Finding a tech job if you lost yours due to Covid-19

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Please note, this article was submitted by a guest-author from Career Karma.

Losing your job is not an easy ordeal, especially when the reason for your job loss is a situation entirely out of your control. The impact of COVID-19 was unpredictable and unprecedented. Businesses and employees alike were left scrambling to keep themselves safe and ensure they were in a stable financial condition.

For companies, this meant layoffs or lowering the work hours of employees. Employees had to file for unemployment or pick up gig working jobs to keep food on their table. If you lost your job, you are not alone as millions of people also lost their jobs. While it may be comforting to know you are not by your lonesome, it also means that millions of people are applying for the same jobs as you.

Job searching is hard enough when the economy is growing, but even harder when the economy is slowing and there are limited jobs available. Instead of being disappointed for finding work in a field that might not exist after COVID-19, you should take action to get the skills that will be around after this pandemic is over. That field is the Programming & Application Development field.

More importantly, having a non-technical background to start from can be more an asset rather than a detriment.

From an Artistic Background to Web Design

This is not solely a field for programmers. Many Web Design environments such as the popular Wix platform or something a bit more art-focused like Squarespace, provide convenient drag & drop interfaces that are easy to learn for non-programmers and require little coding experience.

These provide an easy access point to online design to anyone with an interest to learn, without requiring any coding. Of course, every platform can be enhanced with coding, even Wix and Squarespace, so while these provide an easy on-ramp, delving into actual coding is the best way to grow your skill set and become more marketable.

This is where more a more technical platform such as Webflow comes in. It still provides a graphical interface, but also offers more freedom to customize the design and allows the designer to start coding to enhance the design process. The point is that it is still possible in 2020 to become a web designer without being an expert at coding. More importantly, even having a very non-technical background such as art, still offers a path forward, and even serves as an advantage over programmers with no artistic skills at all.

There are many Programming & Application Development job misconceptions, but this is a big and growing field that has jobs for employees with many interests.

Social Science backgrounds

As with the arts, web design opportunities also need people who understand what works on a website, from knowing what catches a visitor’s attention to the colors that will keep them interested in a specific product or service. This is true for many other industries as well from online marketing to logo design.

Someone with a psychology, sociology, or another social science background is uniquely qualified to instruct programmers, marketing teams, designers as well as upper management about what works for that specific company or organization. Again, this may not require coding skills initially either, but they would come in handy over time.

The fact remains that someone with a well-established social science background, many years of work experience, and in the process of learning Programming & Application Development skills, would be very invaluable to a company or organization. For example, this combination of skills would be ideal for advancement into a career in User Interface design. Career opportunities for social science specialists with also a growing skill-set in Programming and Application Development are many. There are many job opportunities in a wide array of industries from industrial automation, to medicine and even computer gaming.

Acquiring the Necessary Skills

This pandemic might last another six months or more, and the economic downturn will last beyond that. It would be a success story to go from losing your job to a new career in Programming & Application Development at the end of the pandemic. By finding the right career, you can gain employment doing work you enjoy within those six months.

For those at home and out of work, this is an ideal time to acquire new technology skills. There are many online learning opportunities available, from the popular Udemy online programs, to Linked In Learning, formally known as Lynda.com. These cover many fields including Programming & Application Development. For a more focused approach, Udacity is an excellent platform as well.

Finally, for a smaller, more personalized learning experience, there is the Lamda School which also happens to be located in the heart of Silicon Valley – you can’t go wrong there.
Of course, there are many other opportunities for acquiring Programming & Application Development skills. The important thing to remember is that it does not require an entirely new college degree to learn the skills that will make you more marketable in a post Covid-19 job market.

Why Programming & Application Development Jobs Are Still Plentiful during the Pandemic

Odds are multiple people at your former workplace who have Computer Science degrees still have their jobs. With more people working from home, at their own computers, Programming & Application Development jobs are needed as the world relies more heavily on essential functions available primarily through the Internet.

Music, education, and transportation are all industries that have been impacted by Covid-19, yet they need Programming & Application Development workers to ensure operations continue during quarantine and after. Whether you are already in your dream field or want to contribute to a company in a new area, Programming & Application Development jobs might be your way through the gate.

Even non-tech companies need workers with Programming & Application Development skills. For example, an instrument reselling service will, at some point, need a Full Stack Developer to make sure that customers do not have any issues placing orders. Even if this is an outsourced service for smaller businesses, jobs are still being filled by the companies providing the outsourcing.

While the pandemic has had a devastating impact on many industries, the fact is that the one part of all those industries that is still going strong is the tech side. Even if whole company departments or entire businesses end operations, there will still be opportunities with their competitors. Workers need to be more flexible but being in a field that is continuing to grow is a sure way to find ongoing work during the pandemic and after.

You Do not Have to Lose Your Job to Learn New Skills

You might be lucky enough to still have work during the pandemic but attending a Programming & Application Development boot-camp is still a safe move to take the jump to a higher paying job within your company or career field. If you are worried that the economic downturn might potentially affect your career path or promotion potential, retooling your skillset might ensure that you will have a job if the worst does happen.

The needs of companies are continually evolving. We see innovations in almost every field. It might not be COVID-19 that causes you to lose your job; it could be your current position is becoming obsolete as new technologies are changing the landscape. Therefore, acquiring those new skills will help.

Economic downturns do not just cause layoffs, they also bring company re-organizations and consolidations. This is where additional skills become so important. With a single skill set, an employee is less able to make that transition to a new department. Of course, having technical skills such as application development, which is still necessary to any company, those transitions become even easier.

Conclusion: A New Career Is Waiting

COVID-19 is responsible for significant changes that we have already experienced, but it will probably be the cause for many more changes as countries start to recover slowly. It is unclear what these changes will be but attending a bootcamp to gain Programming & Application Development skills will allow you to be prepared for the future job market.

You can take a Free Career Quiz to help you decide the career that best fits your current skills and future desires. Joblessness is not a comfortable situation with which to cope. You can ease the tension by dedicating yourself to a project that will make sure you are not faced with this situation again.