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As the name itself implies Personal Development Plan is a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development and to encourage critically reflective practice.

SUMMARY OF CAREER ASPIRATIONS/GOALS

My career plan is to become an Information Technology (IT) Consultant operating across nations. I like to work in firms of management consultants, software and systems houses within large manufacturers of computing equipment, or occasionally internally in major industrial companies. The above said areas are some of the places IT Consultants work. For I desire to work in partnership with clients, advising them how to use information technology in order to meet their business objectives or overcome problems. Consultants work to improve the structure and efficiency of organization’s IT systems. Common job tasks IT Consultants do which I see as part of my career aspirations and goals include:

Analyze IT requirements within companies and give independent and objective advice on the use of IT.

Provide specialist support and back-up to professionals within client companies.

Advise on strategic planning and operational efficiency.

May run facilities for clients.

Design, develop and test new systems.

Train staff in new systems.

Part of my career goals/aspirations is to gain growth in resources, that is upgrading my knowledge and resources to grow as a professional, better salary, job satisfaction, experience such as learning about the cultures of different countries, meeting new people and basically becoming familiarized with customs and traditions worldwide. This will enable me to increase my tolerance level and change perspectives and job stability.

Accomplishing this goal is a long journey since I am still an undergraduate student but every long journey begins with a step. It is a challenging and technical aspiration though I have a passion for it because it is my dream and there after I want to have my own software incorporation with a group of professionals where I will be overseeing as a CEO of my to be company named Eyi’s Software Inc.

ANALYSIS OF SKILLS

Success as a consultant requires the following skill sets:

Technical skills such as programming languages

Analytical skills such as problem solving expertise

Networking skills

Database knowledge

Interpersonal skills

Communications skills

Business management skills and

Some professional certifications

Some other skill sets required are not limited to:

Leadership ability

Teamwork skills

Ability to learn quickly

Confidence when making decisions

Excellent customer service skills

Good organizational skills to manage heavy work load

Ability to communicate technical information to a non-technical clients and colleagues

Flexibility and adaptability

Time management skills

Technical Skills

Technical skill set includes good programming knowledge that is having knowledge of programming languages such as C, C++, JAVA, VB.NET etc and programming methodologies.

Analytical Skills

Good knowledge and logical approach to problem solving. Mathematically analyzing the problem and solving it.

Networking Skills

IT Consultant should possess an understanding of network devices, topologies, network protocols and data communication across networks such as LAN, WAN, Intranets, Extranet, MAN, CAN etc.

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Database Knowledge

It needs Database knowledge including Data Manipulation Language (DML) statements, Data Definition Language (DDL) statements, Transaction Control (TC) statements and Data Control Language (DCL) statements. It requires knowledge of database systems such as MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, and database administration.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

As an IT Consultant, interpersonal and communications skills are required:

Interpersonal skills in order to close sales, and even persuade your client to act on your advice.

Communications skills such as making presentations and writing documents so that you can convey your value and your result to the client, so that the client can see what they have bought.

Business Management Skills

As an IT consultant business management skills are needed so as to keep track of your assets, cash, accounts receivable and bills and a basic level of organization so as to deal with few repetitive tasks (such as getting those bills out every month). Apart from that, you must plan to focus on marketing and it has to systematic and repeatable.

Professional Certifications

To be at the cut edge as an IT Consultant obtain professional certifications from the vendors such as MCSE from Microsoft, CCNA, CCNP from Cisco and OCA, OCP from Oracle University etc.

Skills/Knowledge Gained

These are the skill sets and knowledge I currently have that are required skill sets and knowledge needed for my career aspiration and goals and how and where I acquired them are tabulated follows:

S/NO.

Skill/Knowledge

Area

How

Where

1.

The Behringer XENYX X1222USB USB Audio Mixer is a step up from the. Ultra-low latency driver included; Revolutionary energyXT2.5 Compact BEHRINGER. Behringer. Premium 16-Input 2/2-Bus Mixer with XENYX Mic Preamps & Compressors, British EQs. XENYX X1222USB Media Archive. ASIO4ALL USB Audio Driver.

Technical such as programming

Programming languages such as VB.NET, PHP MySQL, C and C++

Through my degree studies, private lesson, and personal studies.

In college and at home

2.

Networking Skills

Network+ and CCNA, though they are professional

Through my state government scholarship

Gates Intense IT Network and Security Trainings, India

3.

Database

MS Access, Oracle SQL*Plus

Through my degree studies.

In college

4.

Interpersonal

Effective communication

Through my IT training session

India

5.

