Jobs for people with a lot of general skills but no specific experience
February 8, 2022 1:09 PM Subscribe
This is a bit of a follow up to my previous question, about learning skills. I'm not at 400 hours, but I've now spent a decent amount of time learning R and SQL, and have some small projects to show for it. I have a lot of other skills too! But nothing at the level of "2-5 years" that companies want to hire someone at. More deets below the fold.
I have a lot of useful tech skills at an entry-to-mid level of competence:
- 10+ years of Excel
- 6+ years of Python, but no major projects; nothing with more than 1000 lines of code total.
- Lots of projects I've done using in-demand like Javascript, R, SQL, but again nothing at corporate scale.
- Exposure to project management
- An economics degree with lots of exposure to statistical methodologies, although I haven't been in a position to make use of the more sophisticated things in practice.
- I've done about 50 video interviews for a personal podcast-type project
- I've designed a published board game and contributed significantly to others
- In general, I have a lot of experience working on projects as a stakeholder start-to-finish with attention to detail and organization.
This is not to flaunt my skills, but rather to highlight - I've got a lot of things I'm proud of but which don't really translate to the sort of specifics looked for in a job description. (Most of these are on my resume.)
The issue is, I've used so few of these on the job, and don't have a substantial portfolio, and I don't really want to be a software developer. What I really want is some kind of general consultant/strategist/project management position where about 75% of the job is research and communication, but I'd be happy with any decently paying corporate job that rewards analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.
What am I looking for? How do I find my dream job?
I have a lot of useful tech skills at an entry-to-mid level of competence:
- 10+ years of Excel
- 6+ years of Python, but no major projects; nothing with more than 1000 lines of code total.
- Lots of projects I've done using in-demand like Javascript, R, SQL, but again nothing at corporate scale.
- Exposure to project management
- An economics degree with lots of exposure to statistical methodologies, although I haven't been in a position to make use of the more sophisticated things in practice.
- I've done about 50 video interviews for a personal podcast-type project
- I've designed a published board game and contributed significantly to others
- In general, I have a lot of experience working on projects as a stakeholder start-to-finish with attention to detail and organization.
This is not to flaunt my skills, but rather to highlight - I've got a lot of things I'm proud of but which don't really translate to the sort of specifics looked for in a job description. (Most of these are on my resume.)
The issue is, I've used so few of these on the job, and don't have a substantial portfolio, and I don't really want to be a software developer. What I really want is some kind of general consultant/strategist/project management position where about 75% of the job is research and communication, but I'd be happy with any decently paying corporate job that rewards analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.
What am I looking for? How do I find my dream job?
What I really want is some kind of general consultant/strategist/project management position
Apply for analyst or associate project manager jobs at software and tech firms. These are entry level roles, so you'll start low, but for someone with technical skills who is interested in and eager to develop skills, you will get hired. Stay plugged in, take every opportunity for learning, and you will grow in that role. The company I work for ALWAYS has open roles for highly tech savy folks who can talk to customers, and regularly mine those entry level hires to fill the open positions in solution/tech consulting space where the bigger money is.
posted by phunniemee at 1:29 PM on February 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
Apply for analyst or associate project manager jobs at software and tech firms. These are entry level roles, so you'll start low, but for someone with technical skills who is interested in and eager to develop skills, you will get hired. Stay plugged in, take every opportunity for learning, and you will grow in that role. The company I work for ALWAYS has open roles for highly tech savy folks who can talk to customers, and regularly mine those entry level hires to fill the open positions in solution/tech consulting space where the bigger money is.
posted by phunniemee at 1:29 PM on February 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I have a lot of experience working on projects as a stakeholder start-to-finish with attention to detail and organization.
Well, hello there, project manager.
You've spent a lot of time thinking about the skills you can offer, and that's terrific, but you're looking too much at how you don't think you measure up. You should also be looking at functional roles that are pain points for others but a strength and a pleasure for you.
Tons of companies are falling over themselves to find project managers who have a general understanding of technology AND are great with internal/external clients AND can anticipate developer needs AND can stay on top of projects from beginning to end without losing the trail. The type of people who just execute the work and management really doesn't have to worry about them getting it done.
That's you. It's a ridiculously easy sell.
I've had software developers flat out beg me not to put them on the phone with clients and/or management if it could be avoided, so I did everything possible to keep them focused on coding while I handled the endless meetings. If you're someone who can have those conversations and keep developers happy, that's a huge deal. With everything else you can do, you're kind of a unicorn.
posted by mochapickle at 1:31 PM on February 8, 2022 [14 favorites]
Well, hello there, project manager.
You've spent a lot of time thinking about the skills you can offer, and that's terrific, but you're looking too much at how you don't think you measure up. You should also be looking at functional roles that are pain points for others but a strength and a pleasure for you.
Tons of companies are falling over themselves to find project managers who have a general understanding of technology AND are great with internal/external clients AND can anticipate developer needs AND can stay on top of projects from beginning to end without losing the trail. The type of people who just execute the work and management really doesn't have to worry about them getting it done.
That's you. It's a ridiculously easy sell.
I've had software developers flat out beg me not to put them on the phone with clients and/or management if it could be avoided, so I did everything possible to keep them focused on coding while I handled the endless meetings. If you're someone who can have those conversations and keep developers happy, that's a huge deal. With everything else you can do, you're kind of a unicorn.
posted by mochapickle at 1:31 PM on February 8, 2022 [14 favorites]
How to achieve your desired level of experience & at the same time pursue your dream career: Find a project within the function of your skill set that has three or four major components like the project management, designing, installing, network security or whatever the selling points are. (I obviously know nothing about this set of skills so you have more skills than you give yourself credit for) Just having the knowledge of these aspects of coding can influence your audience. Talk about what you have achieved within that project. Create for the listener the conclusion of your experience not just your interest. Every job you do will have a way for you to spotlight what you know it's up to you to fill in the blanks
posted by The_imp_inimpossible at 4:37 AM on February 9, 2022
posted by The_imp_inimpossible at 4:37 AM on February 9, 2022
Best answer: I'm pretty sure mochapickle is right and Project Manager is the title for you, especially since you mentioned it yourself. But just in case it's useful, I've got weirdly similar background to this—the degree's in a different social science, the interviews were in a different context—and I ended up writing and editing software documentation.
I spend most of my time researching (talking to devs about what the new feature does, rooting around in the project notes for context, doing user interviews to find out what is/isn't working in the current docs) and communicating (setting expectations, writing documentation, presenting drafts, circulating memos). Being kind of casually conversant in a bunch of technologies is incredibly useful, but it's never my responsibility to get a feature shipped.
Most tech writers didn't train as tech writers, and many of my teammates had a totally different title at their last job. Published board game instructions would be a pretty great writing sample.
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:17 PM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
I spend most of my time researching (talking to devs about what the new feature does, rooting around in the project notes for context, doing user interviews to find out what is/isn't working in the current docs) and communicating (setting expectations, writing documentation, presenting drafts, circulating memos). Being kind of casually conversant in a bunch of technologies is incredibly useful, but it's never my responsibility to get a feature shipped.
Most tech writers didn't train as tech writers, and many of my teammates had a totally different title at their last job. Published board game instructions would be a pretty great writing sample.
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:17 PM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
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If you think you could do the job as described - apply.
If you think you could probably figure it out pretty quickly - apply.
If you think you could probably figure it out as you go along - apply.
Don't self-select yourself out of the process just because you don't meet all the requirements 100%. The worst they can do is say "no."
posted by ralan at 1:26 PM on February 8, 2022 [13 favorites]