Emily Porta trained as a librarian, but even with a masters degree in Library and Information Science, she could find only contract positions.
With not many openings in the field, the 26-year-old from Niagara Falls realized she had to retrain.
It was a learning curve, but Porta contends that “pretty much anyone” who likes technology, can work hard and get a new career in tech like she did.
Whether it’s front-end or back-end development, design, big data, computer security or mobile application development, in Toronto, there are myriad courses to choose from, and those who run them are seeing numbers rise all the time.
Anne-Marie Brinsmead, faculty of science program director at the G. Raymond Chang School at Ryerson, says, unlike undergrad courses, which can take years to update, her department works immensely hard at staying on top of ever-changing technology.
“In April, we updated for the fall. We were feeling great and thought we were way ahead,” she said.
“Then in June, Apple came out with a new operating system … Java went to the cloud, Adobe went to the cloud, so we had to revamp our revamp.”
Brinsmead says one of the hottest skill upgrades people are seeking is in cloud technology.
“It’s a revolution,” says Brinsmead. “I’ve been in continuing education for 31 years and I have never seen anything like it.”
Also popular are skills in data analytics and computer security.
“We have tens of thousands of jobs going unfilled in Ontario right now in the extraction and analysis of data. It’s not that difficult, right now there are three of four applications that have become the industry standard. We thought we’d get 40 students but we have 290 for the current courses.”
Languages and coding techniques like Python, Ruby, HTML, Javascript and jQuery and CSS are hugely popular, but for some courses, not imperative, Brinsmead says.
“For some of these newer courses, you don’t often need computer coding languages. It’s being made much more accessible. If you are very savvy with computers and are willing to work hard and train you can succeed.”
The type of people signing up varies.
“A lot of those we are seeing are already in IT, but they can’t move up and are stuck,” because they don’t have the latest skills.
“Also we are seeing undergrads who did very well, but can’t get jobs because they don’t know the new technology.”
For Emily Porta, the reboot in skills was about climbing the career ladder, but she remains hopeful she can get back to her roots.
“I really enjoy the fact that I’ll always have something new to learn and get better at,” she says.
“You can find positions in all kinds of places — freelance, small companies, large agencies and everything in between,” says Porta. “And once you’ve been doing it for a few years, you can get a job pretty much anywhere in the world.”
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