How To Exceed The IT Earnings Barrier
IT jobs are without a doubt some of the highest paying jobs with information architects, data-security analysts and UX designers taking home $100,000 or more a year. But then again, these are high demand; high expertise jobs so don’t jump with joy as yet. But like every job and IT industry to be specific, not everyone commands such higher salaries. There are a large number of IT professionals who at some point of their career feel that their salaries have hit a standstill. Even if you are an IT professional and a great one at that, your technical expertise alone may not help you exceed the IT earning barrier. To continuously exceed your salaries, you need to work hard and smart. Here is how you can exceed the earning barrier in IT.
· Gain Business Knowledge and Move Up The Management Ladder: IT departments for the most part are considered a part of “back office” operations. What this means is that despite being a core part of the business, IT professionals do not often get enough say in revenue generating components of the business and as a result seldom have a chance to take up senior management roles. So if you do not want to stay content with a project manager or senior project management salary, invest time and money in gaining business knowledge. It could be through a formal business degree, online training courses or just by keeping your eyes and ears open while in the organization. Having the technical experience with business knowledge will instantly make you stand apart and open the doors for you to draw senior management salaries. For example, a survey conducted highlighted that CIOs were the biggest salary winners which clearly demonstrates the value of technical and business knowledge
· Gain expertise on the “Hot” Technologies and Keep Learning: Say you are an expert in Java and draw a respectable salary in the industry. However, someone with less years of experience than you joins the organization and draws a higher salary than you! Why you ask. It could very well be because he/she is an expert in say big data technology such as Hadoop. Information Technology is one of the most dynamic industries with new technologies and languages coming up every now and then. When a new technology comes to the foray and gains traction, there is an instant demand-supply gap created which means that those with the specific skill sets are in a position to demand high salaries. If you have to break the IT earning barrier, always be ready to reinvent yourself by learning new technologies and this way you will be well positioned to jump on the high paying opportunities in the IT industry
· Work On Your Own Side Projects: This one might seem controversial but let me clarify that I do not mean doing freelance work because even though your organization may never find out, it is ethically in breach of contract with your contract. If you have been lucky enough to be trained in some web based technologies such as Java, .NET or even HTML etc. spare sometime after office to build your own side projects. They could be very small projects tackling some problem that only you might have but there are multiple benefits of developing side projects. Worst case scenario, you will improve your technical skills. On the up side, you might end up creating your own business. A lot of technology start-ups were actually side projects the founders tinkered on with while they were employed full-time. You may not always succeed but there is no downside to the same
· Proactively Seek High Reward Opportunities: While IT professionals are some of the smartest folks, I have in many conversations discovered that these same start folks are often too content doing what they love best which could be either making their code most efficient or developing the most robust solution. Yes those are critical skills but like any other field, you need to adopt a broader perspective with your career and proactively seek and ask for high reward opportunities. A simple example could be asking your manager for an onsite opportunity when you know you are the best for the job. For IT professionals in India, onsite opportunities can be highly rewarding because you get paid in dollars which when converted helps you exceed your normal salary by a huge margin. But not everyone gets to go onsite. Only those who are proactive and make sure they express their candidature in front of their bosses get the opportunities
These are some sure fire ways of exceeding the IT earnings barrier. What are your thoughts on how one can break the IT earnings barrier. Share your thoughts with us via comments
other blog entries
Course Directory [training on all levels]
- .NET Classes
- Agile/Scrum Classes
- Ajax Classes
- Android and iPhone Programming Classes
- Blaze Advisor Classes
- C Programming Classes
- C# Programming Classes
- C++ Programming Classes
- Cisco Classes
- Cloud Classes
- CompTIA Classes
- Crystal Reports Classes
- Design Patterns Classes
- DevOps Classes
- Foundations of Web Design & Web Authoring Classes
- Git, Jira, Wicket, Gradle, Tableau Classes
- IBM Classes
- Java Programming Classes
- JBoss Administration Classes
- JUnit, TDD, CPTC, Web Penetration Classes
- Linux Unix Classes
- Machine Learning Classes
- Microsoft Classes
- Microsoft Development Classes
- Microsoft SQL Server Classes
- Microsoft Team Foundation Server Classes
- Microsoft Windows Server Classes
- Oracle, MySQL, Cassandra, Hadoop Database Classes
- Perl Programming Classes
- Python Programming Classes
- Ruby Programming Classes
- Security Classes
- SharePoint Classes
- SOA Classes
- Tcl, Awk, Bash, Shell Classes
- UML Classes
- VMWare Classes
- Web Development Classes
- Web Services Classes
- Weblogic Administration Classes
- XML Classes
- Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-900T00)
25 November, 2024 - 25 November, 2024 - Object-Oriented Programming in C# Rev. 6.1
4 November, 2024 - 8 November, 2024 - Working with Elastic Search
20 November, 2024 - 21 November, 2024 - Ruby Programming
2 December, 2024 - 4 December, 2024 - Docker
21 October, 2024 - 23 October, 2024 - See our complete public course listing
did you know? HSG is one of the foremost training companies in the United States
Our courses focus on two areas: the most current and critical object-oriented and component based tools, technologies and languages; and the fundamentals of effective development methodology. Our programs are designed to deliver technology essentials while improving development staff productivity.
An experienced trainer and faculty member will identify the client's individual training requirements, then adapt and tailor the course appropriately. Our custom training solutions reduce time, risk and cost while keeping development teams motivated. The Hartmann Software Group's faculty consists of veteran software engineers, some of whom currently teach at several Colorado Universities. Our faculty's wealth of knowledge combined with their continued real world consulting experience enables us to produce more effective training programs to ensure our clients receive the highest quality and most relevant instruction available. Instruction is available at client locations or at various training facilities located in the metropolitan Denver area.
Upcoming Classes
- Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-900T00)
25 November, 2024 - 25 November, 2024 - Object-Oriented Programming in C# Rev. 6.1
4 November, 2024 - 8 November, 2024 - Working with Elastic Search
20 November, 2024 - 21 November, 2024 - Ruby Programming
2 December, 2024 - 4 December, 2024 - Docker
21 October, 2024 - 23 October, 2024 - See our complete public course listing
consulting services we do what we know ... write software
The coaching program integrates our course instruction with hands on software development practices. By employing XP (Extreme Programming) techniques, we teach students as follows:
Configure and integrate the needed development tools
MOntitor each students progress and offer feedback, perspective and alternatives when needed.
Establish an Action plan to yield a set of deliverables in order to guarantee productive learning.
Establish an Commit to a deliverable time line.
Hold each student accountable to a standard that is comparable to that of an engineer/project manager with at least one year's experience in the field.
These coaching cycles typically last 2-4 weeks in duration.
Business Rule isolation and integration for large scale systems using Blaze Advisor
Develop Java, .NET, Perl, Python, TCL and C++ related technologies for Web, Telephony, Transactional i.e. financial and a variety of other considerations.
Windows and Unix/Linux System Administration.
Application Server Administration, in particular, Weblogic, Oracle and JBoss.
Desperate application communication by way of Web Services (SOAP & Restful), RMI, EJBs, Sockets, HTTP, FTP and a number of other protocols.
Graphics Rich application development work i.e. fat clients and/or Web Clients to include graphic design
Performance improvement through code rewrites, code interpreter enhancements, inline and native code compilations and system alterations.
Mentoring of IT and Business Teams for quick and guaranteed expertise transfer.
Architect both small and large software development systems to include: Data Dictionaries, UML Diagrams, Software & Systems Selections and more