How to Level Up Your IT Career Through Networking
By Lumify Learn Team | September 16, 2024
To have a prosperous and fulfilling career in the IT industry, you need to have the right skills, talent, work ethic, and continuous learning. However, there’s another essential ingredient for IT career success: networking.
What is Networking?
Networking (not to be confused with computer networking) is the act of making connections and developing relationships with other people.
By forging strong ties, you can get useful career advice and mentorship, which can help you better make informed decisions. You might also find unadvertised jobs or internships that can help you gain valuable experience in your chosen field.
How Can You Build Your Professional Network?
According to the 2023 Skills Priority List, 36% of assessed occupations in Australia are experiencing shortage, with significant gaps in various IT roles. This highlights the significance of networking when it comes to uncovering new job opportunities and advancing your career.
Let’s take a look at some ways you can develop your professional network to bolster your IT career:
1. Online Networking
There are various online services that you can take advantage of to connect with people in your field.
LinkedIn: Create a professional profile that highlights your skills, experiences, and achievements, and join IT-related groups.
GitHub: Demonstrate your coding skills by maintaining repositories of your projects and contributing to open-source initiatives. You can follow other developers and repositories that interest you as well.
Stack Overflow: Provide answers to questions in your area of expertise, which helps you build a reputation and connect with others seeking help. You can also create a detailed profile that features your contributions and skills.
Joining online forums and discussion groups is also a great way to network online. This allows you to gain access to valuable information, advice, and support from a community of like-minded IT professionals.
2. Attend Industry Events
If you’re looking to meet IT professionals in person, why not join conferences, seminars, or workshops? These events typically have networking sessions where you can discuss industry trends, share insights, explore collaboration opportunities, and exchange contact information.
By attending these events, you can stay updated with the latest technological developments and provide opportunities for career growth.
3. Volunteer and Give Back
Volunteering can significantly help boost your IT career as well, as it allows you to develop and refine your technical and soft skills. On top of this, it also boosts your confidence by enabling you to apply your skills in real-world scenarios. Volunteering can even enhance your professional resume.
So when you have some time, why not offer to build or update a website for a local non-profit organisation? Or maybe teach coding or basic computer skills at a community centre or school? No matter the volunteer work you choose, you can be sure that you’ll be making a meaningful impact while also advancing your career.
How Can You Maintain Strong Professional Relationships?
Networking isn’t just about talking about the industry, exchanging business cards, or adding new connections on social media. It’s also just as important to maintain a good relationship with the people you met. Try the following, for example:
1. Stay in Touch
The ultimate goal of networking is to develop and nurture professional relationships. So after your initial interaction with an IT professional, make sure to maintain consistent communication with them to keep your connections active and engaged. This could be something like updating them occasionally about your projects or simply checking in to see how they are doing.
The people you meet from networking are probably people who have similar goals as you, so it’s possible for these connections to eventually turn into lifelong friendships.
2. Offer Value
Sharing is caring, and this also rings true when it comes to your connections. Provide value to your fellow IT professionals by sharing useful information from articles and webinars or referring them to other professionals who might be useful to them. Offer assistance as well with their challenges or projects, even if it’s just providing advice or moral support.
Lastly, remember to support your connections’ achievements and offer them encouragement during difficult times. By doing these things, you strengthen your relationships with your connections and position yourself as a valuable resource.
3. Ask for Help
Sometimes, things in our career may not go as well as we expected, and we may not know the best way forward. During these times, remember that it’s perfectly okay to ask for help from your connections.
For instance, if you can’t figure out how to fix a bug in your code, you can reach out to a fellow programmer and see if they can help. Or if you’re struggling to understand new technology, you can ask someone in your network who has experience with it for guidance.
How to Level Up Your IT Career and How Lumify Learn Can Help
Building strong professional relationships through networking is just one part of bolstering your IT career. Here are some strategies to try:
Set clear goals: Define your career objectives and make sure that they are SMART:
Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve, and the steps needed to get there.
Measurable: Make sure your goals are measurable so you can easily track your progress and know when you’ve accomplished them.
Achievable: Your objective must be something that you can reasonably attain.
Relevant: The goal must be meaningful for your career.
Time-bound: Your goal should have a set deadline to create a sense of urgency and accountability.
Develop your soft skills: Aside from technical skills, the tech industry also values soft skills like communication, compassion, time management, and problem solving. Those who demonstrate a good combination of technical and soft skills often become more in-demand to companies.
Seek mentorship: A mentor can provide support and advice throughout your career. Join conferences and other events to find those who can share their experiences and help you navigate your career goals.
Another great way to level up your career is to take IT-related courses. Fortunately, Lumify Learn offers industry-aligned and nationally accredited courses, and a range of vendor-endorsed boot camp programs in the following fields:
Our courses are delivered by our expert trainers and mentors 100% online. This means you can take your classes around your personal and professional commitments. And once you complete your program, you can join our Lumify Edge program where we will help you develop your professional brand and connect with employers looking to hire IT pros.
Ready to network and improve your IT skills? Enquire on a course today.
