How to Find Entry Level Jobs in Tech Companies as Liberal Arts Major

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Tech companies are some of the top places to work for millennials and recent graduates. With autonomous work environments, quick opportunities for growth, and the chance to solve novel and relevant problems, many undergrads are already on the hunt for jobs at the best start-ups and scale-ups with the nigh innovative visitor cultures they can find. Unfortunately, most of united states of america are not gifted with understaning the secretcode of software engineers. Don't fret Liberal Arts majors! (We're looking at you Psych, English, Art, Theater, and History.) There are many opportunities within the technology space for your liberal arts degrees.

My undergrad degree is in psychology. How did I manage to break into such an exciting industry? The answer lies in knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and understanding the concept of framing (which I'll explicate later). In the words of Liam Neeson, you take a very particular set of skills -- skills you've acquired over a very long college career. Skills y'all tin utilize to break into the tech manufacture. You lot just demand to know how to leverage them.

Know Your Strengths

A liberal arts caste provides you with a few strengths that you can leverage on your resume and in an interview.

You Enquire "Why": You already have critical thinking skills. This sounds cliché, I know, but it is an invaluable asset. While it's important to be able to take management, blind followers don't help our concern to grow at the astounding rate that information technology does. Those who question the status quo are the ones who propel us forward. Your college courses have taught you to think virtually the world abstractly and to enquire the right questions, such as: "Why are we doing it this manner? Is this the most efficient way to achieve our goals?" In an industry seeking constant improvement, this is a desirable strength.

Working Autonomously & Globally : Both tech companies and universities provide opportunities to optimize autonomy and collaboration. In gild to obtain your degree, you lot've had to learn how to prioritize your fourth dimension and manage solo projects. Conversely, you lot've besides been required to work in pairs or groups. This prepares yous to think globally by assuasive you to interact with diverse individuals. It likewise flexes your communication and rhetoric muscles. In tech, yous will exist challenged to communicate with offices and remote workers beyond the earth. Nosotros desire to see that you tin excel equally an individual correspondent and be a team player.

Empathise your Weaknesses

There are also a few of import things we wait for that may non have been provided to you by your liberal arts caste.

Technical Skills : 1 misconception about the tech manufacture, is that everyone working in it is technologically savvy. You don't need to know how to build an app or understand the difference between backend and frontend coding to work in tech. What you do need to have is a 18-carat interest in the manufacture. This interest is demonstrated by the initiative you take to fill gaps in your technological cognition. At HubSpot, we adopt "Learn it Alls" to "Know information technology Alls". Different perspectives are non only welcome, but valued . Nosotros believe in this so much so that we offering an almanac $v,000 tuition stipend and then that you can keep to build skills fifty-fifty later on y'all've started your career. What recruiters look for is either formal or extracurricular interest or experience. When I say formal feel, I'one thousand referring to something like the completion of a higher coding course, or an internship focused on collecting and analyzing information. Nonetheless, formal experience isn't the just fashion to validate your willingness to explore the unknown. An online codecademy course or the creation of a web log or website is equally relevant feel you could leverage to show that while you lot may have majored in philosophy, y'all have a genuine desire to start a career in the world of tech.

"Work Experience": This is a big i. Piece of work feel is the application of the strengths listed above, and therefore is critical for a recruiter to believe you have all the skills that you claim. If you don't have whatever such feel in the traditional sense, there is the obvious answer of trying to obtain some before applying. Easier said than done. Alternatively, there are some nontraditional ways we tin call up nigh experience. The first is extracurricular feel. Perhaps you were an agile member of a higher system or gild. Another is volunteer experience; a commitment to philanthropy tin can provide a wealth of understanding and life experience. Finally, any sort of leadership function can actually help to propel an awarding frontward. This could exist in the course of a team captain, taking ownership of a grouping project, or public speaking. If y'all don't have whatsoever such experience, have initiative. Sign up to volunteer at your local shelter, or join a new order. Taking responsibleness for your own learning can help to make upwardly for a lack of experience.

The Art of Framing

How you deliver a bulletin is just as of import every bit what you're maxim. The presentation of these strengths and weaknesses is paramount to getting a recruiter'southward attending. To clarify, I'll provide an example of how you lot tin can talk nearly each strength or weakness listed in a higher place.

Asking Why : "In my nutrition course, the professor asked u.s.a. to keep a food diary in our notebook. I suggested instead that we utilize a food tracking app. Students are more likely to accept their phones on them at all times to increment accuracy. Nosotros tin also link our accounts and anonymously view class data as a whole. We ended up changing the assignment, producing more accurate results, and a bigger pic of classroom wellness."
Working Globally : "A non-native English speaker joined my entrepreneurship club. Communicating complex ideas was difficult. Nosotros decided to utilize Google Translate and illustrations to brand sure we were all on the aforementioned page for meetings."
Technical Skills: "As an art major, I became interested in digital pattern. After exploring digital design courses, I realized I was fascinated past website creation. I'd had no previous technical experience, but I decided to accept some online courses and learned how to create my own website for a project I'd been working on."
Piece of work Experience: "I've always had a passion for ventriloquism. When I went to college, I realized there were several other students who shared my interest, however no formal group was in place. I decided to start a formal lodge where nosotros could meet, discuss, and do our craft."

Exist honest with yourself regarding what you lot know and what you don't. Frame what yous know to best leverage your strengths. And take initiative about what you don't to aid fill the gaps. The exciting world of tech is always changing and it requires fresh perspective for survival. Your liberal arts degree is an asset. Now that you know how to leverage information technology, go out there and change the world.

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