Tips to boost your IT career
The IT industry has boomed over the past 10 years, with the UK Technology sector growing 2.6 times faster than the overall economy; this industry growth brings a number of opportunities to enhance your IT career.
We sat down with our IT Business Manager Kevin Riley for his advice on how to push your IT career to the next level.
Take responsibility for your own path
As with most jobs, achieving a long and fruitful career in IT takes time and dedication. You have the power to enhance your career path by seeking continuous development, constantly researching areas that you may be lacking in, or strengthening those in which you are already competent. There are many courses available both online and offline – why not set yourself a goal and use extra learning to help get you there?
Kevin said, “If you really push yourself to be the best that you can be, you could open yourself up to promotion with your current employer, or it could give you the confidence to apply for your next role in a more senior position.”
Research your market and specialism
Understanding how to carry out a particular role is essential… but do you know what is happening in the wider industry and IT market? Keeping up to speed with the latest IT developments can help you keep on top of your own personal development. With your finger on the pulse, you can identify developing markets, relevant skills, trends in desired skills, or even which employers are looking for IT talent. Sign up to the latest online blogs and trade journals.
“Follow key influencers on social media. Keeping an ear to the ground, you may be surprised at what you will hear.”
Keep an eye on the competition
So you are comfortable in your current role and are happy with your progress, but how can you remain on top of your game? Monitoring what the competition is doing can strengthen your position on both a personal level and in an organisational sense.
“Identifying both the successes and failures that others are making in the market can save time and resource and allow you to avoid the same pitfalls. Conversely, making note of their successes can allow you to reap the same benefits. LinkedIn, networking events and seminars can be good sources of information for competitive research.”
Attend industry conferences
There are multiple benefits to attending industry conferences. Not only will it provide you with relevant, up to date industry knowledge in the same vein as reading the latest industry journals will, but it will provide one highly beneficial element - networking. What better opportunity to meet and get to know like-minded industry professionals than at an industry event. Be it a fellow IT industry worker in a similar position to yourself that you can bounce ideas off and learn from, or a potential employer with whom you have an opportunity to get noticed by, the benefits of attending industry conferences and events cannot be understated.
Remain flexible and agile
Perhaps more so than any other industry, technology is constantly changing and at a rapid rate. Consider a WebOps Developer. Chances are that many aspects of the role didn’t even exist until relatively recently, and are constantly changing at that.
Kevin added; “Don’t let yourself become stagnant in an ever changing environment, and should the time come, be ready to push on to the next step in your career. I have found that our clients love to see self development in an employee and are always enthusiastic about home learning, or out of hours projects.”
As touched on earlier in this guide, it is useful to keep your ear to the ground and your finger on the pulse. Remain proactive in your approach and you’re sure to succeed.
If you feel on top of your game and want to push on to the next stage in your IT career, start right now by registering your details and uploading your CV here and we’ll contact you if we have any jobs matching your skills. View our latest IT job vacancies here.
