Think Creatively about Your Career in the Face of Automation

Each month, we ask industry thought leaders a question about IT Service and Support, and we then share their responses for the HDI audience. This month, we had a lot of responses to the question of the month, and decided to group the responses into two batches. The question we asked was this:

None of us can predict the future, but are there strategies you can suggest for steps IT support and service professionals can take to safeguard their careers against the disruption of automation?

Some respondents discussed the need for building in psychological resilience and resilience in your skillset when thinking about your career path:

Simone Jo Moore

CEO HumanisingIT, SJM

There is always risk when it comes to our careers, so the first strategy is, above and always, to look at your resilience and adaptability.

There is an “s” at the end of career (not “job”), as you’ll find there is more than one as your circumstances and the industry context changes. It is true, sometimes we need to take the best job we can get at the time, yet you should never let that be the limiting factor in looking forward to shifting your career.

It’s natural to change, it’s called adapting. Look for the tangents. It’s not always an upward or linear path. Often the shifts are a sidestep or diagonal move to find yourself in a different flow.

If you could do anything, what would it be? Reality check, we’re not always cut out for the work we’d like. I know the factors why I’m not going to be an astronaut, but it also means my love of astrophysics and related fields can be employed in other ways.

Whatever emerging technology skills you learn, always remember to keep the human impact focus. Consider:

• What activities produce your deepest enjoyment and greatest satisfaction?
• Where are the cross-sections of thought, activity, and networking?
• Where can they be woven into what you currently or intend to do?

Resist the temptation of exploring your potential by simply replicating the same parameters you’ve used so far. Look at frameworks like the Skills Framework for the Information age (SFIa) to assess your current skills and competencies. Look at those that fill the gaps to what it is you’d like to do and choose! In becoming innovative and resilient, we can repurpose our capabilities and transform our competencies into new careers.

Jim Iyoob

Chief Customer Officer, Etech Global Services

Automation will not steal jobs, it will simply make people more efficient and productive, similar to calculators and computers. In order to safeguard their careers, here are some recommendations for IT professionals:

Continuously Hone Your Skills

Acquire new skills, learn new technology, and ensure that your skills are relevant to evolving business dynamics. By staying ahead of the learning curve in cloud computing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity you will stay relevant in the job market.

Embracing Automation

Rather than being afraid of recent automation developments, IT professionals should learn the new technology and identify areas where it can help save time and improve productivity.

Automation and AI can provide solutions only in areas on which it is simulated. Hence, Human Intelligence (HI) is the key differentiator; automation can't replace soft skills such as empathy, effective communication, problem-solving, or leadership.

Shawndra Tobias

Vice President Customer Experience, Etech Global Services

Skills diversification is the best automation insurance. Support and service professionals who expand their skillset and invest in themselves through expanding their existing skills will evolve with technological advances vs being left behind. Technology should always be an enabler of new skills.

You can read more responses here. What would you add?