The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Junior Developer / Associate Engineer
1-2 yearsSkills to master
- Solid coding fundamentals, basic SQL, understanding of software development lifecycle, ability to follow technical instructions and debug simple issues.
You're ready to move on when
- Consistently delivers bug fixes and small features on time.
- Can independently debug issues within a single system.
- Actively seeks out learning opportunities and asks good questions.
- Has contributed to team documentation.
- 2
Technical Support Specialist (L2/L3)
2-3 yearsSkills to master
- Advanced troubleshooting, deep understanding of a specific product or system, strong communication skills for explaining technical issues, experience with incident management.
You're ready to move on when
- Resolves complex customer issues without escalation.
- Can identify patterns in support tickets that indicate systemic problems.
- Has written internal knowledge base articles or runbooks.
- Proactively identifies opportunities for automation in support processes.
- 3
Data Analyst / Data Operations Specialist
2-4 yearsSkills to master
- Advanced SQL, data modelling, understanding of data pipelines, experience with reporting and data visualisation, ability to identify data quality issues.
You're ready to move on when
- Can build complex data queries and reports independently.
- Has identified and resolved data discrepancies across systems.
- Understands the business meaning behind key data points.
- Has used data to inform operational decisions.