The experience you’ve spent years or decades building could give you a valuable foundation for a new career. And as technology becomes part of how organisations operate across almost every industry, there are more ways to make the move – from transferring your expertise to a more technical role to pivoting into a completely new industry.
Here are five reasons why a transition into tech could be your smartest career move yet.
1. Your existing skills and experience can be an advantage
A career in technology might be new territory, but as a working professional, you’re not starting from zero.
At their core, many tech-focused roles are about problem-solving and communicating complex ideas in ways that others can easily understand. Throw in skills like project management, stakeholder management, critical thinking, teamwork and adapting to change, and you’ve already got a solid foundation – the technical skills are something you can build on top. That combination of professional experience and new technical expertise could give you a different perspective on the problems you’re solving.
And your existing skills aren’t becoming less relevant as technology advances. Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) reports that Generative AI is increasing demand for both digital literacy and ‘higher-order, human-centric skills’ across industries.
So instead of thinking about a move into tech as leaving your experience behind, think about the technical capabilities you could add to what you already bring to the table.
2. There’s more than one way to make a move into tech
Moving into technology doesn’t have to mean handing in your resignation tomorrow and starting again in an entirely new industry. For some, it could look like a career change, but for others, it might mean moving into a more technical role within their current workplace or combining existing industry knowledge with new technical skills.
According to the stats, Aussies are already trying out both routes. Research from the Australian Computer Society (ACS) found that among workers who had reskilled during their careers, 21 per cent transitioned from a non-tech role into technology within the same organisation, while 53 per cent made the transition at a different organisation.
How you build the skills to make that move can look different, too. At SAE, you can start with a Diploma of Information Technology and continue into an associate or bachelor degree, building your qualifications through recognised milestones along the way. Or, if you already hold a relevant bachelors degree and want to advance your expertise, a postgrad course like our Master of Information Technology offers another pathway.
3. There are career opportunities beyond the tech sector
When you picture a career in technology, you might think it means abandoning your current role to become a developer at a software company, or that you need to know how to code or be particularly ‘techy’ to make the transition.
But moving into tech doesn’t have to mean either. Technical roles span a wide range of industries and capabilities, giving you opportunities to build new skills while drawing on the experience you already have.
In 2025, ACS found that technology employment outside the tech sector grew by 2.1 per cent, including growth across industries like construction, mining, and healthcare, to name just a few.
This creates an interesting opportunity for experienced professionals looking for a career change. If you already know an industry inside out, building skills in areas like web or software development, cloud computing, AI or enterprise systems could open up new ways to apply your industry knowledge.
In other words, moving into tech doesn’t necessarily mean walking away from everything you know. Lean into your existing industry experience and it could become one of your biggest assets in a technology role.
4. The workforce is growing (and changing)
Australia’s tech workforce has added around 200,000 workers since 2021, reaching approximately 977,000 by November 2025. It’s also been forecast that we’ll need an additional 259,000 workers by 2035, with the sector expected to grow at almost twice the rate of our overall workforce.
Of course, it’s hard to talk about the future of technology careers without mentioning AI. With new tools and systems already changing the way a lot of us work, you might be wondering what that means for the roles and skills that’ll be needed in years to come.
Reassuringly, JSA found that Gen AI currently has greater potential to augment work than completely automate it, particularly in medium and higher-skilled occupations. Among early adopters, JSA found that roles are evolving and workers are upskilling, rather than experiencing widespread job displacement (cue sigh of relief!).
While the key takeaway here isn’t that every tech job is guaranteed to grow, changing technology is creating new opportunities for people who are ready to keep building their skills and adapt alongside it. And there’s no reason you can’t be one of them.
5. Technical skills can be learned
So, what about the technical skills you don’t have yet? That’s a gap you can fill. Depending on the role you want to pursue, further study can help you build new technical capabilities or formalise the ones you’ve already picked up throughout your career. And while there are different pathways into the industry, formal qualifications continue to play an important role, with around 74 per cent of technology job ads from the past five years requiring a degree.
As technology continues to change, an IT degree becomes more than just a line on your resumé. Formal qualifications like SAE’s Bachelor of Information Technology can help you build domain expertise, critical thinking and the ability to learn and adapt – capabilities that JSA expects to remain valuable in a Gen AI-enabled labour market.
At SAE, that means getting hands-on with web and software development, AI, cloud computing and enterprise systems. You’ll also study alongside students across disciplines including games, film, animation, design and audio, giving you opportunities to approach technical problems from creative perspectives.
And you won’t just study theory. You’ll apply your skills through projects that reflect the way the industry works, collaborate across disciplines, complete 80 hours of industry work placement, and build a portfolio that demonstrates what you can do.
When it comes time to make your next move, you won’t be relying on your previous experience or a new qualification alone. You’ll be able to show what you can do when you put the two together.
Build on what you already know
A move into technology doesn’t have to erase the career that came before it. The problems you’ve solved, projects you’ve delivered, teams you’ve worked with and industries you know can all form part of what you bring to your next role.
Ready to see where your experience could take you? Explore SAE’s Bachelor of Information Technology and start building the technical skills for your next career move. Or, for personalised career and study advice, book a call with our Course Advisors today.
