CODEX
What Are Some Alternatives or Careers Paths that Involve Programming?
Your Job Title Doesn’t Necessarily Have to be Software Engineer for you to Code at Work
You might be thinking that only software engineers, programmers, or data scientists are the only individuals that get to work with programming languages but that’s not always true. Some employers look for candidates with coding skills or at least a decent level of knowledge of certain programming languages. In this blog post, I won’t go too much into detail when it comes to explaining what the essential tools for these positions are since every company defines its job titles differently and has distinct business requirements. The following bullet points will go over some alternative career paths that involve programming or coding:
- Designer. These individuals plan the form and look of features or things before being launched. The term designer is vague and generic since the functions of these individuals vary depending on the industry. Just to be clear, in this article I’m referring to any designer within the tech industry. The tools that these professionals use, despite working hand in hand with JavaScript code or Python, for instance, do not necessarily require coding skills. Also, this type of position typically requires you to know some graphic design or Adobe Creative Cloud software. Whether the position is titled ‘HTML Designer’, ‘User Interface / User Experience Designer’, or simply Designer you may still require to know some coding. However, employers most likely won’t expect you to know much about algorithms, databases, and complex concepts related to object-oriented programming.
- Analyst. You probably have heard of ‘Data Analyst’, ‘SEO Analyst’, ‘Programmer Analyst’, etc. There are a lot of job positions that include the term Analyst that require you to know how to code, or at least to some extent. This situation is awesome since it provides more opportunities for job seekers interested in the technology field, however, analyst positions may drastically vary from company to company. Some companies define a data analyst as someone that works with complex databases and debugs code, while others consider analysts to be office clerks that mostly work with Excel spreadsheets. Requirements included in job descriptions may be very different from one another as well, but you definitely need to know Microsoft Office in addition to the programming languages and tools of your choice. Most likely Microsoft Excel is the minimum requirement for job applicants to land a job as an analyst. You might notice I didn’t provide a brief definition at the beginning of this section, that is because Analyst is probably one of the broadest job titles out there.
- Technical Writer. The core role of these positions is typically to write documentation and translate it for a non-technical audience. These individuals will commonly work closely with engineers to make information easier to comprehend. Successful technical writers require efficient communication skills as well. Tools for this type of position may vary drastically as well depending on the industry and business requirements from the company that you are applying to work for. There are many programming languages and tools out there… it’s impossible to master them all. My advice is that you should figure out what programming language interests you the most in addition to the set of tools you want to learn before pursuing a job as a technical writer.
- Quality Assurance Tester. QA Tester or Software Testers are individuals that check and review software features or products. There are different types of testing, which use different sets of tools. The most simple category is manual testing that doesn’t require knowledge of any programming language (hence, automation tools). The ultimate goal of testing is to find bugs or discrepancies and other major flaws on the front-end or back-end of both web applications and mobile (IOS or Android) apps. It is a common practice for Testers to transition into software developer roles later on. If you are interested in becoming a tester you should learn the programming language of your choice.
Conclusion:
Coding skills possibly will always be valuable for the majority of employers. It is a common stereotype to believe that programming abilities are worth learning only if you want to become a software engineer, but that’s not true. Whether you want to be an analyst or a tester, you should pick one language and get familiar with it. In most cases, learning at least one programming language will most likely be beneficial for your career.
