Tech roles that will make you travel far

Sumita Tulsiani

The Travel and Tourism industry is growing rapidly and has been highly influenced by technology. Technology, coupled with the growth of tourism globally, has had a major impact on work profiles. Ever since technology has embedded itself in the tourism industry, we have seen a dramatic shift with even the technology-skilled wanting to make a career in this industry.

What is travel technology?

Travel technology (also known as tourism technology, and hospitality automation) is the application of Information Technology (IT) or Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the field of travel, tourism and hospitality. Some forms of the technology are flight tracking, trip planning through online travel agencies, and the use of search engines and social media to plan trips.

Getting in

For those just starting to consider a technology career, it is important to decide what type of tech skills you want to focus on. Whether you think you would like to be a programmer, a systems analyst, a designer, an engineer or a security analyst, do a little research. Every job will have some less desirable aspects to it, but knowing what type of work you enjoy will make the learning curve worthwhile. If you really believe your personality is well suited to the job you want, take the next step and go for a traditional college degree or find a lot of 'do it yourself' materials online. Let’s take a look at a few major skills and roles available in this field:

Roles

Software Developer: A developer is an individual that builds and creates software and applications. He or she writes, debugs and executes the source code of a software application. A developer is also known as a software developer, computer programmer, programmer, software coder or a software engineer. A fresher can earn an average of Rs3-3.5 lakh and a mid-career software developer can earn an average of Rs6-7 lakh.

Web Designer: A web designer is someone who prepares content for the web. This role is mainly related to the styling and layout of pages with content, including text and images. Web designers use many technologies, but commonly rely on hypertext and hypermedia resources including HTML, CSS and additional web designing tools. A fresher can earn an average of Rs2-2.5 lakh and a mid-career designer can earn an average Rs5-6 lakh.

Technical Programme Manager (TPM): They lead hardware and software design teams to implement new programmes that will create products, applications and other projects to benefit the company. A mid-career TPM earns an average total compensation of Rs17 lakh.

Data Scientists: Data scientists are big data wranglers, gathering and analysing large sets of structured and unstructured data. A data scientist's role combines computer science, statistics and mathematics. They make a lot of use of the latest technologies in finding solutions and reaching conclusions that are crucial for an organisation's growth and development. The average salary of a data scientists is around Rs6-7 lakh.

If you have the above skill sets and backing of relevant traditional or online degrees, then the doors for travel technology are open for you to start your career in any of the above mentioned roles.

The writer is Co-Founder & Director, TravelDilSe.com

Skills

Coding and Programming: Even if the job you're applying for is not for a 'coder' or 'programmer', most employers will look carefully at an applicant with some coding experience. Being able to code and to understand multiple programming languages, will make you a strong candidate in many jobs.

Analytical Skills: Employers look for employees with the ability to investigate a problem and find the ideal solution in a timely and efficient manner. Analytical skills refer to the ability to collect and analyse information, problem-solve and make decisions. These strengths can help solve a company's problems and improve upon its overall productivity and success.

Project Management: This might seem to be more of a soft skill than a hard skill, but project management is critical for all technical projects. Being a good project manager means being an effective leader, delegating tasks and measuring the success of each project.

Technical Writing: Many jobs that involve written communication require you to explain complex things in a way that is easy to understand. You might have to send messages to clients or manufacturers, or write press releases, web content, or manuals for clients. Being able to communicate complex ideas in a clear way will make you stand out in many jobs.

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