We live in an age of information overload, in which a lack of proper planning may lead to a loss of time and financial resources, or even the unfortunate event of transitioning into a role which isn’t one’s “path-of-best-fit.”
This view is shared by a senior health technology product manager and registered mentor with the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, noting that following a strategic pathway is crucial to a proper and successful transition to a career in the technology industry, and therefore helping people transition to a career in tech.
While there are a plethora of reasons for transitioning to a career in tech, it is important that one transitions into a “path-of-best-fit” – which maximises a person’s transferable skills, while maintaining alignment with who a person is, and/or who the person desires to be.
The simultaneous disruption of multiple industries by tech is rapidly making several jobs obsolete, while creating new ones, he notes when asked about the importance of transitioning to tech.
In his words, “Technology has disrupted several industries and has created several multi-millionaires/billionaires. Interestingly, it has also taken away several jobs while creating new ones. Whether professionals realise this or not, the future of work is upon us – our options are to get on the bus or be left behind.”
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However, not everyone may consider transitioning to tech as there would always be a need for subject-matter expertise across industries, according to a response to the question about who should transition to tech.
In his words, “I’d like to state that it is important to understand that the goal of technology, and the aim of industry disruption – via technology – being to help make our lives better. Across different industries the place of subject-matter expertise is very difficult to take away.
Some industries like clinical medicine, criminal defense law, or technology management for example, would rely on human subject-matter expertise to function properly – in the long foreseeable future.
You would agree that the thought of the concept of replacing the jury in a criminal defense courtroom with technology is quite laughable within the context of our current realities.”
Making a clear distinction between two broad categories of individuals, groups and communities he is keen on reaching out, professionals/aspiring professionals needed to be certain as to whether they belonged to the first category for whom tech skills would be a complementary skill to their current skill-sets, or a second category who would require a full transition to tech, using their transferable skills as assets in their transition journey.
On the question of who a technology product manager is, and why such an individual’s opinion matters with regards to the subject, “Your success as a technology professional hinges on your understanding of technology product(s), and how your role fits into the big picture – within the context of the same.”
It is noteworthy that a product manager is a professional who leverages the skills of other professionals working across different tech roles to ensure a technology product is successfully created, properly introduced to the market, nurtured to maturity, and retired or transitioned into a new/innovative version.
In addition, a transition to a career in tech meant that a professional would be looking to work in one or more of the 3 broad sub-sets of the product management office, which include roles that focus on the customer, business or engineering.
Tech related courses such as cybersecurity, data science, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, UI/UX design, programming, quality assurance testing, digital marketing, product ownership, business analysis, blockchain, augmented reality, agile, scrum, kanban, robotic process automation, DevOps, etc., simply prepare professionals to serve one or more of the subsets of the product management office.
In conclusion, a high-level roadmap to transitioning to non-engineering as well as engineering related roles in tech include: Introspection – understanding who you are, being honest to yourself about your current situation, and defining a high-level version of your expected outcome; Exposure – learning about tech before taking a deep-dive into a specialised area; Skill acquisition – being informed on the available options as well as making the right decision on the best option for your unique circumstance; Gaining experience – taking advantage of one or more of the various options in the tech space; Networking – becoming a part of communities in the tech ecosystem, and Levelling up with certifications.
On a final note, professionals/aspiring professionals should research learning outcomes of tech courses to be sure it aligns with desired outcomes, prior to investing time and other resources.
Ishola, healthcare tech product manager, writes from Lagos
