How to enter tech without CS/Coding background
Hey guys, I went to a top school in UK and studied economics. Now working in markets. There have been an increasing amount of posts focusing on exit ops in tech. I want to understand how someone like me (without a programming/computer science/data science background) can break in and where? Is fintech startups people talk about? Tech VC space? Quant HFs? What is it
Product management ,corporate finance and product management at tech companies seem like good exits .
Except product management at Tech requires you to get familiar with engineering. Engineers don't respect some business type PM who doesn't know anything about programming. If you can't learn to speak the language, you'll never ever even be a mediocre PM. It'd be very difficult to break into a PM position in the first place.
I did a tech internship once and our PM intern was an M7 MBA student. Guy was the least respected and most ridiculed member on the team. By week 2, dude got squeezed out of all important conversations and we threw him scraps on what to present. Dude had no fucking idea what we were doing nor any control over us. Some of us felt so bad that we let him pretend to be running shit. I'm pretty sure he knew what was going on but he just couldn't do anything about it.
Imagine being in your late 20s with sky high ego going to one of the best business schools in the world and then being squeezed by bunch of 20 year olds and constantly being reminded that YOU SUCK AT YOUR JOB. And then some of these kids 10 years younger than you decided to take pity on you and let you pretend you're more important than you are. Guy had a fucking leash on him and it was called NOT KNOWING JACK SHIT. His only sin was not knowing anything about programming (well and pretending to know when he really didn't).
Oof NOT FUN.
I think the guy works at some small non-profit now doing basic administrative work disguised as biz dev.
Damn that fucking sucks .Assuming you did understand basic programming languages would you be able to take a PM position.
This is an extremely biased take and not reflective of reality..
Pray.
On a more serious note, you recently just started in S&T and you are already looking to exist into tech? Dafuq
learn to code...its really not that hard...
freecodecamp.org
Ignore this guy
You don't necessarily need to know how to code. It is, however, important for you to speak the language and understand code. I'm not just talking about basic fundamentals, I'm saying that you need to know the ins and outs of languages, functionalities, emerging technologies, industry happenings, and much more. Basically, you need to know as close to everything as possible except for how to code. If you can do this, there's still a lot of people in tech that won't respect you, but it's a hell of a lot better than just walking in with basic knowledge and throwing around buzzwords.
This x100
Currently a FAANG engineer and a former ER associate here. There is definitely exit ops for finance folks with non-coding backgrounds, but those roles are incredibly competitive and folks with an engineering/coding background typically have a leg up. For the FAANG companies, PMs are expected to know how to code even though they probably won't code in their day-to-day. There is a stigma for non-tech finance folks going into PM, and the negative connotation is akin to a boomer PM from a F500 company explaining to you how tech works in the 'good ole days.' I took an 6 month sabbatical and enrolled into a coding bootcamp. I would recommend the same for those looking for exit-ops in tech. Being a PM without understanding of CS is always going to be a handicap.
Interesting, care to share more about your background (say starting fr undergrad to now) as well as how your experience has been moving from ER to SWE?
Serious question - why would you want to do tech if you have no coding/engineering/CS background? Like I get the comp+lifestyle combo may be better than finance, but if that's the only motivation I think you'll find yourself outcompeted.
Although you can do tech stuff without coding, the people I know who have done that are basically still working a finance job under one of the big tech companies.
One of the harsh realities of the world is that nothing in finance is difficult - it just takes a lot of willpower to slog through it 60+ hours a week. It's easy to teach people who understand STEM/coding to learn how DCFs work - it's much harder to teach biz majors who know about SWOTs how to efficiently design an algo. Tech can be a really great place, but if you want to be part of it I'm afraid there aren't really any shortcuts since it's so competitive now. You need to be able to communicate fluently and intelligently with people who are really smart and technical and one of the only ways to do that and gain respect is to show you know what you're talking about and that you have the chops to do the dirty stuff (even if you're not actually doing it regularly).
Lastly, if you want to break into tech from a non-technical background, the onus has to be on you to demonstrate why you want to be there and that you have skills that go beyond the minimum. I know "learn to code" is a meme, and you don't need to create your own app from scratch or anything but you definitely need to be able to understand what tools people work with and what their advantages and limitations are in a broader context. These companies can choose a decently social CS guy to be a PM and you need to prove that you're more qualified despite having far less technical skills. It can be done, but it's hard.
Nam eos quia iure asperiores. In deleniti voluptas in et reiciendis et. Tempora nobis quaerat hic velit. Ipsam dolor ea iusto commodi. Ipsa deserunt quod qui impedit quis assumenda harum.
Sit reprehenderit nihil nihil voluptates. Sapiente dolor aut optio est est quisquam nemo. Qui quisquam saepe hic qui rerum.
Odit quia voluptatem et minima et. Aspernatur assumenda eveniet eveniet. Ab tempore omnis animi asperiores mollitia.
Molestiae repellat odio cum qui dolore nesciunt porro. Commodi aut voluptatem quod rem. Voluptatibus doloribus explicabo possimus dolorem quisquam velit ex voluptatibus. Voluptatem ut laborum voluptas eveniet voluptate nulla. Esse qui corrupti voluptate quia.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...