NOTE: This is a work in progress.

What's the Big Idea? Why do we do what we do?

There are so many reasons!

First, there's always been a Gold Rush! By "Gold Rush," we mean an industry that drives the economy, so you can gain wealth in that industry. First, Gold was, well, Gold. Then they called Cotton the White Gold. And Oil was called Black Gold. Manufacturing was key in the Industrial Age (not to mention Steel and Railroads). Later, the Automotive industry thrived, and Electronics was #1 in the 1980s. Well, now we live in the Information Age, where Technology is the new Gold Rush! Like those other examples of "gold rushes", this Technology industry provides more money than the other industries (on average, most consistently, when you work for the large technology companies). Read more about how much money you could make below, at Make $100,000 a Year.

Second, you can change the world! If you learn how to code and how to lead other coders, you could create apps and technologies that prevent starvation and help people succeed who might be underprivileged in some way.

Third, you can combine both ideas and change the world with money! If you're making a lot of money, you can give it to those who need it, or those who might die without it. You can also use your wealth to help other people learn how to make their own money.

Make $100,000 a Year

What does that mean? It means with a proper education, you could get a STARTING job, in an engineering role (Dev, PM, UX Design, UR... we'll explain these later) for a large technology company (we call it a Big Tech Company), at $100,000 a year (about $50 an hour), with the best insurance and benefits you'll find (on average), and the best vacation hours (and sometimes work hours). It's the best of every possibility! (Some companies even offer their employees free food!)

Keep in mind, that's just the starting salary. It can go up from there!

So? Does money matter that much? No, not for a lot of people. If you already have some money, you might not need more money (life might already be comfortable). But some people are living very hard lives, and this kind of money could change their lives forever, as well as the lives of everyone around them!

So What Are Those Engineering Roles?

Here are the roles that benefit the most from the Technology Gold Rush...

1. Developers - These are computer programmers. You write code. You should learn Python (of course), but you should also learn Java and C#. Beyond that, you can pick up some other languages as well. You should also learn several IDEs (the apps you code in, like Visual Studio Code and Replit). The more you know, the more opportunities you'll have.

2. Program Managers - You could get a CS degree (or even a Business Degree, although you might have to fight harder for the first job) and then not code for your job! You put together the plan and schedule, lead people to get things done, and you do everything in your power to make the technology great (and ship it). You can learn coding, only to get the job and never code again! But, it's still valuable. What you learned shapes who you are, your decisions, and your understanding of what your teammates are doing. This role is also called Technical Product Managers.

3. UX Designers - Let's not say the word "STEM" again. Instead, let's use "STEAM!" Art gets an equal seat at the compensation table (with User Experience Designers), as you design how the software/hardware is going to work (what the interactions are going to be like), and you lead efforts to get those art assets implemented! For this role, you'll want to look for education that specializes in Interaction Design (especially around technology).

4. User Researchers - This is a smaller group, but User Researchers are very important to the technology industry! Have you wanted to research stuff for a living? User Researchers research customer interactions and behaviors, funneling the feedback into the product.

Then there are several roles that are in technology, that help support the product that the people above are making: Technical Writers (do you love to write?), Data Scientists/Analysts, Operations/IT Management (fixing stuff and ironing out processes), and Technical Field/Sales/Solution Architects (helping customers implement the technologies). Sometimes people start in these roles and move into doing almost the same thing for Engineering teams.

But What If I Don't Want to Work in Technology?

Well, it would still be valuable to learn computer science (and Python, via our book). Because chances are your ideal job might exist for a technology company. For example, Marketing Managers, Finance Managers/Analysts/Accountants, Business Managers, HR Managers, Corporate Lawyers, and even Business Administrators/Secretaries can make over three times more (plus the added benefits), working for a Big Technology Company. (I've even see custodial businesses seek out contracts with big tech companies because they pay better.) By taking computer science classes and learning technologies, you set yourself to get internships doing a non-technical discipline at the technology companies, doing startups or class assignments for technology-related projects, and you basically build out your experience and knowledge in your discipline of choice, but for the technology industry!

But what if you want to be a sous chef, veterinarian, or stay at home to raise a family? True, a technology education can't help you there. But having a technical background is a great safety net, in case you want to join the Technology industry later on. You never know what life's going to throw your way!

Next Steps

Before we go, we want to make it clear that we have provided details about careers and money, but it's not always about the money. You gain a lot of great skills that let you empower people and help people all around the world!

We hope you took all that to heart, and you're ready to learn (or to continue learning)! Let's get back to the book! And you should probably also check out the rest of our resources, at IncrediCoders: Python Adventures - All Online Resources.

[TBD]

• Education Resources
• Coda Kids Academy
• Career Strategy & Development