Lesson 3.3: Careers in Tech — What Can You Become?

Duration: 45 minutes

Learning Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Identify different career paths in the tech industry
Understand what each role does on a daily basis
Know which skills are required for different positions
Make an informed decision about your career direction

Introduction

Tech is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. But "working in tech" can mean hundreds of different things. You don't have to become a Silicon Valley software engineer to have a successful tech career. In this lesson, we'll explore the many paths available to you.

Main Content

The Tech Career Landscape

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     TECH CAREERS                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                              │
│  DEVELOPMENT          DATA                 OPERATIONS        │
│  ┌───────────┐       ┌───────────┐        ┌───────────┐     │
│  │ Frontend  │       │ Data      │        │ DevOps    │     │
│  │ Backend   │       │ Analyst   │        │ SRE       │     │
│  │ Full-Stack│       │ Data      │        │ Cloud     │     │
│  │ Mobile    │       │ Scientist │        │ Engineer  │     │
│  │ Game Dev  │       │ ML        │        │ Security  │     │
│  └───────────┘       │ Engineer  │        └───────────┘     │
│                      └───────────┘                          │
│                                                              │
│  DESIGN               MANAGEMENT          OTHER              │
│  ┌───────────┐       ┌───────────┐        ┌───────────┐     │
│  │ UX/UI     │       │ Product   │        │ QA/Testing│     │
│  │ Designer  │       │ Manager   │        │ Technical │     │
│  │           │       │ Tech Lead │        │ Writer    │     │
│  │           │       │ CTO       │        │ Support   │     │
│  └───────────┘       └───────────┘        └───────────┘     │
│                                                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Development Careers

Frontend Developer

What they do: Build what users see and interact with in websites and apps.

Daily tasks:

Write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript/TypeScript
Make websites responsive (work on phones and computers)
Collaborate with designers to implement visual designs
Ensure good user experience across browsers

Skills needed:

HTML, CSS, JavaScript/TypeScript
React, Vue, or Angular framework
Eye for design and attention to detail

Example work: Building the Netflix interface, creating an e-commerce checkout page.

Backend Developer

What they do: Build the "invisible" part — servers, databases, and logic that power applications.

Daily tasks:

Write server-side code
Design and manage databases
Create APIs for frontend to consume
Handle security and authentication

Skills needed:

Node.js, Python, Java, Go, or similar
Database knowledge (SQL, MongoDB)
Understanding of APIs and security

Example work: Building the system that processes your online orders, storing user data securely.

Full-Stack Developer

What they do: Work on both frontend AND backend. Jack of all trades.

Daily tasks:

Everything frontend and backend developers do
Often work on smaller teams or startups
Need to understand the full picture

Skills needed:

All frontend skills
All backend skills
Ability to learn quickly

Pros: Very versatile, high demand. Cons: Hard to be expert in everything.

Mobile Developer

What they do: Create apps for smartphones and tablets.

Paths:

Specialization	Languages	Platforms
iOS Developer	Swift, SwiftUI	iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Android Developer	Kotlin, Java	Android phones, tablets
Cross-platform	React Native, Flutter	Both iOS and Android

Daily tasks:

Design app interfaces
Integrate with backend services
Optimize for battery and performance
Handle app store submissions

Data Careers

Data Analyst

What they do: Turn raw data into insights that help businesses make decisions.

Daily tasks:

Write SQL queries to extract data
Create charts and dashboards
Present findings to non-technical teams
Clean and organize messy data

Skills needed:

SQL (essential)
Excel or Google Sheets (advanced)
Python or R (helpful)
Data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI)

Entry-level friendly: Yes! One of the easier paths into tech.

Data Scientist

What they do: Use statistics and machine learning to find patterns and make predictions.

Daily tasks:

Build predictive models
Analyze large datasets
Experiment with machine learning algorithms
Communicate results to stakeholders

Skills needed:

Python (pandas, scikit-learn)
Statistics and math
Machine learning concepts
SQL and data manipulation

Example work: Predicting customer churn, recommending products you might like.

Machine Learning Engineer

What they do: Deploy AI/ML models into production systems that millions of people use.

