If you’re dead set on beginning a career in tech, then congratulations: you’ve chosen a future-proof career, one that currently has more jobs than people to fill them, and one that will almost certainly shape the future of the world. However, before you start spending all that cash that will surely come your way, it’s important to remember one thing: your technical skills will only get you so far. If you want to create a successful career in tech, then you’re going to need to add a number of other skills to your resume, too.
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An Ability To Learn
Working in tech is a bit like being a doctor, another field that is always evolving. It doesn’t matter what you know right now; that knowledge will become less and less important as the months and years roll by. Just as a doctor using practices from the nineties would be useless today, a person proficient in just one aspect of tech will be useless in five or ten years from now. Instead, what is important is your ability to keep up with the changes in the tech world. If you know how to learn and can pick up new technical knowledge as and when it becomes crucial, then you’ll never be left behind.
Listening
The ability to listen is one of the most underrated skills a tech worker can have. As the world becomes ever more reliant on technology, it’ll be the people who can connect with clients and fellow workers on a deeper, emotional level that are the most valuable. If it’s not a natural skill for you, it’s worth cultivating. There are no downsides to being a good listener, yet the advantages are many - you’ll learn more, have better relationships with those you work with, and keep conflicts to a minimum.
Adding Business Skills
Gone are the days when tech workers were doing their magic behind the scenes. Today, they’re right front and center of the business world, fully integrated into the company’s operations. As such, an ambitious tech worker needs to be able to deliver presentations, talk with customers, and be able to handle the tricky world of project management. Again, these skills don’t always come naturally (especially to people used to being in front of a screen), but they can be learned. Take a business skills course with a company like
Training Connection, and you’ll be making yourself stand in the sea of tech workers. An employee that can navigate the tech and business worlds is highly valuable indeed.
People Skills
There’s more to making money in tech than just simply writing code. Your livelihood will depend on your ability to interact with other people. If you’re part of a project, then you’ll need to know how to be a team player and work with others to meet the end goal. If you’re a
freelance worker, then it’ll be your networking skills that determine just how successful you are, rather than just your talents. Learn the art of making connections with people, and you’ll go far!
