Breaking Into Tech: A Realistic Guide to Starting Your IT Career Path (2 of 4)

Assess Your Skills vs. Industry Requirements

Finding your fit in IT starts with a bit of self-reflection. What skills do you already have? If you’re transitioning from teaching, finance, logistics, or marketing, you likely bring valuable strengths like communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking. These are gold in tech roles.

To align your existing talents with your IT career path, compare your background with current job requirements. Online job boards and LinkedIn can be a huge help finding a job that fits your experience. And if you’re missing technical skills? No worries—start with the basics. Learn about software development life cycles, IT infrastructure, or cloud platforms. Taking that first step can help launch a truly fulfilling new career.

Recognize the Virtues of Learning

The tech world doesn’t stand still, so you can’t either. If you want to stay relevant and get into an IT career that continues to grow with you, then learning has to become part of your routine.

Luckily, you don’t need to go back to school for four years. Online platforms like Coursera, edX, or Udacity offer everything from coding bootcamps to cybersecurity courses. And many are affordable—or even free. You’ll also learn a lot by doing: build mini-projects, join coding challenges, contribute to open-source platforms. The more hands-on experience you gain, the faster you’ll go from job to career.