The IT job market can be fierce, which means you need to stand out as a candidate. To get your career where you want it to be, it’s essential to continually hone your skills. Work experience, personal projects, training, volunteer work and more show that you aspire to utilize your expertise and have gained diverse knowledge in your desired field.
To advance your career, you also need to know what success looks like to you. Is it working at a specific company, reaching a new tier of employment, or making a certain amount of money? Think about what is important to you in your career and let that guide you.
Tap Into Your Network
You can’t advance in anything without help from others. Your network is there to support you through career advancement. Connect with people you know professionally to find out about new opportunities, seek feedback and help to define your goals. Many of the people in your network have likely been in a similar position and may be able to tell you what worked well for them.
For example, if you know that you want to be in a certain position within a few years, look to your network. Find someone who has that job or who knows someone who does, and ask how they got there. Take their experience and personalize it, following your path supported by their guidance.
Improve Soft Skills
Sometimes, IT professionals get stuck in a cycle of improving their tech skills and letting soft skills falter. We recommend working on the human side of your goals, too, instead of just logic and task-oriented skills. Communication, sales and marketing, and leadership skills all go a long way in getting you to that ideal position and helping you thrive. No matter how technically skilled you are, seek out opportunities to hone and use those soft skills too.
Get Feedback
It can be challenging to measure one’s progress. Feedback is vital to advancing your IT career. That said, you may need to specifically ask for feedback outside of any scheduled reviews. Check in with managers, but also connect with your peers to see if they have any constructive details for you. If you are a supervisor, ask for feedback from your employees.
You will need to ask people to assess your strengths and weaknesses to know what to improve. If you worked on a project with people, ask for their thoughts on that work. The more information you can get and the more places you can find it, the better.
Keep Up With Trends
It can be tricky to keep up with all of the various IT trends and technologies, especially if you end up in one IT niche. If you want to advance your career, you may need to know all of these details. Stay current with your reading and research. Consider joining a professional organization or group.
Professional organizations are a particularly beneficial way to both improve your IT skills and knowledge, and network. Here, you can connect with people in your industry and talk about the latest IT happenings. You can also rely on those same people to provide feedback, alert you to job opportunities, and guide you.
Challenge Yourself
When you are comfortable in your current IT specialty or position, you may not advance past it. If you are happy where you are, that may be your definition of success. If you want to go further, do it. Get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself.
That may be asking for a new project or a new role within your existing company, taking on responsibilities. If that cannot happen or the ideal next step doesn’t exist in your current company, don’t be afraid to branch out. It’s easier than ever to trial new jobs and new ideas at different companies, especially with contract or contract-to-hire positions.
Working with a recruiter to find a permananet, contract or contract-to-hire role ensures you are using your time well. We treat every hiring cycle as an opportunity to connect candidates and clients, not just for work, but to build meaningful relationships. We can also help guide you to roles that fit with your goals, so you can keep advancing that career.
Search through our open job listings to see if there is a position that is a good fit for you. You can also join our talent network and upload your resume. We look forward to working with you to help you meet and exceed your career goals!