“What is Tech!” by Chialuka Prisca-Mary Onuoha.

You clicking on this blog shows you are inquisitive and you are probably like “I am confused! I’m confused!” and I am like, “you are confused? That’s great! Let me clarify you on what tech is”.

Intro: What is tech? Well, the popular word “Tech” gotten from the word technology is very vast. In this article, I’ll be explaining tech to you in my understanding and according to my research, so come on this boat with me, let’s have a ride.

What is Technology? You most probably didn’t come here to read about the meaning of technology but we cannot explain tech without giving reference to technology, technically speaking (I mean writing) tech is technology.

So, what is technology? According to Wikipedia, Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word technology may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, industry, communication, transportation, and daily life. Technologies include physical objects like utensils or machines and intangible tools such as software.

Now, just like me you might be a little bit confused, and you are probably like, if this is technology and tech is from technology then why do most people refer to tech in the sense of software engineering and codes, well, that’s because the apple is not so far from the tree, lol.

Technology is also the branch of knowledge dealing with engineering or applied sciences, so in essence, what I am trying to say is, tech is not just about software engineering, it encompasses many different things and these all depends on the branch of tech which you engage in. There are different definitions which you could explore more on the internet but for this article I think the definition above is enough, I’ll be engaging with tech in relation to software engineering and the technical fields in tech because that is the main focus this article.

Do you need a degree to be in tech? Well, let’s find out but before this, let’s explore the different fields in tech because this has to be the most exciting part. Firstly, I want to clear the misconception about there being a best field in tech. Dear readers, there’s no best field in tech, every field is different, unique and specific; just as, there’s no one human in the world and everyone is special, the same applies to tech. While picking a career path in tech it is necessary to do proper research on the fields available and to follow your passion, goals and mindset.

There are many fields in tech, there are also many applications of tech to different non-technical fields such as Education + technology => EdTech, Agriculture + technology => AgriTech, Food + technology => FoodTech, Finances + technology => FinTech, Legal + technology => LegalTech, Fashion + technology => FashionTech, Health + technology => HealthTech (or MedTech) all of these are under tech.

Let’s start with the CAREER PATHS IN TECHNOLOGY. Some career paths in technology include, Computer Programming, Computer Science, Database Management, Data Science, Data Visualization, Information system, Network Security, Software Engineering, etc.

For all these you’d need a degree, I hate to be bias but most tech companies ask for a degree certification for entry level engineers or a Bootcamp certification, however, for more experienced engineers there are exceptions to certification requirements due to the level of experience these engineers hold. Degree certification in computer science, statistics, mathematic, information technology, engineering and so many other fields will pass for a technical background for most tech companies. A question must have popped in your head right now, yes, Are all tech field personnel called engineers? well, that all depends on the job title :).

Moving on to the next, I think the most common field in tech is computer science not because I major in Computer science in the University of Nigeria but because it’s a field that cuts into all the career paths I listed above and more, how exciting is that : ), this been said let me walk you through ten common Computer Science specializations, these includes, Artificial intelligence (AI), Computer-Human interface / Human-Computer Interaction (HCL), Game Design, Networks Engineering, Computer Graphics, Information Security, Data Science, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, Theory (focuses on mathematical theories and principles that apply to computer science).

I want to also state that there are fields in tech that do not exist yet but will most probably be known sooner or later, so there’s room for that passion in you, just in case you feel you do not fit in the fields above. These brings me to the next subtopic.

What more is left? The non-technical fields in tech.

Developer Relations

There are also non-technical roles in tech, Yes! You don’t need to code to be in tech. This roles are coined under the vast field of Developer relations in short, DevRel. “Developer Relations is exactly what it means, a marketing policy that prioritizes relationships with developers. In general society, there is a word known as PR (Public Relations); you could say DevRel is the developer version of this. Its definition is very simple.”, If you are interested in this field I’d like you to read more about it here https://devrel.co/about/ and also read on the career fields in devrel https://kolokodess.medium.com/career-fields-in-developer-relations-84bc9a2e19a3. Please note! Not all fields in devRel exclude coding but if you read the articles linked above then this will not be a surprise and you’ll probably fall in love with devRel.

Some career fileds in developer relations include, Developer Experience(DevEX), Developer Advocate (DAs), Developer Evangelist (DevEvangs), Community Manager (CMs), Program Manager (PGMs), Developer Marketing, etc. Recently I heard someone was employed as an internal developer advocate. It’s really exciting what devRel has to offer. There are so many roles in devrel that even I, do not know they exist, so it’s always important to go through companies careers website to explore the different roles available, it’s also important to read through job descriptions.

Finally, I would like to contradict the statement I made at the beginning about tech requiring a degree certification by saying you do not need a degree to pursue your dream in tech, you could take courses and you could also go to a good bootcamp or even, you might have worked in a non-technical/technical field whose skills are transferable to a specific role in tech. The fact is, your success as a software engineer does not depend on a degree but your ability to learn, your skills, your tenacity, your values and most importantly your “you”, yes, you are being hired at any firm/company because of your uniqueness and diversity and oh! I cannot wait to see you grow in this space.

I hope the paragraph above didn’t come late. Thank you for reading, I hope this helped you in one or a few ways. Do checkout my other article “web dev orientation for newbie in tech” https://chialukaonuoha.hashnode.dev/web-dev-orientation-for-newbies-in-tech. Bye and see you next time.