Codeweavers

27/06/25

People

Pathways Into Tech

It’s not all about being able to code, there are many other roles within the Tech industry – Nikita Morgan, Senior Product Owner

A quote directly from our 2025 Women In Tech series, which resonates loudly throughout our business and the wider Technology Industry. A career in tech is about building on existing core skills. Across every area of a business, there’s a role for every skillset, which is why paths into the industry are so diverse. Our recent Women in Tech series captures this perfectly, highlighting the many unique journeys into tech.

Upon interviewing women across the business at Codeweavers, it is evident that there is no one ‘right’ way to enter the industry. From ex-marketers turned full-stack Devs, to data analysts who started with zero tech background, and developers who debugged their way into the field by pure curiosity—these stories are a powerful reminder that there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to tech careers.

A Focus on Women In Tech

Paths into tech are incredibly diverse, a fact that became exceeding clear during our Women In Tech series. With only 29% of the Tech workforce in the UK being women, and just 5% of women in leadership positions, women’s journeys into the industry are often less straightforward, sometimes finding their passion later in life, or after initially pursuing a different career.

By questioning our interviewees on their journeys into the industry, we found that the majority of participants did not take a ‘traditional’ route into their roles at Codeweavers, but explored other career paths first.

Into Tech Through: An Unrelated Degree

A university degree provides a range of transferrable skills which can be used in almost any industry, including Tech. Many of our team members studied degrees that are seemingly unrelated to Tech including Psychology, History and Languages, however, Danica Renata, Senior Technical Support Analyst points out, these routes can easily result in a Tech role. Having studied Psychology herself, and now a Senior in her role, Danica observed the common route into Tech we have seen multiple times at Codeweavers.

"I think there is a very strange Psychology to Tech pipeline. We have seen it with quite a few people within our company alone. It’s interesting to see – I think it triggers those parts of the brain where you have that curiosity to learn.”

Having also studied Psychology, Nikita Morgan, Senior Product Owner echoes this, highlighting how the skills developed through any academic background can lay the foundation for a successful career in tech:

“The core skills you can get from any University degree, for example the organisational factor, the ability to be able to research things for your degree or generally being able to communicate with people, they’re all transferable skills that you can in any career in Tech”

Into Tech Through: A Different Career

While it is true many people find their passion for Tech straight after University or College, for others, an interest builds through regular interaction with elements of the industry through a different career. Kirsty Gasston, Lead Frontend Software Engineer, has been at Codeweavers for over 8 years, starting as a Junior Developer and has progressed rapidly. However, her journey into Tech was through a Marketing career.

“I studied Marketing and Psychology as my degree, and went into a Marketing agency. But I very quickly found that the part of Marketing I enjoyed the most was the digital side, doing email campaigns and microsites, so I took more and more interest in that aspect of my role”

Moving through the Marketing landscape, Kirsty then joined a web agency as an Account Manager where her interest in Tech could be more fulfilled.

“I started diving into the code more and more to make small website changes, to the point that my job became 50-50 between being a Frontend Developer and an Account Manager. When I left that role, I didn’t want to apply for Account Management jobs, I wanted a Dev role, and that’s what brought me to Codeweavers as a Junior Dev”

Kirsty’s route into Tech is a clear example of how curiosity and hands-on exposure in a different role can naturally lead to a thriving Tech career. It’s not always about starting out in coding or computing, sometimes it’s about following the part of the job that excites you most. 

Into Tech Through: The Traditional Pipeline

Although there are many routes into Tech, many know from an early age that this industry is the right one for them. Megan Renshaw, Backend Software Developer is one such person developing an interest in computer science early in her education, carrying this through to University and beyond.

“I started back in High School taking Computer Science at GCSE and then again at A-Level. During A-Levels we had a week of work experience when I came to Codeweavers for the first time. When I then took my Computer Science degree at University, I ended up signing back up for a Year in Industry with Codweavers again, and once I graduated, well, here we are!”

This journey highlights how early passion, when nurtured through education and practical experience, can lead to a clear and confident path into a tech career. For some, knowing their direction from the start provides a strong foundation to grow and thrive within the industry.

Whether it’s through an unrelated degree, a previous career, or a long-standing interest, there’s no single route into tech shown through our interviews of Women in Tech. If you are interested in a career at Codeweavers, why not check out our Careers page and see if we have the right role to suit you.

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