For tech newbies, transitioning from a traditional career path into the tech industry comes with a lot of excitement and yet tricky moments. However, navigating and thriving in such a fast-paced and highly competitive environment requires the right mindset, incorporating best practices, and honing relevant skills to stand out.

In this article, we’ll spot five essential tips to help newbies successfully pivot to a tech career, become exceptional, and even land their dream job in the industry.

Come, let’s dive in!

Get Comfortable with Being a Beginner

Starting anything as a beginner can become overwhelming when you are not getting your desired result, invoking the feelings of giving up. This applies to starting out in Tech.

You should know that the tech and digital landscape will continue to evolve, hence, the need to stay open to learning new things. Keep in mind that everyone in the industry, including experts, are also learning and acquiring these new skills as they go along. Hence, there’s no need to feel embarrassed about being a beginner. You should take it slow, and stay calm when figuring out any learning glitch.

Learn at your Pace

There are many easy and fun ways to learn a new skill on the internet at your pace.  Environmental influences and the learning platform you choose can impact your learning pace. Consider both criteria when starting.

Goal setting is an important determinant of how fast or slow you go. It tells you where you need to be, at what time, and the medium you will take to arrive. Goals serve as a pivot/compass directing you as you progress, helping you track your progress.

Stay Curious

A curious mind is a genius mind. Curiosity is a positive motivation that drives you to want to know more. Look out for useful information online, and make platforms like Google and YouTube your friend, as there is a high probability that someone has solved your current challenge.

Read articles, write-ups, blogs, and social media posts about interesting things. Feel free to venture outside your learning materials and ask questions. The more you want to know, the more you will know.

Join a Community

Being a part of a community of like-minded individuals will benefit you in many ways. Let’s highlight some benefits briefly.

Mentorship: Communities are made of experts, intermediates, and newbies. It offers members access to learn from each other no matter the level of expertise one may be. Having someone with years of experience supervise your progress is one of the easiest ways to improve your skills. They offer accountability and access to their wealth of knowledge which is a plus for any newbie. As you progress, they recommend you for opportunities and push you to become the version of yourself envisioned.

Practice: Some communities organize challenges geared towards practising all skills learned. It allows you to work on projects and forces you to be hands-on with the learning. Collaboration with other community members on their projects will enable you to gain real-time experiences while practising.

Networking: If you are transitioning to a career in tech from a nontech field, you will need to make new work friends who share the same focus. Community is an excellent place to start. Follow people making waves in the industry on social media (Twitter is the best place to be), read their articles, and attend events they propagate. Meet-ups, seminars, workshops, and conferences can be a great way to network and learn from peers and professionals in the industry. You may secure your next job through your connection.

Reviews and recommendations: Being active in a community and sharing your progress allows for improvements via reviews. A community member can recommend you for a job opportunity that will benefit you and you may not have heard of.

Keep Learning

The process continues as the tech industry is constantly evolving. There are always new tools to learn as well as trends to stay updated on. Working in tech is not just polishing and mastering one craft or skill. It is all about upskilling, building, and stacking your current knowledge to learn something new.

Take advantage of internships (paid or free) and entry-level roles as they open you up to on-the-job experiences.

An extra best practice tip?

Get Certified and Build a Portfolio

A certificate proves your skills. It gives you leverage and proves you are an authority in the field. It also shows competence, as most recognized certificates are issued after completing projects, quizzes, and assignments in the field.

A portfolio is a collection of all projects you have worked on – personal practices or real-time jobs. Create one for ease of sharing your achievements in the community, on your social media, or to recruiters when ready to seek employment.

Conclusion

We’ve identified key best practices for every newbie in starting out and topping their game in the tech industry. Engaging these best practices for tech newbies will help you stay on track.

At aptLearn, your tech skill acquisition is in safe hands, whether as a newbie, intermediate, or expert. We have a community that allows mentoring, accountability, and support throughout your learning.