Early Career
Launching a tech career is a complex — but rewarding — challenge. Here’s how to position yourself for growth.
Boosting Your Early Career
You’re in your first few years as a new technologist. You’ve established some contacts, begun work on your first big projects and developed a better sense of what’s expected of you.
If you’re lucky, you're also figuring out what skills you’ll need to deliver your best performance over the next year or so. As you settle in, you might begin to think about your career more strategically — what might your career arc look like, and how would this job and company fit into those plans? That’s great if you’re already there, but don’t worry if you aren’t — before worrying about the “next” or the “next next,” you may need to focus on getting your first role.
If you’re in the ‘aspiring’ stage, your first question might be: “How hard is it to break into tech?” In August 2022, CompTIA found that one in five tech job postings “were for positions requiring two years or less of experience.” Roughly half wanted three to five years of experience, while only 13 percent requested technologists with nine or more years of experience. That’s fantastic news for people just entering tech — employers are interested in hiring you.
So, wherever you are in the early portion of your career, carpe diem with this section of the guide, which is designed to help you get the absolute most out of this step in your journey.
Charting Your Career Path
Embracing Short-Term Goal Setting
You might have entered your new job with a lot of enthusiasm, but without a goal, you risk burning up all that energy without results. These goals can be set using the SMART framework:
At its best, the SMART framework allows you to prioritize your time and resources to focus on the most important things. Remember, you're trying to achieve measurable, strategic results... not just check tasks off a list.
Charting Your Career Path
Embracing Short-Term Goal Setting
You might have entered your new job with a lot of enthusiasm, but without a goal, you risk burning up all that energy without results. These goals can be set using the SMART framework:
At its best, the SMART framework allows you to prioritize your time and resources to focus on the most important things. Remember, you're trying to achieve measurable, strategic results... not just check tasks off a list.
The Value of Continuing Education
Whatever your career path, the most vital element is that you keep learning, and then use that education to inform your short- to medium-term career goals. Platforms and programming languages evolve, especially in relatively new fields. In today's rapidly-evolving landscape, staying up to date on the latest tools of your trade will help you nail the next interview — and ensure success in your new role. Those with cutting-edge skills may also find themselves climbing the salary ladder quickly — and potentially avoiding potential layoffs in the future due to their specialized knowledge.
Fortunately, a good employer is as interested in your education as you are, since that ultimately makes you a more valuable employee. Even if your manager seems disinclined to negotiate over increased compensation (more on that later), they may prove willing to pay for classes and other educational opportunities that boost your current skillset. Online learning courses, for instance, can offer flexible scheduling that allows you to juggle work and education.
Popular Organizations and Courses:
- Codecademy: Offers all kinds of coding courses (with two tiers for individuals, one free and one paid).
- Leetcode: Features practice questions for technical interviews. Widely viewed as an invaluable resource for job candidates.
- Exponent: Includes interview prep for everything from data science and software engineering to product management and system design.
The options outlined above are in addition to all the websites that offer deep dives into specific areas, such as Python.org’s introductory materials for Python development.
Do I Need Certifications?
When you review job postings, you’ll note that, for certain jobs, certifications are either required or heavily recommended.
From an employer perspective, certifications show in a concrete way that you have the necessary skills. Fortunately for technologists who are short on time and resources, relatively few positions today cite certifications as a requirement.
Even if a position doesn’t directly require them, certifications can still help show that you have the skills to do the job and advance up the career ladder. For example, if you’re just starting out as a sysadmin, you could earn a few cybersecurity certifications, then use those to convince your manager that you can handle increased responsibilities. Earning certifications (and thus boosting your skills) could likewise translate into a significant salary bump.
You can also ask your employer if they’ll be willing to pay for your certification and training exams, which can quickly become expensive. Some 68 percent of technologists viewed training and education as important benefits, ahead of other motivators such as a flexible schedule and wellness programs.
Finding a Mentor
Early in your career, finding a mentor can be key to your continued growth. Places where you can begin your mentor search include:
- College/university alumni networks.
- Online professional communities (preferably around your interests and profession).
- Friends/family connections.
The ideal mentor should have a career and skills that you want to emulate, and they should be willing to share their knowledge with you. Mutual chemistry is key. During your initial interactions, ask yourself if you enjoy being around them. It’s important to analyze the advice they give as impartially as possible, and judge whether it’ll truly help your career.
