The IT market has grown and developed significantly in recent years, the product of digitization, online commerce, and trends such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cybersecurity, and others.
For the Latin American IT community, this has not only brought work opportunities at national corporations, but each day, more and more foreign organizations (from the U.S, Canada, Europe, etc.) intensify their search for professionals to fulfill the needs of their clients in the LATAM market. They compete in providing the most attractive benefits for these professionals.
Whether you want to make a change in your career, job, or simply stay open to new offers and evaluate a change, we share some employability tips for the IT market that will help you thrive in 2022.
1. Become Visible on LinkedIn
Independent recruiters and headhunters use different platforms in their search for IT professionals, such as LinkedIn, Github, technology communities, and even social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, etc. However, the most crucial professional platform that provides great visibility in online searches is LinkedIn. For this reason, you should constantly update your profile with concise information about your experience, technologies, projects you have developed, and any additional skills that complement and highlight your professional profile.
2. Highlight Important Technologies on Your Profile
You should highlight the technologies with which you have worked the longest on your CV and your LinkedIn profile, especially in your description (the ‘About’ section on LinkedIn) and work experience. This is because IT recruiters use these technologies as keywords when searching to help them find the ideal candidate. For instance, if you are a developer with Ruby experience, you need to highlight your work with this technology and specify it as your preferred language; you should also do this with any other additional technologies. Check out the example below:
3. English Proficiency Is a Must
Although local companies may not ask for English as a required qualification, in the international market, the English language has become elemental to ensure effective communication between work teams, especially when their members live in different parts of the world. Additionally, English proficiency provides at least 50% more work opportunities, challenging projects, and roles with more responsibility and impact at technology companies, all of which is fundamental if you are looking for a change that brings bigger challenges and better benefits.
4. Follow and Analyze Opportunities from IT Companies that Interest You
Whether you are looking for work or a job change, it is always vital to map out companies of interest, their recruiters, and any posts they make concerning work opportunities. This allows you to learn more about these organizations and identify:
- Their organizational culture and objectives; you can determine if they match your goals
- If the opportunities they publish are aligned with your competencies and the technologies you have developed or want to develop
- If you need additional training or to adjust your profile to highlight qualifications for certain job postings.
5. Stay Current with This Year’s Technology Trends
By identifying this year’s technological trends, you can direct your profile in the right direction. This applies to whether you are just starting your career, want to make a change or complement your experience.
Due to the surge of Artificial Intelligence, cloud-based repositories, cybersecurity, etc., we expect an increase in searches for the following positions during 2022: Big Data Engineers, BI/Data Engineers, Cloud Engineers, Cybersecurity Specialist, and DevOps Engineers (with experience in hybrid platforms cloud/on-premise).
If you focus on development, specializing in Python is an excellent option to keep in mind due to its direct relationship with data analysis. Other languages and frameworks that will also be in demand in 2022 include Ruby on Rails, React, Javascript, Java, PHP, and Golang.
Additional profiles that will continue to be in demand are QA Engineers specialized in automation and Project Managers, Agile Coach/Specialists, and Scrum Masters, due to the need for team leadership.
6. What Should I Do If I Want to Change My Position or the Technology I Work With?
Perhaps, you often find new positions or technologies of interest, but encounter obstacles due to a lack of experience. This typically occurs in regards to working with a specialized technology or holding a specific job title. However, there are a few things you can do to close this experience gap:
- Seek out training for the technology you want to specialize in (online courses, boot camps, or events with speakers organized by different companies and technology communities).
- Work on personal projects that apply this new technology of interest. For example, suppose you are a Java developer but want to change your focus to Python. In this case, you can develop projects in Python and add them to your Github, CV, and LinkedIn as independent projects, highlighting your use of Python.
- Highlight specific activities or technologies you want recruiters to consider in your CV when applying for a different position. For instance, maybe you are a developer but want to be visible for a position as a data engineer. If so, you should highlight your experience with database management such as SQL, Oracle, and Postgress. Additionally, you should emphasize your experience developing data pipelines with a determined programming language you have used.
7. Identify and Enhance Your Soft Skills
Often, the difference between choosing one candidate over another does not depend on experience or the technology proficiency the position requests. When two candidates have a similar technical profile, soft skills play a crucial role in decision-making. These determine how the person will adapt and interact with their new work team and the added value this represents.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are now giving special attention to workers’ soft skills since these interpersonal abilities allow them to better deal with the crisis and the new remote work modality. In 2022, organizations will continue to focus on the following skills: change adaptation, effective communication, teamwork in hybrid modality, analytical capacity, creativity, and customer focus.
Finally, remember that your contact network can be a vital source of value when finding new work opportunities. Sometimes, your professional and personal network can bring you much closer to a dream job than if you followed the normal process of job seeking. Therefore, always be on the lookout for opportunities on LinkedIn and different job boards, follow leaders on technology topics that interest you, check in with your contacts regarding opportunities at the companies where they work, and show them you are willing to communicate with recruiters proactively. This applies whether you are looking for a new job or want to keep a door open to evaluate a change in the future.
Key Takeaways
- Digitization, online commerce, and technological trends have driven the accelerated growth and development of the IT market in recent years.
- The above has created work opportunities for the Latin American IT community not just at a local level but also globally.
- To enhance your employability, you must become visible on LinkedIn, highlight essential technologies in your profile, and be English proficient.
- Following and analyzing the companies that interest you is crucial, as is keeping current with 2022’s technological trends.
- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, soft skills now hold more weight when choosing a candidate for a position.
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