A review of an inspiring guidebook for teenagers into how they can ‘shape the world through technology’.
Reviewed by Kat Cauchi
The Tech Career Coach for Teens is a practical guide for young people to support them in considering a career in technology and planning how to reach their ambitions.
The book helps young people learn about different areas of technology, pathways into careers, how tech can be changed for good and the importance of developing key skills that can support them in any career, such as communication skills and leadership skills. The book includes activities and reflection points to help them shape their career path.
Also, threaded throughout the book you will find stories from a diverse range of people working in different roles in technology or at tech companies – with roles from Motorsport engineer, to Strategic threat intelligence Lead, to Learning lead, to Founder.
Structure and purpose
The book is split into seven sections:
- It’s all about you
- Discover your tech calling
- Find your path
- How you can change tech
- Your tech career coach
- Thinking big…going further
- The tech career directory
The purpose of the book is clear from the first line of the Beverly Clarke MBE’s Foreword:
“As you open this book, I want you to remember and know one thing! There is a place for you in tech!”
The book wants to inspire young people by showing them that there is a place for them in tech, to inform them about opportunities and routes, and help them take steps forward. It also shows why technology needs to be a diverse and inclusive space that’s for everyone.
Chapters
It’s all about you
This first chapter introduces the book’s concept and structure simply and effectively. It opens with an activity of identifying the tech around you, thinking about how it works and your burning questions about every day tech. This is a really nice way to engage the reader from the start and make them aware of just how much influence tech has in their daily lives (and its prevalence in the working world).
The chapter also gets the reader to consider their passions and how these might link to technology, as well as how their ‘super powers’ (skills) can be beneficial for working in technology.
Discover your tech calling
This is a really practical chapter, that gives the reader 10 different projects in different areas of tech to help them discover what might be a good match for their interests and skills. I thought this was a really good introduction into different areas of technology, helping the reader consider careers they may not have thought about or heard of.
Each project gets students to carry out activities such as research, creating something (like a web page) trying something (like playtesting a game) and gives information about why they might want to explore that career. For example, it recommends exploring a career in technical writing if ‘you enjoy explaining complex ideas in simple, clear language’.
The chapter also makes it clear that it’s okay if none of these areas are your ‘tech calling’, and gives next steps on how to discover it.
Find your path
I really liked the career canvas here that gets the reader to write down their values, what they want in terms of success, their passions and what they want to learn about. As the book explains:
“You will spend a long time working. It’s really important to find a path that fits your values and passions. Filling in a carer canvas helps you to consider what success looks like for you. Learning is important throughout a tech career, following your curiosity helps you stay motivated.” (pg.33)
The book walks the reader through what they can do at different ages towards their career in tech – such as skills to develop, qualifications to take and post-16 options. It also encourages the reader to note down two different paths they could take and decide what they prefer. Which I thought was a useful exercise.
How you can change tech
This chapter asks readers to consider their own tech habits and the small things they can do to change their use to tech, and the bigger things they can do to change tech itself! The chapter explains the importance and principles of accessible tech and different types of accessibility to consider. It follows up with an activity that gets the reader to explore everyday tech and its accessibility features and evaluate if the tech serves all users. I thought this was a great chapter, as we definitely need more young people who want to change tech for good!
Your Tech Career Coach
This section opens with 10 self discovery tasks and questions to support those tasks. For example, Task 1 is ‘Identify what excites you most about technology – apps, games, gadgets or problem solving’; and the accompanying question is ‘what specific aspect of technology do you enjoy the most and why does it excite you?’. This then follows with more sets of tasks in different topics. This is a really practical part of the book that helps a reader take their initial ideas through to a clear plan of action.
Thinking Big Going Further
Here the book explains leadership boards and helps the reader think about their leadership skills and how they could develop these now to help their long term tech career. Even if they aren’t interested in a leadership role, many of the skills the book highlights for leadership are valuable transferrable skills for many roles.
The Tech Career Directory
The book closes with an alphabetical list of different roles in technology with a simple description. Some example careers include AI engineer, Game Developer and Sustainable Hardware Designer.
Why I would recommend it for teens
Stories from real people
As mentioned previously, throughout the book, there are stories from people working in different roles in tech. This is a particular strength of the book as it enables the reader to get interesting insights into different careers, affirms that everyone’s journey is different and shows the breadth of possibilities in tech.
Not a passive read
The book is very practical, and the reader is engaged with activities to complete and questions to answer. Helping them to better retain and use the information within. It encourages the readers curiosity by getting them to do further research and even helps them to start building skills, for example in the ‘vibe coding’ project, the reader is asked to use a tool like Canva Code to create something, helping them learn about and try out vibe coding.
The Tech Career Coach for Teens is a really purposeful read that empowers young people with the knowledge that a tech career can be for them. Clarke, Franks and Gardner clearly explain what young people need to learn, what their options are, how to choose a career that meets their values and interests, and how to define what they want success to look like for themselves.
Reference
Clarke B., Franks, R., Gardner, G. (2025) The Tech Career Coach For Teens. Technology Books for Children.