Daily tasks:

Take data scientist's models and make them production-ready
Optimize model performance and speed
Build pipelines for training and deployment
Monitor models in production

Skills needed:

Strong programming (Python, sometimes C++)
Deep understanding of ML algorithms
Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Software engineering best practices

Operations Careers

DevOps Engineer

What they do: Bridge between development and operations. Make sure code gets deployed smoothly and systems run reliably.

Daily tasks:

Automate deployment processes
Manage cloud infrastructure
Set up monitoring and alerts
Troubleshoot production issues

Skills needed:

Linux and command line
Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Docker, Kubernetes
CI/CD pipelines
Scripting (Bash, Python)

Cloud Engineer

What they do: Design and manage cloud infrastructure.

Daily tasks:

Architect cloud solutions
Manage costs and optimize resources
Ensure security compliance
Automate infrastructure

Certifications help: AWS, GCP, Azure certifications are valuable.

Security Engineer

What they do: Protect systems and data from hackers and threats.

Daily tasks:

Find and fix security vulnerabilities
Monitor for suspicious activity
Implement security best practices
Respond to security incidents

Growing field: Cybersecurity is in very high demand.

Design and Product Careers

UX/UI Designer

What they do: Design how products look and feel.

UX (User Experience): How the product works, user flows, research. UI (User Interface): How the product looks, visual design.

Skills needed:

Design tools (Figma, Sketch)
Understanding of user research
Basic understanding of how code works (helpful)

Product Manager

What they do: Decide WHAT to build and WHY. The "CEO of the product."

Daily tasks:

Talk to customers to understand needs
Prioritize features and roadmap
Work with designers and developers
Measure success with metrics

Skills needed:

Communication and leadership
Understanding of technology
Data analysis basics
Strategic thinking

Salaries Overview (US Market, 2024)

Role	Entry Level	Mid Level	Senior
Frontend Developer	$60-80K	$90-120K	$130-170K
Backend Developer	$70-90K	$100-140K	$150-200K
Full-Stack Developer	$65-85K	$95-130K	$140-180K
Data Analyst	$50-70K	$75-100K	$110-140K
Data Scientist	$80-100K	$120-150K	$160-200K
DevOps Engineer	$70-90K	$100-140K	$150-190K
Product Manager	$70-100K	$110-150K	$160-220K

Note: Salaries vary significantly by location, company size, and specific skills.

Career Paths After This Course

By completing this course series, you'll be well-prepared for:

This Course Series
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   DIRECT PATHS                               │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  • Frontend Developer (TypeScript + React)                   │
│  • Backend Developer (Node.js + TypeScript)                  │
│  • Full-Stack Developer (both)                               │
│  • AI Application Developer (TypeScript + AI APIs)           │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
       │
       ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               WITH ADDITIONAL LEARNING                        │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  • Mobile Developer (React Native uses TypeScript)           │
│  • DevOps Engineer (add Linux, cloud, Docker)                │
│  • Data Analyst (add SQL, Python)                            │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Practice Exercise

Task 1: Self-Assessment

Answer these questions honestly:

Do you prefer visual work or behind-the-scenes logic?
Do you enjoy working with data and numbers?
Are you more interested in building new things or making existing things work better?
Do you prefer working alone or collaborating closely with others?

Based on your answers, which 2-3 careers interest you most?

Task 2: Research a Role

Pick one career from this lesson. Research it further:

Find 3 job listings for this role
What skills do they all have in common?
What's one thing you could start learning today?

Task 3: Explore Roadmaps

Visit roadmap.sh and explore the roadmap for one career that interests you. Notice how learning is broken into steps.

Key Takeaways

Tech has many career paths — not just "programmer"
Frontend builds what users see; Backend builds the logic and data
Data careers range from analyst (entry-friendly) to ML engineer (advanced)
DevOps ensures code gets deployed and systems stay running
Product and Design roles focus on what to build and how it should work
This course series prepares you for web development and AI application development
Salaries are competitive, but vary greatly by location and experience
You don't need to decide now — learning to code opens many doors

Resources

Resource	Type	Difficulty
Developer Roadmaps	Interactive Guide	Beginner
Day in the Life Videos - Mayuko	Video	Beginner
How to Get a Developer Job - freeCodeCamp	Article	Beginner
Levels.fyi - Tech Salaries	Reference	Beginner