It takes more than just tech skills
The way I see it, in the tech world, there are three career paths to choose: either you remain as a techie for the rest of your life, move up to the management, or as an entrepreneur. If you’re a filthy rich, dang, you can start with earning big bucks as long as you have good business concepts. But wait, that’s not the end of the story. You can still attend your regular day time job while working on your freelance or other tasks to earn extra decent income.
Yes, reamining as a techie may not save your ass. To firmly establish your career and obtain financial security, you need more than just tech skills.
Yes, I’ve gone through a lot of odd jobs. Working as a part-time instructor at night, maintaining two internet cafes as network administrator and pc technician, doing freelance website designing with my team and recently jumping to a new venture on Food Business Consultancy with an old friend whom I believe is a great potential as a biz partner.
With my new job as IT Security Monitoring Engineer, I have three to four days as my day-off. I admit that there are times that I complain because I easily get bored or let’s say I need more challenging job. But instead of complaining, I make most of my time as productive as possible in my work. And yes, I got a good tap on my shoulder from my boss for a job well done. I like that compliment because it helps to motivate me. Having three to four days as my day-off at work help me to attend my other tasks and one of which is to work on my other freelance jobs and finalizing my other venture on Food Business Consultancy.
Below are some "soft-skills" that will help you one way or another:
a) Communication - You know how to talk in layman’s term. Your idea is useless if you don’t know how to convey your message across to your boss, ordinary users or to your customers.
b) Teamwork - I admit I like to work all by myself but it’s not a good idea. I need my team to deliver the goods. I need to trust them that they are capable of doing things at the right time and at the right place. I need people whom I can considered as a team. Oh boy, sometimes, I need to use any forms of divination (Tarot Cards, Runes, Astrology) to investigate an individual if he’s worth as a team member. Believe it or not, I did this a couple of times and it worked. LOL.
c) Leadership - Your ability to motivate others to excel and reach their goal. You work with them and supervise. Win-win solution.
d) Organization - If you know how to organize your working table and your room, then you’re a good organizer. LOL. The same analogy. If you know how to put things in order then you can work with your team and finish things fast.
One may ask of how I got to know these people who became my partners? The answer is easy, you go out and network with friends.
All the best for 2007!
