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It's not just coding: why there's more than one way to work in tech

Friends working together at sidewalk cafe
Communication and people skills are increasingly in demand in the tech sector. Photograph: Sam Edwards/Getty Images/Caiaimage

As fears grow of a robot-driven jobs apocalypse in the coming decades, it is reassuring to know that the technology field offers a wealth of lucrative career opportunities even, for graduates with non-technical degrees.

Jobs in technology range from the highest skilled roles, such as data scientist, algorithm developer or cybersecurity specialist, to less data-intensive work, such as repairs or support roles in sales and HR.

For graduates, technology careers fall into two broad areas. First, there are the most advanced technology jobs: coding mobile apps and web pages, creating computer games or writing algorithms to interrogate data, for example. For these roles, often in specialist agencies or consultancies, candidates need an impressive portfolio of their own work, showing off the designs and apps they have created.

The other category covers the exciting and futuristic areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), for which candidates tend to be very highly qualified. But there are many other roles where you don’t have to be a technical prodigy to excel.

Graduates can also follow a more traditional route, working in long-established IT and business functions at big organisations. There are opportunities for those with a sharp business brain and an ability to communicate with non-specialists.

“Every company needs a successful technology strategy to support their business and to have one eye on how their world might be disrupted, as well as try to guess the next big thing,” says Doug Rode, a technology specialist at recruitment consultancy PageGroup.

“A lot of people come into technology support roles and this gives them business knowledge. I know of chief information officers who have worked their way up through business support and business analysis roles,” says Rode.

“Companies need people who understand tech, but have a broader business understanding. The trick is translating tech issues for people without technical knowledge,” he says.

A good way to develop these skills is working in a retail environment, at an Apple Genius Bar, for instance. Staff in these hi-tech stores sell and service Apple products and advise consumers on using and repairing them.

Behind the scenes, staff are fixing and restoring gadgets. An Apple spokesman says the company employs 14,400 retail staff across Europe, including its “highly trained geniuses”. He says the requirements are “an ability to learn and time management”. Across Apple, 37% of new hires globally are women, and 54% of new hires in the US are from minority groups, he says.

There are also jobs at other consumer technology retailers, such as Dixons Carphone’s technical service arm Team Knowhow. As Feilim Mackle, chief executive of the company’s services business, explains: “We do a very wide range of roles, everything from being on the road delivering and installing our customers’ kit, to being on the phone dealing with service enquiries, and roles that require very specific technical skills,” he says.

With automation, robotics and AI forecast to affect many areas of the jobs market, including white collar roles, graduates may find that a career in technology helps them stay one step ahead of the robots.