This is the second of three posts in our Career Changers’ series.
If you haven’t read the first one, please click here to find it. Then, return for Aaliyah’s story.
Aaliyah, 33, is a mum of three who has spent the last six years at home raising her children. She runs a cake baking business on the side. Before that, she worked in retail. Now that her youngest is in school, she is ready to return to work — but this time, she wants something different.
Aaliyah is looking for flexible hours, hybrid working, and long-term growth. After watching a TV programme on future-proofing your career, she began thinking about jobs in tech. But doubts crept in — she doesn’t have a degree and she has been out of paid work for years.
Using the Skills Mapping Tool in the How to Get Into Tech guide, Aaliyah explored the skills she has built over time — from retail, parenting, and even her side hustle.
Skills from her retail job:
- Customer service and communication
- Product knowledge and attention to detail
- Teamwork and routine
Skills from motherhood:
- Time management and multitasking
- Budgeting and organisation
- Volunteering on school trips
Skills from her cake business:
- Creativity and baking for different needs
- Taking orders and marketing on WhatsApp and social media
- Customer care and meeting deadlines
These match tech job needs such as:
- Clear communication and scheduling
- Customer support and remote teamwork
- Content creation and basic digital marketing
- Organisation and digital admin
Aaliyah now sees new possibilities, including roles such as:
- Virtual assistant or admin support
- Social media assistant for small businesses
- Remote customer service roles
- Junior project coordinator
- E-commerce or content support roles
She doesn’t need a degree to begin — many of these roles value real-life experience, problem-solving, and a willingness to learn. Short online courses can help her build extra confidence and skills.
Are you feeling unsure like Aaliyah was?
Your life experience matters. You have been developing transferable skills every day — now it is time to use them.
Click here to download your copy of the free How to Get Into Tech guide and start mapping your skills to new possibilities.
I need to have another look at my CV again then. Interesting 🙂
Great that Aaliyah’s story is inspiring you to review your CV, Kenu. There is practical help and downloadable tools for this in How to Get Into Tech, our free guide. Check it out and share it to help others here! https://tekshaqq.com/get-into-tech-guide/
Aaliyah’s story is so relatable and encouraging! It’s incredible how her experiences in retail, parenting, and running her own business translate into valuable skills for tech roles. This really shows that you don’t always need a degree to make a meaningful career change — real-life experience counts for so much. Thanks for highlighting how to map these skills and build confidence to take the next step!
Thank you, Emamode. We often take for granted the skills we develop in life, not seeing how they can be valuable in the workplace. By taking stock of our skills from every area of our lives, we give them the regard they deserve. Then, once we regard them, we can see their value and how they could transfer to the workplace. Valuing or rightly esteeming what we have is an important first step.