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Don't neglect career management

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by debate

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What steps do you take to enhance your career? Do you keep your resume updated and check out job listings? Share your comments about making career management part of your job, as discussed in the Dec. 2 Government IT e-newsletter.

If you haven't subscribed to our free Government IT e-newsletter, sign up today!
http://nl.com.com/acct_mgmt.jsp?brand=techrepublic

7 replies

by mbintl

Specially in IT if you don't do that you might be loosing the best opporunities. I always keep my resume updated online and manage my career on a daily basis to make sure I'm learning the skills that the market values and moving in the direction I want and not necessarily that the company wants. Most of the time you can do a great job, exceed the company's expectations about you and still continue to grow in the direction you want.

by a z a d

To begin with I want to say thank you for giving such sound advice Mr. Padilla.

I started working full time for a non-profit organizationa about 6 months ago right out college with my Bachelor's in IS. Initailly, it was an uphill battle to learn the tricks of the trade and different functions of the job. With starting a new job and trying to do the best you can to help your co-workers becomes time consuming to the extent that you become shortsighted. I mean it is a fairly new job so there are still things to be learned but what exactly is still the question.

After reading your article, I realized the same about myself. I will definetly keep in mind what you have suggested. Would you please share more specific things that you did, while still being employed, to stay current with technology? I'd appreciate it.

Thank you once again.

Best regards,

Jay

by Member 26324356

Jay/AZAD, if you're reading TechRepublic, you're on the right path. TR has a wealth of resources and it will help keep you headed in the right direction. I think it is so valuable that I just added TechRepublic membership to my resume.

At my last job, we were able to modify my schedule to allow me to go to a UNIX class at a local junior college. I didn't use the tuition reimbursement program b/c the class cost less than $100 (including books!), but your company may even pay for your class. After I finished, I put together a brief summary and taught my boss and my colleagues a few tricks and basic commands. (Note to UNIX instructors: save the UNIX talk and write commands until the end of class.)

At my current job, I volunteer for special projects with new technologies. We developed a wireless software a couple years back, so I've gotten a lot of hands on experience. Also, studying wireless publications benefits both me and my company.

During lunch or after hours, I've also passed some free Brainbench certs. Good luck!

by bsitcm

Last year, the IT Support Services contract to a local government agency that I work on suffered a forced lay-off. We lost 11 of 50 employees. Only two of the eleven have found employment. Their experiences coincide exactly with Mr. Padilla. Repeatedly they have been told that although they have the experience, they don't appear to have kept up with the technical training required by their professions. Luckily, the state has paid for many of them to update their training and even retrain into lateral careers.
It was an eye-opener to all of us still employed to update and keep updated our resumes and push for training to keep our skills current.

by warreny

Do we need to update our skills and train oursevles on our profession indepth, or do we need to broaden our skills such as financial knowledge, business consulting or management skills?

by lchill

Early last year (2003) I downloaded an article on resume upgrades from a TechRepublic e-mail which included "before and after" resumes and cover letters. I printed most of them and studied them. My resume looked very much "before", so I revamped it. The result even impressed me! I did get a new position and a 40% raise. Sorry, I don't remember the name or date of the e-mail.

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