Technology is undoubtedly the industry for tomorrow. Its variety of careers allows anyone to find their place in the industry. What that tells you is that tech is beyond coding. One of the myths about tech careers is that there are only coding jobs in tech. The fact is, coding is just one part of the job. Other job roles in the tech industry do not require coding. Hence, do not disregard the idea of advancing in the tech sector.
Coding is not for everyone. There are young adults in the tech industry that do nothing related to coding. If you are looking for other roles to fit into without the need to develop coding skills, this article will tell you about non-coding jobs you can take advantage of and what you need to do to get yourself qualified enough to apply for one.
Are there non-coding tech jobs in the tech industry?
Non-coding tech jobs are roles that require basic programming skills or no programming skills at all. These types of job roles also have significant input on Technology.
For example, a tech company may have a new project that requires developing a hybrid app. The project needs a project manager and a product manager to oversee and manage the team and all activities. It needs a UX researcher to carry out a study on the challenges and motivations of customers. A UX designer to translate the UX researcher's findings on the customer's insights and transform them into an actionable, customer-centric report that reflects customers' challenges and needs.
Next, the project needs UI specialists to design the report into a usable and attractive hybrid app. Following are programmers who will bring the designs to life and make the product responsive and actionable. And also, technical writer, to write web copies and other necessary documentation to help stakeholders and target users understand the products and use them effectively.
The illustration above shows that all the job roles have unique inputs to contribute. Several job roles are essential for tech companies to function optimally. Thus, the good news is that you can take your spot in the tech industry without necessarily going through the stress of learning a programming skill.
Tech jobs that don't require coding skills
Technical writing
Imagine buying a phone or downloading an app without quick user manuals, help, or FAQ to help you understand the functionalities and guide you on the best way to use and get the best out of it. Ridiculous, right? That is where technical writers come in. Technical writing is one of the key ways companies create a great user journey experience and get better user retention.
Technical writers break down complex technical ideas and concepts and translate them into easy-to-understand deliverables. Some of the deliverables of a technical writer are user manuals, quick start guides, FAQs, case studies, and technical reports. The deliverables could be in the form of writing, videos, infographics, powerpoints, and any other medium that can help the target users relate to the information and effortlessly and effectively put it to use.
Related article: How to Become a Technical Writer
Technical writing is a broad field with various areas of specialization that you can explore and build on. Thus, the technical writing profession is relevant in almost every industry, if not all. The profession offers an average salary of $64,898 per year. Although technical writing does not require that you possess programming skills, it has some areas of specialization that need a high level of technical knowledge but not necessarily coding or programming skill. For example, let's say you have an interest in software documentation like API and system documentation, and you want to get familiar with programming languages, technical tools, design programs, and others.
To become a fine technical writer, you need to develop excellent communication skills - how to communicate effectively and various forms through which you can convey information to your audience. Also, you need to develop good writing skills.
There are online forums to explore and access as many technical writers as possible such as Dev.to, Technical Writer Forum, and Hashnode.
UX and UI specialists
UX and UI specialists are tech professionals responsible for making the applications and web pages you interact with attractive and easy to use. UX and UI are two different but interdependent professions. Depending on your strength and interest, you can choose to specialize in either of the two or in both.
UX designers
UI design, that is, user experience design as the name depicts, studies a user's experience while interacting with a product. UX designers study users' needs, experiences, challenges, and pain points. Then transform them into workable solutions as digital products. The experience is the feelings the users have due to needs, easy use, expectations, and challenges, from the point of need to the exit of the product. Digital products are websites and applications.
Although UX designers don't need coding skills, there are necessary technical skills to carry out UX design successfully, such as wireframing and prototyping. You can learn more about UX design skills and UX careers in our article. The average salary for the UX design profession is $76,540 per year.
UI designers
A UI designer creates everything you interact with on a website or application. They are responsible for the color, buttons, effects, and every other element that makes up the visual design of a product's interface.
A UI designer or user interface designer creates functional and usable visual and interactive elements of a visual experience that are clear, easy for the user to navigate, and overall appealing to the users.
Asides from creating an exceptional user interface for superior user experience, user interface design is crucial for promoting a business or company brand, retaining customer loyalty, and driving productivity.
Although some tech organizations require that UI designers have basic programming skills - HTML and CSS, UI design does not require coding. Information architecture, user flow, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing are technical skills you will need to learn to build expertise. The average salary per year is $83,439.
Asides from creating an exceptional user interface for superior user experience, user interface design is crucial for promoting a business or company brand, retaining customer loyalty, and driving productivity.
Project managers
If managing and driving a team towards achieving projects excites you, you can consider project management a professional career. Projects are problems and objectives to transform into tasks to attain a goal. Project managers' responsibility is to ensure that each tech team member understands the goals and tasks and is efficient.
Becoming a project manager requires proficiency in professional skills such as communication, risk management, problem-solving, and leadership skills. You also need to develop expertise in project management tools such as scrum, agile, and waterfall.
The relevant career option in place of a project manager is product management. Although the two professionals are related, the difference is that a product manager, the name implies, manages the creation of a product from the beginning of the innovation process to the end.
