Things to Know Before Joining a Tech Company

Technology can be a powerful lever for driving change. It is continuously evolving, and tech companies have modernized many aspects of how we work. Working at the very edge of what’s possible is an exciting career opportunity, but taking a leap into any new field can feel daunting. I’ve had the awesome privilege to lead technology teams across big companies and high-growth startups and noticed a few commonalities that make great technology teams successful. If you’re planning on joining the industry, here are a few tips that might be helpful:

Great tech companies put people at the centre

Technology is about innovating and building products that will change the future, but it's ultimately a service to people. The people you’re building for should be at the center of everything you do, and understanding them is what will make a product truly great. How deeply do you know your users' pain points and needs? How does your product solve these problems for users? Is your product accessible? When technology solves real world problems, people will use and love your product.

To become an expert, you need a beginner’s mind

In the tech industry, you learn a lot, fast. Along with every new project I work on, something unknown comes along with it – whether that’s a new framework or a tricky problem that needs debugging. These are opportunities to learn new skills and it’s important to confront them with a “beginner’s mind”. This means being agnostic to technologies, adaptable to new tools and open to new ways to solve a problem. There’s always more to learn and an open-minded, humble approach will help you strike the right balance between your own experience, and learning from those around you.

Get comfortable with stepping outside your role

At tech companies, roles are often fluid. There will be times when responsibilities come up that might not be part of your core role, but you’ll need to act on them to progress. Think of these as stretch assignments. It could be a simple, everyday task such as resizing an image yourself instead of waiting on a designer, or a leadership opportunity such as covering a presentation when your manager is out of office. Tech roles are not narrowly defined, and expanding to other areas of responsibility will help you develop.

Soft skills are equally as important as technical skills

Soft skills like communication, curiosity and adaptability are critically important in any tech role. What makes someone successful in a role today might not tomorrow as tools, technologies and strategies change. It’s less important that you have the right skills today and more important that you have the potential to learn new ones. In fact, the better your soft skills are, the better your technical skills can be applied. For example, the ability to effectively communicate with people, whether users or a company stakeholder, is key to helping them understand how a product works, what its value is, and any risks or issues that might come up.

Transparency and Trust are Essential

Great technology companies nurture curiosity by trusting their teams. To build a culture of learning, people need to be comfortable with making mistakes, and encouraged to take risks. If ideas work out, they can be integrated into your overall approach. If they don’t, key learnings can be extracted and iterated on. It’s important that teams can be open with each other about the challenges they face, and support and help each other in finding the best solution.

BY: AJ Ross, CTO, Fluxon