Communication

Effective communication

Through my IT training

India

6.

Professional Certifications

A+, N+, MCSE, CCNA

Hardware engineering course

Gates Intense IT Network and Security Trainings, India

Skill sets/Knowledge Not Gained

The table below indicates the skills/knowledge required for my career aspirations/goals I feel that are needed that I have not yet possessed:

S/NO.

Skill/Knowledge

Area

1.

Technical such as programming

Programming languages such Perl, C#, JAVA

2.

Analytical

Further mathematics and core logical problem solving

3.

Networking

CCNP though it is professional

4.

Database

Microsoft SQL Server

5.

Interpersonal/Communication

Ascent, tradition and cultures

6.

Business Management

Marketing

7.

Professional certifications

CCNP, OCA, OCP and OCM

Explanation of Steps

The following are the necessary steps and time frame I have set or planned to obtain the skill/knowledge I have not acquired:

Educational qualification:

I am still an undergraduate student in the field of software engineering but I strongly believed that maximum by December 2011 I will be through with my first degree and to me only first degree is not enough, I will continue my second degree which is my Master degree in the related field and that will be a maximum of 2 years. The good news is I will not stop at masters and if I have a sponsor I will do my full time doctorate degree and it will take like another 3 years.

The technical programming skills such as C# and JAVA will be acquired through my holiday periods and a set time of a least one year will be enough for each.

I planned to work as a programmer in a software house for at least 2 or 3 years so as to acquire good programming skill and knowledge.

Analytical skills will be obtained based on working on big projects, internships and core programming and a maximum of 4 to 5 years will be required for me to gain it. It is by several practices and doing and this I have to do every possible time that I have.

Networking/Professional certifications such as CCNP by Cisco, OCA, and OCP by Sun Microsystems etc. will be obtained during the process. I will go one after the other to gain them and it will take like 2 years.

I planned to acquire the knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server prior to my first degree graduation which I will be learning it by myself.

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Interpersonal/Communication areas such as improving my ascent, studying people traditions and cultures will be obtained through various presentations, documentations and reports, going along with the people, making vital friendships, self discipline, practices and learning within a time set of at least 4 to 5 years and during life process as life itself is a process of learning and no one is an island or paragon of knowledge.

Business Management skills such as marketing and business strategies are needed as an IT consultant. I planned to take part-time studies in business related field so as to gain business knowledge, liaising and negotiating with clients and that will take me at least 3 years.

Conclusion

Having a career as an IT consultant is interesting and technical and one requires a huge set of skills and knowledge. The field of IT industry is diversified and IT consultants carry out such a variety of tasks that one IT consultant career may develop into a number of different industries and sectors. As for me and my career I have to reach my ultimate goals and I have to carry out my set out plans. For I look forward to achieve it and beyond becoming even as a CEO.

As a Software Engineering Manager, I constantly ask myself about the top priorities for my role and whether my actions are aligned with the priorities. This helps keep a check on myself on a regular basis and help correct the course if I’m deviating. Here, I'm listing the top 4 priorities which I believe are most important to be successful in my role. You might approach these things in a slightly different way but I think the core goals would be same irrespective of the path. Inspired by the book - ‘Multipliers’, that I recently read, I’d encourage you to discover your ‘native genius’ and figure out how to achieve these goals through your natural strengths.

1. Successful Execution

'Walking on water and developing software from a specification are easy if both are frozen.' - Edward Berard

If you are working for a Software company, your are most likely there because you love building things and making lives of your customers better. Your primary goal is to build and deploy new features or products to your customers irrespective of whether you are an engineer, designer, product manager or an engineering manager. To achieve this goal, your top most priority should be to create a consistent loop of planning and executing within a particular time frame.

Executing it right means creating the perfect combination of people, technology and process. As a manager, your role is to ensure that your team has the right tools and resources (both people and technology) available and processes are set in place so that the team is able to make quick decisions and move forward with executing the plan like a well oiled machine.

Timely execution is also very important in order to build trust between the team and leadership. If a team is constantly delivering on what they’ve promised, the leadership will trust them to solve bigger problems next time. This will in turn provide the team with an opportunity to work on the best projects and get the best resources available.

Ensure that the team has the clear goals and priorities before they begin to execute. You should be the un-blocker and team productivity protector. A typical day for an engineer is not complete without facing an issue that they may not be directly responsible for. The build might be broken, the design might miss specifications, etc. You need to make sure that the team is not blocked for too long by these external factors. You need not be the one to fix every issue, but create a framework and provide tools through which they can figure things out themselves or help each other resolve issues.

