Business Jobs in Big Tech
What jobs are available in big tech that don’t involve coding?
Big Tech Business Roles
When you think of Big Tech careers you probably picture software engineers, and whilst they’re great at creating a product, there is still a whole other side to Big Tech, notably the business side.
This involves salespeople, the financial analysts, the marketers etc., who play a fundamental role in monetizing and growing a successful tech company. For example, if you look at Google’s career site, alongside engineering and tech roles, there’s also many non-technical jobs in areas such as business strategy, sales, or finance.
Recently there has been a huge boost in business students trying to get into Big Tech. This isn’t exactly surprising, when you look at the biggest companies in the world by market value, 4 out of the top 5 are tech companies, and that momentum only seems to continue growing.
Video Breakdown: 5 Business Jobs in Tech Explained
Big Tech Benefits
Unlike the conventional prestigious paths for business students, like management consulting or investment banking, there are a handful of benefits to working for a large tech company.
- Favorable hours. Big Tech offers a more favorable work/life balance, averaging 50 to 60 hours work per week.
- Better hourly pay. As for pay, on an absolute level, management consulting or investment banking will still pay more, but if you break it down on a relative basis, your hourly rate in Big Tech is likely better.
- Other perks. There are also other perks which tech companies usually offer such as cool offices, no dress codes and free food.
Career Options
If you have a business, finance, economics, or marketing major, hopefully this article will help you explore some of the different career options in Big Tech and learn more about what the first couple years of the career are like. The top 5 jobs covered are:
- Account management
- Product marketing
- Business strategy
- Sales
- Finance
#1 Account Management
Account management roles are usually in the form of an account manager or an account executive. This role oversees the day-to-day management of customer accounts. Typically, you’re given a portfolio of customers grouped by region, product type, or size.
Example Task:
If you’re an account manager at Google in France, you could be in charge of helping customers that want to advertise on Google’s search engine in French so that they rank higher on the search results page. These “customers” are usually businesses and not individuals. In your role you would meet with the customer and give them some recommendations, make sure they’re satisfied, and provide support when they need it.
Overall, it’s quite a generalist role, as it varies depending on the client’s needs.
Potential Tasks:
- Explain a product or service
- Pitch a new feature
- Resolve general product issues
Overall, different scenarios could make you a salesperson, a tech specialist, or customer service. If you like interacting with people and feel comfortable learning on the job, constantly reacting to new situations, this could be a good option for you.
Skills:
For this kind of role, communication is probably the most important skill, as you spend a large portion of your day talking to customers. It’s also helpful to be good at negotiation and be highly organized as you often have multiple tasks going on at the same time.
#2 Product Marketing
Marketing is a role that requires creativity and an interest in business, but often people think of it as a good option if you’re not so strong with numbers. However, this is not necessarily the case. In marketing roles, especially those in tech companies, there’s still a lot of analytical work.
In short, product marketing is about the process of bringing a product to market and creating demand for it. That includes shaping the voice of the product (i.e., the message you want it to deliver), ensuring salespeople and customers understand it, and eventually driving the demand and usage of the product.
Potential Tasks:
- Conduct market research. This will help the company identify target markets, competition, pricing, etc.
- Craft a product message. Marketers will try to put together a simple and effective explanation of what the product does and what problem it solves.
- Measure marketing campaign success. This will likely involve tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) like user count, customer satisfaction, or conversion rates.
Skills:
For this kind of a role, collaboration is a key skill, as you’re constantly talking with the sales, engineering and product teams. It can also help to have a management consulting background, where you can identify problems, measure them, and find solutions. Finally, you’ll need to be good at writing and storytelling in order to persuade customers to use your product.
Typically, to get a marketing job in Big Tech a couple of years of experience in fields such as consulting or marketing, is required.
#3 Business Strategy
Business Strategy is quite a vague job title that comprises a consulting-type role. In this career, you have a very generalist view, where you will give recommendations to teams around you like the marketing, finance, or engineering team.
Among the positives is that you can work on diverse projects across the company, gain exposure to senior leaders, and can potentially have a big impact on the company’s future. The downside is that you’re not usually in charge of executing the strategy, and you don’t tend to develop the specialized knowledge of a field.
However, if you’re unsure of what exactly you like, this could be an interesting role as it leaves most doors open, and you get exposure to many different departments.
Potential Tasks:
- Product monetization strategy
- Analyzing new market penetration
- Presenting insights to the senior management team
Skills:
Business strategists should be able to produce and give effective presentations. It is also necessary to be able to back your insights with data. This will help the company make informed, strategic decisions aimed to pick the right track for the company.
#4 Sales
Sales is a hugely important part of any business. A company could have the best product in the world, but if it does not sell, it will go bankrupt sooner or later. Overall, if you’re a good salesperson, it’s a hugely valuable job, regardless of the industry. Every sector from supermarkets who sell food, hotels which sell rooms, and tech companies which sell products or services, require people to sell.
In tech, as with most industries, there’s a commission for each sale, and that’s where salespeople tend to earn the big bucks. Some of today’s billionaires, like Mark Cuban, are known to have started as tech salespeople and have been very vocal about how useful being a good salesperson is. Mark Cuban even wrote a really engaging book covering the topic, called “How to Win at the Sport of Business”.
Potential Tasks:
- Discovering client needs and offering helpful solutions
- Packing product or service offerings
- Creating promotions for consumers
- Answering general product or service questions
Skills:
Soft skills are important for this job. Strong sales people are confident, trustworthy, and have effective communication skills.
#5 Finance
Within finance there’s a wide range of roles from accounting to compliance, to being an analyst. In this section, we will look more specifically at the role of a financial analyst, which usually sits within the financial planning and analyst team (FP&A for short).
Financial analysts are responsible for analyzing financial statements and predicting the future performance of the company.
Usually, when people look at finance roles, they are split between working at an investment bank or in a finance team within Big Tech.
Notable Big Tech Comparisons
- Higher hourly pay. Investment banks pay slightly more but analysts there work much longer hours.
- Other Big Tech Perks. This includes cool offices, free food, no dress code, etc.
Potential Tasks:
- Forecasting business scenarios. Some examples include potential extended COVID lockdowns, significant political events, etc.
- Tracking performance metrics. This includes figures like revenue targets, cost ratios, and key performance indicators.
- Allocating budgets and approving spend requests. This covers making decisions on how much money should be allocated to different departments and how the business can maximize output within a limited budget.
It is true that this role can sometimes be quite repetitive in that you have similar tasks to perform every quarter. Potentially repetitive tasks include preparing the quarterly report, approving annual budgets, etc.
Skills:
Key skills include being knowledgeable and comfortable with spreadsheets and Excel, which will be your best-friend for this role. Financial analysts should also have a strong fundamental understanding of finance and accounting concepts.
Additional Resources
If you want to further develop your skills to be a stronger big tech job candidate, take a look at our Excel for Business & Finance Course, our PowerPoint for Business & Finance Course, and more using the get started button below.
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