Nuggets of Wisdom from Experience in Tech Industry

                In this post, I would like to shed some light on the factors which come into play when working in tech. I have been in the tech industry for more than a decade and there are few points which I would like to highlight that have contributed to my time in this field. Well, there is nothing poignant about the timing but some effort to put together the gist of my time around. As mentioned, it has been quite a lot of time over here and there can be some useful capsules for someone. Let me remind you, I was taunted as a child-worker in the office when I was selected for my first job and joined there. Deep down, I know I am not a mature adult for doing a job in an office and dealing with all the business transactions. Deep down, I know I am not an effective employee with all the tools and skills at my disposal to perform all my duties as an adult. Deep down, I know I cannot sustain and be myself in this cruel world without a soft job and spread my wings. Deep down, I know I cannot earn more than a few bucks other than this generous salary with my make and build.

                With all these inherent limitations, I still worked in my own inimitable way and to my liking all along the way. The freedom I took cannot be taken anywhere else. The best thing is you will be told what to do and how you do is up to you. So, the young lad aged in the tech for more than 10 years. I am indebted and show my gratitude to the organizations I worked for during this tenure. Let me put across some of the points which influence me and which I work towards during this time. This is not a pin-point standard operating procedure or a manual for the job but some arrows in that direction to fulfill the obligations of employment and hence becoming a blog post.

Arrow-1: Get trained.

        This is very important for any individual to enter the workforce. I was fortunate to receive the famed 6 month training in Infosys when it was hot early in my career. You need to get acquainted with the basic technical, communication, behavioral, and leadership skills after graduation to become a good employee in any field. My six months in Mysore was equivalent to the U.S. in that picturesque campus and five star living. I spent long hours during those days subjecting myself to the environment and curriculum. Along with training, you will be given a salary as well. Hence, any training or internship goes a long way in building the bond with the company.

Arrow-2: Perform.

          I have been a top performer right from day one. As a youngster and a person in ripe age, we can get ourselves busy by continuously engaging in something and working hard. You bring this persona to the work and everyone will be pleased to have you around. It’s a prerogative for a tech job to tick most of the boxes, inside and outside the work. For my part, when I first joined, I worked extremely hard round the year, each day with a lot of intensity and this impression had me going ever since. This stayed with me till date as I worked the same way through these years. The hard work and intensity you bring to the table helps build yourself, your profile, your track record, your achievements and the company you work for. Putting the efforts in at a young age today will give you a strong foundation to scale higher into top roles tomorrow.

Arrow-3: Justify your Salary.

           One of the common understandings is that tech has higher salaries. Even tech has ushered in a salary revolution in the country where higher salaries are most common today in many fields. The higher salaries have aggravated in the recent past where a good growth is being seen. There is a need to justify these high salaries that you really deserve and not make it easy. Remember there should not be any easy money. You might earn currency notes but don’t earn anything else. Only when you get the hard-earned money for every penny will you grow. The soft jobs should not be easy jobs and we need to justify our wages by the work ethic and concrete value we create. For my part, I give more than 100% and most of the time, I am content with less for the efforts put forward.

Arrow-4: Build and work within a team.

           You can become an individual hero or anything but need to work within a team, since teamwork is more important than individual efforts. Getting the outcomes by building synergies makes you an effective person at all levels. Once again, get yourself surrounded by a good team and your work feels lighter and the outcomes better. The individuals who form a team can become life-long friends and memories. Chart this course, become part of a working group, build companies, nations, world and anything in your limit. I was part of wonderful teams for most of the time and learnt from each other most of the time.

Arrow-5: Satisfy all the stakeholders.

             Once again, this is the most important factor. You need to apply yourself to the job with discipline and diligence that you work for the better of every stakeholder. When you work for a tech company, the common stakeholders are – your client, parent organization, your dependents, shareholders, investors. You need to work in such a way that all these stakeholders and any additional as well who are directly affected by your work, are pleased and in good stead. These are direct stakeholders and over time, the indirect are the communities you live, the city you work in, the state and the country. Never undervalue yourself, never be surprised, never be amazed at the reach of your work. Hence, take pride in your hard work and contribution to everyone.

Arrow-6: Persist for a lengthy duration.

