Building a career as a technologist is hard work. It’s not just a matter of learning the right skills and landing the right jobs—the technology industry never stops evolving, and you must keep evolving alongside it. 

Whether you’re thinking of entering the technology industry for the first time, or you’re already in the early stages of your career as a technologist, you’re probably looking for advice on how to proceed. If that’s the case, feel free to download our new guide to breaking into the tech industry. The guide covers everything from technologists’ educational opportunities (Should you obtain certifications? What about finding mentors?) to negotiating salary, making it essential reading as you set up an exciting, fulfilling career.

The guide also emphasizes the need to keep improving your tech skills in order to keep up with the industry, which never stops advancing. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that mobile phones were simply devices used to make calls. Today, they’re the heart of a massive ecosystem of apps and services utilized by billions of people. Future progress may come at an even faster rate, as companies shift their storage and computing needs to the cloud, and cutting-edge technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (A.I.) come to the fore. Are you ready?   

If that sounds intimidating, don’t worry: technologists come from all walks of life, achieve the necessary knowledge through all kinds of channels (college, bootcamps, self-instruction, and more), and get their foot in the proverbial door in all kinds of ways (internships, self-started projects, or going the corporate route). There’s no one “right” way to launch a technology career, and the industry is filled with examples of people who took unique approaches to learning skills and building up their experience. 

But no matter what route you choose, certain fundamentals remain key: a solid résumé (and online profiles) that show off your skills and your ability to achieve results; a commitment to networking and building connections with your fellow technologists, which can help your career immensely; and a solid grasp of job-interviewing techniques that will allow you to prove to hiring managers and recruiters that you’re the unique talent they need in order to get things done. Like learning a programming language, these are all things that anyone can master with enough practice.