Top tech you can learn in 6 months

A guest blog post for The Edtech Podcast by Artur Meyster, Founder of Career Karma | Twitter: @ArturMeyster; @Career_Karma

Artur Meyster is the Founder and CTO of Career Karma, helping people become software engineers through coding boot camps. After graduating from a coding boot camp, Hack Reactor, he joined Funding Circle as a full-stack software engineer. This led him to start the Breaking Into Startups podcast featuring people with non-traditional backgrounds who broke into tech which reached over 3 million people. In 2019, Artur was one of the first boot camp grads to graduate from Ycombinator, a startup accelerator that helps companies scale to millions of users.

Artur writes about FOUR reskills to consider in 2020. Happy reading!

Project Management

A project involves all the activities that are executed to achieve a particular goal. Since time and resources are limited, projects need to be run by someone who can ensure processes are done properly and resources are utilized efficiently. This is the job of a project manager and this professional plays a huge role in an organization’s dynamic. Project management wasn’t considered an official profession until the mid-‘90s.

Project manager responsibilities include creating company strategies, conducting budgeting, and ensuring every activity meets the deadline. Timing is a big deal when it comes to project management. If teams aren’t able to meet the deadline, this could dramatically affect the project.

Where can you learn this skill? Among the most popular project management bootcamps, Thinkful’s course is the most advanced in terms of tech implementation. Thinkful’s Project Management Boot Camp will help you master all of the responsibilities of a project manager. This course is oriented to achieve companies’ goals. You can take this boot camp online with real-life application practice.

Cyber Security

Cybersecurity is becoming more important for businesses. Digital attacks are a huge risk that companies are not willing to take. Data breaches can damage companies, not only financially, but also their reputation and IT operations. According to a recent report conducted by Gartner, cybersecurity is expected to reach $133.7 billion by 2022. This looks like a big investment, but companies that are well protected will save a lot of money in comparison to those that are vulnerable.

Some of the responsibilities of a cybersecurity expert include using up-to-date tools to detect data vulnerabilities and drafting company security policies to protect its dataset. The salary of a cybersecurity engineer depends on his level of experience. While a junior cybersecurity engineer can make up to $50,000, a senior engineer’s salary could be up to $188,000. 

Does it look like something you’d like to do? There are several cybersecurity bootcamps you can enrol in. One of the best ones is Flatiron School’s immersive cybersecurity boot camp, offered by some of the best veterans of the cybersecurity industry. Flatiron also has one of the most advanced cybersecurity labs to practice with real-life situations.

Software Engineering

Did you ever think that you could learn how to code in six months? Most people think that the only path to get a career as a software engineer is by taking a bachelor’s degree in computer science, but coding boot camps are a good option, too. Coding boot camps are shorter and more up-to-date with the latest programming trends. Learning this skill is a good choice if you’re someone who enjoys solving logical and analytical problems.

There are two types of software engineers: front-end and back-end. The first type is in charge of the visual aspects like layouts and interface, while back-end works with servers and everything underneath the visuals. However, there’s another specialization that handles both, front and back-end, it’s called a full-stack engineer. You can choose any of those specializations, depending on what you enjoy the most.

Where can you learn this skill? Thinkful is one of the most popular schools to learn software development. Thinkful offers flexible payment methods like loan financing and month-to-month installments. With Thinkful’s immersive software development boot camp, you’ll learn all fundamental principles of software development in less than six months.

UX/UI Design

According to a recent report by CNBC, UX and UI design have become some of the top five most in-demand jobs. To become a UX designer, you don’t need to have design experience – it doesn’t have anything to do with artistic skills, it’s more about functionality. UX and UI designers research the challenges users may face when using a platform. This way, designers can come up with actionable insights to create a better user experience.

UX design is something you can learn in six months or less. One of the best schools to learn UX design is Springboard. With its program, you don’t need to have a design background, just logical thinking and analytic approach. Springboard will train you from how to create a product prototype to how to identify errors and come up with solutions.