Progressing in career – Doable advice for experienced IT professionals

I wish no good worker in IT would lose their jobs. I wish their age wouldn’t render them obsolete. I wish they would have a stable career lasting a lifetime. I wish they wouldn’t be dependent on a regular job alone, to increase their market value.

It’s true that people in IT can make a lot of money quickly. It’s also true that their jobs aren’t highly secure in today’s age. Decades ago, one could simply spend their entire life in one company and instability wasn’t a question. As things stand now, one has to do many things, to keep their future safe.

Passion of the youth

A doctor is in mid thirties by the time they start practice , and their market value increases with time. In IT, an employee can’t be assured of their market value increasing with time. Youngsters who grasp latest technologies have better chance getting programming jobs. The same youngsters, when in mid 30’s, can be replaced by another fresher. With age, it’s a chore to forget and relearn in order to upskill.

A techie in late 30’s or above, if not at manager position, stands at these risks.

• Technologies they’ve mastered can get outdated and thrown out from the industry.
• Even if they’re performing well, have got awards, still they can be laid off without notice.
• For cost cutting reasons, their increments and benefits can be put on hold.
• Can have their jobs outsourced to cheaper economies.
• Their industry experience is of no use. Like it happened to Indian telecom professionals after Jio launched.
• They’re so used to doing maintenance type of work for one organisation that they can’t be easily employed elsewhere.

No wonder there are cases of young people facing health issues. Living away from family, not being able to focus enough on personal life, trading time for money. The number of people with chronic illnesses, doesn’t seem to be decreasing. Anyone in private IT sector is under stress of job security.

In India, it’s not just western companies who fire on the spot. With the advent of startups, similar trend is happening in new Indian corporations, which wasn’t the case earlier. Newer companies are doing away with performance improvement programme (PIP).

Moore’s law for IT Jobs

The only stable factor about IT jobs is instability. One must be willing to reinvent every 18 months, in order to stay relevant.

This is an actual scenario from an Indian tech startup. Mr S was among the senior most in his company, being paid quite well and generally regarded by his peers. Over the years he had made some good software for his company. One day he came to office as usual. After sipping coffee and checking mails, he went to attend a project status meeting with the CEO. During course of discussion the CEO kept shouting at him for one thing or the other. The CEO was known to be rude at times, that day his behaviour was obnoxiously terrible. Came a point when the educated Mr S got miffed and said “you’re talking to me as if you don’t even need me!” To which the CEO replied “No, I don’t need you, you may leave the office now“.

Mr S was shocked. He couldn’t believe this could happen to him, despite that he gave so much to the company all those years. He got up from the chair, went to his desk, only to find his email deactivated.

What happened to him, I wish it doesn’t happen to my friends. Sadly, there are companies who extract work when needed and fire when no longer needed. Then there are companies who don’t pay on time. Even to people who have done so much for the company.

And then there are politics where jealous peers can conspire behind your back to throw you out. So that they will occupy your position.

Such is life.

Protect your future

My friend had done two meetings in the morning and was having a stream of work in the pipeline, when he was laid off on the spot. Are you sure that such an event would never happen to you? An employee remains at the mercy of top management, who in turn remains at mercy of their customers.

To safeguard your future, and ensure this doesn’t happen to you, do this at all times.

1. Keep updating resume every 2-3 months. The work you’ve done now, you might not remember with the same clarity after 1-2 years. Keep adding things and project details on your resume, always. Another advantage is that when you have to switch jobs in future, the process will be much easier.
2. Have your accounts on job sites even if you don’t want to switch immediately. That way you’ll keep in touch with what’s going on in the market. You can also apply for jobs every now and then, so that you know how much your profile’s value is in the market.
3. Work on your LinkedIn profile. Give recommendations and receive as well. Several recruiters will scan your LinkedIn profile and some may even contact you directly. You can keep the option open for prospective employers to contact you. If you want then you can apply some settings in LinkedIn, to prevent certain people from knowing that you’re looking for a change. Make sure you have a professionally clicked display photo, in a decent attire. Because that will be your first impression on unknown people.
4. Have a blog. Share knowledge of what you know and how you think, without revealing sensitive company information. Let readers know your thought process. Reveal your high points. Make them aware of your knowledge which you may have applied at work.
5. Keep your social media timeline clean. Talk positive stuff related to your domain. Work on making yourself a brand. Avoid getting into undue controversies. Some employers don’t hire people, based on certain opinions they don’t agree with.
6. Build a network. Stay in touch with people. They might refer you for a job if required. Your chances of job increase if it’s via a referral. Attend meet-ups. Send good wishes to people regularly. Go out of the way to help them while expecting nothing in return. Just don’t be stuck in a shell. What remains in public eye, has better chances of getting promoted.
7. Have a personal website with domain. It won’t cost you a lot, if you keep domain and shared hosting to yourself. Use it to share your thoughts, past works, recent portfolio, etc. If you’re a developer then put link to your GitHub account and if you’re a designer then link your Behance account.
8. Plan a side hustle. That is, find an alternate way of earning income, in addition to regular job. You can do freelancing on upwork, give guest lectures in colleges, trade in stocks, do consultation or launch your own web based product. Do this purely for enjoyment. You never know, it might turn out to be better than your existing job. In case a day comes that you have to leave current job, then you will have something to do without being idle.
9. Do online courses. Especially if you are in a job with limited growth. Pursue from sites like Coursera , Udemy, etc. The ROI can be quite good, provided you do these courses diligently. Make sure to mention them on your resume and LinkedIn.
10. Never burn bridges with your employer. They have control over giving your experience letter as well as salary. Always think that you’ll leave the company on good terms without any bitterness towards the management. You never know, you might have to go back to the same job or similar people in future.
11. Want to startup? Then read every day, on how entrepreneurs are dealing with their respective challenges. Think of a marketable idea that appeals to your heart and devise a proper plan of execution. Don’t jump into things without any plan. Also, don’t do this because you hate your job. Entrepreneurship can be tougher than your current job, if you aren’t adequately prepared.
12. If things are bad in your company , be prepared to act soon. Salaries being delayed? Layoffs happening? Keep your eyes open on what’s going around. If your company is stable you’ll know it. If profits are declining then you must know it. I know one comfortably positioned guy who figured out what was going around in his company. He found another job and dropped papers. The very next day, his company laid off 90% people from his team. Because he acted on time, he didn’t have to sit idle at home.
13. Keep enhancing your skills. If you know PHP, then learn some frameworks. If you know database, then get into data science. If you know social media, then master adwords or growth hacking. Never be complacent with where you are – keep striving to learn & grow more. At all times. A few minutes of self-learning each day, will give big results in the future.
14. At office, take regular feedback on your work. Don’t wait till year end review. Ensure you’re performing well and if your manager has an issue with your performance, try get it resolved ASAP. Let there be no complaint of you, in your organisation. Remember, when you join a new company, they may call your previous employer for a background check. Hence, no one should raise doubts on your capabilities.
15. Know your USP. Prepare a 30-second pitch to present the same. If a recruiter has to choose among 100, they must know what makes you stand out. And if you feel there isn’t anything about your profile which makes it stand out, then start working on it NOW!

By following the above steps at all time, you’ll be able to progress in your IT career. Also, you’ll be able to secure your future better against any unwarranted incidents.

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For you, dear reader

In case you feel there’s something more also that can be done, for progressing in an IT job, kindly write in comments box below. Also, please share this blog with your friends in tech sector, for their long term benefit.