Regardless of whether you’ve just started your career in IT or have been at it for a decade, if you’re not proactive in managing where you want to go and how to get there, you may find yourself not quite where you once thought you’d be.
When was the last time that you mapped out a career plan? Hummm… Not sure what that looks like? Read on. (more…)
Every once and a while I visit the job board message boards - and regret that I did. Why? I have never found a bigger bunch of gripers in my life! After reading through their whining on how terrible the IT job market, how horribly they were treated by their previous employers, and how slimy recruiters are, you will certainly be left with the impression that IT is dead. Well, I work in IT as does my husband - and both our companies continue to aggressively hire top notch talent. So what’s different about our realities? (more…)
Career Trap #3: Not keeping your skills fresh. So if management is not for you does that mean it’s ok to just keep doing what you’ve been doing? NO! You can’t just stick your head in the sand and expect that all will be fine with your career. You have to keep your skills current. I get very frustrated when I read job board message boards where folks are complaining about the lack of jobs out there. The reality is that there are certain IT skills that are HOT and others that are NOT. The best way to ensure that your position doesn’t get cut or outsourced is by ensuring that you keep your technical skills current or build new skills into your bag of tricks. If your company isn’t using the latest technology then find another one who is. Don’t stay stuck in the same position for more than two years. Your skills will get stale and it will become that much harder to leave when you finally realize that a new generation of technology has passed you by.So speaking of those hot skills. Have you checked out the list of hot positions? The reality is that the most sought after positions in IT today are part technical, part business. Positions like business systems analysts, relationship managers, and project managers are a hybrid of technology skills and people skills. What makes them sought after (and highly compensated) is that they bridge the gap between IT and the business and are critical for shaping the image of IT to the rest of the organizations. The help business users “get it” and they are highly rewarded for it. (more…)
Another common career trap for IT pros is believing that the only way to a high salary and title is a management career path. Wrong! First of all, not everyone is cut out for management. Don’t believe me? There’s a crazy statistic that says that 40% of all new managers fail in their first year. The number reason why? They shouldn’t have pursued a management career in the first place! So why do people fall into this trap? First of all, they haven’t explored the alternatives. They don’t clearly understand what other IT careers are out there. This is more than the case of the developers don’t speak to the network engineers. It’s highly likely that their managers haven’t had a career conversation with them to help them explore other options. Or the organization that they work in does have a broad spectrum of these jobs. Technical career paths are becoming more and more important as technology evolves and we need more specialized technicians.
How to Beat It: Find out whether you’re cut out for management. Are you willing to leave your technical skills behind? Will you get just as much job satisfaction out of helping someone else succeed as you did from your own personal accomplishments? Read up on what it takes to be a manager but most importantly, ask yourself, why you want to get into management. If it’s just about the title and the money, there are easier ways to achieve these! Also, learn more about other career paths in IT. If you’re a developer talk to the network engineers. If you’re a network engineer talk to security specialists. The more you know the better career decisions you’ll make.
Next time we’ll explore career trap #3: Becoming too technical.
A lot of my day is spent either helping folks figure out what they want to be when they grow up or helping managers have these conversations with their people. Over the years, I’ve discovered that there are some conversations that I end up coaching around more often than others. Let me share some of these with you over the next few weeks. (more…)
Despite worries about the economy, the IT job market remains HOT. There are plenty of opportunities but it’s becoming more and more important for you to proactively manage your career. At the core of getting noticed is a firm belief in yourself and your abilities.
In no other profession is accepting change as a matter of course as important as it is in IT. In fact, it’s a primary motivator for most IT professionals. Staying challenged is one of the key things that great IT professionals like about the profession. Employers appreciate that. But if you’ve worked for a company for a long time, particularly working on long term projects using tried and true technologies, you may one day discover that your skills may not be as current as you had hoped.
