{"id":101,"date":"2011-02-16T13:49:29","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T20:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gogotraining.com\/blog\/?p=101"},"modified":"2011-03-08T14:00:40","modified_gmt":"2011-03-08T21:00:40","slug":"4-ways-to-keep-your-it-job-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gogotraining.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/4-ways-to-keep-your-it-job-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Ways to Keep Your IT Job this Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there was ever a time to do an awareness check on your situation and make sure your career \u2013 and employment \u2013 is in the \u201csafe and moving forward\u201d zone, it is now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this economy\u201d has become the preamble to all sorts of reminders of good advice on how to survive and thrive.\u00a0 Let this be another one!\u00a0 With that said, here\u2019s four ways to keep your job and maybe even do a little advancing this year:<\/p>\n

Dust off your communication skills.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s time to start speaking up in those horrifying status meetings.\u00a0 A sure sign of being overlooked by management is to glaze over like a donut in the back of the room while they drone on about what features are being pushed to phase two.\u00a0 Ask questions, make suggestions, and bring new ideas.\u00a0 It matters less what you say and more that you try.\u00a0 Trying gets noticed, and the noticed get remembered.<\/p>\n

Improve your visibility.<\/strong>\u00a0 Meet and converse regularly with the key decision makers in your department.\u00a0 Ask your boss how else you can help.\u00a0 Keep your ears out for opportunities to pitch in on other projects.\u00a0 Keep the project manager updated on your status.\u00a0 Be positive in all interactions while you\u2019re at it.<\/p>\n

Ask for feedback \u2013 and use it.<\/strong>\u00a0 Ask your project manager and\/or boss how you\u2019re doing.\u00a0 Ask what can be improved or what skill sets your department needs to sharpen or gain.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not sure how to obtain those skills, ask for training.\u00a0 Even if you are sure, ask for training.\u00a0 If you get feedback of a personal nature, do your best to make the changes suggested (or implied).\u00a0 Overall, it is important to show that you are acting on feedback instead of just soliciting it.<\/p>\n

Continually educate yourself.<\/strong>\u00a0 Start by making sure you are staying current in you field.\u00a0 It could be as simple as attending the right conference and taking a few online courses each year to stay up on trends and keep sharp on new industry developments.<\/p>\n

Next, look to add to your skills.\u00a0 A great way to add texture to your skill set is by obtaining project management skills.\u00a0 The new protocol in IT as of 2011 is to diminish costs and increase efficiency, and producers who are trained in project management are sure bets on how to do that.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because chances are high that a project could be taken on by as little as one to three people and there aren\u2019t enough project managers to be had for such small teams.\u00a0 If you\u2019re a hardware or development geek who was just handed a two-week or two-month project to work on you need to be your own project manager \u2013 and you better know how to do it well.<\/p>\n

GogoTraining can help<\/strong> with a catalog of over 140 outstanding IT training courses<\/a> and a free\u00a0library of podcasts regarding IT topics<\/a> (with over 500 entries).\u00a0 Some particularly hot areas include:<\/p>\n