Skip to main content

Things to consider as a tech professional

Image
By
I have been working in tech for the past 18 years since graduating from university. In this blog post I am sharing some things that I think tech professionals should consider in their career journey, especially recent graduates.

Mentors

A mentor would be an experienced and trusted adviser. I don't see much emphasis on this in Trinidad and Tobago. Is work overwhelming you? Are you unsure about your next career move? Dealing with imposter syndrome? These are examples of questions you can discuss with a mentor. There are many online articles that can help with how to choose a good mentor.

Forums

Forums and groups are great channels for knowledge sharing and discussion. Discussions on tech trends, tech news, tech events and the likes. Maybe you have a great idea and you want to share it. Maybe you are stumped by a coding bug. Maybe you want to help others. We have a handful of tech related forums in Trinidad and Tobago. Think also about starting your own forum. Tech changes quickly and often. Make sure you are keeping up with the latest.

Side hustle

Job security is very questionable. Be prepared to change jobs. Part of this is having something to fall back on. Maybe office work and working for others does not suit you. Maybe one day you can move from side hustle to full time entrepreneur or tech startup. Don't depend on your current job position. Look at other options and keep your options open.

Certifications

A university degree is a good foundation but expect to need more than this as time goes by. Certifications, short courses and conferences are good ways to add to your learning. Learning is continuous and you need to keep up with the latest technologies. Certifications are proof that you have a good grasp of a particular technology. Some job postings have certs as a requirement.

Wellness

Finally and most importantly, pay attention to your health and well being. Don't allow the pressures of professional life and modern living get the better of you. It is often stated that your health is your wealth. Don't kill yourself for the work. They will be looking for a replacement the next day and life does go on, so make your wellness a priority.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How do we fix this world?

By
It is 4:39 pm and I have decided to write. It is a peaceful and quiet day. I am thinking about God, and how this life is a test. There is so much happening in this world that could make us sad. But we do not have to remain in that sadness when we put our trust in God. God wants good for us. God wants us to experience peace, and even happiness, despite what surrounds us. How do we fix this world? My friend Chatty suggests that maybe a better question is: What kind of person do I choose to be in this world? Because when enough people answer that question well, that is how real change begins. I want to be the kind of person that God is pleased with. Someone guided by God, not by ego. Someone who chooses patience over anger, humility over pride, and sincerity over appearances. I am doing reasonably well, but I am not perfect. And maybe perfection is not the goal. Growth is. Awareness is. Returning to what is right, again and again, is. I want to grow, and I will keep adjusting myself when ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hobby project - Store and view exchange rates

By
The next step in my project was to test out being able store and display the rates in a database. I decided to use nodejs and supabase for this. Everything worked beautifully. Only hickup was the following error due to my package.json not being correct. SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module Added this to package.json   "type": "module" This works beautifully. Right now I am just testing fragments of what could be part of a bigger system to see what is possible and what works and how easy to code on a mobile. There is no fully functioning integrated end to end system just yet. This is also what I tested. A serverless append-only database using GitHub + Actions + Pages. That’s basically a lightweight backend system. This was the ChatGPT prompt I used. Guide me through each step. This is what I want. A manually run github actions that adds to docs/data.json with the current date and time. docs/index.html displays all the entries in data.json. Make s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mundane

By
It is 123am and I have decided to write. I have this new idea for a book called Mundane. It would be me writing about the ordinary. We chase the extraordinary but there is beauty in the ordinary. There is beauty in the simple. There is beauty in the everyday. What about God? We often think about God in grand terms. But what if God is simple too? What if God is mundane? What if we look for God in the everyday moments? I sit in this dark room with the air conditioning on. The fan is also on. The curtain is down but I imagine the moonlight shining on the grass outside. The cats are probably sleeping. I wonder if anyone else in the neighbourhood is awake at this hour? Is there another writer around who is also writing about the mundane? The fan breeze helps the air conditioning cool me down. These nights are warm otherwise. A mosquito flies across my screen. Hello friend or foe. I cannot quite decide which one. If I had a swatter you would be gone. I check my notifications and there is an ...
Post a Comment
Read more