Tips From 5 Women Who Secured $10,000K+ Raises

It’s fair to wonder if the investment in learning tech skills is worth it—both in terms of the money and the time you put in. The good news is that these skills do pay off: One of the biggest perks of a tech career is that paycheck, which is often substantial. Add that to the lifestyle perks like flexibility and remote work, and you’ve got the makings of a remarkably fulfilling career.

If you’re on the fence about making the jump to tech, look no further than people who’ve been in your shoes. These women all got at least $10,000 raises when they switched to tech (including one of Skillcrush‘s own employees!)—and in some cases, they made much, much more.

What job did you have before switching to a tech career?

I was an executive assistant and office manager at a non-profit.

How much of a salary increase did you receive?

$30k—I was making $35k at the non-profit, and at my first tech job I got $65k. I now make double that.

What inspired you to switch to tech?

There are amazing opportunities for career growth, and you get to keep a pulse on the ever-changing tech industry. I learn something new everyday. It also usually pays higher salaries.

How did you make the jump? How did you learn the skills you needed?

Make sure you have a good online presence, including social media and a personal website. When you’re curious about new and better ways of working, and work hard, you can learn the skills you need. A lot of tech companies are looking for people who can think on their feet, figure things out, be creative and have a passion for learning. There are also a lot of incredible online courses, communities, and resources just a few clicks away.

What advice do you have for people considering changing careers to a tech career?

I highly recommend it. You don’t need to be technical to work in tech. There are non-technical roles, and usually tech companies have good benefits and opportunities to learn and get more technical if that’s what you want to do. Tech is the future of work—you’re exposed to cool trends and the tech culture and community is really engaging, progressive, and fun.

What job did you have before switching to a tech career?

I was the communications coordinator at a PR firm.

How much of a salary increase did you receive?

$12,000 with additional commission opportunities.

What inspired you to switch to tech?

I switched to tech because the creative side of my brain was starting to atrophy—tech firms need expressive people as well as programmers and problem solvers, so there was a way for me to make it work.

How did you make the jump? How did you learn the skills you needed?

I gained experience in marketing at the PR firm where I worked, but also learned HTML and CSS coding from home. Being a broke millennial, I also learned to troubleshoot computer problems on my decade-old laptop (rather than pay to have it fixed) which helped me get familiar with general PC software and learn shortcuts.

What advice do you have for people considering changing careers to a tech career?

At first I was wary to join what’s seen as a male-dominated career, as I didn’t want to be overshadowed by male coworkers or have my creative ideas dismissed altogether. I chose ICVM Group because I saw that of the three workplace leaders—one was female—which led me to believe that the company culture respected and elevated women. After joining, I learned that more than half the team is female (and the company even sponsors a Women in STEM scholarship!), but this is not the case with many tech companies. My advice is to do some research about the culture of your new company before changing careers, because it can be difficult to find a safe and supportive work space.

What job did you have before switching to a tech career?

At 20, my dream was to work in an art museum. Not so by age 23 when I realized I was just sitting at a front desk all day.

How much of a salary increase did you receive?

$20,000. That was the initial increase when I got the job offer. Ultimately, I received two more raises in about a year and a half—so I almost tripled my salary.

What inspired you to switch to tech?

I was living on a $35,000 salary in Los Angeles, so I was barely making rent, let alone building up savings. And I hated my job. A friend who’d taught himself to code was working at this cool music ticketing startup and loving it. He knew I was miserable, so he offered to teach me HTML & CSS. I figured: it worked for him, so why not?

How did you make the jump? How did you learn the skills you needed?

I’d done some graphic design in college and have always loved tinkering with things (you should have seen my custom Myspace page), so I just started fiddling around. I read a ton of coding blogs and tips and tested things out in a plain text doc. This was years back—before Skillcrush existed to help teach these skills—so it was all trial and error and very DIY.

