How To Be An IT Specialist Without A Degree? Here's Everything You Should Know

As the world transitions to going full digital, demand for professionals in the tech industry continues to grow, leading to more job opportunities. In fact, Information Technology (IT) is one of the most in-demand fields over the past years. And since you’re reading this, chances are, you are someone who’s thinking of pursuing a career in the industry. But how do you get started in the first place? And is it possible without a degree or any job experience?

Read on to find out!

Entering the IT Industry

As with any industry, IT has its own set of myths. One common example is that in order to excel in the industry you need to enter university, or that IT hiring managers would care more about your educational credentials than anything else.

The biggest myth, however, is that in order to enter the IT industry or get an entry-level support job, you need a four-year degree in computer science.

Truth is, you don’t actually need one. There are industries that care more about your experience than educational attainment, and IT just happens to be one of them. In fact, hiring managers usually require proof that you are capable of doing the job through certification and prior experience, and with 26% of IT workers in the U.S. not holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, it’s safe to say this is the case for the industry.

Getting into IT Without a Degree

Let’s get to why you’re here -- there are many ways to get a job in IT, the most common of which is taking an online course to get a certification.

However, with so many online education marketplaces on the internet, choosing can be overwhelming. The options are simply too many, and seeing as online courses aren’t always cheap, it can be hard to wade through all of them in search of something that’s worth your money.

Fortunately, Edureka! makes it easy.

Operating as an alternate platform for students that wish to complete online courses and get certification, Edureka! provides the most comprehensive sessions similar to universities for more than half the price.

Working in partnership with corporates and academia, Edureka! is built upon the idea of committing to its students, be it through a team of world-class educators, a 24 x 7 support system, constant reminders, or courses that are as thorough as they can get. Edureka! believes that what you signed up for is the knowledge that you’ll be able to use, and so they work tirelessly to make sure you complete it.

For aspiring IT experts, the platform’s course on data analytics with R certification training will teach you everything you need to enter the IT industry without a degree.

When it comes to tech, being an expert in data analysis is a surefire way of getting your foot through the door, and will help open up more opportunities for you as you go along. This course is all about that.

Currently sitting at a perfect 5-star rating with 24k+ satisfied learners, this course will help you gain expertise in R programming, which is the most popular data analytics tool used nowadays due to the fact that it’s open-source, flexible and has a big community.

It doesn’t stop there, as it will also teach you the ins and outs of:

• data manipulation
• data visualization
• exploratory data
• data mining
• data analysis
• regression
• sentiment analysis
• social media
• how to use R studio for real-life case studies

Edureka! also lets you download a copy of the curriculum before buying the course to gauge whether it’s something you want, while enrolling in the course gives you free lifetime access, 30 hours of online live instructor-led classes, 10 sessions of weekend classes lasting for three hours each, and 15 sessions of weekday classes for two hours each. Each class also has practical assignments, a live project based on a real-life case to test your skills, unlimited support, a forum that lets you interact with other students, and professional certification that you can use for applying as a certified data scientist once you finish the course.

But mastering data analysis in order to enter the IT industry isn’t the only tech-related course that Edureka! offers. They also have courses for DevOps, python, big data, business intelligence, test automation, machine learning, full-stack web development, selenium certification, and so much more. If interested, you may apply for the course here, or view Edureka!’s other courses here.

Other Tips

While enrolling in an online tech course is definitely a big step towards achieving the IT job of your dreams, there are also other steps that can help take you a little bit closer to your goal.

One tip is to expand your network. Edureka!’s forum feature does this, as it lets you connect with like-minded individuals that want to enter the same industry as you. Connect with them and you’ll basically have an address book full of names of people who can give you advice, tips, or straight up help you with recommendations.

Another tip is to learn business alongside your technical skills. Remember that despite being a tech field, you will still deal with real people, and learning how to relate to your customers and understand how their business is affected by tech will go a long way.

Learn how to quickly diagnose problems, be very detail-oriented, learn how to think critically and develop your communication skills, as each of these will come in handy once you get your first real job in IT.

And lastly, embrace tech and the industry, and go all-in. It may be confusing and scary at first, but tech is a fast-paced and ever-changing industry filled with creativity, innovation and challenges that will keep you on your toes.

While online courses from platforms like Edureka! are incredibly important at teaching you the tech know-how, ultimately it’s your character and what you do with the skills you learn that will determine how IT will reward you in the long run.

With that, good luck!