The new year is upon us and this year is the year to make a big change. Our team came together and created a list of our top 10 new year’s resolutions for IT professionals. This list includes resolutions that our team have personalized had and some that have shown great success in both our personal and professional lives.
1. Get a Certification that can Boost Your Career
Getting a certification is hands down out top new years resolution for IT professionals. Certifications are huge in our industry and can be the make or break for new job opportunities, promotions, and raises. Setting a goal to get a new certification each year will keep you up to date on your skills, and help grow your resume allowing you to advance in your career. Make sure to talk with your company prior as many companies have set aside funds to pay for employee certifications.
2. Set Aside Time Every Week to Learn about New Updates in IT
Learning is extremely important in the IT field. As you know, the IT world is even evolving and can completely change with a day’s notice. With that being said, if you aren’t taking time out of your week to learn about those changes you can quickly become out of date. Our recommendation is to set 1-2 hours a week for strictly learning and researching new things in the IT and cybersecurity space. You will be amazed on how fast you grow in your career when you are the most up to date individual on a team.
3. Network with Other IT Professionals
Networking is one of the most sited items when successful people talk about how they became successful. From new jobs, to promotions, to making new friends it all breaks down to networking. Our third resolution is to set aside time to focus on meeting new people, networking, and connecting with likeminded professionals. This is a great way to get deeper connected into the IT community and who knows you may even make a friend.
4. Keep Your Workspace Clean and Uncluttered
Life can get busy, and clutter happens. This new years resolution is a simple one, but will take a great amount of restraint in procrastination. Once you get this skill down, you will be stunned by how much cleaner and organized your life becomes.
5. Remember Your Coworkers Names
We get it, remembering people’s names is hard. During this new year the challenge is to go around and remember every coworkers name AND one unique item about them. You will be shocked on how much nicer people will treat you.
6. Set Up a Monthly Learning Lunch
Continuously learning is extremely important in the everchanging world of IT. Luckily there are tons of different places that teach low cost/free classes that can help you stay up to speed. Our recommendation is to set up a monthly learning lunch at least once a month on whatever intrigues you.
Classes not your thing? Another option is to go direct to the source. Connect with local professionals in your area that specialize in what you want to learn and take them out to lunch. Learn, connect, and network with them asking any question you can think of. This is a fantastic way to grow in the new year.
7. Volunteer More
No matter what industry you are volunteering is important. Here at Aspis, it is so important that its ingrained into everything we do. Studies have shown that volunteering provides a healthy boost to your self-confidence, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. This is extremely important in today’s world and who doesn’t like making a positive impact in their community!
8. Set Career Goals
Setting career goals is one of the most important things you should do as a young professional. This is the foundation of your journey and can help lead you in the right direction in the future, much like a financial plan helps guide people to retirement. The good news is that it is never too late to start! Sit down for a few hours and plan out your next 5,10, and 20 years. What do you want to accomplish, what title you want to achieve, and possibly how much money you want to make. Once you have identified those big items, then it’s time to dissect your plan even more and break down how to get to each item. This will allow you to continue to go the “right” path for your journey.
9. Be On Time for Every Meeting
Little things can go a long way, and people start to notice when you’re constantly late to meetings. If this sounds like you, then this may be an item that you should work on in the new year. When asked, most employers find tardiness to be one of their biggest reasons to not give someone a promotion. It has also shown to reduce stress.
10. Focus on You & Maintain a Work/Life Balance
Our last, and possibly most important item on the list is focusing on you. Work/life balance is often one of the most overlooked things for workers in the US especially IT professionals who notoriously work long hours. Our recommendation is to really focus on take that time off, continuing to learn and follow your passions, and find life outside of work.
Do you have a new years resolution that helped you as an IT professional? Let us know in the comments!
Who is Aspis?
Aspis is an IT professional services firm headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, specializing in cybersecurity and management consulting. Our values are Integrity, Community, and Diversity and our vision is to democratize cybersecurity. We make enterprise cybersecurity solutions and professional services accessible to all sizes of organizations from medium-sized businesses to large Fortune 500 enterprises; non-profits; and municipal, state, and federal government agencies. Aspis is an Independent Small Business, Certified HUBZone Small Business Concern, Certified LGBT Business Enterprise, Self-Certified Small Disadvantaged Business, Certified Virginia Values Veterans, and Better Business Bureau accredit ted company. To learn more about how we can help you with your IT needs check out our website https://aspis.consulting and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to stay up to date on cybersecurity news, company updates, and need-to-know tips.
