Finding a tech job during a recession

Hiring in the tech sector has never been higher despite media portrayal of hiring freezes and mass layoffs. At School16, recruiters reach out weekly to inquire about hiring our students largely because there is currently a severe shortage of tech talent making it easier for people looking to breaking into the tech industry from other seemingly unrelated fields like education. and health care.

The disconnect is caused by the announcement of a slowdown in hiring by tech giants like Meta and Amazon who have overhired in the past, but for the average job seeker this is not relevant given the thousands of other growth-stage tech companies that are rapidly looking to hire in the coming year.

Even in times of recession, many are able to launch new careers or build successful businesses simply by targeting sectors less likely to suffer from an economic downturn. The key is to be specific with the types of opportunities you seek, how you position yourself, and what you do to set yourself apart from others.

Targeting the right sector for you

If you're considering a career change, it's easy to think you have to start from scratch. However, after speaking with dozens of people in career transition, the common thread we identified is that each of them was focused on leveraging the expertise they have already developed in an industry. unbound.

Let's take the example of a breakthrough in technology from a non-tech sector. If you are a teacher, you should look for growing companies in the education technology niche that are looking for teachers as users and customers. These organizations will appreciate the fact that you already know how to talk to their clientele and who the right decision-makers are in a school.

If you work in a hospital, research health technology companies that will need your expertise in hospital operations. They can easily teach you how to talk about their software, but they may lack the talent in the team that really understands how the hospital system works, which takes years to develop.

This is a crucial step that most career transitioners miss. Out of thousands of applications reviewed by our team, less than 1% of applicants targeted opportunities that clearly related to their transferable skills or knowledge. If you do this, you will automatically be in the top 1%.

Rapid skill enhancement to fill CV gaps

You don't need to get a master's degree or an MBA to get into an industry like tech. This industry has shifted dramatically towards hiring talent from non-traditional educational backgrounds. Short-term certificate programs like those offered at School16 focus on rapidly developing skills that will help position you for a non-technical career in technology in as little as 4 months by providing guided online training live with expert mentors who can teach you the ins and outs. and out of the industry.

You can also supplement the live training with self-paced certificate programs offered by tech giants such as