How do you choose a tech profession?

There are more than 50 different professions in tech today. Broadly they divide into a few categories, and we go through each below, setting out the advantages and drawbacks and the qualities that help you pick each one up.

Graphic design

This category covers web designer, interface designer, UX/UI designer and front-end coder.

What the work involves: everything to do with interfaces and the outward shell of software, including mobile applications, sites and components.

Who it suits: creative people with a well-trained eye and a wish to bring a little beauty into tech.

Skills that help: working in graphics software such as Photoshop or Illustrator, or simply the ability to draw or draft. Unconventional creative thinking and the ability to look at familiar things from a new angle.

Advantages: you will certainly not be bored. The projects are always varied, from interfaces for space centres to promotional sites for leading fashion houses. You can find a niche and develop within it or try several directions. Another clear advantage is that you can go deeper into building sites and applications and move into front-end development.

Drawbacks: the work is usually project-based; only large corporations can keep a designer on full-time staff. That does not stop talented designers working on several projects at once and earning as much as development specialists, sometimes more.

The profession is an ideal start in tech if you want a technical specialism approached more creatively. It also lets you move gradually into building websites and applications and then realise your potential elsewhere in tech.

Software development

This category covers back-end developer, front-end developer, full-stack developer, software architect and others.

What the work involves: building and designing software, applications, games and sites. Programming in languages such as Python, JavaScript, PHP, C++, C# and others. Front-end is the direction in which developers work on the outward shell of software; back-end is where they model and build its internal structure and architecture. Full-stack developers, accordingly, can deliver an end-to-end commission on their own.

Who it suits: people who want to learn a foundational technical profession in tech and the main programming languages.

Skills that help: a mathematical turn of mind and the ability to process large volumes of information, along with persistence and attention to detail.

Advantages: this is unquestionably the most sought-after profession in tech. The number of development vacancies grows every year, a capable developer with a broad set of competencies and languages is always a prize on the hiring market at companies of every size, and salaries often have no upper limit.

Drawbacks: the work carries considerable responsibility and demands constant development, because the market changes very quickly. Be ready to keep building your skills and stay open to everything new — then the work will always be enjoyable and never become mechanical or monotonous.

Development suits purposeful people ready for continuous self-development who want to contribute directly to the industry. The profession offers unlimited room to grow.

Testing

This category covers manual tester, test automation specialist and QA engineer.

What the work involves: checking software at every stage of the development cycle, user testing, writing and running automated tests, and finding bugs in products.

Who it suits: attentive, persistent people with critical minds, able to find a defect in something apparently perfect.

Skills that help: the ability to do routine work without losing concentration, and to learn quickly. Attention to detail and the ability to look at the same situation from more than one angle.

Advantages: testing remains the best choice for easing into tech. It lets you try a tech profession and see how teams work together, how the development cycle runs, and how it feels to work with different products and languages — and then choose what suits you best.

Drawbacks: there are a great many testing vacancies, but because it is a popular direction for juniors there is real competition. Be ready to broaden your portfolio with new languages and find your own approach as a competitive advantage.

The profession suits anyone wanting to take their first steps in tech and get gradually into how everything works, as well as anyone who has not yet settled on a direction but wants somewhere to start.

At PASV you will find a QA Automation course, a UX/UI design course, a full-stack development course and others in the directions above, where specialists with years of experience share valuable knowledge and skills and help you start in tech as quickly and comfortably as possible. On the courses you get not only the knowledge you need but an answer to the main question: where to find work as a tester, a developer or a designer. Our team will answer any questions and help you settle on a direction if you still have doubts. Start your road into tech today and it will work out.