Your Guide to Getting a Career in Business Technology

In today's society, everyone uses technology in some form of the other. In fact, it'd be very surprising to see someone who goes without it. Technology has made pretty much every facet of life a lot easier than it was in the past. The business world is a prime example of this. Businesses have been able to reap the rewards of various technology and software to make their day-to-day operations less strenuous. If you're someone who's tech savvy and want to immerse yourself into the business world, then your best course of action is to get a career in business technology. In this article, we'll be going over everything you need to be qualified for a business technology career.

Assess the Cost of Tuition

As with any type of career, you're going to need a college education. Most careers in every field require a BA or higher as one of their primary requirements. For a career in business technology, you'll want to have either a BA in information technology (IT) or computer science. The cost of a BA in IT can range from $31,000 to as much as $70,000. Bachelor degrees in computer science have an average cost of $40,000 to $80,000. The amount you have to pay depends on where you're going to college. Going out of state is typically more expensive than getting a degree in your current location.

How you go about your education is completely up to you. Just remember to take your time planning everything out. Either way, you're going to need a way to pay for the program. The fastest and easiest method is to take out a private student loan. The value of a student loan is heavily determinant on your expected family contribution (EFC) and cost of attendance (COA). COA is how much the program is going to be. That's going to compared to how much you're able to contribute to said cost. You'll get an estimate of how much student aid you'll get by filling out your FAFSA form and waiting up to a week for the results. Once you receive this estimate, you can move ahead with your plan.

Pick a Niche Within the Field

Every career field has a diverse selection of jobs, or niches, for people to choose from. With how innovative technology is, and is still becoming, you have many unique options. Here's a brief list of business technology niches you can look for:

• UX/UI Designer

• SEO Specialist

• Quality Assurance Professional

• Data Analyst

• Software Developer

• Product Manager

• Cyber Security Analyst

• Intelligence Analyst

Each job within this field has vastly different work, so you don't have to worry about constantly doing the same thing. There are a lot of different careers you can have, so spend as much time as you need going through your choices. There are some jobs in this field that are for specific people and ones that require a more in-depth college education.

Learn and Sharper Your Skills

No matter what career you decide to go with, you're going to improve your tech skills and identify the necessary skills you'll need for each option. These skills are going to carry you throughout the course of job and you'll learn most of them through your degree program. Though, it's important to note that not every job will require the same skill set. Below is a quick list of the basic business technology skills everyone needs:

• HTML or JavaScript coding

• Configuring networks

• Managing databases

• Knowing the ins and outs of social media

• Being able to adapt to all sorts of situations

• Having the ability to critically think and analyze things

• Showing tenacity throughout stressful tasks

• Being a good leader

• Using all available resources at your disposal to solve problems

Always keep in mind that learning these skills are only the first step. You have to dedicate yourself to honing each of these skills to the point of mastery. The reason why you want to master these skills is because careers in this sector often come with preliminary tests, so employers are able to witness the ability of potential employees first-hand. The skills you want to prioritize are coding, adaptability, critical thinking and analysis, showing resourcefulness and being tenacious.

Get First-Hand Experience

Having a comprehensive education always looks good on a resume. But the truth of the matter is that job hunting isn't as easy as you may think. You can have an education behind you, but that doesn't exactly guarantee you a position; all it does is make you qualified. A bare-bones resume will never appeal to an employer, so that's why it's important to spend some time during or after your degree program getting some first-hand experience. You can easily get an apprenticeship or paid internship in the business technology field through your school. There are all sorts of people willing to teach aspiring new coders the virtual ropes.