Could someone Give me Career Advancement Strategies in Tech Industry?

Question

Hello there,I'm currently navigating my career path in the tech industry and looking to gather insights from fellow professionals who have successfully advanced in their careers.I'm particularly interested in learning about the strategies and tactics individuals have employed to progress within their roles, whether it's climbing the corporate ladder, transitioning to leadership positions, or carving out niche expertise.Some specific questions I have in mind include:What steps did you take to advance from your entry-level position to where you are now?https://cloudmize.medium.com/strategies-for-tech-career-growth-in-the-rapidly-evolving-technology-industry-40f13815426ainfoHow did you approach skill development and continuous learning throughout your career journey?Have you encountered any significant challenges or roadblocks along the way, and if so, how did you overcome them?What advice would you give to someone who is early in their career and aiming for growth and advancement in the tech industry?I believe sharing experiences and insights can greatly benefit everyone in the community, especially those who are aspiring to progress in their careers. I'm eager to hear your stories and learn from your experiences.

madscience · Accepted Answer

My biggest advice for career growth, especially for early career folks, is to get as much exposure as you can to different business units and teams. Learn how everything operates as a whole and how the teams interact with each other, so you can get a stronger sense of where the important teams are, what they bring to the table, etc. so you can focus on doing something similar.

keanureeves · Answer

Be eager for work and take ownership of the projects you complete. When you find problems, come up with solutions before presenting the problem to your boss. You want to become a go-to person.Use extra time you get from completing projects quickly wisely. Sometimes you genuinely need a break - don't overwork yourself to burnout. Other times though you can use the time to advance skillets with online courses or by getting more familiar with the code base. Advocate for yourself. Even if you deserve to be promoted or given a raise, people don't usually just hand them out. Keep a note and add your bigger achievements/completed projects to it as soon as they're done. Specific metrics are golden if you can back them up with data. Think "saved company ($X, Y% processing time/man hours) by improving Z workflow in ZZ ways". "On time and under budget". Etc. When the time comes for performance reviews, you'll have some good stuff to write down. Performance reviews are your opportunity to have good feedback written down and immortalized. If you have the opportunity to write a review for yourself, spend time on that and boast as much as you can while still keeping it a reasonable length. Have regular meetings with your manager and keep them informed on your progress and successes. Everyone knows you're working but they won't know details unless you tell them. Timing is a key factor as well. If someone leaves, there's an opportunity. If the company is relying on a big project you're working on, you have a bit more leverage. If you want to have a conversation about a raise or promotion with your boss, make sure it's after a big win/successful project completions. You never want to go in with just "I want more money because I think I deserve it" with nothing to back it up. While I don't personally have experience with this, many people will stay at a company 2ish years and then jump to the next for a pay bump. That's fine to do early in career but after doing that for 3-4+ times hiring managers might start to think you won't stay long enough to be worth hiring. It normally takes about a year for new hires to really get their footing both in the company and the code base.

Jookim · Answer

I sacrificed a whole year and saved the company about $1 million a year in cloud costs. My pay now is 25% more than before I embarked on it. Find your niche and add value, and make some noise about it while you do it.

bob123345678 · Answer

Yeah, try to learn everything you can. Look for things that other people are neglecting that managers want and get good at those things. Also identify the areas that are in need. If you see that some people doing similar things to you with slightly different titles are getting paid more for the same work, then move in that direction, especially if it interests you. For example I moved from bioinformatics to “computational biology” and later from that to ML based on this, and so far that’s worked out. Each time the move involved slightly different responsibilities or areas of focus but they all overlapped significantly. Another less comfortable thing is changing companies. I have friends who changed companies every 1-3 years. I spent my first 5 years in one place, then 3 years in my next, then 1 year each in my next two. Every switch I used to negotiate something that would benefit me in my career including responsibilities that I knew were valuable (ML in my case), pay raises, and title bumps. The thing is that it’s generally MUCH easier to negotiate a better title, a pay raise, etc when you are applying for a job that is in need than if you’re a current employee somewhere. You see this often. Sometimes people even leave a company they like to get a job that’s in line with a career move they want somewhere else, spend a year or so with that title there, and then come back with that new title! I bet you it would have taken 3 years of hard work to get the same advancement otherwise. Another benefit to going to new companies is that you learn new ways of doing things, and you pick up patterns and skills very quickly this way. I am planning on taking a break from this company hopping at the moment though. It’s exhausting, and I like my current company/job.

Could someone Give me Career Advancement Strategies in Tech Industry?

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