Starting a career in technology is a big deal, and an exciting step to take. But being under equipped for the challenge could ruin the journey.
Whether you're starting through a university course, a university placement, an apprenticeship, on the job training or through self taught means, we’ve compiled a list of what we consider to be the “must have” skills and qualities that you'd need.
Imagine you land your dream job in the technology sector and arrive on your first day, but half the team weren’t expecting a new starter, your desk is covered with someone's paperwork, and on your first call with a long-term client they ask “who’s this?”. Not a good first impression.
You expect good communication from your fellow colleagues, and so you can bet that they expect it from you too. Communication holds such a high level of importance within internal teams and also when working with clients. Being clear in your messaging and listening carefully makes for top notch communication.
In most roles you can expect to be interacting with staff members inside and outside of the department you work in and, in some roles, you may also be communicating directly with clients. Talking in a friendly manner and having good customer service skills is incredibly important when establishing trust and building lasting relationships.
Successfully analysing problems and narrowing down possible solutions is arguably the most valuable skill to obtain. Clients often expect fast fixes to outages and performance issues, so problem solving in a timely manner is essential.
These skills can be developed in many different ways. The easiest way to demonstrate them is experience in the field. It’s a good idea to complete online courses, and even have a go creating your own portfolio of relevant projects.
Teams collaborating together effectively is crucial for businesses within this sector, through developing software and troubleshooting systems. Teams that have members who feel undervalued and overworked, will find that their staff begin to disengage and they will struggle as a result of this.
Teams that are successful, utilise each member's strengths to achieve goals while also addressing members weaknesses in supportive environments where individuals feel empowered to share ideas.
Going to work with attention to detail is like going camping in the woods with a multitool; you will find a use for it in no time.
Rushing through tasks just to mark them as “done” on your to-do list and then later realising that something within the code is broken isn’t fun for anyone. Paying attention to the small things will help you steer clear of easy mistakes, like missing a semi colon in your code. Just that one missing colon can ruin the whole piece of code, and cost you hours of debugging.
Creativity is the nucleus of the essential traits; and it’s found its space within each skill. Let out your creative side through suggesting complex ideas and solutions and work out ways to achieve them. Why not also use your coding knowledge to create something new in your own time? This sort of activity demonstrates a passion for tech and will show employers you're ready to start a successful career.
Having the right attitude is half of it. Approach problems with a can-do attitude and you'll reap the benefits. You’ll see that your team responds well and they will believe in you to take on more complex tasks, which will develop your skills massively. Your team will enjoy having you around because you show up and try your best.
It’s a given that there will be things you won’t know how to do and will need to be taught, perhaps several times, but having a positive outlook will help you massively and you'll learn tons more than if you accept defeat.
Whilst there’s no denying that certain characteristics and skills are more useful than others, having a well rounded set of skills will be the biggest factor setting you up for success.
If you're looking to start your journey within the technology sector, check out our Careers Page to see the roles we are currently hiring for.
Consider creating an online portfolio of your relevant work to show future employers. Also consider joining Github to join in conversations regarding work in the field. We’ve compiled a list of useful courses for different roles in tech. Why not kickstart your career today?
Deep Dive Into Modern Web Development - Full Stack Open
Foundations - The Odin Project
Responsive web design - freecodecamp
Traversy media - youtube channel