Career Management is a very important factor for you to survive in your career. As a person with the hope of attaining great heights in your career, career management is something you should never neglect. It is important for success in your career.
What is Career Management?
Career Management is when you make a proper plan of your activities, programmes and engagements in the profession you choose to do throughout your life. This is a process that starts with you understanding yourself, the career path you have chosen and being aware of your full potential. The main purpose of career management is to help you identify goals in your career and help you take actions that will affect your career positively.
There are three types of career management and it is very important for you as a professional (regardless of whether you are new or old in the field) to know the types of career management. Knowing the type of career management will help you to properly plan yourself and have goals for every phase of your career.
Types of Career Management
1. Goal Planning
This is done when your career is just starting. It is the process of making a thorough analysis of all your interests, abilities, value and personality to determine the career type that will suit you, help you achieve your professional goal and is most likely to be rewarding and fulfilling.
2. Career Planning
This is when you create a plan to actualise your career goals after you must have chosen a career.
3. Career Development
From the name, you can tell that this has to do with working on yourself to become better in your profession. Career Development focuses more on certain habits and values like time management , work quality, performance, skill set and expertise, personal development , career change, etc.
Why Should One Be Bothered About Career Management?
If you want to get to the greater heights of your career, you should be concerned when Career Management is talked about. This is because you can not achieve career success without properly managing your career and as you know, the labour market is saturated and for you to be the best amongst your colleagues, you should be interested in improving on yourself and properly managing your career.
The awareness of Career Management is very important because many professions, especially the new ones that are coming up due to the change around us have little to no recognition and as a result, those who are already in that profession or are planning to join that field have little or no idea on how to work on themselves in order to get into the field and maintain their career (that is if they get into the field). One of these careers with little to no recognition is the Information Technology Profession (IT Profession).
Who Is An IT Professional?
An IT Professional is a person that specialises in building, testing, installing, repairing and maintaining hardware and software. Some of these IT professionals work for companies and organisations while some of them become freelancers (this is a person with no commitment to one employer).
The IT field is still unsaturated because many people are still unaware of the potential and opportunities present in that field. With the rate at which technology is fast rising and improving, there are a lot of professions in the IT industry. Some of them are Programming, Data Science and Analysis, DevOps (a combination of development and operation), Cloud Computing, Machine Learning, Security and Data Privacy, Software Development, etc. All these professions serve as a canopy to other skills under IT.
Lucrative IT Skills
Even though there are many IT skills, there are a few of them that are more lucrative than the others. Below are some of the most lucrative IT skills in the IT industry.
Software Development
A Software Developer is someone that designs, tests, and maintains the software, applications and frameworks. Software Development is the main element of the IT industry because it helps create software solutions that are designed to meet the criteria and business requirements given by specific clients. Software Developers are hot cakes as big companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Verizon, etc. look for them and hire many of them every year. The Software skills that are in high demand are Full Stack Developer, Front end Developer and Back end Developer.
Data Science
Data Science is the use of scientific methods and analysis to get valuable information from a data source. Data Science Technologies are Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Natural Learning. All of these are high-demand skills and people with expertise in these skills are greatly sought after.
Machine Learning
This was already mentioned above while we looked at Data Science and for it to be mentioned again then you should know that it is a very high-demand skill. Machine Learning experts create machines with intelligence that learns from experience. This is a result of the machines being equipped with a lot of data and receiving adequate training to perform certain tasks that are only needed for certain situations.
Blockchain
With the increased use of Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and Cryptocurrency , Blockchain is no longer a new thing to many of us. Blockchain is the new banking and finance sector in almost every country. Blockchain is the recording of digital transactions on a digital ledger which is distributed across a system of networks. Simply put, it is a chain of blocks that contain digital information. Some high-demand skills under Blockchain are Blockchain Developer, Blockchain Engineer, Blockchain Solution Architect, Blockchain Project Manager, Blockchain UX Designer, and Blockchain Consultant.
Knowing the different types of skills in the IT industry and the most lucrative ones will help you choose the right career path and this will determine how long you stay in the industry.
You can get jobs in the IT industry by:
- Finding out the IT job you have an interest in.
- Hanging out or looking up to people with expertise in that skill
- Taking courses and dedicating your time to study
- Applying for jobs (Your skill set can only improve once you are in the work field)
Manage A Career In The IT Industry
Knowing how to manage a career in the IT industry is as important as getting the job, in fact, more important than getting the job. There are many ways to manage your career in the IT industry.
1. Taking Responsibility For Your Career
Surviving in the IT industry means that you have to put your time, efforts and resources to be good in your field. Nobody will help you achieve your goals and because of this, you have to be ready to take responsibility for your success.
2. Ability To Adapt And Be Flexible
With the way new trends are being introduced to the IT industry, you need to be able to easily learn and adapt to the new trends. Every new trend that comes out in the IT industry most of the time, ends up being in high demand and your ability to easily flow with any new trend will determine your longevity in the IT industry.
3. Learning About The Business
Being an expert in your field is never enough. You need to have a proper understanding of your industry and how it works. Doing this will help you have a better understanding of your business and in return, you will be able to deliver services, software and products that correlate properly with your business
4. Never Stop Learning
No knowledge is a waste and for you to stay long in the industry you need to learn constantly. This is why passion is very important because you cannot be consistent in something you don’t have passion for. If you do not constantly learn to stay abreast, you will find yourself left behind in the industry.
5. Attending Conferences And Networking With Like Minds
This is a great way to thrive in the IT industry as you will be able to meet people with similar interests. You have to be very picky and considerate about the types of conferences you attend.
6. Be Aware Of Your Competitors
Every industry has competition and the IT industry is no different. Always be on the lookout for your competitions in your field. You can pick up something from their failures and successes. You should know that being the first in your field doesn’t guarantee that you are the best or most successful. Being better than your competitors is what makes you successful.
7. Get Yourself A Mentor
Your mentor should be someone who already has expertise in your field. He or she has dedicated their time to trying and learning things. They teach you how to avoid the mistakes they made. The job of a mentor is to help you provide solutions to your problems.
8. Work On Your Branding, Communication And Project Management Skills
These are very important skills you must possess if you want to thrive in the industry. The importance of these skills cannot be overemphasised.
9. Build And Maintain A Social Portfolio
Social media is very important for your business to thrive. You need to build a portfolio and refer prospective clients to it to help them know more about your business and your services. Having a social media portfolio also makes it easier for people to look you up. It is an easy way of putting yourself out to the world and letting people be aware of what you do.
It is not easy to manage a career in any industry let alone the IT industry but with the right expertise and knowledge, career management would be a smooth sail for you. All you need to do is ensure you are learning the right skills from a reliable source and know when to apply the acquired knowledge.
