It’s a brand new year and some of you might consider your next career move for 2020. You want your job to be challenging and rewarding and of course to get well paid. You can find all of that in a digital agency that creates software for international clients.
The high and growing demand for IT products is indisputable. That’s why digital agencies and dev houses are hiring new employees each year. Their businesses grow together with their clients’. And to expand, they need manpower that will create code, take care of clients and coordinate all business operations.
It’s easy to forget that digital agencies hire not only programmers. Every company needs different specialists to handle all the areas of expansion. Administration, marketing, sales, design, QA – without them all, a dev house is like a donut without a filling ?
So if you cannot code but your interest in new technologies is strong, you can still consider a career in a digital agency. Here’s a couple of tips on how to do it.
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Your current situation
Depending on the level of your education and experience, you need to consider a job that will be suitable for you. If you are still a student or a fresh graduate – applying for an internship would be a great idea. It will give you an opportunity to gain all the knowledge needed to pursue a career in IT in the long run. And a chance to be hired afterward, too!
For more seasoned job-seekers, the question is – what are your skills? Are you looking for a chance to change the entire course of your career or you just want to switch the environment? Answering these questions will help you determine which position you should apply to.
In many IT companies not only developers can be juniors, mediums or seniors. Also account managers, business executives, HR managers and other members of big company branches can upgrade their position by being promoted. Why are we mentioning that? Because if until now you’ve been an accountant at a financial firm but you dream to be a project manager at a digital agency – looking for a junior vacancy can be a good start. Demands will be much lower and you will have a chance to learn from your colleagues.
What’s important is to be confident in your knowledge and skills. Even if you have never been an HR specialist or a social media manager – your resume should underline all your people skills or basic knowledge of Facebook. And during the recruitment process be sure to prove that you know what you are talking about. Show the employer that you are willing to learn and that you are confident in your goals.
Tech knowledge – or at least an interest
Yes, if you want to work in IT – you need to know at least a little bit about technology. That doesn’t mean you need to know how to develop software. But knowing the names of programming languages, being up-to-date with trends, understanding business purposes of digital products is a must.
Not feeling like it? Share your skills somewhere else – specialists are needed in many places like advertising, finance, automotive, fashion and more. Dev houses grow rapidly also because there is so much going on in the online world. Artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, new models of smartphones – we need to keep all of that in mind when working on our products.
That’s why sales, marketing, HR, account and project managers need to know what’s up in the world of software development. Every company has a different field they specialize in, so when you send your resume to a specific agency – check out their website and social media profiles. Learn as much as possible about what they do – not only names but facts as well.
What matters is your interest. No one will kill you if you don’t know all the details, but knowing basics is a must.
Certain traits
Working in a digital agency requires some attributes because it is a peculiar workplace. Do we need to mention knowledge of the English language, as most dev houses work with clients from around the world?
First of all, oftentimes we need to work under the pressure of time and with constantly evolving conditions. Clients changing their minds, sudden problems found in testing, special requirements for a project – you name it. Resilience to stress, quick reacting, flexibility and can-do attitude make this job a lot easier.
Solving difficulties and proposing creative solutions is the core of our operations. That’s why every digital agency team needs not only exquisite specialists with great hard skills but also open-minded individuals that know their soft skills. Additionally, there would be no good dev house without teamwork, so make sure you like to cooperate with others.
Company culture expectations
There are many types of digital agencies. What distinguishes them from each other is not only their fields of expertise. There are bigger and smaller dev houses with different structures, rules and styles of work.
For example, some software development companies allow their employees to work fully remotely. Most of them offer one or two days per week. Other benefits usually depend on the size of the firm so check the recruitment announcements carefully to find out what you can expect.
Also, the website should be a source of useful information about company culture. You can find out if the team is integrating regularly and how they do it. What methods (eg. Agile, Scrum) they use for their daily operations. What the office and work stations look like. IT companies are often very unique work environments – because they love innovative ideas. You can be sure you won’t be bored while working in a digital agency.
Pick one that has a culture suitable for your own needs and character. If this dev house you consider meet up every week to play board games and you rather just go home after work – maybe you should look for a different place to send your resume to.
Will 2020 be a ground-breaking year for your career? That depends on you! If you wonder how we work at iteo and if we have any open positions at the moment – check out our career page. Find out how you can expand your prospects. Starting a new job in a digital agency can be the beginning of something great in your life!
