Career Change

Hi DarylG1​ ,

First of all welcome to the Microsoft Tech Community, while your question is strictly outside the scope of the Microsoft Tech Community, I wanted to reply with some of my personal views on the industry and how to 'get your foot in the door'.

Let me start with the recent few years have been very hard to work in Tech, especially software. The impact of AI on available jobs has been immeasurable. At the moment unless your a specialist in AI or data & cyber security its a very hard market to get into. 

Many people will tell you that you need to go to college or university, and they aren't wrong - not because the role really needs you to have a degree - but because many of the largest companies won't even interview you without a degree or significant length of service. I often find as well though, never underestimate the power networking into an organization. Attend events, showcase your skills and become known around your target companies and roles.

If you get an interview have some interesting examples of competencies relevant to the role, think about what the company is doing, where are they headed and ask relevant questions about it. Your trying to show you get the vision here. In my experience if your only questions is about the salary you probably aren't getting the role. 

Allot of CV/resume these days first get filtered by AI, so think about your structure of your CV, adjust it for each application and job you apply for. 

I hope this is a helpful first start, let me wish you all the best in your career change!

Allen