IT Career Management

Own career can and should be managed.

1. Where to start?

And I would start by asking myself, “Work in IT is what I want, do I really want to build my career in IT?” . It is believed that the work (or rather the industry in which you work) should be changed every 5 years, perhaps it is time to go for sale or landscape design.

There is an interesting method: imagine yourself in old age and look at the past life, at the results achieved. Are you satisfied, did you strive for this, did you want to get this as a result? Go back to today and think, “What is worth changing today?”
')

2. planning is the key to success!

We decided that it was in IT that you decided to make a career, since there are many ways to do this. Next, I will not go into the subtleties of IT and aboutItish professions, and try to look at the whole picture.

Development options:

Horizontal development when you grow as a specialist (growth in the profession).
You start with the fact that you just like to poke around in the subject under study. Gradually, you study more and more in your particular narrow direction, without going too deeply into related industries, sharpen routine operations to perfection. You have a narrow social circle of the same professionals, in which you are highly appreciated and respected. HR specialists will hunt for you later. It is your language that no one will understand except your IT director.

Vertical development when you move up the hierarchy (rising up)
You work in IT, you like to communicate with people, you understand what business processes are and how they are built, ready to take responsibility and be responsible for the result. You understand that you do not want to code / admin / optimize all your life, but you still want to be in IT. Perhaps you can use the option of vertical development - development as a manager (project manager, department, company, or even your own business, CIO). In this role, you have to put IT in the service of the business of the company in which you work. You will be the link between the IT department and top management.

To say that one of these developmental options is better not correct, although it is firmly rooted in our mind - if the boss means he gets more and does nothing. In modern IT companies, a narrowly focused specialist may be more in demand than a manager. If you look at the material side of the issue, the salaries of good specialists are comparable and even higher than the salaries of managers (although of course everything depends on the specific position and company). Today, not all people strive to earn millions, to whom the project itself is interesting, the opportunity to experiment or leave free time for other things. Hierarchical structures are becoming a thing of the past, flexible and cohesive teams that are able to quickly respond to external changes come to their place. In such conditions, specialists are granted considerable power ( distributed leadership ).

3. The Deming Cycle

Now you have planned your career - it's time to realize your plans. How? This is a topic for a separate article, perhaps some thoughts can be found in the post , but here I want to emphasize that the process of planning, testing and putting into practice should be continuous. For myself, I have developed the following strategy: career planning for the future 1 year, 5 years, 20 years or more. Accordingly, after a year, revision and updating of plans is required, it is also recommended to update them when changing jobs or activities. It is necessary to consider what resources I need for this (internal and external) which obstacles I can face. The whole process fits well with the Deming cycle .

Conclusion:

A job change is an important stage in a career and of course stress. However, this kind of stress is sometimes necessary, it is like a vaccine against laziness, routine and haze. To change or not to change, everyone decides for himself. “Why change if everything suits me?” Any HR will tell you that changing jobs often is bad (more than once a year). IMHO work in one company in one way or another leads to stagnation (the same social circle, responsibilities, habitual patterns of behavior), for myself I put such a framework from 1 to 3 years in one position, from 1 to 5 years in one company. This means that if you can’t, don’t want to change the company, try changing your responsibilities. For example, you are doing system administration, why not try yourself in SEO, and administer the administration to a less experienced colleague. If you decide to develop strictly in one direction, one day it will be time to think about another company. Experience in another company will significantly enrich not only your professional skills, but also personal skills.

Summary:

Manage your career!
1. Determine what you want in life
2. Plan how you will achieve what you want.
3. Achieve the desired