3 Underrated Skills That Can Take Your IT Career to the Next Level

Ever feel that your career trajectory is not following your knowledge trajectory? Maybe you need to beef up your soft skill competencies.

Yes, you have the basics – communication, time-management, and teamwork – in place. (All those HR department trainings haven’t gone waste – right?) However, you need to cultivate three other critical attributes to get ahead in your IT career.

1. Curiosity

   Research studies show that a high level of constant curiosity for your field of work takes you far in your career. Tech is no exception to the rule.

   The best IT workers are often motivated by an innate sense of curiosity. They want to know what lies behind the hood, how things work. They are keen to learn new skills and are strong at critical thinking. These are valuable qualities at the workplace.

   So, feed your curiosity, in the professional sense, of course. Ask questions, be open, and actively seek learning.

2. Creativity

   Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg … all the tech greats are hailed as creative geniuses. They transcended the traditional ways of thinking or acting, to develop new and original ideas, methods, and objects.You would do well to emulate their example. While your groundbreaking innovation may still lie a little ahead in the future, by thinking outside the box and using your tech knowledge creatively, you may be able to find new solutions for your organization’s needs. Ergo, workplace presence established.

   Now, there is no one-size-fits-all recipe for boosting creativity. However, some strategies you could use are asking what-if questions, making conscious time for creative thinking, reading more, discussing more, and using parallels from different spheres to do problem-solving at work.

3. Analytical Ability

   An IT professional is expected to be adept at finding logical solutions to problems. Analytical abilities give you a huge edge here. Recruiters understand this and are looking for candidates who can observe, collect, and interpret information to solve problems and take better decisions.The good news is that the IT workspace provides you several opportunities to deliberately exercise and improve your analytical skills on a daily basis. Working with data? Consider multiple interpretations, especially opposing viewpoints, before arriving at a hypothesis. Question your assumptions and ask others for their opinions.

   At a personal level, you may want to dig out that old chessboard or maybe just play Sudoku. Brainteasers and games get those analytical juices flowing. Signing up for an online analytics course is an option too.

 

Curiosity, creativity, and analytical ability leveraged together will give you the problem-solving and critical thinking edge that organizations seek in employees today. Put in the time and effort required to hone these skills. They just might provide the boost your career needs.