Many younger technologists find it’s helpful to ask a prospective mentor for advice or feedback on a project they’re working on. That's an organic and easy way to judge the relationship’s chemistry, and whether the advice is useful. Elevating your mentor/mentee relationship beyond the purely transactional is an absolute must; take the time to get to know your mentor as a human being; pay attention to their concerns and interests.
A good mentor will see you through the ups and downs of your career. They’ll give you good advice on everything from salary negotiation to dealing with a difficult manager. If your career hits a rough patch — for example, you’re swept up in a round of layoffs — your mentor may have the advice and connections to help you quickly land a new position.
The Importance of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI)
The creation of workplaces with sufficient gender and racial diversity, accessibility for those with disabilities and overall inclusivity is also a growing concern for companies everywhere. Leaders must educate themselves, challenge their own assumptions and push for further progress and open communication from their companies.
For the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) community in tech, the road to true equality has been a long one, and there’s still quite some distance to go. Companies everywhere are increasingly aware of the importance of DEI, which stands for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion; the key challenge is how to put these things into everyday practice.
For technologists everywhere, simply understanding what LGBTQIA+ colleagues might face on a daily basis can go a long way toward helping foster a more inclusive workplace. For example, simply asking team members for their preferred pronouns can be a great starting point for a more in-depth conversation. Advocating for an internal working group or committee, or in some cases, a dedicated DEI team at your organization, can, if managed well and supported by decision makers, have a long-term positive impact on fair hiring and management. Commit to learning as much as you can about your co-workers and peers — a sense of curiosity about individuals and their experiences can go a very long way in helping to build understanding and empathy.
Do your research to figure out what technologists with your skills and experience tend to earn.
Do your research to figure out what technologists with your skills and experience tend to earn.
Maximizing Your Salary (and Opportunities)
Your salary hinges on multiple factors, including:
- Your individual skills, experience and past performance.
- Your education level (and certifications).
- The size of the company (and its budget for talent).
- The supply and demand of the job.
- Location (pay tends to be higher in larger tech hubs such as Silicon Valley).
For example, entry-level software engineer salaries at Google, Microsoft and Amazon can hover at around $150,000 per year, including bonuses and stock options. At smaller firms, you might not make that same amount, even if you’re doing roughly equivalent work.
At some startups, you could make a choice to take a very small salary in exchange for equity that you hope will be worth a massive amount someday. Your salary will likely increase whether you jump to a management track or deepen your skills as a specialist.
If you’re driven by the prospect of outsized compensation, make a point of pursuing in-demand skills such as machine learning that relatively few technologists have mastered. But skills specialization isn’t limited to these cutting-edge categories such as A.I.
You likely won’t make mega-millions as a systems architect or security engineer, but your specialization within your chosen field will mean that you’ll have lots of job opportunities so long as you keep your skills up to date.
More on Technologist Salary
Average Salaries by Occupation
* Sample size less than 100 respondents, therefore not statistically valid, but presented for continuity purposes only.
**Growth calculation unavailable due to limited sample size from 2020 survey data.
Source: Dice 2022 Tech Salary Report, Dice.com
Negotiating Salary at Your Current Organization
If you want your current company to give you a raise, your annual review is the best time to make that ask. Raises are often hard to obtain outside the standard review cycle. Even if you feel intimidated or uncomfortable with negotiating, we strongly recommend doing so. In a recent survey by Robert Half, 36 percent of managers said they were more likely to negotiate salaries than the year prior, and 50 percent were equally likely to negotiate.
Your chances of a beneficial discussion are high, in other words, so how should you go about negotiating? Check out a few pro tips below.
Show Your Value
Sit down and explain to your manager how your current scope of work makes you more valuable than what you’re currently being paid. If you can bring data that backs up your argument, do so. For instance, if you’ve created a new line of business or figured out how to save the company money, you have substantial leverage in negotiations.
Stay Flexible
During your annual performance review, your manager may proactively offer a raise that you feel is too low. If that’s the case, you don’t have to automatically accept it. Instead, you can take a chance on asking for more, especially if your scope of responsibilities has increased over the past year. Similarly, if your manager proposes a raise in exchange for an expanded scope of work, you’ll need to analyze whether the extra dollars are worth the increase in your workload. More responsibility can help your career long-term, even if the money isn’t quite what you want.
You Can Negotiate for More Than Money
Whether you’re a newish or long-time employee, you can negotiate for increased benefits in lieu of cash. Perhaps you want funding to take educational courses, or more vacation time. The rise of hybrid and remote work also gives you much more leverage to negotiate a schedule that works for you; for example, if you want to only come into the office one day per week, your manager might be amenable to a conversation about that. Whatever perks you desire, a company may agree to those instead of a salary bump.
