Technological advances are nothing new. With the rapid development of information technology, opportunities to work in the IT field are also increasingly wide open. Companies are starting to look for candidates who can create, design, research, and develop hardware and software to make work easier, increase efficiency and productivity. That’s why technology is very good for career paths.
The Use of Digital Technology on Career
The use of digital technology is like a double-edged sword, on the one hand, can be very helpful for one’s career and self-development. On the other hand, it can have a negative impact if its utilization is not properly targeted.
An example of the negative impact of digital technology on one’s career and personal will occur when the internet is used excessively for activities that are not related to self-development.
For example, sharing too much personal stuff on social networks can have a negative impact, especially on personal branding.
This activity can also lead to ‘addiction‘ which of course results in poor personal development.
Many scientific studies show that being actively engaged on Facebook (especially reading and paying attention to your friends’ Facebook content) can lead to depression, especially if you compare yourself to other friends who are more successful, happier, or richer than you. .
Another example, someone who is too active in voicing personal opinions that shows hatred or dislike for certain people or political views, unknowingly damages his own personal branding. As recently happened, someone was petitioned on change.org for his inflammatory tweets or writings without solid evidence or facts.
On the other hand, digital technology also has a positive effect on individual career development. According to Hooley, et al (2010), here are three benefits of digital technology for personal career development:
1. Provider of systematic interaction space
Internet technology allows a person to be able to search and find services that suit his career needs. For example, there are many websites that help job seekers find jobs that match their experience and qualifications.
Another example is the ease of getting career coaching help online, taking online tests to get to know yourself more deeply, or just looking for work-related information to fill time as a freelancer. Online technology also helps develop career learning skills, for example through simulations or interactive games to explore the world of work and study independently.
Participating in this simulation can be a means of communication and building a professional network with other players.
2. As a provider of various unique communication channels
The Internet provides various online channels that facilitate communication and interaction between individuals in the professional world of work. In some cases, online technology can transfer offline practice to online. For example, the use of skype in a job interview.
Utilization of social networking sites such as LinkedIn that make it easier for people to introduce themselves in their professional fields, including facilitating personal branding and providing opportunities to build professional communities and peer support for career development and Facebook and Twitter as social networks that allow us to share the latest activities and information related to career and professional development.
In summary, it can be concluded that an important theme of digital technology is the awareness that the online world is an integral part of one’s life and career in the real world.
The online world cannot be viewed as a parallel world for someone to ‘evacuate’ from reality. But the online world is a reality that is part of our lives and careers. Therefore, its use should be judicious because of its effect on us in the real world.
3. As a ‘library’ and provider of career information
The Internet provides a large-scale source of information for career explorers.
Through the internet, individuals can find good websites that contain information related to their career development needs. For example, through e-learning and e-courses which are currently provided free of charge by top American universities such as MIT, anyone can access them from anywhere in the world and at any time.
Watching videos from TED Talks will also add insight on matters related to our career and personal growth. It’s just a matter of how we can allocate time to be able to take advantage of this opportunity as well as possible.
3 Career Paths in the Technology Industry
1. Employees
Middle class staff or managers
Profit
- Stable income
- Doing more technical work, but meeting less often
- Often close to the end customer
- Manage work hours or work-life balance more flexibly
Challenge
- How much the amount of work is greatly influenced by the quality of management in the office
- Lack of control over what is done
- Have few opportunities to give opinions to influence company decision making
- If you don’t try to improve your skills and lower your performance, you will have a greater chance of being removed from the employee list
Advice for people who want to choose a career as an employee:
- Most have the same pattern with a career as an executive. Because by becoming an employee, you have the choice to join a company that is still growing, or one that is more stable.
2. Executive
Positions such as senior manager or higher in a large company
Profit
- Stable income
- Impression of having a high level of authority (the level of prestige can only be obtained if the founder is classified as very successful)
- Have a greater chance of having a greater impact (considering that startups are more likely to fail)
- No need to build a team and get seed funding when starting
Challenge
- Climbing the career ladder requires a high commitment, generally also related to office politics
- Success can be hindered by others in the organization
- It takes a long time to be successful and also get promoted
Advice for people who want to choose a career as an executive:
- The first option, choose a company that is growing and growing rapidly. If you manage to join the company early, there will be more opportunities for you to take on more responsibilities as the company grows. For example, if you manage to join 100 employees early in Facebook’s development and work for ten years, your chances of becoming an executive will be greater. But of course it is not easy to give trust to a company that may have just been established and it is not possible to predict whether it will continue to grow in the next ten years and beyond.
