How to succeed in business


One of IT leaders, CIO and executive vice president for customer operations of Direct Energy (Toronto) told us several interesting facts about his education, mentoring and career success.

Considering new knowledge, further education, advanced technologies development and implementation, I have always tried to keep up. Of course, it's difficult to cope with all the information and news coming regularly, but I believe it's very important and I made much effort to achieve the goal. And of course I wanted to show my knowledge, to apply to practice my skills and finally get career success.

But there's a huge problem there. When a new project is coming up, it's unlikely to give it to a young ambitious man who's clever enough but nobody knows if he has all the experience needed. In other words, who can trust me? If one tries to impose himself on others to be assigned on some position, it looks like he's a boaster and career climber. Such a person can easily be dismissed later. But you can go another way. To demonstrate your knowledge and skills, and sometimes your experience, you can write about your work in your own blog or comment on some online projects. Sometimes it's useful to start as a volunteer of some interesting project. This enables you to prove yourself as a reliable and professional employee. In addition you get an excellent opportunity of self-promotion!

Also I need to mention adaptability. In my view it's the main feature of IT professional especially actual in time of economic downturn. You should always be opened to changes and either use new skills or renew old ones. That's because a lot of companies are being restructured and they are looking for people who can do different things and who can easily adapt to new activities. Open mind and enthusiastic attitude are the best here. Employers will be happy to work with you. But at the same time whatever happens, don't forget to keep the track of events - keep your diploma and additional certifications up to date and keep reviewing tech sites, reading tech forums, etc., even if you need to spend your own time doing that.