Tech Careers for Half the World

Can women have successful careers in the tech world? The Economic Survey 2014-15 says the IT and ITeS sector including Business Process Management (BPM), continues to be one of the largest employers in the country, directly employing nearly 35 lakh people. This sector will continue to thrive. Software products and services revenues for 2015-16 are projected to grow at 12-14 per cent. Women need to be a part of this growth trajectory.

Technology Careers

Every business is now beginning to become a technology and data business. A sector like e-commerce is expected to grow at 50% in the next five years. The online retailers generate terabytes of data every day and need to build data science capabilities that can help them sell better. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will continue to have the most opportunities. Women techies should make active plans to build successful careers.

Computational Thinking

Increasingly the line between what makes men successful also applies to women. In technology there is a constant need to upgrade one’s skills. People will need to stop depending on their employers and leverage the resources available on the net to upgrade their technical skills. Coding is becoming a skill as basic as reading and writing. The founders of the biggest tech firms still tinker around with the code on their sites. Mark Zuckerberg and Sergei Brin can still write code. Coding teaches you Computational thinking – a combination of mathematics, logic and algorithms. It teaches you a new way to think about the world.

External Thinking

Stay tuned to what is happening in the world. As McKinsey & Co says, “Arising primarily from social media, weak signals from the external environment represent snippets—not streams—of information and can help companies to figure out what customers want and to spot looming industry and market disruptions before competitors do.” Leverage social media to know the latest trends and to also establish your credentials as a thought leader. Blogs can be used for learning from others and facilitating connections among people.

Sell Your Ideas

If you have not read Daniel Pink’s book To Sell Is Human, you should. He argues that ‘moving’ people (i.e., selling, but also persuading or influencing) has become an essential component of nearly everyone’s job in the modern workplace. Everyone is in sales, says Pink “Whether we’re employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, we spend our days trying to move others. Like it or not, we’re all in sales now.”

Build a Network

The ability to tap into a diverse network gives people the access to tap into a new range of world views. Expertise is getting more specialized but business opportunities are increasingly being seen at intersection points of two different sectors. When you trade information with people whose have a set of skills different from your own, together it is possible to create unique products and services. The more trust exists among the members of a network, the more ideas get shared freely and more valuable it is.

Design Capability

Apple is a company that has showcased the power of the designer. It has sold one and a half billion things designed by Jony Ive. The minimalist yet instinctive design combination has created one of the most successful companies the world has ever seen. Their $178 billion cash reserve is much more than twice the amount of cash that the US government has. Designers need to constantly know how changes in the world are affecting the consumers or customers. Technology has to be cool and have a pull factor.

Tech careers are increasingly about people who can build these skills. It is a sector that will be at the heart of all innovation and growth across industries. Women make up half the world and have to claim their share through tech careers

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