I went from a $40K HR job to a six-figure tech job without learning to code.
I'm Tim O. I started as an HRIS administrator, moved into DevOps consulting, then customer success at New Relic and GitLab. Today I'm a Senior Customer Success Engineer at Dynatrace. This site is what I learned along the way, written for people trying to make the same move.
HRIS Admin → DevOps Consulting → New Relic → GitLab → Dynatrace
The honest version
It took me five years and 73 rejection emails. I kept every one of them. Looking back, most of what slowed me down wasn't a skills gap. I was applying for roles that were hard to break into, and I had no way to show I could do the work.
Start with a role, not a certificate
These are the roles where I've seen people without CS degrees get hired. Each guide covers what the job involves day to day, what hiring managers actually screen for, and realistic pay.
| Role | Typical pay |
|---|---|
| Salesforce Admin | $65K-$190K |
| Customer Success | $65K-$180K |
| Solutions Architect | $110K-$200K+ |
| Product Manager | $100K-$200K+ |
| UX Researcher | $85K-$170K+ |
| Technical Writer | $75K-$150K+ |
Typical U.S. salary ranges.
What I'd do if I started over
- Make sure you can afford the gap. Know how many months you can go without the raise.
- Learn only what the job postings ask for, then stop.
- Build something you can show: a project, a portfolio piece, a write-up of a problem you solved.
- Get referred.
If you want more help
The guides, the quiz, and the blog are free and will stay free. If you want more structure or me looking at your specific situation, here's what that costs:
| Digital products | from $27 |
| Community | $39/mo |
| Accelerator | from $497 |
| 1:1 consulting | See the consulting page |
Newsletter
One email when I publish something useful.