You are now fully aware of what will be expected of you as an IT technician. In this final part of the course, we’ll cover the different career paths you can follow to broaden your capabilities and open up professional development opportunities.
But for now, it’s time for you to apply for a job as an IT technician. This chapter will give you some advice for building your career plan and preparing for job interviews.
Are you ready to enter the world of an IT professional?
Write Your Application in a Career Plan
Before putting yourself out there, you need to define your career plan.
Start by asking yourself what you expect and what you love about the role of an IT technician, e.g., variety of tasks, decent salary, technical aspects, working with people, personal development.
These questions will guide you in your choice of organization.
Define Your Career Objectives
The most important thing to do when putting together a career plan is to set your objectives.
To do this, create a list of criteria that answer some simple questions, such as:
What salary would you be prepared to accept, knowing that an IT technician just starting earns on average £25,000 / $30,000 a year (depending on location)?
Do you want to progress quickly?
What sort of work-life balance are you hoping for?
Where do you want to work (geographically)?
You must then determine the type of organization you’d like to work for, that aligns with your goals and values. For example, you might prefer a small business, an office, a factory, or a multinational company.
You can also use this opportunity to think about the type of working environment that would suit you best:
Would you want to travel outside of your region?
Would you agree to work nights, public holidays, or weekends (i.e., to be “on-call”)?
Do you need a more relaxed working environment, or do you thrive under pressure?
Do you prefer to work alone or on a team?
Do you prefer certain activities over others?
Defining your objectives means that you can apply for job offers that are best suited to you.
So, now that your objectives are starting to take shape, you can research organizations where you might like to work.
Find Out About the Organization
Before applying, it's helpful to do some research into the organization where you’re applying.
What sector do they work in? How many employees are there? Are there sites in different locations? What’s the annual turnover?
You can check if they have a website that could provide you with some helpful information. This will tell you if this organization suits you and help you refine your career plan.
Geographic considerations: If the organization has international sites, this might require you to travel extensively. Is this travel compatible with your family life? Would you like to travel?
Type of organization: Is it a young, dynamic, and innovative start-up? It could mean a more relaxed atmosphere, collaborative work, and flexible working hours. Are you prepared to work evenings or weekends, for example?
Size of the organization: A smaller organization may require you to be more autonomous and versatile, which means you’ll develop skills and knowledge quickly. Would you like more responsibility and more varied activities? On the other hand, a large organization implies a stricter framework, more security, and narrowly-defined activities, requiring more personal commitment if you want to develop your career. Are you prepared to accept hierarchical constraints?
These questions will allow you to target the types of organizations you’d like to work for based on your requirements.
Describe Your Experience
Building your career plan also involves listing your experience, assessing your skills, and clearly defining your objectives.
Isn't that what a resume is for? 🤨
Yes, exactly! A resume is a document that details your qualifications and work experience, and you’ll add to it throughout your life.
You’ll send your resume to the recruiter, so it must be professional, well-structured, persuasive, and honest.
Make sure to show the job title you're targeting, your relevant experience in this area, and your soft skills (which we discussed earlier in part 1).
Include keywords or technical terms that will draw the reader’s eye. For example, you could mention that you know Windows Server administration.
Remember to make your resume available to your contacts on professional social networks such as LinkedIn, and sign up to specialist recruitment sites such as Monster or Indeed.
You now have a well-defined career plan!
After defining your career plan, you decide to respond to a job post for an IT technician role in a large organization. Good news! Your resume did its job because you’ve landed an interview next week.
Let's Recap!
To be a good job applicant, you must:
Define your career plan by coming up with some detailed objectives.
Target organizations you’d like to apply to.
Produce an effective, well-structured, and concise resume highlighting your soft skills.
Now that you're perfectly prepared, you just need to turn up at the interview!
In the next chapter, you’ll get some advice on how to progress as an IT technician and become a key member of staff within your organization. 😎
