Landing a tech job can sometime seem impossible. It’s difficult knowing where to start when you’re looking to land a tech job. So in this article, I’m going to take you through the top 10 tips you need to know to land a tech job …and get you one step closer to getting certified and getting that dream career in your chosen area of IT.

So let’s get started…

Here’s a quick run-through of the list, in no particular order of importance. Then I’ll get into more detail.

How to land a tech job in 2021 – 2022

• Take Action
• Stay humble
• Start networking
• Apply, apply, apply!
• Prepare for rejection
• Optimize your resume
• Interview etiquette
• Education and certifications
• Experience
• Get mentorship and guidance

Now let’s go through these in more depth so you know exactly what to do.

Take action

The hard truth is it starts by making a decision, by deciding to do something about it. You’ve got to decide, and then take action to reach the goal.

Maybe you hate the job you have now, you dislike the work, your co-workers, and maybe even your boss. Start planning, start learning and work towards getting the gig you want, use every spare minute of every day to get to where you want to be.

Stay humble

Regardless of your profession, your experience, age, or circumstances, you need to get humble about it. Getting into IT is going to be a tough journey.

You can’t expect anyone to help you out, no one owes you anything. You’ve got to go out and search for it yourself. So be humble, but be motivated to learn from others and seek help and guidance.

Start networking

This is where networking is so important. You’ve got to get out there and start talking to people and networking as much as possible. You’ve ideally got to start hanging out …in the places that people hang out …who do the job you want to do.

Talk to everyone, even the gas station attendant might know someone who can help you. Or the cashier at the grocery store might know someone who knows someone. You’ve simply got to get out there and start talking and asking questions.

If your current place of work has an IT department, go there, speak to them, all of them, make connections, rub shoulders with them, and ask questions. Look interested, show your enthusiasm, you never know who might be watching you and can help.

Networking is scary

Getting out there and asking questions can be a scary game, especially if you’re an introvert. And I know, I’m an introvert by nature. It can be tough putting yourself in the ring.

But you can’t let that hold you back from getting where you want to be. You simply have to deal with it, put your introvert aside and step up to do what you need to do.

With the methods of communication available on the web today, there’s no reason not to contact lots of the right people without even being face to face.

With social media, company websites, and dedicated networking places like LinkedIn, you can now contact CEOs of companies, IT professionals, mentors, and influencers with the right contacts.

There are lots of Facebook groups, slack channels, and other methods of getting to the right people. So get going!

Apply, apply, apply!

You need to start applying for jobs. And by this, I mean a lot of jobs. 10 or 20 jobs a day, 100 jobs a week, as many as you can do.

Start thinking more widely, apply in your current area, but also start applying around other areas of the country, or even start applying abroad.

Remember, your overall objective is to get an IT job, not just a comfortable job or job that just makes you feel okay. It’s to get experience, the right experience that you need to progress further.

Obviously, it’s easier to apply for jobs that you’re already qualified for, but apply anyway, it’s easier to get a “no” answer than not to have applied at all.

So, apply, apply …and apply some more

Prepare for rejection

While you’re applying and feeling really good about yourself and your efforts, just be prepared for rejection. It will happen a lot.

As I said before, no one owes you anything, 100 applications does not mean 100 interviews, and interviews do not always end up in a job offer.

When you get rejected, use it as a lesson, learn from it. What can I do better? How can I improve on it further, what questions came up that I didn’t have a good answer for? Use it as training.

You might get a thousand no’s but you only need one yes.

Have an optimized resume

You’ve got to have an optimized resume. One page is best, it’s good practice to have one page, showing your education and experience and tailor each resume you send to the job you’re applying for.

So be prepared to make changes for each position you’re applying for.

From that one page (or maybe two pages at most) the employer can get a good idea of what you can bring to the company and your overall profile at a glance.

…Remember what’s on your resume!

Believe it or not, lots of people forget the details they added to their resumes. So make sure you know it well enough that you can repeat statistics, dates, and details when asked in the interview.

Interview etiquette

On the point of interview etiquette, be confident, be calm, try to keep your nerves in check.

Preparation is key, on the company, on the person who’s interviewing you. The better armed you are the more confident and less nervous you will be.

Don’t show up an hour before, or even 15 minutes before. It can make people awkward. But also don’t turn up dead on time. Be five minutes early.

And keep calm on the cologne, you don’t need to drown yourself or the interviewer in perfume.

And don’t forget, most interviews end with “do you have any questions?”, if they do, make sure you definitely have a question!

Education and certifications

What will really help to land a tech job and will definitely help your cause is if you can get some kind of qualification or certification. Be it a degree or other relevant qualification in the industry.

There are lots of courses available, and one is my own over at ITmasterkey,.com. My Zero to Hero Course Bundle helps people get certifications, online, with some of the most popular certifications in the industry, with hundreds of positive testimonials. And check out the video on why I now help thousands of people get to where they want to be. Here’s three certifications that will boost your income.

Experience

Yes, experience helps, it often comes with having a job, or work record to begin with. But people often forget the actual real-life experiences of things they’ve done which can all help show technical ability.

Maybe you set up your home wifi system? That’s experience. Or perhaps you helped someone set up windows 10 on their PC. Maybe at the community center with their community wifi.

You gained some knowledge along the way and learned things, technical specifications, procedures on installations, or just became the go-to person for a certain technical setup.

All these aspects show a level of technical ability,

Get mentorship and guidance

Put yourself in places and situations where you can find and use the help that others can offer.

There are internships you can look into, and watching others as they work through IT solutions. There are also volunteering opportunities. You can look into getting on a mentorship program, or find a local mentor. And there are other ways to get experience.

All the experience you gain you can put on your resume.

More IT tech career help…

This is where ITmasterkey.com can be your starting point, and your go-to place to get help and all the popular certifications related to IT.

So make a start, apply all the tips that are in this video. Use this as a starting point to begin your journey.

Whether you want to be a network engineer, cybersecurity analyst, cloud engineer, or whatever your ultimate goal is. Head over to ITmasterkey.com and get motivation, help with courses, practice courses,  vouchers, and more.

I hope that helps, and, I’ll see you in class!

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