How to Pivot Into Fintech While Working Full Time

Do you have a natural talent for finance and technology? 

With new fintech opportunities popping up every day, now is the right time to pivot into an industry with huge growth potential. But change doesn’t mean you have to quit your current job to follow this path. Instead, follow a 6 to 12-month roadmap that can help you complete your goal without sacrificing stability.   

This guide will teach you how to break down your fintech career goals into manageable milestones, including transferable skills, targeted upskilling, and portfolio-building.

Identify Transferable Skills

The first month of your roadmap is about pinpointing transferable skills that could be an advantage in the fintech sector. 

For example, if you’re currently a software engineer, you already have an arsenal of marketable skills for fintech. If you think retail doesn’t give you an advantage, think again. Customer service, inventory management, and POS systems are valuable transferable skills. Supplementing your real-world experience with relevant certifications can make your resume even more appealing to fintech recruiters.    

Are you currently a paralegal? Your experience with compliance laws is a perfect fit for the growing regulatory tech (RegTech) sector, which is a critical part of fintech operations. If you’re an attorney at a law firm, your passion for technology can be of great assistance to fintech startups that need compliance and contract teams. 

Research Relevant Educational Programs

During your first month, get a head start on finding educational programs that can help build your skill set while you’re still identifying transferable skills. For example, websites like online.gmc.edu can help you narrow down relevant associate’s and bachelor’s programs, including:

• General business association 
• Computer Science 
• Information Systems & Analytics 
• Information Technology
• Cybersecurity

Programs like these can also be completed entirely online after work and on the weekends. There are also accelerated programs that allow you to earn an accredited fintech-relevant degree in a fraction of the time.

Choose Roles and Specializations

As you research various educational programs, narrow down fintech specializations that best reflect your interests and skill set. The sector is full of job roles, such as:

• Financial data analysts 
• Blockchain developers
• Product managers
• Customer experience managers
• Fintech UX designers
• Risk Operations specialists

Next, review industry job descriptions for these roles and nail down fintech specializations that appeal to you. This will help guide your upskilling and credentialing efforts. 

Types of Fintech Specializations 

For example, there’s the payments and neobanks vertical that deals with payment processing. 

You’ll need to demonstrate knowledge of payment gateway architectures in fintech. This could start with a case study of PayPal’s gateway architecture. Other core specializations in this vertical include open banking standards and real-time settlement compliance.   

If you’re passionate about blockchain technology and Web3, now is a great time to learn more about the decentralized (DeFi) fintech space. Consider specializing in smart contract development, ledger systems, and liquidity pools to stand out in the recruitment pack. 

One of the biggest consumer draws of fintech is accessibility. As a future fintech professional, you have an opportunity to widen that accessibility through innovations in WealthTech and robo-advisors. Specializations in quantitative data modeling, algorithmic trading, and portfolio rebalancing can help set you apart in this area.   

Remember the legal professional crossover mentioned earlier? RegTech and InsurTech are brimming with career possibilities, especially if you have experience with fraud detection algorithms, predictive risk assessment, Know Your Customer (KYC) identification, and insurance underwriting.  

Industry Certifications

Fintech is rapidly evolving, and with it, introducing a host of new highly specialized industry certifications to supplement your resume. For example, suppose you want to break into the fintech cybersecurity space. Earning a CompTIA Security+ certificate can really enhance your cybersecurity degree and transferable skills. 

Consider fintech professional certificates and other industry-recognized certifications for InsurTech and data science. There are also fintech institutes designed specifically for senior executives. 

If you’re leaning toward RegTech, take a look at certifications for anti-money laundering and sanctions specialists. Merge your interest in blockchain to pursue an industry certification in anti-financial crimes in the cryptoasset space.  

Build a Portfolio

As you develop your fintech skill set through transferable skills and education programs, start building a project portfolio that showcases your knowledge and fintech applications. 

For example, if you want to grab the attention of blockchain development recruiters, upload your self-directed coding projects to GitHub and add them to your LinkedIn. Prove your technical Web3 skills by building a decentralized application (dApp) smart contract on a testnet. Or, if you want to target the payment gateway vertical, build a mock checkout system in Node.js or Python.  

Start Making Your Pivot

Within 6 months to a year, you could make a full transition to fintech. First, take stock of your transferable skills, whether it’s IT, customer experience, or insurance. Next, craft an educational path to fill in knowledge gaps and develop specializations. Lastly, build a GitHub portfolio that attracts fintech recruiters. 

Inform your path with the latest news from the fintech market, including blockchain security, data privacy, cloud IT, and more!