When done thoughtfully and with intent, career planning helps young professionals take proactive measures to enhance their skills and fulfil their career aspirations, and ensures organisations stay competitive says Anene Britz, Talent Manager at Dariel Software.
Successful career planning isn’t just about weighing up qualifications and hard skills, it’s also about soft skills, the practical realities within a working environment, and how people can be supported in managing their career wellbeing alongside their mental wellbeing. Personal brand is a crucial, less discussed aspect of personal and professional development: This is how a professional wants to be perceived by the team. What strengths make you the ’go-to-guy’ in your team and how can you leverage this to give you exposure to new opportunities in your career?
From a Dariel Software perspective, our approach to career planning is informed by over 21 years’ worth of research into exactly how career development within a software space works. We observe every phase of a person’s career in a holistic manner. We follow a holistic approach when it comes to career development. We consider technical and job skills, soft skills and career aspirations. This is used to determine where someone is in their career at present and what skills are needed to achieve the growth they’re looking for. We then take practical steps to assist, whether that’s through coaching, experience or training.
The aim is always to consider how we can help our teams be future-proof and ready for the next interesting project.
Career development and reskilling
Career development and reskilling are integral to succession planning, aiding not only individuals on their journey toward promotions but also allowing businesses to mitigate risk. While skills development is a potent tool for retention, it should not be viewed as a universal remedy. Here, there are two distinct trajectories. On one hand, upskilling and personal development ensures that businesses remain profitable, facilitate succession planning, and minimise the risk of preventable, regrettable losses, while building staff credibility. On the other hand, for employees, these strategies ensure the attainment of personal goals, help carve out a niche as a thought leader in their chosen industry and bolster their marketability. These principles hold true not just for tech companies but are applicable to all businesses across various sectors. Ensuring that people are happy and supported is a wonderful way to boost retention – a top priority for any business in the tech environment. But there’s also a clear financial benefit for businesses. When organisations invest in their people, they’re ensuring those people stay at the top of their game and deliver the best quality work that they possibly can. There is a huge benefit for any business, whether they’re tech companies or not, to really take the time to understand what skills they have at their disposal, and how they can utilise those going forward. This is especially true when there are so many discussions about how people and organisations can future-proof themselves amidst constantly changing and evolving technologies. For businesses directly involved in tech, the stakes are even higher because investing in people is investing in an organisation’s relevance.
In an environment where young people are understandably concerned about the job market and what career path to take, it can be tempting to take the first available option. If you are a young person, you don't need to know it all. You can change direction, you don't have to commit to something forever. But it’s also valuable to have a good idea about what interests you and where you want to go. It’s highly advisable to try align your interests and passions with what’s in demand in the job market as much as possible. South Africa faces a massive challenge in having highly skilled people in oversaturated fields, and a notable skills shortage in other industries including tech.
Five career mapping tips for young South Africans:
- Figure out what makes you tick
What are you interested in? The first step is identifying what you like, what you’re good at, how you enjoy spending your time, and how can you turn this into a viable career
- Get a clear picture of the skills you’ll need
The second step is gaining a clear understanding of the skills required to pursue what you’re interested in doing.
- Network and then network some more
Connect with people in your industry of interest. Use LinkedIn, Meetup and other social media tools to connect with people who are in the same kind of jobs you’re interested in and ask questions to get an understanding of what they do in a day. Consider setting up exploratory meet and greets to learn more about businesses and roles you are interested in. There are so many benefits to networking in this way because it will give you a good idea of whether your expectations about a career path matches reality.
- Get skilled
Once you’ve done some networking and plenty of research on the skills you’ll need to start or further your career, find out where and how you can acquire those skills. Is there a university course? A part-time short course? There are a plethora of ways to learn and grow whether it’s attending webinars, listening to podcasts, reading books, going to meetups, or reading your favourite blog.
- Keep connecting
A top tip often left out or forgotten about is the importance of constant networking. Once you’ve met the right people, make sure that you connect with groups that are doing similar things, whether that's a developer meet-up, a UX group, a scrum group, or something completely different. Join these communities because so many great job opportunities are the result of being in contact with the right people who can vouch for your skills.
