"How do I break into the tech industry?”

Experience is queen.

The fastest way to gain experience is to create solutions.  Here are a few surefire ways to break into tech…with experience.

• Hire Yourself. Consider starting your own business and creating solutions that can be added to your portfolio of experience. Your legitimate business can be added to your resume as your employer. Any solution you create can be added to your resume as employment experience. 
  
  
• Volunteer Yourself. Being of service to an organization allows you to gain experience in the tech role of your choice. Want to be an app developer? Volunteer to build an app for your church. Want to be a project manager? Volunteer to lead a project for your favorite non-profit. 
  
  
• Teach Yourself. Hands-on experience is golden. Taking the initiative to gain depth of knowledge shows initiative. Want to learn Azure cloud? Sign up for an Azure subscription and learn. All self-taught skills can be added to the “Research & Development” portion of your resume. 
  
  
• Prove Yourself. Tech certifications are a great way to prove that you have mastery of a topic. Dedicate time each day towards studying for a specific certification. Can’t afford the practice test or cert costs? Ask for a sponsor. 
  
  
• Pitch Yourself. Every industry is powered by tech. Think of every task you have completed in your current industry. How was tech involved? Update your resume to include tech-related tasks.