The Role of Communication and Adaptability in Information Technology

Section A – Strength Throughout my life I have considered to say I have many strengths that are beneficial to the Information Technology profession. Personally, and confidently, I can say that my five best strength are: Communication, Management, Adaptiveness, Thoroughness, and overall Flexibility. Throughout my time in the field. Communication has always been at the forefront of my daily life and daily operations of Information technology. How I view communications within I.T. is the same way most problem solvers within project management process situations. All transactions start when an error, issue or a probable cause are identified. Once the question is identified it is then communicated through the correct channels and brought to my attention. As things are brought to attention I communicate with my team(s). We come up with several options to fix the issue, unless I inform them of a past incident where I fixed it prior and we no longer need to investigate more. With communication I have also been able to take the initiative on many projects to better the organizations I work with. I have learned this valuable skill when being brought into my historical Greek organization. Which I use many of the lessons I learned through my professional and personal life. Management is a skill that I have learned for personal use and professional use. Learning to delegate individuals, assets, and liabilities is one of my best strength. Many times, in my career and personal life I have had to put aside personal feelings to manage others. Ensuring individuals strengths and professions have been the main driving force manage projects, problems, and inventory. I have learned management as a skill mainly in the field as a “trial by fire”. Being told you are in charge of individuals and capital/assets. Has taught me very quickly that you must look at everything with a very fine microscope. Adaptiveness as skill is something, in my opinion an absolute must regardless of what field you choose. My uncle who was a former New York State Trooper used to tell me “adapt or die you have two choices in life use them wisely”. Being adaptive within the I.T. field is in my opinion the bread and butter of the profession. You must adapt to the newest technology and you must be able to adjust to the newest cyber security threats. When I was asked in an interview how I learned so much about the technology realm. I answered with by being able to adapt to the needs of the problem and by learning from my failures when they do occur. Being thorough is very important, when it comes to being on the job. Leaving details out, mismanaging information, and overall cleanliness of how you enter a project is what is seen as first impressions. I have heard many times, “First impression is a lasting impression”. Whenever I go onto a job site, I have always left the site cleaner then when I arrived. When it comes to communicating, I try my best to provide as much information as possible without diluting the message with too much verbiage. Providing just the correct amount of information saves both parties time and resources, Being flexible is a skill that took me awhile to realize how to prioritize my own schedule and resources. To me being flexible does not always mean I have time to help every individual that asks. But that I must learn to delegate my own physical resources. When being flexible within I.T. there is a good amount of “hurry up and wait” periods. Within that time, I can respond to people’s questions, help out where its needed. As well as take inventory on important resources. Being flexible provides the organization and I with ways that can save time and money. Using these skills has provided me with the correct tools to be able to function in both my personal and professional life. Regardless on how the tough the problem or situation is, I can always fall back on these skills to help me out. B. Career Outlook Report: Technology has always been the forefront of who I am. Information technology provides a vast number of careers. All which revolve around problem solving and help people. I was once asked if I could do one thing for the rest of my life, it would be to help at least one person a day. While I am able to help individuals, I am also helping those around me learn about how amazing technology can be while also alerting them of the dangers that may exist throughout their lives. Average Information Technology Careers range from a low $35,000, median $88,000, and some jobs being as high as $160,000 (Brain Food, n.d.). The biggest decider for salary in I.T. is not necessarily how many degrees you have however, how much experience you have in the field. As well as what kind of experience you have. For instance, the current job I have with only an Associates of Science in Computer Information Systems, with several security and network certificates with more than a half a decade of experience (started at 21). I am above the average salary of an I.T. Support Specialist (Salary.com, n.d.). As stated previously for Information Technology, most employers prefer candidates to have at least a bachelor’s degree. However, stated by The Balance Careers “Some employers care more about the quality of your work than they do about your formal education. As such, many companies evaluate candidates based on their portfolio and experience.” (The Balance Careers , 2021) The information technology field globally took a hit due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Taking a blow in reported revenue, the industry only made $4.8 trillion, when the estimated amount was around $5.2 trillion. Compared to many other industries that is considerably small. However, with the aspect of more “work from home” jobs appearing. The installation of virtual offices creates a proper blueprint for the industry to improve and thrive in this zone. Technology itself is constantly evolving getting faster and faster. Moore’s law stating that “the number of transistors per silicon chip doubles every year.” (Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia, 