Product managers set the goals and visions of a product, oversee to ensure products' design and creation satisfy customers' needs, and continue to monitor product efficacy and durability after production.
Digital Marketing
With the population of internet subscribers and the rate of activities on the internet, digital marketing is an avenue to get easier and maximum reach of the target audience and real-time results.
Digital marketing enables the marketing of products and services to people online. Digital marketing uses various online channels such as social media platforms, search engines, mobile apps, websites, and emails.
There are various digital marketing strategies - SEO blogging, content marketing, social media marketing, paid advertising, affiliate marketing, pay-per-click, podcast, and email marketing. Selecting a strategy depends on the problems your target audience is trying to solve and how you want to help them solve them.
Becoming a digital marketer requires analytic, critical thinking, communication skills, and others.
The good news about digital marketing is that it provides adequate freelance career opportunities in the tech field. The average salary of a digital marketer is $63,162 per year.
Search Engine Optimizer
If you have a flair for writing, SEO writing is a great career to consider. SEO, search engine optimization, is a marketing strategy that helps drive valuable traffic to a website.
SEO writing is a tool that marketing specialists in the tech field use to improve and accelerate brand reach to target customers and attract more customers to clients' websites.
Search engine optimization uses keywords to create optimized content, such as websites and blog posts, to improve organic ranking, traffic, and brand visibility on the search engine.
To start a career in SEO, you will need to develop communication and writing skills. In addition, tech skills include keyword research, link building, and technical SEO. You can also get technical knowledge on basic coding skills. It will help you understand coding implications and overcome common mistakes.
Search engine optimization is a promising career with adequate freelance career opportunities. The average salary per year is $57,866 per.
System administrator
System Administrator, commonly called Sysadmin, is one of the well-paying computer science jobs with a national average salary of $59,574 per year. System Administrators design, install and oversee the overall functioning of computer systems and network technologies in an organization.
Every organization in the tech field requires a team of system administrators for software systems configuration, troubleshooting software malfunctions, technical support, security tests, monitoring, networks, and network file systems maintenance.
To become a System Administrator, you will need to develop people skills - communication, problem-solving, interpersonal, and risk management skills. And also as technical skills and knowledge - hardware knowledge, cloud computing skills, general operating systems, networking concepts, system security, databases, and others. In addition, you will need to possess basic programming skills to write scripts.
Data analysts
A data analyst scrutinizes data to derive relevant data helpful in solving real-world problems. Thus, if you desire to become a data analyst, you are looking at building expertise in data analysis - data handling, data modeling, and reporting.
Data analysts collect, process, and analyze raw data such as when people like to shop online, how to improve customer retention, and customers' preferred payment channels to derive data relevant to solving problems or creating new ideas.
The data analysis job is one of the hot cakes in the tech world, with a median salary of $62,407 per year. To become a data analyst, you will need to develop relevant technical skills - analytics, machine learning, Tableau, PowerBI, Excel, and basic programming knowledge - SQL, Oracle, R, MATLAB, and Python.
A relevant career option related is data science. However, data science requires coding skills. The level of coding depends on the job role and tools required for day-to-day work activities.
Business analyst
A business analyst is also in the same group as a data analyst. The business analyst uses data to discover business insights and opportunities and make recommendations. Business analysts are the business thinkers in tech companies. They are responsible for identifying problems in every department, process, and program in organizations.
Business analyst skills that you will need to develop are communication, analytics, negotiation, critical thinking, database, SQL, documentation, Excel, and decision-making skills. Business analysis is a well-paying job with a median salary of $77,617 per year.
Business analysts are the business thinkers in tech companies. They are responsible for identifying problems in every department, process, and program in organizations.
How to access a non-coding tech job
Many non-coding job roles in tech startups and leading tech companies are easily accessible depending on your interest, experience, skills, and potential.
Tech jobs require an educational background in related fields. However, if your educational background does not relate to your preferred tech field, you can develop the skillset through skill development platforms such as virtual learning and boot camps.
Skill development platforms offer various renowned IT certifications and opportunities to help you conveniently start your professional career.
Also, you can engage in self-learning at your own pace. There are loads of resources online specifically to help build expertise.
Related article: When to move jobs: Signs to know when it’s time to change jobs
How to transition from coding to non-coding tech jobs
To transition from a coding job to a non-coding job, take stock of your transferable skills and tech skills. Tech jobs generally require vital transferable skills. You may have almost all (if not all) the transferable skills for your preferred tech field.
Next, you want to research the core tech skills of your preferred tech job. For non-coding jobs requiring a basic understanding of programming, your coding expertise will significantly benefit your career transition.
Do well to get career advice from professionals in the non-coding tech world to help you make the right decisions and necessary steps.
Related article: How to Successfully Transition into a Tech Career in the Age of the Great Reshuffle
Wrapping up
Some tech jobs require coding, with little significant coding requirements, and others require no coding in the tech world. Depending on your area of interest, there is a spot for you to fill.
Take advantage of product design boot camp and start your career in tech.