Building a career using your technology expertise

Being trained in something skilled or gaining expertise that sets you above the rest always gives you a greater chance of finding the position you are after. If you can keep adding to this level of expertise and train yourself in the latest technologies as they arrive and assimilate yourself with where developments are headed, you can build yourself a career on this alone.

Many jobs in the UK are currently based around roles that require some sort of training involving technology. As the service and information industries continue to develop, there is a growing demand for those that are aware to come and offer their services to companies yet to feature computing as a major facet of their business.

Although many of these jobs will be based directly in information technology sectors, with roles for technicians and heads of IT always being sought after, it is possible to branch further out to be the ones who deliver new technology to big clients. This can include being in charge of software rollouts, or being the go-to person when something goes wrong with a new system as a call-out specialist. If you are highly versed in new technologies but don’t fancy a career in IT, more than 40% of IT and telecommunications professionals work in other industries, such as retail, finance and manufacturing among others.

If you are the sort of person who prefers to not be tied down to long-term contracts or likes the freedom and flexibility of being self-employed, contracting is always a welcome option. With more choice over where you work and the type of work you carry out, it is possible to choose how specialised you wish to be in terms of the work you choose to accept. For self-employed workers, one of the downsides is to make sure all of your taxes are filed correctly because strict legislation is in place to limit who or what can act as a personal services company. For help with IR35 and other taxing (no pun intended) documents, there are companies that will sort this all out so you don’t have to stress about accidentally being on the wrong side of the law and face unintended consequences.

According to leading recruitment agencies, in order to build a career from expertise in technology you must also balance this with the personal skills that set you apart from other candidates. It has been said that self-awareness, levels of personal interaction and an ability to display emotional intelligence can be as important as being proficient with the latest technologies. At least this means there is a lot of time before robots will take over the entire supply chain.

By focusing on your true career path, you may well find that it is possible to create a career out of the technology expertise you have been developing, as long as you remember to be human about it and be well-rounded. With so many now taking this option, is this where you see your future?