{"id":1152,"date":"2026-10-09T12:28:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T12:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/?p=1152"},"modified":"2026-10-14T08:51:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T08:51:21","slug":"career-change-advice-how-to-change-your-career-to-it-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/career-guide\/career-change-advice-how-to-change-your-career-to-it-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Career Change Advice: How to Change Your Career to IT & AI"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[10,17],"class_list":["post-1152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-guide","tag-career-advice","tag-changing-career"],"meta_box":{"cg_hero_badge":"Switch Career to IT","cg_heading":"Career Change Advice: How to Change Your Career to IT & AI","cg_subheading":"Good career change advice is surprisingly hard to find. Search online and you'll get a mix of motivational quotes, vague \"follow your passion\" platitudes, and listicles that tell you what to do without ever explaining how. What most people actually need is more practical: a clear-eyed look at what works, what trips people up, and a plan they can actually follow.\r\nThis guide pulls together the advice we give as a matter of routine, based on what consistently helps people move into IT and AI, and what tends to hold them back. It's written for anyone somewhere between \"I think I want a career in tech\" and \"I've started applying but I'm not sure I'm doing this right\", which, in our experience, covers most people at the start of a career change.","cg_featured_image":false,"cg_author_designation":"Digital Content Manager","cg_author_bio":"","cg_s1_heading":"Why Do Most People Change Career Without Support?","cg_s1_intro":"Most career changers make the move with little or no outside input, and it shows in the quality of their decisions.","cg_s1_subheading":"Career decisions are often made without expert guidance","cg_s1_para1":"Good career change advice is surprisingly hard to find. Online, you get a mix of motivational quotes, vague \"follow your passion\" platitudes and listicles that say what to do without explaining how. What most people need is a clear-eyed look at what works, what trips people up, and a plan they can follow into a field like IT or AI.","cg_s1_para2":"Nearly half of would-be career changers use no external support at all. Among those who do ask for input, friends and family are consulted far more often than anyone with professional career expertise. That is not necessarily a mistake, because people close to you know you well. But it means many decisions are made without structured guidance, up-to-date market information or an honest outside perspective. Awareness is part of the problem too. Over half of workers aged 45\u201354 say they don't know what careers advice services exist, even though relatively few in that age group have used any. That gap is where practical advice earns its keep.","cg_s2_heading":"What Skills Do You Already Have for a Career Change to IT?","cg_s2_para":"Start with a skills audit, not a job title. Most people begin by browsing IT job titles, which is backwards. List what you are actually good at first, then look at which tech and AI roles value that combination.","cg_s2_sublabel":"Useful experience can come from things like:","cg_s2_list_1":"Writing clear notes, reports or handover documents","cg_s2_list_2":"Working with customers, suppliers or internal teams","cg_s2_list_3":"Improving a process at work, even in a small way","cg_s2_list_4":"Handling spreadsheets, records or basic data","cg_s2_list_5":"Coordinating tasks, deadlines or small projects","cg_s2_list_6":"Solving technical problems for colleagues or family","cg_s2_list_7":"Spotting repeated problems and suggesting better ways to handle them","cg_s2_list_8":"Training or supporting other people to use a system","cg_s2_list_9":"Managing people, rotas or budgets","cg_s2_list_10":"Completing online courses, labs or personal tech projects","cg_s2_note":"A career change into IT doesn't mean starting from scratch. The key is to connect what you already do to the work a tech or AI role actually involves.","cg_banner1_badge":"MARKET INTELLIGENCE","cg_banner1_heading":"Fact: Most Career Changers Still Go Without Professional Input","cg_banner1_text":"47% of would-be UK career changers have drawn on no support at all, and 49% say their biggest obstacle is working out what else they want to do (Career Shifters, State of Career Change Report 2026, 11,567 respondents). For a move into a specialist field like IT or AI, an outside view helps you choose a direction using current market information.","cg_banner1_stat_number":"47%","cg_banner1_stat_label":"Receive No Support","cg_s4_heading":"Skills You Need","cg_s4_intro":"To get hired in IT or AI, you need a mix of communication, problem-solving, process thinking, basic technical confidence and curiosity. Remember, you do not need to be perfect at everything before you apply.","cg_s4_card1_heading":"Core transferable skills","cg_s4_card1_subtext":"A lot of success in tech comes back to clear thinking and communication:","cg_s4_card1_item_1":"Problem-solving","cg_s4_card1_item_2":"Written Communication","cg_s4_card1_item_3":"Verbal Communication","cg_s4_card1_item_4":"Stakeholder and Customer Service","cg_s4_card1_item_5":"Project Delivery","cg_s4_card1_item_6":"Attention to Detail","cg_s4_card1_item_7":"Teamwork and People Management","cg_s4_card1_item_8":"Willingness to Keep Learning","cg_s4_card2_heading":"Useful Technical Skills","cg_s4_card2_subtext":"You do not need to be a developer, but basic confidence helps:","cg_s4_card2_item_1":"Networking basics: IP addressing, DNS, routers and switches","cg_s4_card2_item_2":"Operating systems: Windows, Linux and command-line basics","cg_s4_card2_item_3":"Cloud fundamentals: AWS, Azure or Google Cloud","cg_s4_card2_item_4":"Security awareness: access control, firewalls, common threats","cg_s4_card2_item_5":"Data skills: Excel, SQL basics, dashboards","cg_s4_card2_item_6":"Python or scripting basics for automation","cg_s4_card2_item_7":"AI literacy: how machine learning and generative AI tools are used at work","cg_s4_note":"I would not advise waiting until you know every tool before applying. That can become another way of delaying yourself. A better aim is to build enough practical proof that you can learn quickly, work with real problems and explain your thinking clearly.","cg_s3_heading":"Build a Stronger Starting Point With Training and Certification","cg_s3_para1":"

