Advancing a career
A graduate wrote to me: “I just graduate from Information System Management and get a job at a large financial company. Although this is my first job, I want to be successful and build a career in this field; however I am still worried about my future. Please advise.”
Answer: Congratulation on your graduation and have a good job. Please stop worry too much; I do not think the company would expect a lot from a recent graduate as you are still learning. What you need now is to focus on learning about the business of your company. By understanding the company's business and goals, you can help the company to achieve its goals. I am very happy that you mention that you want to build a career. Most graduates are concerned with getting a job but few pay attention to planning their career for the future. Career planning is not only GETTING a job but also KEEPING the job then GROWING the career. I often teach my students the simple formula: “GET, KEEP, And GROW” for their career roadmaps.
There are people who see everything from a detail aspect. As students, they organize their study carefully and want to know in detail how things work, how things interact, how things are designed, and how each process operates. When they go to work they tend to be technical professionals. There are people who see everything from a broader aspect and do not be bothered by details. As students, they read a lot to broaden their knowledge. Although they study technical fields, they also read business articles, newspapers, books and blogs to search for new knowledge. They know about the industry and market and what are the issues, the competition, and the challenges. When they go to work, they often advance quickly into leadership positions due to their profound knowledge.
So which type do you think that you fit into? For most graduates, they tend to be the first type where their focus on detailed knowledge and skills. To GET a job, you need these skills but AFTER getting a job, you need to KEEP it and the best way to KEEP a job is to be a “valuable employee” for the company. To do that you need to develop a mindset of lifelong learning. College education is good but NOT the only knowledge you will need to keep your job for the next 30 or 40 years. As technology changes, business changes, industry changes, and economy changes, you must change with them. That is why you must constantly learning to keep your technical skills up to date to meet company's demands. I often advise students to make their passion as their career because as long as they love what they do then working is no longer “work” but it become their passion. The same thing should also be applied to learning, if you are passionate about learning new things, you will make the necessary effort to learn and excel at it. That is why you are truly a professional.
However after several years of doing technical works, you need to advance your career into management. To GROW in a career you need a strategy to achieve it. You cannot just wait to be offered the "Perfect job" but you need to earn it for yourself. This means you must understand your company's business and your role in it. You cannot sit in your desk and wait for the opportunities to come to you. Things happen when you go outside your “technical area” and get to know other people and understand what they do. Although you are a good technical professional, you must change your view into a broader perspective because managers are often visionary people. You must know people in other departments of the company. You must make friends with people who manufacture the product or people who work in finance, marketing who perform other works. You should ask them questions about their works until you understand their processes and problems. Since you are a detail person, this will be easy as you have the knowledge of your company as a whole. Having a group of people that you talk with and get their information will enhance your knowledge about your company and broaden your opportunities.
My advice is you should spend time with users in their group, observing how they work first and how they use technology. As information system worker, you need to develop good relationships with users by listen to their concerns first to understand what they need. Do NOT do what you think users want, but instead listen to their issues when you support them. If you find a better way to do something, talk to users first then demonstrate your solution to them to get them to agree with you. Your priority is to meet their requirements and make sure the information system works well. While it is not easy to talk to people who may not understand technological processes or applications, you need to be patience and explain things in simple language. You can be successful with users if you can do something valuable that solves their problems and this is the best way to GROW your career and being a valuable person in the company.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