- The second option, work in a more stable company. Usually the people who successfully occupy executive positions are those who move jobs diagonally (up the career ladder) between several other stable companies. For example, let’s say you started an internship at Google, then worked in the same place, moved to Dropbox as a team leader, and moved again to another company to a higher level.
3. Founder
Profit
- Can do anything you like
- Because it has a high responsibility, can have an impact on increasing productivity which is also high
- Can choose and manage own work team
- In general, they have the skills to be able to learn new things quickly and can adapt to situations quickly
Challenge
- Stress prone
- Responsible for the ‘life’ of many people
- When starting it feels very heavy, especially in terms of finances, skills, or connections that must be built
- To be able to improve requires high commitment plus patience with time
Advice for people who want to choose a career as a founder:
- Identify potential people to work with as team members
- Study the financial plan. Then check the source of the initial capital, whether it can bootstrap. Or for example, do you have friends or family who can support the start-up funding, and so on.
- Identify the main problem and the solutions that can be offered
Of the three roles and career path choices as founder, executive, or employee, whichever you choose and work on, do the best you can.
Because every thing that is done with full responsibility, will have a big impact, be it for self-development, a better career path, to provide benefits for many people.
9 Technology Jobs with Good Career Path
1. Database Administrator
Database administrators are responsible for designing, maintaining, and improving an organization’s database.
They are also tasked with making certain settings so that user data is easily accessible. To perform this task, a database administrator must be familiar with the language commonly known as data manipulation and understand the principles of database design.
Not all IT workers have to deal with computers. A database administrator will have more opportunities to work with many people and many projects.
The challenge faced by a database administrator is having to keep the database from being damaged. The global salary earned by people working as database administrators is $77,080 per year.
2. Software Developer
A software developer IT staff whose job it is to research, design, implement, and test software and systems.
In the era of information technology that is growing rapidly as it is today, a job as a software developer is certainly needed.
Almost all companies today use software systems. This is what makes a software developer able to work in various industries such as the tourism, entertainment, health, media, or retail industries.
The challenge that must be faced by a software developer is a very large work deadline. The average global salary earned by a software developer is about $92,660 per year.
3. Systems Analyst
Act as an intermediary between the business people and the IT team. A systems analyst will determine user requirements and develop solutions to increase efficiency and productivity. Unlike hardware engineers, systems analysts have flexible workflows. Not only doing routines, they also have to meet a lot of people involved in the project.
A systems analyst will examine the existing system or business model, then analyze the system requirements. Then they will develop the product, implement, and test the solution in the system. The global salary of a systems analyst is $79,680 per year.
4. Hardware Engineer
His job is to configure computer hardware and design the layout of computer equipment to increase efficiency. The advantage of pursuing this profession is having the opportunity to work with the latest technology.
This job is a monotonous job, so hardware engineers will feel bored with their routine. But it will be suitable for those of you who are happy with a definite routine. The global salary of a hardware engineer is $100,920 per year.
5. Web Developer
Web developers are people who learn languages. But not human language, but programming language. It’s not that they can’t speak human language, it’s just that it’s a must for them as web developers to be able to create applications on the web.
In general, a web developer has flexible working hours. The work they do seems endless, so it is only natural that the company provides flexible time for them to complete deadlines. The global salary earned by a web developer is 62,500 dollars per year.
6. Network Architect
As the name implies, network architects do things related to networks, such as designing, building and testing communication networks. Network architects are needed in many places, because currently many agencies are adding facilities such as wifi in the office.
Becoming a network architect is a long journey because most companies will look for candidates who already have a certificate. The global salary earned is 91,000 dollars per year.
7. IT Support
Assigned to provide IT technical assistance for the company. IT support is also flexible, as it works in a fairly common field in IT.
These jobs take time to be available whenever the company needs help. Suitable for those of you who are good at managing time for both personal and corporate purposes. The average global salary earned is $48,900 per year.
8. Information Security Analyst
Information security analysts are responsible for developing security systems to protect corporate networks and systems.
This job provides many opportunities, because developing technology will trigger cybercrime to also develop. This work demands to keep up to date with cyber attack methods and develop other methods to combat them. global salary earned is $86,170 per year.
9. System Manager
Serves as a planner, coordinator, and directs what kind of technology can be used, which is in accordance with the company’s activities. Manager positions include top positions that allow you to manage the company as a whole.
Like all managerial positions, higher level positions will usually require more time, requiring you to work overtime, for example. However, the salary received is also in accordance with his hard work, which is 120,950 dollars per year.
Conclusion
That’s the explanation above about the career path in technology. Technology will develop rapidly from time to time, therefore don’t hesitate if you want to have a career in technology. It takes hard work and continuous learning in this area of technology.
