In today's ultra-competitive business market, it is harder than ever to stand out as a valuable member of an IT group. However, there are some traits that always get attention: solid knowledge and hands-on know how -- even more so if you have deep, solid skills in the mission-critical areas of your organization. These characteristics will set you apart from the crowd as an IT specialist. So, what does it take to become a specialist in a specific IT field? Here are 10 tips that will set you on the path to guru status in whatever IT field you're pursuing.
1. Get motivated. Motivation is always essential to succeeding. I'm not talking about monetary motivation; the type of motivation I'm talking about is a strong desire to learn. If you are the kind of person who enjoys reading manuals and often spends your vacation and weekends at seminars and workshops, then pursuing guru status is a sure fit for you.
2. Invest significantly in self study. You can't learn everything by experience. Research includes reading manuals, study guides, administrative guidelines and step-by-step procedural manuals.
Research should also include lab work. If your employer has a test environment, request access to it for experimenting and study. If an existing lab is not accessible to you, start building your own. You can start with something as simple as a two-system network, one PC acting as a server and another as a client connected over a basic network (i.e., a hub and two cables). As your study budget improves and your needs expand, you can add systems, routers and other hardware and software components.
3. Learn the basics on your own through self-study and on-the-job experience. Later, when you start to specialize or you discover specific topics or areas for which you need formal training, then invest in quality training.
4. Ask, watch, help and learn. Watching others is always a great way to learn. If your work environment is large enough, there should be teams dedicated to the type of work you're trying to learn, whether security, database administration or something else. Whenever possible, watch these people work. Offer to help in any capacity you can. Learn from their actions, words and results. Being able to extract wisdom, knowledge and know-how from other people's successes and mistakes is a sure sign of a self-motivated learner who is destined for great things.
5. Volunteer for more work. Becoming a specialist will require more than just a 40-hour work week. In fact, the first few years of your career development process will probably land you the title of workaholic. Nothing is as valuable as knowledge gained from real experience.
6. Once you have the knowledge and the experience, get certified. Many people try to short-circuit the path to career success by cramming for certifications to pad their resume to land the big job. But if you can't stand behind your certifications with the ability to walk into any situation and perform the functions associated with that cert, don't bother putting it on your resume.
Not all employers treat certifications equally. Some blindly view certifications as a guarantee of a person's abilities, while others see certifications as little more than icing on the cake of experience. If you always back up your certifications with solid knowledge and capabilities, you'll never have to worry about what employers think of certifications.
7. Ask for honest appraisals of your work. We all have blind spots when it comes to evaluating ourselves. When developing a skill set, it is important to examine your progress regularly to determine if you are overworking one area while neglecting another. Ask others who know you and work with you to evaluate your performance, capabilities, and knowledge to help you see where you should be focusing your study efforts.
8. Since you can't know everything, be really good at a few things and competent at most everything else. Seek to obtain a general understanding of the important issues, and establish a solid foundation that can be used and adapted to any situation or condition. Then develop specializations in a handful of areas that interest you most.
9. Be patient. Solid knowledge and experience come slowly. A guru will be recognized for wisdom, not the ability to recite facts. Initially, learning imparts information. Information, when put to use, becomes knowledge. Knowledge when nurtured over time produces wisdom. Wisdom is the stuff that is so valuable it cannot be bought with money, only with time.
10. Make yourself indispensable. Always perform your job better than what is expected. Look for ways to improve the organization, not just your standing in it. Focus your efforts on the distant goal, and work to improve your company by making yourself better. Seek to bring others with you on the journey of obtaining knowledge and wisdom. In the end, the more selfless your efforts, the greater the personal rewards.
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