7 Ways to Keep Your Tech Skills Up to Date 

It is undeniable that at this juncture of the millennium that we have come to be aware of how important and crucial technology and the part it plays within society is. Regardless of the industry that you are in, tech will be utilized in some form to develop businesses, increase productivity, and catch up with the digital economy. This blog post will delve into why it’s so important to enhance and consistently update your tech skills.  

Unlike many industries out there, technology is particularly cutthroat when it comes to ensuring that technical professionals and experts – alike, have their skills up-to-date and within relevance. Those that have graduated with degrees in computer science and software engineering and so on, should and will go onto their respective career paths with a growth mindset, well aware that their degrees, will only provide them with the bare minimum of a foundation for a career in tech. But should they desire to have a long-term goal within the field and climb the ranks, they need to consistently update their technical knowledge.  

There is two stand out reasons for this.  

1. A career in technology is never ad infinitum. Like a virus that constantly mutates and changes, its stripes, the same occurs within a job in IT. You are almost expected to cycle through evolutions in order to keep pace with the ever-evolving nature of the field.  
2. Also, put yourself in the shoes of someone that moves into a specialist field such as Artificial Intelligence and has written all the codes based on the knowledge they acquired when they graduated from university 20 years ago. That is not going to go down well.  

The solution for this, and as aforementioned, is to adopt lifelong learning. It is imperative to ride the wave of every technological wave whilst having the skills to do so.  

1) Make sure you allocate time for your growth  

It is important to take time off from your day to learn and expand your knowledge on a new topic. According to the COO and CBO of the Carolina Innovative Research Ltd Co, Chavous P. Camp, regardless of if it is merely a new piece of software, the latest development tool, a new framework or a new operating system, it is essential to dip your toes and get your hands dirty with whatever it is. He reiterated that maintaining and keeping your skills sharp and acute, your knowledge fresh and exploring the fringes and within cutting edge technology – be it UI/UX, physical hardware and software as well.

2) Find innovators and trailblazers in your specialized space and go after them.  

There could not be more of an emphasis on following blogs and subscribing to newsletters of companies that are mover and shakers within the industry. Similarly, with the rise of social media, most business leaders can also be found on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, which is another place you can find profound thoughts and ideas. Or you can fall back on people you know, like your mentors. Likewise, if your organization subscribes to analyst reports, you could try to gain access to them

3) Make your presence felt at tech conferences and trade shows 

Industry events such as trade shows and tech conferences are often some of the biggest sources of insights and learning especially for technology pros. Irrespective of whether the event was linked to a vendor or centred on technology themes. Contrastingly but in the same vein, smaller and more informal meet-ups are increasingly becoming a great way to connect with people within the industry leaders, colleagues, and peers, draw inspiration on technical knowledge, and get your pressing questions answered.

So get out there, and get networking. So much of technology has and will always be a large and monumental collaborative effort. A silo mindest will get you nowhere in this industry.

4) Tap into your network  

Touched on briefly in the paragraphs above but a point that needs to be expanded upon is the sheer importance of tapping into your very own network.

Having conversations and connecting with colleagues about the technical projects they are working on can be a great way in increasing your acumen. Melnicki describes the group of people within one’s network as a ‘stable of experts’ a mixed bag of people that come with a brilliant array of specialities and expertise that you can call on when looking for guidance in their respective areas of expertise.

5) Join a professional organization 

This particular point is tended to be overlooked and undervalued in this industry. But let us assure you of how much you can reap if you do this next step.

Join and get affiliated with a professional body or organization. Most bodies such as ISACA and ISSA tend to run training weeks from time to time or incorporate training into their chapter activities. These activities also provide access to official training materials and documents. They also tend to provide access to local mentors and experienced technical practitioners that provide for a holistic knowledge gain journey.

6) Diversify your knowledge 

Networks of the future will include very diverse endpoints, Thibodeaux said. “You’re not going to be working in one vendor’s solution. You’ll work across multi-vendor solutions even more than you are today. The complexity you are dealing with is immense,” he added. “Employers want people who are able to work across a number of different domains, interfaces, operating systems and platforms.” 

7) Seek online courses and credentials  

A final and essential point is to seek to validate your skills and increase your credentials within the industry. There are innumerable online and virtual instructor-led training that will not only help you to keep your knowledge current and fresh but receive the recognition you require from industry certified accreditations.

Official training and certification courses will usually include hands-on lab utilizing virtualized environments that makes the learning to become more practical and efficacious.

With the current landscape of the digital economy, most of out jobs require technology, having that skills and being able to prove your knowledge will set you apart from the crowd.

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