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Let’s face it; Miami’s economy has never fully recovered from the crash of 2008. Here we are in 2017, and thousands of Miami residents still find themselves facing difficult decisions. Should I stick with what I know, or switch to a more rewarding career path? Until recently, it’s been very difficult for people to make major career changes. Most “traditional” careers require years of schooling before they start paying off. But there’s one industry that’s so hot right now, that it’s easy for people to make the career change. Over the past few years, huge numbers of Miamians — even those who had studied non-technical subjects in college, or didn’t go to college at all — have been taking the leap into tech.
WHY NOW, AND WHY TECH?
As you may have noticed, technology is proliferating all around the world, at an unprecedented pace. We live in a world where more than half of US teenagers say that they’re addicted to their smartphones, and over a billion people log into Facebook every day. The rate of growth is incredible. Did you know that the first iPhone was released less than ten years ago? The bulk of this rapid tech proliferation has happened over the past 10-15 years, and it’s only getting faster and faster.
With this rapidly increasing consumption comes a huge, urgent, worldwide demand for people who can work with technology. It’s not only tech companies who are on a hiring spree. Companies in every industry need tech people to help with their networks, their websites, digital marketing, etc.
While there will always be a need for people with Computer Science degrees, there simply aren’t enough of those experts to go around. Nowadays, companies are throwing money at just about anybody who has the skills that they need. And the best thing, for anybody contemplating a career change, is the fact that those skills can be learned in just a couple of months.
JUMPING INTO TECH IS A QUICK & EASY CAREER CHANGE
There is a lot to learn in the field of technology — to learn everything about everything would take many lifetimes, and then some. But just to get your first tech job, well, you can be ready to start in a few months! Our web design program, for example, takes less than 500 hours over 18 weeks. And you can take the course in your spare time, while still keeping your day job!
Of course, there are many tech careers that require years of training. You’re not going to be engineering microchips and creating artificially intelligent, arguably sentient beings on your first day in the office. But things like web design and web development — you can get started with that while sitting on your couch in your underwear. You can create your first website in under 10 minutes. You can pretty much master HTML in a couple of days if you really try (and drink a lot of coffee).
Large numbers of people in South Florida have switched into tech careers over the past few years. Most have come from non-technical backgrounds. One of the primary reasons for this massive shift? The relatively quick, easy, and painless career-change process for getting into web design and web development.
THERE IS A LOT OF MONEY IN TECH
Tech workers are some of the highest-paid in the country. Coders often get amazing jobs, working for tech companies that are consistently ranked as the best employers in the world. Even entry-level web developer positions in Miami often pay more than $50,000, and from there, the sky’s the limit. Three of the top five richest people in the world are coders, including household names like Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft, and #1 richest person in the world), and Mark Zuckerberg, who created Facebook in his dorm room before dropping out of school to become a billionaire, world-changing tech mogul. Learning to code gives a person a huge amount of power to change the world, which may be another factor attracting so many Miamians into this kind of career change.
Learning to code also gives people a lot of freedom and flexibility in terms of career options. For example, people who know how to code can make money working from home, or from anywhere in the world.
There are tons of available jobs, and many more will be coming over time. It’s actually kind of becoming a problem… for employers, for the progress of technology, and for the society at large. There aren’t enough programmers to go around. But these are only problems for people who aren’t coders. For coders, this leads to a pretty awesome situation, in which they are in extremely high demand, and are able to negotiate unbelievably high salaries, and incredibly comfortable lifestyles for themselves.
With so much money involved, such a great work-life balance, and such an optimistic job outlook, it’s a wonder that there are still people who don’t make this career change!
CODING IS FUN
Oftentimes, a person contemplating a career change will end up going from a higher-level job, which allows for flexibility and creative freedom, to a mindless, boring entry-level job. This is not the case for people switching into the tech industry. Even entry level tech jobs, like web design and web development, give newbies a lot of creative freedom. When you sit down with a laptop to build a website, the power is in your hands. If there’s a boring, repetitive process that you need to go through, you can automate it with code! Coding is one of the most creative jobs you can get — you’re literally building things with your mind. This creative freedom and fun-factor have certainly contributed to the mass migration of Miami workers into the field of tech.
Changing careers isn’t what it used to be. It doesn’t have to be difficult. It doesn’t have to require sacrificing your income and your lifestyle for many years, or getting into a boring, mindless entry-level position. The tech industry is booming, and there are thousands of jobs available, in South Florida and around the world. Many people have already made the leap into tech, and many more will surely continue to do so over the coming years.
If you’re contemplating a career change, take a look at some of our tech programs. We can help you get into a new career in under a year… even while you’re still working at your current job! Most of our students come from non-technical backgrounds, so don’t worry if you’re not already great with computers. Just give us a call at 786-574-3350 for a free career-change consultation!
