Ways to land an IT job

I had no single drop of technical blood in my veins. In fact, technology jargon used to make my nose bleed. But I badly wanted to get into the Information Technology (IT) field, and in this post, I will be sharing some of the ways to land an IT job even if you are a Business Graduate.

After graduating from college, I landed a Business Analyst position which allowed me to use my degree, at some point, and expertise on analyzing data. However, after more than 3 years of doing the same thing and of working with a Development Team, I had the itch to break into a technical role.

I had the guts but I had to face two major TRUTHS: (1) I am a Business Economics degree holder; and (2) I have no Technical Background.

It. Sucks. Big. Time.

Nevertheless, I did not stop wanting it and I did the following ways to land an IT job:

1. Reorganize the resume

I highlighted my relevant skills like communication, collaboration, documentation, users training, and analysis. I also emphasized on my expertise on other software applications like Excel, Oracle, among others. Remember, any tiny relevant details matter.

2. Be shameless

I applied for technical roles against all odds, anyway. Why? Because I was shameless like that. Lol.

3. Ask advice from friends and mentors

I constantly asked from friends from IT industry for tips and advice. I accepted the fact that at that point I badly needed help.

4. Accept rejection, learn from that and move on

I knew I would not stand a chance with IT and Engineering graduates when I decided to apply for it. I was rejected for several times. I kept on re-evaluating what went wrong and what needed to be improved for my next interview. I applied again and I faced rejection one after another because primarily I was not an IT graduate and companies no longer want to invest in training. I knew that but I did not care. I did not let rejections trump my dreams.

5. Prepare for and ace the interviews

Being tenacious as always am, I did not stop applying! Armed with basic knowledge about System Development Life Cycle, business requirement analysis and communication skills, and shameless boldness, I breezed through the interviews of a Pharmaceutical company. During the interview, I highlighted notable points where I had no knowledge about certain applications or systems or process but I was able to produce significant results. Show the interviewer that you are a hardworking learner.

6. Use first IT position deliberately

When I got in, I did not stop learning. I discussed technical stuff with my supervisor and with the developers. I asked them out of curiosity and stupidity. I let them laugh at my dense questions first and FORCED them to answer it, anyway. Lol. I familiarized myself with basic terminologies and process. I volunteered to do some of the dirty works that are supposedly for the developers, like executing queries and checking or updating the database.

After almost three years, I resigned from the Pharmaceutical company.

I am now a Senior Functional Analyst of the IT team of a multinational IT company. I am even assigned to cross-handle two SAP systems. Holy Moly!

Had I given up or contented myself with my comfort zone, I wouldn’t reach this point.

If you want the same thing but you do not have the relevant degree or any technical background, do not ever give up on your dreams because there are so many ways to land an IT job. Work that ass off. Try, fail if you must, but learn from that mistake. Work harder because it pays off and you know what, once you are in—you are in! 🙂