by Mary Therese

Created on: June 23, 2008   Last Updated: June 26, 2008

I have worked in the IT field since the 1980s and currently manage a staff of IT technicians and other technology workers. The strategy to becoming a better technician is two-fold: [1]Personal Development and [2]Professional Development. Unlike many other professionals, the IT technician faces the challenge of a dynamic professional landscape with rapid and constant change. The key to an IT technician's improvement is in how he/she manages this challenge. The most effective way to surmount this challenge is personal and professional development.

For many of us in the IT field, every day on the job brings us into contact with different clients, all with different personalities and all with problems that we must solve. Every year, innovative technology tools emerge, and novel computer programs and web services hit the market. Over time our professional training becomes increasingly obsolete; once-separate areas like the telephone and the computer converge. We habitually experience tension and pressure. Many human beings do not thrive in an environment of constant change and unpredictability.

We face questions like
>> How will you manage the changes that you and your clients must adopt?
>> How will you deal with the pressure that comes from having to become
expert with technologies that didn't even exist when you were going
through your professional training?
>> How can you sustain the passion for your craft and the desire to help
people solve their problems?

The answers to these queries can be discovered through personal enrichment and development.

THRIVE THROUGH PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
In order for you to thrive in your dynamic professional environment, you must pursue a continual program of personal development to learn:
>> change management strategies
>> ways to manage stress and pressure
>> attitude regulation so that you may approach work positively

In addition to strategies mentioned above, consider other avenues of personal development and enrichment such as:
>> read for fun
>> travel
>> take continuing education or adult education courses
>> join organizations or social networks
>> engage in physical activities like yoga, hiking, and sports
>> play video games or use technology in ways that are fun

EXCEL THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Finally, improvement can occur in the IT profession only through continuous professional development that attend to:
>>keeping up with the changes in the IT field that directly impact your work
>>learn about other areas so that you are well-equipped to deal with future changes
>>monitor changes in the IT field through professional periodicals

As an IT technician, you provide valuable services within a society. Success in this important field depend on your commitment to personal and professional development.

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