Soft skills to take your IT career to the next level

The IT sector is one that is forecast by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), to increase by 25% between 2021 and 2031, leaps ahead of other occupations. To grow in information technology, you need a balanced skillset – the technical and creative side coupled with essential soft skills. Let’s look at the skills that will make you stand out and move up the IT ladder.

The IT industry and its many careers

If you are new to the industry or considering a job within the IT sector, you have many career options to choose from. Just like the set of skills you'll need, the industry is diverse. It doesn’t matter what your specific area of interest is, you have a number of careers to consider: Some of the most popular IT positions include:

o ? Support Specialist

o ? Web Developer

o ? Systems Analyst

o ? Network or Software Engineer

o ? User Experience Designer

o ? Database Administrator

Top skills needed to make it in the IT Industry

At the core of any IT job lies technical skills. This can be programming, coding, or network administration. These are hard skills. However, these aren’t the only skills that you will need to advance in your field. You also need soft skills, like leadership, communication, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and teamwork, to name a few. The most sought-after candidate for a higher position has a healthy combination of both.

Technical skills

Technical skills, or hard skills in some circles, look different for every sector. These are the quantifiable skills that are self-taught or learned through school. They can be measured. You either know how to write or you can’t. Below are some of the prominent technical skills for the IT industry:

o ? Analytics

o ? Cybersecurity

o ? Robotic Process Automation

o ? Cloud computing and blockchain

o ? Project management

o ? Mechanical maintenance

o ? Video and audio production

Soft skills

Soft skills are interpersonal skills that help you perform your job better. They relate to how well you can work with your team and help you fit in. We’ve listed a few of the top-rated soft skills you need in IT:

o ? Communication skills

o ? Teamwork

o? ?Leadership

o ? Creativity

o ? Organisational skills

No one skill is learned once and is mastered. Skills require practice and this is best learned on the job.

How to prepare for your IT promotion

It’s one thing to know you want a promotion and advance your career. It’s another thing altogether what exactly you want your career and development to look like, minus the higher paycheck.

• Set career goals. Determine what you want to gain from the next stage in your career. Is there a new technology you want to master or a new platform you want to explore?
• Explore the roles, responsibilities, and competencies that come from your desired role and the one above it. This will give you some insight into what you need to know, what skills are needed, and therefore what you need to achieve to get there.
• Have a conversation with your manager. This is not easy to do for various reasons. You don’t want your manager to think you’re just after money or a way out the door. But this serves to inform your manager that you’re interested in growing and they can help by directing you to opportunities within the company on how to do this. You’ll not only gain new experience which will be valuable down the line, but your company will benefit from your growing skillset and your interest.
• Keep learning. Be intentional about learning and developing your skills. Sign up for a range of courses, free on Alison.

It’s a growing industry and skilled employees will be in demand. The key thing to remember is to not stop learning. Don’t get left behind. There are always new programming languages, tools and processes you can master to empower yourself and have the IT career you always envisioned.