technology busines for non coders
July 26, 2012 9:19 AM Subscribe
Technology business between coders and businessmen. Where could I fit in?
I have a finance degree (although I'm not very interested in it), but I know a lot about technology and have done a lot of coding.
I don't want to be a programmer, nor am I necessarily a great talent in that area anyway, but I can speak the language and know all the various technologies that go into building everything.
I like to know the infrastructure…it bothers me to not know what something is built with….. Like I have 3 laptops-> a mac, windows and a linux to have every platform, have Xcode, visual studio, eclipse, android sdk, a hosting account to test web stuff, etc. So it's something I'm very interested in, but I'm self taught and have never really been in the coding community.
If you say coldfusion, azure, flex, f#, apache, silverlight ….I know exactly what you're talking about and what it's used for even if I'm not going to be the guy to build a badass application for you.
Is there value in that? What can I do with that...what kind of jobs are out there that could use my skill set?
I have a finance degree (although I'm not very interested in it), but I know a lot about technology and have done a lot of coding.
I don't want to be a programmer, nor am I necessarily a great talent in that area anyway, but I can speak the language and know all the various technologies that go into building everything.
I like to know the infrastructure…it bothers me to not know what something is built with….. Like I have 3 laptops-> a mac, windows and a linux to have every platform, have Xcode, visual studio, eclipse, android sdk, a hosting account to test web stuff, etc. So it's something I'm very interested in, but I'm self taught and have never really been in the coding community.
If you say coldfusion, azure, flex, f#, apache, silverlight ….I know exactly what you're talking about and what it's used for even if I'm not going to be the guy to build a badass application for you.
Is there value in that? What can I do with that...what kind of jobs are out there that could use my skill set?
Have you thought about seeking positions in Software companies that cater to the finance/banking community?
I work for such a company and one thing you might be great at is development, or QA, or even sales (our sales people are CPAs, that blows my little mind.)
Think more about function than specific skills.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:23 AM on July 26, 2012
I work for such a company and one thing you might be great at is development, or QA, or even sales (our sales people are CPAs, that blows my little mind.)
Think more about function than specific skills.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:23 AM on July 26, 2012
I don't really know what goes into a finance degree. Is it mostly economics and market analysis stuff? Any math? Some details might help us answer. That said, :
As a software product manager, you'd stand out because you'd better understand the effort that it will take to implement design decisions. You'd have a good "in" on software projects that are related to finance, since you could channel hypothetical and real customer desires into product requirements.
If you have good people skills and acquire some management experience, you'd be be good at managing a team of developers. You could set up teams and help decide which technologies to use for a project. You'd be technical enough to gain the developers' respect and business-y enough to communicate effectively with upper management.
posted by scose at 9:31 AM on July 26, 2012
As a software product manager, you'd stand out because you'd better understand the effort that it will take to implement design decisions. You'd have a good "in" on software projects that are related to finance, since you could channel hypothetical and real customer desires into product requirements.
If you have good people skills and acquire some management experience, you'd be be good at managing a team of developers. You could set up teams and help decide which technologies to use for a project. You'd be technical enough to gain the developers' respect and business-y enough to communicate effectively with upper management.
posted by scose at 9:31 AM on July 26, 2012
Sales. I've been selling for tech companies for 15+ years now. They love sales people that don't need a sales engineer with them for every appointment. This is especially true of smaller companies. Sales Engineering is a possibility, but the credentials (degrees, certs) are sometimes important for those jobs. Again, less so with a smaller company.
posted by COD at 9:39 AM on July 26, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by COD at 9:39 AM on July 26, 2012 [3 favorites]
Also, Business Analyst. Not the greatest pay, but is often the go-between between programmers and management.
posted by Falwless at 9:50 AM on July 26, 2012
posted by Falwless at 9:50 AM on July 26, 2012
Business analyst, project manager, product manager.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:27 AM on July 26, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by KokuRyu at 10:27 AM on July 26, 2012 [2 favorites]
Technology business between coders and businessmen
I think you mean businesspeople. Also, project management.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:42 AM on July 26, 2012 [2 favorites]
I think you mean businesspeople. Also, project management.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:42 AM on July 26, 2012 [2 favorites]
You'd be a great fit for a product manager or engineering manager role at a tech company.
posted by deathpanels at 12:00 PM on July 26, 2012
posted by deathpanels at 12:00 PM on July 26, 2012
In principle, the title "engineering manager" would be a good fit, but you need to be careful about the title "engineer", because it describes a very specific regime of education, training and knowledge, and in many cases is accredited.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:04 PM on July 26, 2012
posted by KokuRyu at 1:04 PM on July 26, 2012
I would suggest looking at business or systems analyst position, especially with a financial company of some kind. I work in that role and the joke around the workplace is that it's not really a financial compoany, it's an IT company that happens to do financial stuff. There's a definite career path into project management if you're interested in it, or you can stay as an analyst and bounce around from project to project and gather a wide range of knowledge.
I can go on and on, but memail me if you're interested in knowing more.
posted by neilbert at 9:05 PM on July 27, 2012
I can go on and on, but memail me if you're interested in knowing more.
posted by neilbert at 9:05 PM on July 27, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by MangyCarface at 9:23 AM on July 26, 2012 [2 favorites]