Career Paths for Programmers

Business skills apart from technical skills are most important to future projects and the industry as a whole. It is easy to find and if not find to train an individual with technical skills but what is difficult is to find a Technical person, with sufficient business skills. So there is a need of a person who is not only technically sound but has business skills also. This will not only help the organisation but also the individual also.

How?

The answer to this question is hidden in the first paragraph. If you have business skills, then you can diversify your self into new ventures but if you are only a technical person, then you will have only one job and i.e. to sit in front of a computer and keep coding.

Below i have mentioned certain areas in which you can foray if you have business skills also;

Senior Technical Positions: Developers will often find that they may have to work side-by-side with the users to iron out difficult bugs. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to fix these problems when both parties can't communicate effectively. There was always a time in most of my work situations when the developer had to talk with the users or other developers directly to fix difficult issues. This is the programmer's chance to show management that he or she is someone who can communicate and utilize analysis methodologies—otherwise known as a "programmer analyst."

Business and Systems Analysts: My job searches have suggested that business and systems analysts with a good programming background and a high-level of "business savvy" are becoming the next hot ticket. More and more organizations are finally hiring business analysts to explore, record, and recommend systems that fit the business—as opposed to the other way around.

Project Management: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Handbook, employers prefer project managers who possess advanced technical skills that have been acquired through work experience. The project manager is often responsible for hiring the staff, setting the schedule, and keeping track of the progress through every phase of development. This person is also responsible for assigning the work, dealing with everyday problems affecting that work, and making sure each analyst or programmer is carrying his own weight. The project manager can best carry out this function if he truly understands the work he is managing.

Management: The ultimate assignment for many IT professionals looking to move up the IT food chain is to become the manager. The Occupational Handbook explains that "employment of computer and information systems managers is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2014." These job opportunities are best suited for applicants with computer-related work experience and often require an advanced degree, such as an MBA. And of course, strong communication skills are a requirement for any management job in IT.

Well for doing this, you need to acquire two major skills, these are;

• Communication Skills
• Problem Solving Skills

and if you are able to do so, then I am sure that one day you will see yourself somewhere up in the corporate ladder.