2019) Meaning technology is getting faster and smaller every year. The overall outlook for this field is very good and the expansion of this field is not slowing down any time soon. (CompTIA, 2020) Ideally my focus is to become a I.T. manager of some sort, however I am focusing my efforts on becoming a Project Manager in Information Technology. Project managers in I.T. management are tasked to develop certain types of projects within a organization while guaranteeing that they are performed and tracked through every level of the projects process. Problem-solving is an absolute necessity when projects are not going as executed. Individuals that are in this field are frequently given budgets constraints for projects and must certify that all parties involved are keeping to financial limits. C. The Reflection Essay: Since I was young, I always remembered being interested in technology. One of my fondest memories involve being at my father’s job who owns his own computer business (IITS). The office which was on the top floor of this 2 story building had a dumpster behind it for trash and some satellites in the back for when satellite tv and internet provided a dish as big as a van. My dad used to have my cousin and I to take out the trash, which occasionally involved broken down computers and their components. The part where I became very fascinated with technology is when he asked me to throw away an old CRT Computer monitor. Instead of bringing it down the stairs normally, I threw it over the edge of the railing, and causing the screen to pop out on impact with the ground. I went to go investigate and saw all the wires connected to boards of hundreds of colors to this cracked black screen. As my father was yelling at me for being so irresponsible, I remember asking. “How does this all work so we can see pictures.” From there at the early age for 8-10 my dad brought me on job sites teaching me and showing me everything that he was doing. Even though all the information he was telling me with was over my head. I was still glued to figuring out how it works. My dad is a problem solver, and I was to become a problem solver myself through him. As time went on, I started to go to more and more advance sites with him but also learning computer programming in high school. We used this program to learn Java, Python and C# called Jeroo. Jeroo is an Object-Oriented Program that has you take a kangaroo displayed as an arrow from one position to another while collecting flowers. However, you must use basic syntax and Boolean logic to get from a set location and not kill the kangaroo by falling into traps or water. (Jeroo, n.d.). Learning this provided me with the tools to understand how problem solving worked, as well as learning to communicate fluently by making sure I do not miss any details. As in computer programming, if you miss out on one variable, or miss spell a specific command. The entire thing fails and you have to solve the problem again. When I got to college, I started to see that I had a knack for managing others and putting skilled individuals where they are most needed. I joined a club on campus called Delhi Computer Club (D.C.C. for short). The club hosted bi-annual LAN parties for the entire campus to enjoy all kinds of games, and other forms of entertainment. I volunteered to help the president and vice-president on getting it set up. I was given money to find catering, coordinated with the colleges electrical engineer to make sure there would be power. Organized table layout, as well as coming up with ways to get students interested in coming and spending 12 hours with a bunch of computer nerds to play games. During my time we hosted competitions for popular FPS and even a Dance Dance Revolution party. I did all of this while going through the correct channels of the college to get this event done. I was elected as Vice-President where I shared my responsibilities with the President to ensure events and education to the members went through. Towards the end of college, I joined a historic Greek organization. The Delphic of Gamma Sigma Tau Fraternity. When pledging I learned to think quick but precise, be thorough and attentive. When I crossed and became a member in February 2016, I was elected as the first local president for the chapter. Which still stands today with more than 30 active members. Before leaving I gave the active members tools to network and expand. I connected with a local charity for Suicide prevention, engaged with dean of business and technology to help our cause and expand student interaction. As well as causing a breakthrough with other Greek life there and networking with many other skillful individuals. When arriving in the sunny and humid state of Florida. I was in the real working world by myself. I was brought on as a help desk tech for my current job at the Town of Jupiter Island. From there I put many of my skills and lessons that I learned at school and from on the job training my father gave me to use. I learned here that everything has a time and place. However, I needed to learn to slow down, and not do everything at once. I was required to prioritize issues and figure out which infrastructure was more important. My boss at the time told me I hit the ground running. Now that I’ve been there for almost 5 years. I have initiated many projects and saw them through. I have created several databases for public safety to keep track of information one specifically regarding information during a natural disaster. Which works with the finance department to calculate a figure that is brought to FEMA. The program is designed to notify residents of damages and how much they will receive. While being connected the towns local building department. I have also worked with the local water utility in upgrading its water management and SCADA system to ensure safe and secure connection and training of engineers. Throughout my time and life, I have learned many things and have failed at many things. The one skill I know I can truly fall on is how well I can adapt to situations regardless on how tense the moment is.