Tips to stay ahead and keep a job in these fast pace times
While catching up on some industry reading over the weekend, the usual “Top 10 X for Y” normally peak a bit of interest. This weekend included a report from PayScale, the “Ten Careers in Demand for 2009” – of course that really peaked my interest.
The usual medical jobs (nurses and technicians), along with some new ones like career counseling or public relations professionals who can handle crisis communications, software developers were also noted to be in the top 10. But with one caveat – software developers who can stay on top of change with the rapid pace we are going through for technology convergence and new device deployments around the world.
So how do you not just accept change as part of your career, but embrace it with everything you do? Here are some tips to stay ahead and keep a job in these fast pace times.
1. Stay On Top Of Industry Research
Stay in tune with new channels for communications, and the particular industry vertical you serve – be it manufacturing, retail, energy or something else. There are many ways to get information now, from the heavy hitting research firms (with heavy hitting prices – ask your company if they have a subscription you can tap into) of Gartner and Forrester, to online data sources like CNET, to individuals who have a passion for blogging on tech, like GigaOm and Guy Kawasaki. (and of course the Webgrrls blog!)
Make it a habit to stay on top of different writers and points of views either by scheduling a daily catch up on your calendar in the morning or evening, or, focus on catching up on the weekend.
2. Write
Volunteer to write white papers for your company, for a reputable provider of content online or your own blog. This will force you to continue to do your homework while getting your name out there for being knowledgeable on the next cutting edge widget.
3. Your Process to Develop Software
How “agile” is your software development process? You don’t have to adopt full blown agile approaches like scrum, but you can modify parts of your process to be more open to change as you learn more about the goals and objectives of a project you are working on. While you may kick off a project today that is due in a year, you may find along the way that there are 4 more devices that are coming out you need to support, and 2 being sunset. So make sure you can, at a minimum, adjust for changes along the way.
How are you planning to embrace change in 2009?
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