Today, everything is about the tech world. We live in a society where the trend is about the new gadget, the new iPhone version, the new app to add to your iPhone—the game is constantly upgrading and changing. The High Tech field is growing and expanding, and lots of people are jumping ship and swimming toward it to find success.
I am no exception. For the past 13 years I have been working in the non-profit/education fields. Teaching for 5 years then starting my own non-profit have been my (humble) bread and butter. But I needed a change. Statistics show that most people change career paths on average of 3-7 times in their lifetimes, so I guess I’m not alone on this path.
Living in a foreign country doesn’t exactly make it any easier finding a new job, especially one geared towards an English Speaker (that isn’t an English Teacher), but luckily for me, I live in Tel Aviv—one of the High Tech capitals in the world.
Although I am somewhat of a self-proclaimed Social Media/Tech fanatic, I didn’t have any actual experience working in High Tech, so finding a job suited for me seemed like a challenge—a challenge I was ready to accept. After a few interviews I found an amazing job as a Content Writer at an incredible company! While I’m still learning the ropes, here are a few tips I found helpful on my Techi journey:
Know your strengths
For me writing is my strength. I’m not a developer, programmer or designer—but I can write. I’ve been writing blogs, proposals, curriculum, and dealing with lots of lots of student essays. I knew that writing/editing was the area I needed to focus on, so I sought out jobs focused on writing.
Show confidence in your strengths
You need to be ready to sell yourself like you never have before. Employers are typically looking for someone, not only with the skills for the job they will be performing, but also someone who has knowledge within the High Tech field. Not having past experience in High Tech put me at a disadvantage, but showing complete confidence in my writing ability helped to level the playing field. Ensure them that you have something amazing to offer, and no matter what field you are working in, you will nail it!
Do your homework
Whatever job you are looking at, make sure you go in with insane knowledge of their company. Before I had my interview with Conduit, I spent hours combing their website, reading their history and background, and googling the heck out of them
Be willing to learn
When entering a completely new field of work, be prepared to spend A LOT of time learning. My first two weeks of work consisted of absorbing everything like a sponge. I had to learn all there is to know about mobile apps, and become a mini-expert on the subject. It was a whole new world of knowledge for me, and I actually learned so much those two weeks.
Embrace the change
Change can be difficult for some, but oh—so rewarding. Leaving my cushy, familiar life of education/non-profits and entering the sit-in-front-of-a-computer-all-day High Tech life was a HUGE change for me. It took a while to adjust (and in some ways I’m still adjusting), but it was worth it. Embrace this new change in your life and look at it as an exciting challenge.
And now I can add Techi to my list of geeky endeavors (you don’t even want to know how big of a Star Wars fan I am), along with a wonderful new job, working with some of the most talented people in the High Tech universe. It was a risk diving in head first to this unknown pool of technology, but a risk I’m so glad I took!