriers to changing careers as identified by the study were: the lack of financial security, uncertainty around which career to select next and the lack of adequate education and experience. How many of those can you relate to? Let me know in the comments!
A great solution for your problems:
Well, I’d like to present you with a solution that will address those issues and help you with your transition. It’s Google IT Support Professional Certificate!
IT Support Professional Certificate is a unique program that was developed by Google specifically to help change careers into IT support with no degree or experience required. It is comprised of 5 courses, which takes about 6-8 months on average to complete. And the best part is that you can take them at your own speed!
The certificate was exclusively developed by Google and is highly interactive. Those who successfully complete the program will get an official certificate that’s recognised by many companies in the industry. And, when you complete the program, you have a direct path to employers, who are eager to consider you for their open IT Support roles. These include companies like Best Buy, Hulu, Intel, Sprint, H&R Block, Infosys, and, of course, Google.
The Syllabus:
The Certificate is comprised of 5 courses to prepare you for changing careers into being an entry-level IT Support Specialist. This could be in-person or a remote position depending on the company:
Technical Support Fundamentals. This course will introduce you to the world of IT and how it works: from hardware to software. It will teach you how the internet works, customer service fundamentals and how to troubleshoot technical issues. My favourite part: you’ll learn how to assemble a computer during this course!
The Bits and Bytes of Computer Networking. The name is pretty self-explanatory. You’ll learn all about modern computer networking technologies and protocols. You’ll also get an overview of the cloud and network troubleshooting.
Operating Systems and You: Becoming a Power User. You will learn all about operating systems in this lesson and how to perform critical tasks like managing software and configuring hardware.
System Administration and IT Infrastructure Services. This course will help you scale your knowledge from individual users to organizations, big and small, by teaching you the infrastructure services that keep them up and running.
IT Security: Defense against the digital dark arts – sounds like Harry Potter, right? Consider this course as your official introduction into cybersecurity. It will teach you about potential vulnerabilities and threats as well as how to prevent them
This certificate is awesome because not only will it help you to transition into an IT role, but it will also give you a much deeper understanding of what Information Technology is and what career paths it offers. And finally, it also prepares you for interviews to kick-start your job search!
Learn more about the Google IT Support Professional Certificate and start your free trial right now 🙂
Success stories:
This program has already helped a lot of people do what you’re trying to do right now: transition into tech! One of the most inspiring examples is the story of Chelsea Rucker, who lived in a shelter with her daughters. After getting the certificate, she found a job at Google and now works as a Data Center Technician. And she is able to maintain a sustainable lifestyle for her family!
Chelsea isn’t the only one who has taken advantage of this awesome program, some of the examples include:
Daniel, who was a night security guard and now works as an IT Specialist
Piper, who was a competitive swimmer and didn’t have a clear career path after graduating, but now works as a lead engineer at an IT staffing company
Xavier who majored in history. But he didn’t want to pursue that field professionally – and who now works in IT support at Google
Konstantin, who supplemented his highly theoretical information security classes with this certificate. He now works as a system administrator for a supermarket chain
Read more about their stories here!
Google IT Support Professional Certificate is a powerful program that could help you get started working in tech within a few months. And as you can see, it addresses all of the main barriers to changing careers! Learn more in the video below:
And finally:
If you haven’t heard of Coursera, it’s a great platform that offers online Courses, Specializations and Masters degrees. I’ve personally taken so many courses myself and so have many of my friends!
Coursera partners with top universities and industry leaders to provide the world’s best online education experience. They have over 3,000 courses you can take in subjects like Data Science, Astronomy, Artificial Intelligence, Self-Driving Cars, Digital Marketing, you name it! I love this platform and have been using it for over 6 years myself 🙂
Good luck with your career transition! You’re embarking on a really fun journey, I’m very excited for you and I know that you can do this.
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