Red Pill or Blue Pill series: get on the driver’s seat

$ Operator. I need an exit! Fast!

Unlocking tech talent stories

May 29, 2017

I’m glad to know that you’re still following us and our tumbling down the rabbit-hole. It’s been almost three years of this incredible journey called Landing.jobs where we’ve had the opportunity to coach and mentor closely hundreds of candidates into their next step. We’d love to leave you with five key advices on how to better manage your tech career:

  1. Seek mentorship. Approach highly skilled professionals that have walked that road before. They’ve been doing what you do for 10–15 years, and doing it well. Nonetheless, they’re bound to have made a lot of mistakes down the path upon which you’re embarking. Why not cut corners and learn from them. How to go from career point A to career point B, and how to take the smartcuts that will allow you to growth hack your career? Not to mention they can be helpful Keymakers for the future, when it comes to opening doors.
  2. Get your self brand out there. Most tech professionals are a bit introverts but that shouldn’t stop you from being viewed as an authority on that thing you do professionally! As you build expertise, you will largely benefit if you begin a regular habit of making people aware of your passion for and knowledge of your particular field. Take a chance and go social: leverage tools like LinkedIn, Medium, or even Facebook, to post articles, pose questions, and share news about what you’re doing. “It is not enough for the wife of Caesar to be honest, she must also appear to be.” — To be a master at your craft you need to be perceived as such.
  3. Be thirsty for knowledge. It doesn’t matter if you have 5, 10 or 15 years of experience, you need to put your actions where your words are. It’s not enough to think you’re skilled, you actually need to know and prove you are. Be at the top of your game: always be learning, growing and updating your knowledge. There’s a lot of free resources out there like Coursera, Udemy, Codecademy, and many others. You could even get together with a group of friends and enrol in a hackathon. Just don’t allow yourself to get stuck in a plateau. Pick your next step always bearing in mind that whatever you are doing today, you probably won’t be doing tomorrow.
  4. Networking, it’s also about people. Get yourself out there. Staying top of mind is half the battle for all of us as professionals. Start early, and stay on people’s radar as one who knows your stuff and loves what you do. Why? Because people just might think of you first when great opportunities related to your area of expertise come their way. We’re all human, and there’s nothing more enjoyable in life than working with friends.
  5. Be humble. Such a powerful construct, yet, so simple. Do us all a favour and just check your ego at the door. In a world where tech professionals truly are the new rock stars, it is not uncommon to witness or experience the “prima donna effect.” Nothing good can come out of a team where ego is leading the charge. Be assertive, take and share credit but above all be humble. Your hard skills will get you to the door but your soft ones will get you through it.

We’re getting closer to the end of the first part of our Red Pill and Blue Pill series but before wrapping it up we still have a final chapter to share with you.

RPBP - Script 4

> Continue down the rabbit hole? [who is your reflection in the mirror]

> Rollback to previous post? [don’t get stuck in a plateau]

0 Comments
Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Share This