Lately, quite a few people from my network reached out to seek my advice on getting a job in tech, given my close to 5 years at HubSpot and now almost 2 at Cisco and the fact that I started my career in a very different area - PR. 

Tech and IT are hot industries right now especially with the whole Coronavirus situation that's pushing us to 100% work remotely. 

You don't have to be an engineer to work in tech. In fact, tech companies are hiring for different types of talent. They seek people in Customer Success, Sales, Operations, Marketing and many more. Just like any other company, tech companies have different functions that ensure the business can run daily. It's not just about the engineers who make the product. It's also about those who market it, sell it and then ensure that customers use it plus all of the behind the scenes teams such as finance, HR and so on. 

So if you want to transition into tech but are not an engineer, this post is for you. (Even if you're an engineer, this post will provide some useful tips.)

3 Tips How to Get a Job in Tech [For Non-Tech People]

I returned from maternity leave about two weeks ago and stepped into a new role as a Program Manager in the Chief of Staff office for CX EMEAR at Cisco. 

It's an exciting move for me and so far it's been super interesting. Lots to do, lots of new people to work with, lots of opportunities to make an impact. 

Since I started my career, I've held about 10 different positions and switched four industries - I began in PR, moved into Marketing, then Customer Success, then Project and Program Management. I've worked in agencies, SaaS and IT companies. 

So it's safe to say that I've had experience switching roles and industries.

At this stage, I think I've figured out how to make it work so I want to share with you some tips on how you can approach stepping into a new role. 

Top 7 Tips for Stepping Into a New Role

I've always believed that you don't need to work harder or longer to achieve more. You simply need to work smarter. 

But that doesn't often come naturally or easily, especially if you are inexperienced and junior or still new to a role where you want to prove yourself.  

Over the years, I've managed to build some habits that allow me to work smarter and fewer hours and simultaneously to achieve more with better results and higher quality. 

Work less but achieve more? That sounds a bit impossible, right? 

But it's not. It's all a matter of knowing yourself and your strengths and then utilising them to the maximum when you're most productive so you do a certain task in the fastest manner possible at the right time. 

What's helped me are certain habits that I want to share with you today which you can try and see if they'll make you more productive to achieve more but in less time. 

How to Achieve More in Less Time - My 3 Key Tips

Over the years, I've often been asked how I learn not just to do a job very quickly but to excel at it very quickly.  

I don't think I have some kind of a magic solution to this but I've come to realise that there are a few things that can make you not just good, but great at any job fast. 

Of course, it all comes down to finding something that you actually like. If you don't enjoy the job that you're doing, you're never going to excel at it. 

I've changed roles and industries on quite a few times and done that laterally but it's always been driven by my passions and desire to learn and grow personally. This has allowed me to get into the job quickly and master it quickly. 

So what are the things that you need to do to excel at any job? 

I've broken them down into four. 

How to Quickly Excel at Any Job: My 4 Secrets

Christmas is two days away and it's that time of the year when we tend to reflect on the past 12 months and think about the new year ahead. 

I'm currently in Peru, away from my normal day-to-day and off work which gives me the space to think about what I want to achieve and focus on in 2020. 

For every new year, I set goals. 

To give you some examples, my goal for 2018 was to publish my first book. My goal for 2019 was to find a new home.

I've achieved both of these. 

Success, to me, is a matter of goal-setting and planning of how you'll achieve those goals. 

But also on being realistic about what you can do and can't do - as you can see, I only set one key goal for the year. Do I want to do a million other things? Of course, but I prefer to stay focused on the one big thing that will make the biggest difference in my life. 

I recently watched a 10-minute TED talk which clearly explains why setting the right goals is the secret to success for companies. 

It's also about setting the right goals for the right reasons. 

But to do this, you must first answer the question why then the what and then the how.