              It is a common trend to resign or shift in a few years or months. But generally, it will be good if you find yourself working longer term. Starting new will break the momentum and it is also difficult to persist for longer duration. Make those difficult choices, don’t give up and see the bigger and better outcomes. You will be defined by your perseverance and all the good qualities in staying longer periods and hence, work towards finding the place where you can dig-in for a long haul. It depends on a lot of factors and these days with ‘great resignation’ floating around, it is much harder. But love your work in sun, rain, cold, snow and just hang-in there as long as you are making a difference.

Arrow-7: Learn the technical stack.

            This is a basic requirement in tech but not the only requirement. You will be told to learn a technical language or course and begin working in tech. This will be in most cases, but I don’t approach it that way. In fact, for the first few years I was assigned manual testing which is a layman job. I scored high in tech stack during training and was introduced to the world of manual testing in actual work. I took up without any complaints as I learned how you approach your work is more important than what you work on. Gradually I learned automation as well and it became a differentiator in later stages of my career. Hence, mastering any area of technology is one of the basic, ongoing activities in tech but not the only requirement.

Arrow-8: Fill the vacuum.

             It is important you are relevant to the company and in its operations. Identify the space and fill the vacuum. It can be sometimes learning different technology, changing paths or anything else where there is a space. Try to fill it if you can and in big companies, there will be a huge array of opportunities available to you. Just become eligible for working on any of those and contribute positively. It should be such that your presence fills your requirement and the requirement of the workplace.

Arrow-9: Never be business minded.

            This is once again subjective, but I don’t treat it through a business angle as far as the relationship with the workplace is concerned. Your contribution and what you receive in return may not be the same but always work for the higher purpose, larger goals of the organization. Take pride that your efforts are making significant contributions to the team, unit, client, new hires, freshers etc. who are under the larger picture.

Arrow-10: Feel the ownership.

           This follows the preceding factor. You should not limit yourself to be another employee, working and content with the salary but need to feel and take ownership of the organization. You need not be any founder for this but can just own and contribute to the cause when it is something which ignites you. When you can identify with the ideology of an organization, you can virtually assume the responsibilities of ownership. This is an important tenet and the gesture in building great workplaces – work with ownership.

Arrow-11: Live with values.

            The importance of this cannot be understated. The core-values of any organization should not be compromised, and it is something which needs to be given highest priority. You will be definitely paid back with interest and dividend when you cling to the core principles.

Arrow-12: Contribute to the community.

           This is about working for the lesser privileged.  Take active part in avenues which have this potential and over a decade or two or more, your efforts will bear fruit. I used to take active part in these volunteer activities right from the training days and continued throughout.

Arrow-13: Defeat Poverty and Improve Social Strata.

        This is the last but most important goal of any tech company in the country where there is a huge vacuum in this area. By creating wealth, bringing wage revolution, acclimatizing to state-of-the-art workplaces – this is a huge step in that direction.

          To tell you about this in my journey so far, I belong to the below middle class with modest surroundings. I was put in a rich location for my training which has me excited. The step towards the higher plane took place then. After that, I joined Infosys Hyderabad in the most developed part of the state. It took the next step of the ladder. The wonderful folks and fraternity changed my life in the most meaningful ways imaginable and had my back ever since. The wonderful leaders and the organization are the reason why I was in the U.S. with a job more than 10 years later. It is not destiny but Infosys which made it happen. It would never happen that my visa is filed, it would never happen that it is processed, approved; it would never happen that I make the shift after the hopeless and miserable failure 5 years back. This is like giving life after life. The great organization bent for me and went out of its way to accommodate me and my work. The organization which believes in process more than person, provided a great platform to a person to express himself over the past few years. Let us all work for its purpose and mission and preserve it for the generations ahead.

          These are the few important nuggets of my experience in tech over the past many years. I once again say, these are subjective and may differ from person to person. The above are the important arrows which I shooted during the past work experiences. These are also many factors at play which are in the back of my mind. All these variables need to be balanced and worked at. It requires the brains of the best and sharpest persons to fulfill all of them and not just a 7th class kid who knows coding. It also requires the aspirations and wishes from every other person which are above anything. With all this, I would like to ask the best of the people to start making it out in tech by building the legacy and building the nation.