Calling All Journalists: Why You Should Consider a Career in Tech
I never saw myself as an engineer. Throughout high school and college I excelled at writing and literature, not math and science, (although I ironically did better at upper level STEM.) So, I assumed like many others, that I should, naturally, pursue what I was, “good at.” In my college’s culture, there was a very clear line drawn between the “techies” and “fuzzies,” and even though I went to a school in the heart of Silicon Valley, I had no interest in joining in on the tech frenzy.
After college I became a newspaper journalist — I was good at it, and even better, I loved it. It was great, I found meaning in my work, won awards and enjoyed growing as a professional. My future was bright, I knew that eventually my hard work would pay off and I would make my way to a bigger publication. Then 2009 rolled around and along with thousands of other journalists that year, I found myself laid off without a backup plan.
I began working in digital media, community management, and digital content, until one day it hit me that the future of content wasn’t content at all, but the technology used to deliver that content. It was 2014 and I realized my new plan: to learn how to write software that allows people new ways to access information.
That summer, I started studying javascript, but knew I needed more. In September, I began the Sabio program in Culver City, and let me tell you, their 12-week program was one of the most challenging experiences of my entire life. That said, the foundation and skills they provide are life-changing and helped catapult me into my new career.
All of which is to say, journalists and former journalists, tech is a career you would excel at, and I’m going to tell you how.
My work as a journalist has been instrumental to me as an engineer — and I firmly believe that journalists possess all the skills to work in tech. When I transitioned over, I was delightfully surprised with how well my journalism mindset and talents boosted me. Team leading, community outreach, working with local organizations to bring women and people of color into tech careers, these are all things I’ve done better in tech because of journalism, but there’s so much more than that.
Because of my previous career, combined with the community-oriented instruction at Sabio, I was able to quickly and easily transition into new roles that allow me to make more money and have more job security than ever possible in journalism.
Journalists would flourish in technology, not just as engineers, but in other roles as well:
User Experience Designer
The crux of journalism is how to explain things to someone you don’t know. The job of a UX Professional is to do exactly that, but visually — you’re already halfway there!
UX Researcher
A UX Researcher is basically being a journalist, but instead of writing stories, you’re asking questions and gathering intel to help inform product decisions. I would say this role is probably the cleanest transition from journalism to tech. You’re basically interviewing people and conducting research to write up your findings, but in the end, instead of clips, you have an app.
Quality Assurance
QA is a very broad tech career that I would say is very similar to copy editors in journalism. Some QA folks focus on making sure products stay inline with regulations, some write tests or try to break the app engineers build, and some work with customers to help guide them through problems they encounter.
Project Manager
This job is what exactly what it sounds like — the person who helps everyone communicate and stay on task. I’ve worked with so many folks in tech who would’ve excelled at this job on all levels in journalism.
Still don’t believe me? These are some of my journalistic skills that have directly translated to my success in tech:
Organization
Since I was a daily reporter, (meaning I had to crank out at least one story per day,) I became very good at keeping multiple plates spinning at once. By the time one story was done — I had another one waiting. I had to keep names, dates, phone numbers and titles straight, so that when I had to get to someone I didn’t already know, I could finagle my way to them and provide the right information. This type of discipline is a core foundation of working in tech.
Good at Asking the Right Questions
Another important skill that journalism taught me was how to ask the right questions — ones that can get you an overview of the topic, as well as the specifics that are worth diving into. Since every single tool in tech is a moving target, I’ve had to learn dozens of libraries, languages, tools, and more just to do my job efficiently. Because I had mastered the skill of how to learn things quickly while being a journalist, working as an engineer in a constantly shifting field has been easier for me.
Good at Communication
The stereotype of a computer geek is one with no social skills. After six years I can’t say there is no merit there, I can say that my communication skills have been a tremendous asset to me in this field. Imagine the difference it makes to stakeholders to be able to have a conversation with a tech person that they can not just understand, but get value from. Not all engineers back-up stereotypes, but being an engineer with great communication skills will certainly help you go places.
Breaking Down Complex Ideas
Technology can get really complicated. As a journalist, I learned how to untangle complex things — from Texas water laws to multinational cancer clusters, no matter what it was, it was my job to understand it, and then explain it in 1–2 paragraphs. This skill has served me quite well in tech as I’m able to take very big and complex items, and then explain them to myself and/or my team members in a way that allows everyone to grasp them.
Documentation
Everyone in tech complains about the documentation, but no one can live without it. When you are using a tool or library, or even trying to learn a language, there is documentation that exists to help you understand it. In tech, everyone loves to talk about how important this documentation is, while few are actually good at maintaining it. As a former journalist, documentation came naturally to me, and everywhere I’ve worked, I’ve done my best to accurately describe and document everything. This has saved my time more than once!
At the end of the day, if you look at tech as a mechanism for sharing information, journalism and technology become very close to being one and the same, and ultimately, a perfect field for journalists to enter.
You can check out more of my story below, and if you have any questions feel free to reach out to me on twitter at @SaraChicaD