Some retraining is almost always part of a move into IT or AI, whether that is a certification, a structured course or a formal qualification. A recognised certification shows employers that you have started learning the discipline properly. It gives your learning structure, helps you understand the language employers use, and gives you something credible to add to your CV and LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n","cg_s3_para2":"

Choose training with a clear route to employment, such as recognised certifications, practical projects and career support, rather than content volume. Career changers who pursue targeted, focused training tend to move into their new field considerably faster than those relying on networking alone. Budget for the whole transition, not just the course fee, so a short-term dip in earnings or the time needed to build a portfolio doesn't force you to stop halfway.<\/p>\n","cg_s3_quote":"Certification plus project work is the strongest starting point. You have learned the theory, practised the methods, and can talk about what you have built.\r\n","cg_s5_heading":"Apply for the Right Entry Routes Into IT and AI","cg_s5_para":"

There is no single entry-level job into tech. Look for roles where your existing experience counts and where you build technical experience through support work, documentation and project exposure. Rewrite your CV and LinkedIn around your destination, not your history: lead with a summary that states your target direction, group experience around transferable skills, and put new training and projects near the top. Don't wait until you feel fully ready, because confidence tends to follow action. Entry points in growth sectors are often built with career changers in mind.<\/p>\n","cg_s5_sublabel":"Job titles to consider include:","cg_s5_job_title_1":"IT Support Engineer","cg_s5_job_title_2":"Service Desk Analyst","cg_s5_job_title_3":"Junior Cloud Engineer","cg_s5_job_title_4":"Junior Cyber Security Analyst","cg_s5_job_title_5":"Network Support Engineer","cg_s5_job_title_6":"Junior Data Analyst","cg_s5_job_title_7":"Business Analyst","cg_s5_job_title_8":"AI Operations Assistant","cg_s5_job_title_9":"Project Support Officer","cg_banner2_badge":"MARKET INTELLIGENCE","cg_banner2_heading":"Fact: A Career Change to IT or AI Always Pays Off","cg_banner2_text":"Tech is one of the UK's best-paid fields. CompTIA's State of the Tech Workforce UK 2026 report puts the median salary across covered tech occupations at \u00a352,840, which is 53% higher than the median wage across all UK occupations. UK tech employment reached 2,148,205 workers in 2025, with 539,857 active job postings for tech occupations.","cg_banner2_stat_number":"\u00a352,840","cg_banner2_stat_label":"Median UK Tech Salary","cg_s6_heading":"Talk About Your Career Change With Confidence in Interviews","cg_s6_para":"

Interviewers know you are changing career, so tell the story on purpose: why you are moving, what you have already done to prepare, and how your past experience applies. Use short, specific examples from your current work and your training projects rather than general claims.<\/p>\n","cg_s6_star_heading":"The STAR method can help you structure your answer:","cg_s6_star_situation":"What was happening?","cg_s6_star_task":"What did you need to figure out?","cg_s6_star_action":"What did you do?","cg_s6_star_result":"What changed or what did you learn?","cg_s6_note":"Interviewers do not expect career changers to know everything. They want to see how you think, how you handle uncertainty and how clearly you can explain your decisions.","cg_faq_badge":"Got Questions?","cg_faq_heading":"How to Change Your Career to IT & AI FAQs","cg_faq_subtext":"Clear answers to the most common questions from people planning a move into tech or AI.","cg_faq_question_1":"Is career change advice from a professional worth it if I already have a plan?","cg_faq_answer_1":"Often, yes. Not to replace your plan, but to pressure-test it. A short conversation can catch gaps around training routes, timelines or realistic entry points that are easy to miss from the inside.","cg_faq_question_2":"What's the single most useful piece of advice for changing career to IT?","cg_faq_answer_2":"Do a proper skills audit before choosing a destination. It reframes the process from \"starting over\" to \"applying what you already know, differently.\"","cg_faq_question_3":"Should I quit my job before or after training?","cg_faq_answer_3":"For most people, training alongside a current role is lower risk than resigning first, even if it takes longer. It preserves income and reduces pressure during the transition.","cg_faq_question_4":"How many people should I speak to when networking?","cg_faq_answer_4":"Aim for 10\u201315 people already working in your target field. Short, low-pressure conversations about how they got there and what the role is like day to day are more useful than broad outreach.\r\n","cg_faq_question_5":"Should I wait until I feel ready before applying?","cg_faq_answer_5":"No. Confidence tends to arrive after action, not before it. Apply once you are reasonably prepared, with training and projects to 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