Don’t Be Intimated by Remote Negotiation
If you’re working remotely, you can still effectively negotiate salary. When you begin the virtual negotiation, make sure to spend a little time on “small talk,” which will put everyone at ease (and substitute for the usual in-office rituals, such as a handshake and coffee, that people use to settle into the discussion). Eliminate distractions, maintain eye contact and keep your language positive. From there, the discussion should proceed very much as it would in-person; make your ask, justify it by explaining your responsibilities and listen to what your manager has to say in return.
Show Your Value
Sit down and explain to your manager how your current scope of work makes you more valuable than what you’re currently being paid. If you can bring data that backs up your argument, do so. For instance, if you’ve created a new line of business or figured out how to save the company money, you have substantial leverage in negotiations.
Stay Flexible
During your annual performance review, your manager may proactively offer a raise that you feel is too low. If that’s the case, you don’t have to automatically accept it. Instead, you can take a chance on asking for more, especially if your scope of responsibilities has increased over the past year. Similarly, if your manager proposes a raise in exchange for an expanded scope of work, you’ll need to analyze whether the extra dollars are worth the increase in your workload. More responsibility can help your career long-term, even if the money isn’t quite what you want.
You Can Negotiate for More Than Money
Whether you’re a newish or long-time employee, you can negotiate for increased benefits in lieu of cash. Perhaps you want funding to take educational courses, or more vacation time. The rise of hybrid and remote work also gives you much more leverage to negotiate a schedule that works for you; for example, if you want to only come into the office one day per week, your manager might be amenable to a conversation about that. Whatever perks you desire, a company may agree to those instead of a salary bump.
Don’t Be Intimated by Remote Negotiation
If you’re working remotely, you can still effectively negotiate salary. When you begin the virtual negotiation, make sure to spend a little time on “small talk,” which will put everyone at ease (and substitute for the usual in-office rituals, such as a handshake and coffee, that people use to settle into the discussion). Eliminate distractions, maintain eye contact and keep your language positive. From there, the discussion should proceed very much as it would in-person; make your ask, justify it by explaining your responsibilities and listen to what your manager has to say in return.
Negotiating Salary: New Job at a New Company
If you’re applying to a new job and want more money than they’re initially offering, keep the following points in mind.
Don’t Reveal Your Current Salary Ahead of Time
A recruiter or hiring manager might ask for your current salary, but that doesn’t mean you need to provide it (in some states, it’s actually unlawful to even ask). If the initial ask is part of a written application, you can either leave that section blank or write that you’re willing to talk about salaries in person. If it comes up during the interview, you can say something like, “If I’m right for this role, I’m sure the salary will work itself out.” You may consider flipping the question back on the interviewer: “How much has the company set aside for the position?”
Don’t Start Negotiations Too Late
Don’t accept a job and sign a contract, only to come back a week or two later and ask for a belated money bump. The time to negotiate is before you sign, which is your moment of maximum leverage.
Don’t Aim Too High or Low!
Just because you live in a major tech hub full of technologists (for example) doesn’t mean you need to offer yourself up at a low salary in order to seem more appealing to a prospective employer. Believe in your abilities, but also don’t ask for an absurd amount of money, even if you do possess those highly specialized and rare skills. Sure, some machine-learning and A.I. experts are earning millions; that doesn’t mean you can ask for a seven-figure salary just because you’ve mastered TensorFlow. Use resources like Salary.com to get a high-level idea of current ranges for your role in your area code.
More on Negotiating Salary
Don’t Reveal Your Current Salary Ahead of Time
A recruiter or hiring manager might ask for your current salary, but that doesn’t mean you need to provide it (in some states, it’s actually unlawful to even ask). If the initial ask is part of a written application, you can either leave that section blank or write that you’re willing to talk about salaries in person. If it comes up during the interview, you can say something like, “If I’m right for this role, I’m sure the salary will work itself out.” You may consider flipping the question back on the interviewer: “How much has the company set aside for the position?”
Don’t Start Negotiations Too Late
Don’t accept a job and sign a contract, only to come back a week or two later and ask for a belated money bump. The time to negotiate is before you sign, which is your moment of maximum leverage.
Don’t Aim Too High or Low!
