Tech Insights: 7 Top Tech Careers that Don't Involve Code
As more and more businesses embrace e-commerce and online platforms, SaaS (software as a service) solutions, and other cloud-based initiatives - it’s easy to get lost in the sea of job postings for front and back end developers, system administrators, and other code heavy roles. You may be a wiz at Go, or Python, or C++ but not all developments are driven by developers. Even in tech and environments where automations and analytics are largely code-based, there is a critical need for other skill sets. Read on for our 7 top tech careers with codeless paths.
Top Tech Careers that Don't Involve Code
Product Management
Ask anyone in Product Management and you will understand why it is one of our top tech careers. You don’t have to be able to code a project to understand how it works. Product management is a combination of product knowledge, consumer need, competitor awareness, and usability. While this role takes a logical and analytical mindset, it doesn’t require you to be able to reconstruct the product line by line.
Product Managers
You might make a great product manager if you:
- Are a good strategist and can see how a specific product fits into the company’s wider offerings
- Are a great organizer and manager capable of managing product launches and overseeing progress for products in development
- Can step into the customers shoes, usability testing and competitor analysis are big components to this type of role
Data Science
Data science doesn’t require coding skills, but it may benefit from having a general knowledge - especially in SQL as data science is about managing multiple data sets and streams, and being able to extract actionable information through analysis. Data science is not only about analyzing, but also about presenting to stakeholders and informing company directives.
Data Scientist
You might make a great data scientist if you:
- Are comfortable building and manipulating large-scale database with tools like excel and SQL
- Are math-minded and comfortable creating and using algorithms, automations, and AI models to interpret data based on predictive modeling
- Are a pro when it comes to statistics and the scientific method
Data Analytics
Data analytics is more about analyzing past data to predict trends, whereas data science uses statistics and predictive modeling to track data usage over time. Data analytics places a lot of emphasis on using information to make market predictions in terms of ad trends, product and product trends vs. something like patient risk assessment in hospitals models, or climate prediction which would be a use case more for data science.
Data Analyst
You might make a great data analyst if:
- You also have a marketing mind, data analytics is often beneficial in terms of designating ad spend and creating targeted campaigns
- Have a mind for statistics. Though not as algorithm heavy as data science, experience with statistics and database management is still important
- Comfortable with presenting to stakeholders and execs, data analysis drives decisions so presentations and reports are a big factor
Project Managers
Similar to a product manager, project managers are responsible for the organization, supervision, and completion of a project - but are not limited to, or don’t take ownership over one specific product. Project managers can work on any directives or tasks across a company.You might make a good project manager if:
- You are well-versed in Agile methodologies
- You are organized and have strong leadership skills. Projects involve a wide range of people and may not be limited to the work of one specific team, so mastery of tools like Basecamp, Notion or Trello etc. as well as a strategy for accountability is a must
- Are a numbers person in terms of budgeting. Project management involves scoping out the needs of the projects and planning from start to finish with budget, timeline, and resources in mind
- Like to see things through from start to finish. Project managers own processes rather than specific products or features, so if you like to encompass everything from initial planning through to customer feedback this might be your role
Digital Marketing Specialist
Digital marketers focus on digital marketing strategies and campaigns from E-mail campaigns to social media, and ad platforms like Google Ads. This role can range from marketing management to content creation and a bit of brand design.You might make a great digital marketing specialist if:
- You are collaborative and enjoy working across teams on messaging and branding to understand company goals.
- Are creative, and like to write and create visual assets with tools like the Adobe Suite or Canva.
- Are organized and able to meet deadlines. Much of marketing is about scheduling in advance, and creating a backlog of content that can be used in a variety of ways at the drop of a hat
- You enjoy understanding what drives consumer behavior
UX/UI Design
These last two jobs can require that you have a background in coding, but don’t always - and if you’re looking to learn more about code and eventually attain a developer role, these jobs can be great gateways.UX/UI design is about the user experience and user interface, in other words, how easy is it for the customer to navigate the site, service, or app? Are they finding the things the company wants them to find? Does the design lead the customer on the ideal journey? You might make a great UI/UX Designer if:
- You have a keen eye for detail and a love of streamlining processes. User experience at its core is about making the right features easily accessible and functional
- Think visually and with a consumer mindset. If you ask yourself; does this look cluttered? Can I find everything? Is there a better way to visualize the product that will make it more profitable and usable? Then UI/UX might be for you
- Are a natural problem-solver. UI/UX is about asking questions and basing changes off of real user experiences and reported problems
QA
Historically a job squarely in the developer sector, QA (Quality Assurance) is branching out into teams like support or customer success. While a knowledge/ability to code certainly makes you a better analyst, you don’t need it to start out. QA is largely about testing.You might be great at QA if you:
- Are thorough and detail oriented, and try things from multiple angles. A feature might work from one pathway, but fail from another.
- Are diligent about documenting with tools like Loom, or even just screenshots.
- Have great product knowledge, or are a power user of a lot of SaaS tools. What you lack in coding you can make up for in usability testing and product knowledge when it comes to QA. It also helps to have an eye for common customer issues or knowledge of reported problems.
As you look for your role in one of these top tech careers, be sure to examine the career from all angles. Regardless of the type of role you are pursuing, most employees want the same things. In a recent TECKpert poll we discovered:
- 9% of workers want a mission-driven culture
- 19% want work autonomy
- 28% want strong team collaboration
- 44% want flexible work hours
If this sounds like you, it can be hard to find it all in one position or company. Come to work at TECKpert to have it all! Here is the link to all of our open roles: https://teckpert.applytojob.com/apply