There are many different ways to facilitate a predictable execution. One of the most common ways I’ve seen is the Agile methodology. I’m not going to go in detail about Agile here but it has worked well in my experience so far.

2. Building a Roadmap

As a manager, you are responsible for setting a vision for the team while striking a balance between long term and short term goals. Engineers are attracted to join or stay longer on teams that have an exciting roadmap of features/products.

BUT, you need not be the one directly building a roadmap. Then, how do you do it? You need to collaborate with the product manager/owner and help build the roadmap with technological considerations. Before that, you and your organization need to come up with a vision about the product and ensure that all the product and engineering teams are aligned on this vision. The vision could be as broad as ‘The app needs to have the best user experience in the industry’ or as specific as ‘The app needs to be able handle 1M Daily Active Users’. Once the vision is set, you should closely partner and facilitate discussions between designers, product managers/owners and engineers to come up with a roadmap on how to get there. A critical step here is to involve people from each of these disciplines in every stage of planning - this will align teams from the start and helps iterate faster.

The days of passing the requirements from Product -> Design -> Dev -> QE are gone. Everyone needs to work together from building the designs to implementation and collectively own the success (or failure)!

3. Coach and Hire

There are two equally important ways to grow a team. One is to hire smart engineers who fit well into the current team. The other is to coach and support the growth of your current employees in order to improve their skills and and in turn boost employee productivity.

Coach

You act as the employee’s coach. Your responsibility is to understand each individual’s career goals and passions, identify strengths and weakness areas of improvement and build a strategy for the person’s career growth. The strategy should be able to leverage their strengths and take them to the next level while also providing opportunities to work on their weaknesses . Create this constant loop of evaluate, feedback, improve, evaluate. The frequency of this loop can be as frequent as the employee wants but at least a couple times per year. In the feedback process, praising the strengths is as important as focussing on the areas to improve. There are many helpful tools out there but one I’ve found to be useful is the Situation-Behavior-Impact model.

Another key thing to remember here is that there is no one solution that fits all. You need to identify how each employee likes to receive feedback and act accordingly. Some people like to be praised in public and thrive in that kind of environment. Some individuals like to discuss in private.

Hire

This might be a cliche at this point, but it is in fact very crucial to hire the right people for your team. One question I always ask myself before hiring someone is how much impact will this person have in the long run.

But how do you define ‘right’ person? There are several things that you need to consider while hiring someone for your team. Are you looking to hire someone who is able to coach other members in the team? Do you already have a team of leaders who are excited by the opportunity to mentor new engineers and scale the team? Do you have a huge backlog and you are looking to hire someone to help deliver specific features in the near future? Are you looking for specialized skill that your current team does not have? These are just some scenarios I’ve been in. There is no one type of hiring advice that works for everyone. You as a manager need to understand your team dynamics, short and long term goals and define the ideal candidate accordingly.

While it is important to look out in your network to find the right person, be sure to look for candidates within your organization. This of course depends on your company’s policy around changing teams internally, but if allowed, it can be a great form of hiring. This works great because they understand the product, tools and processes used within the organization and will have almost zero ramp-up time.

Hiring best talent need not always be a one way approach. The other way is to build a brand for your team so that the candidates come to you. Do your best work and make sure that it gets the right visibility, put your team in the spotlight by showcasing your work and vision at local conferences, organization wide presentations etc. As a manager, you need to help create this brand for your team and attract the best engineers.

4. Culture Cultivator

Another reason people stay in teams is the culture and dynamics they share with their co-workers. But what is culture? It could be as simple as the team going for a happy hour every Wednesday evening,an informal technical talk every week, lunch and learn sessions or a nerf war! These are things that will not just make work fun and provide learning opportunities but also create a sense of camaraderie and empathy among the team.

As a manager, you should strive to be a culture cultivator. A team culture is not something that can just be built by one person. Typically there will be a few individuals in each team who will be responsible in creating a team culture either voluntarily or involuntarily. You should pay close attention and should foster an environment where these individuals can strive and keep the culture going. You might be one of those individuals, but if you are not, you should facilitate these people.

In case you join a new team/company as a manager, it is very critical to get a pulse of a team, quickly become part of that culture and help take it forward instead of changing things or expecting them to do things just like your previous team. Sure, you can suggest new ideas based on your prior experiences but it is really up to the team to follow them or not.

I’d like to conclude this by asking what am I missing here? How do these align with your priorities? Please share your thoughts. I will continue to share what I learn going forward as well. I hope this will be useful for other managers or even individual contributors who would like to challenge their managers if they are not focussing on the right things.