Just because you live in a major tech hub full of technologists (for example) doesn’t mean you need to offer yourself up at a low salary in order to seem more appealing to a prospective employer. Believe in your abilities, but also don’t ask for an absurd amount of money, even if you do possess those highly specialized and rare skills. Sure, some machine-learning and A.I. experts are earning millions; that doesn’t mean you can ask for a seven-figure salary just because you’ve mastered TensorFlow. Use resources like Salary.com to get a high-level idea of current ranges for your role in your area code.
The Gender Pay Gap
In recent years, many technology firms have pushed to eliminate the gender pay gap. Despite those efforts, however, a Dice analysis found that the pay differential between men and women in tech remains quite large in many states. These pay differentials remain intact even when occupation, experience, education and location are all controlled for.
As with so much else in technology, it’s important for technologists of all genders to be proactive and negotiate for what they want. “I see a tendency in women not negotiating their salary,” Masha Zvereva, entrepreneur and founder of Coding Blonde, told Dice. “That’s something that I notice in myself as well. Sometimes women are just happy to get the offer, and don’t think about the next step: to negotiate. There’s a tendency where women will only apply to a job if they meet all of the requirements, while a man will apply if they have half of the requirements.”
For a technologist view on discrimination and inequality in tech, check out The Equality in Tech Report.
The employee-boss relationship is the very definition of a two-way street. Just as your boss is supervising you, you’ll need to manage them.
The employee-boss relationship is the very definition of a two-way street. Just as your boss is supervising you, you’ll need to manage them.
Preparing for Your Next Career Move
Managing Up
In the early stages of your career, your boss and your boss’s boss can be important factors in your evolution. Perform well, and they’ll likely give you more and more responsibility. But this relationship is the very definition of a two-way street. Just as your boss is supervising you, you’ll need to manage them.
So how can you master the art of “managing up?” Here are some key steps.
- Ask what your boss is trying to achieve. Make sure you’re included and read in on strategy as much as possible.
- Determine what your boss wants the team to do. What does team success look like through their eyes?
- Which metrics and goals are most important?
- What are their pet peeves and what tends to make them happiest?
Answering these questions can help you better understand what makes your boss tick, helping you guide them when necessary. This, in turn, will help you manage your workload and ensure you are focusing on the most important priorities.
Analyzing your boss’s workload can be helpful as well. If your company has embraced hybrid work, for example, that can lead to exponentially more complex schedules. An overloaded manager appreciates when you figure out ways to streamline workflows, perhaps by taking on more responsibilities yourself. If they’re detail-oriented to the point that it’s impacting the team’s dynamics, it’s important to communicate that in a productive, blameless way.
Communication (perhaps even over-communication, especially if you’re working hybrid or remote) with your boss is key to managing up. Try hard to make promises you can keep, and then do your best to fulfill them, or learn and improve from the experience when you can’t. In turn, your manager could become a key player in your career advancement. Your mentor can provide valuable advice about this often-delicate process.
Risk-Taking and Creativity
Many technology jobs demand quite a bit of creativity. Out-of-the-box thinking is how the industry has arrived at innovations such as cloud computing and the smartphone. The opportunity for more creative work is one of the key reasons why technologists seek out new job opportunities.
A creative approach to a project or problem might seem like a risk, but it’s worth it. To maximize your job’s creative potential, though, you need to do some groundwork. Make it clear to your manager that you’re considering unconventional approaches to a problem. If they’re on board with it, they may even allow you to carve out additional time or requisition new resources to get it done. Talk through riskier, more creative approaches with colleagues. They may have good ideas that’ll allow you to refine your strategy. If they’ve tried something similar before, they can tell you what went right or wrong.
BOTTOM LINE: Creativity is an important part of any job, so don’t shy away from it.
Changing Jobs and Organizations
Early in your career, you might feel that you’ve learned and done all you can in a particular position. It’s fine to feel that way! It’s a good indication that it’s time to consider jumping to a new job. The question is whether the next opportunity has enough potential to justify a move, or whether you should stay in place until something better comes along.
If you’re thinking about changing jobs, sit down and carefully consider your answers to this list of questions.
- Do you want to work for a large company or a small one?
- Which skills do you need to learn for a new job?
- Which benefits matter most to you?
- Are you willing to take a different salary (and/or compensation)?
- Will a new company provide better opportunities for advancement and/or education?
- Are you willing to relocate?
- What sort of team environment do you want?
- Do you want a job that’s full-time remote, full-time in the office or a combination of the two (hybrid/flexible model)?
- Have you fully considered what your current position offers you?
- Will jumping to something new serve you better than what you have now? FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) can sometimes persuade you to take a leap at a less-than-ideal opportunity.