The entry-level job was a turning point. I learned more there in six months sitting next to other web developers and programmers than anywhere. (And this is exactly why Skillcrush’s online courses have a huge community component—immersion!) To get the job offer, I mocked up some fake projects, which were mediocre at best, walked into a job interview and told my future boss “I don’t have experience, but I learn fast and I will work my butt off.” That’s pretty much verbatim.

What advice do you have for people considering changing careers to a tech career?

I am not a “tech” person. You should see me try to connect my laptop to a printer. So believe me, if I can learn it, anyone can. Since the USC days, I’ve stayed in the tech world but shifted increasingly into content strategy. I still use my tech skills every day, whether it’s just the vocabulary when talking to our developers or fixing wonky formatting on newsletters. So: learn the tech basics regardless of where you see your career going (and especially if you don’t know what you want to do next), and you’ll be able to adapt into whatever roles you choose.

What job did you have before switching to a tech career?

I did marketing and communications at a startup.

How much of a salary increase did you receive?

I tripled my income: I went from earning $15/hour to having a benefitted job with a salary that was about $43/hour.

What inspired you to switch to tech?

I couldn’t pay my rent despite working full-time and saw that the engineers at my company did really interesting work that paid well.

How did you make the jump? How did you learn the skills you needed?

I googled, “How to build a website” and started attending events for women wanting to learn (Rails Girls, RailsBridge, etc.). When I found out about this new thing called a coding bootcamp, I decided I wanted to attend and figured out a way to make that happen.

What advice do you have for people considering changing careers to a tech career?

My advice is to figure out a way to move into a technical career without delay—there are so many different pathways, it’s much more creative than one might expect, you can earn a living wage, and if you’re underrepresented in tech, know that there are many of us here to support you.

What job did you have before switching to a tech career?

I was Executive Director of the Carolinas Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.

How much of a salary increase did you receive?

Around $24,000. I went from $50,000 to $74,000.

What inspired you to switch to tech?

I switched to tech because I had always loved the field but I wasn’t good at science or math, so I thought I couldn’t be in the field. My husband encouraged me to pursue my passion (writing) as a career, which was when I realized that tech needs marketers and writers like every other field. I loved it because it was always changing. As someone who is consistently going about a million miles an hour, I loved that things never got stale or boring.

How did you make the jump? How did you learn the skills you needed?

I reworked my resume to highlight my writing and marketing skills over just the roles I had held, which helped to convince many more places to interview me. I had the skills, I just needed to showcase them.

What advice do you have for people considering changing careers to a tech career?

Do it! Especially working for a startup, you get so much hands on experience that you can always translate that later on into whatever field you end up in. It’s a great way to wear many hats and learn a wide array of skills.

What job did you have before switching to a tech career?

I was the communications coordinator at a PR firm.

How much of a salary increase did you receive?

$12,000 with additional commission opportunities.

What inspired you to switch to tech?

I switched to tech because the creative side of my brain was starting to atrophy—tech firms need expressive people as well as programmers and problem solvers, so there was a way for me to make it work.

How did you make the jump? How did you learn the skills you needed?

I gained experience in marketing at the PR firm where I worked, but also learned HTML and CSS coding from home. Being a broke millennial, I also learned to troubleshoot computer problems on my decade-old laptop (rather than pay to have it fixed) which helped me get familiar with general PC software and learn shortcuts.

What advice do you have for people considering changing careers to a tech career?

At first I was wary to join what’s seen as a male-dominated career, as I didn’t want to be overshadowed by male coworkers or have my creative ideas dismissed altogether. I chose ICVM Group because I saw that of the three workplace leaders—one was female—which led me to believe that the company culture respected and elevated women. After joining, I learned that more than half the team is female (and the company even sponsors a Women in STEM scholarship!), but this is not the case with many tech companies. My advice is to do some research about the culture of your new company before changing careers, because it can be difficult to find a safe and supportive work space.

This post was written and originated on Skill Crush.