2.7 What advice do you have for students interested in getting into tech?

I imagine there are many readers thinking that this sounds like an appealing career path, but they may be unsure what to do next. What advice do you have for students interested in getting into tech?And what about for students who, when they think of all the stereotypes associated with the tech industry, feel like they don’t belong? Here’s what Allison has to say about that.

Transcript: “And for students that are interested in getting into tech, the first thing I would say is, don’t let imposter syndrome get you. Tech needs you. Tech needs your Spanish degree, they need your language skills, and once you have your Spanish degree, you can easily do a certificate, very affordable, online. That, and the tech industry will teach you what you need to know. But get that degree first, because they will not teach you Spanish.”

As Allison mentioned, a great way to make yourself more marketable in this field is by obtaining certificates in tech-related areas in addition to your Spanish degree. There are many free and affordable options on the internet for areas like Generative AI, Data Science, Programming, Full Stack Engineering and much more. Some of the more reputable platforms are Coursera, Udacity and her personal favorite: Codecademy. Codecademy offers a screener that can help you identify which areas you might find most interesting based on your likes and dislikes. You can also take individual classes, complete career paths, or practice with interview prep and other support for people trying to break into the industry.

The second piece of advice that Allison has is that networking is key. The tech industry relies heavily on staffing agencies, and they do a lot of their recruiting on platforms like LinkedIn. She gets direct messages from recruiters several times a week for similar roles at Meta, Google and Amazon. The opportunities are there; you just have to make sure you position yourself in a way that they can find you. As a case in point, Allison didn’t have to find her current job—her current job found her. She was working in a previous position at a psychiatric hospital and received a message on LinkedIn from a recruiter at a staffing agency. He gave her the general details of the role: that the company needed someone who could work with Spanish language data, and that it would be full-time and remote. She decided to schedule a call with him to learn more. When they spoke over the phone, he shared the specifics of the role as well as the company she’d be working with. She instantly assumed they wouldn’t hire her because she hadn’t had much experience in tech.

The recruiter assured her that large tech companies hire people for what they specialize in—in her case, everything to do with the Spanish language—and that they have the resources they need to train new hires to do the technology stuff. She was still skeptical but figured in the worst-case scenario it would still be a great interview experience.

Over the next two weeks, she had two interviews with different members of the team and had fallen in love with the idea of joining them. She still didn’t believe they’d hire her, because she felt like she didn’t belong there.

On a follow-up call with her recruiter, she expressed how much she’d enjoyed speaking with everyone and that she was going to be disappointed when they inevitably wouldn’t hire her. After a brief pause (he was probably counting to 10, because he was probably tired of having to redirect my self doubt) he said, “Well, good thing they really like you. They are going to be making an offer within the next day or two.”

Nearly two years later, Allison is still with the team and still so grateful to be there. Her best advice for anyone interested in a similar path would be, first and foremost, to get a degree in Spanish. It was, she says, the single best educational decision she made for herself.