When To Make The Switch To An IT Career?

Picture this: you spend years working jobs you don’t care about to make ends meet. Years pass you by, and you ask yourself an important question… What the hell am I doing at my job?

Have no fear; everyone thinks this, but what many don’t realize is that switching careers can be your salvation. With the rise of self-paced technology certification options, learning in-demand tech skills without spending thousands in college tuition has never been easier.

If you have any interest in technology, you must pursue your interest not only to keep one's spark of curiosity alive but also to switch to a high-paying career that will allow you to support your lifestyle.

According to a study concluded by TechTarget in 2023, the following tech careers were rated as the highest in-demand roles. As you can see the salaries are quite comfortable.

All of these roles offer free or heavily discounted courses to provide you with the foundational knowledge needed to secure an entry-level position. I challenge you to find a beginner-level course for one of the roles listed on YouTube. After watching the video, perform the following:

1. Write a list of the work environment you wish to have. Remote or in person, minimum salary range.

2. Draw a line straight down a blank paper in one column write the cons of you switching careers. On the other side write the benefits of what you could achieve by getting a role in IT.

3. Go to LinkedIn, search for roles that intrigue you, and see if they match your desired work environment. If any of the roles match your list compared to your current role, which may not meet any of your preferences, then you know it’s time to make the career switch.

Making the Leap…

If you are like most anxiety-ridden people who stay in a role for fear of losing their main source of income, that is perfectly understandable. It is one of the main reasons people do not make the switch.

The second reason is they fear failure and are intimidated by the idea of having to learn new skills. They worry they do not have the intellectual capacity to learn technology. I am happy to inform you that this is not true. Technology, on the surface level, can seem intimidating. However, once the fundamentals are explained, the road to success seems less intimidating. Now that you know the pros and cons of entering the tech industry, it’s time to decide.

Will you make the leap?