EPISODE 6 - Career: How to find the correct Area to work in IT?

Michael Seidl: Welcome to a new episode of the Get Sh** Done in IT podcast. Today about a question I've been asked a few months ago at a conference in India. So one of the attendees asked me how to find the right area, the right department in IT he should work at. So he asked me because right now we have... mid of 2024. So right now security and artificial intelligence are booming. So a lot of companies looking for people to work in that area. And he asked me what is the best department, the best section he should focus on and to work in IT. So it was a student and he was planned to choose his direction. And my short answer was, yes, security and AI is booming and there are a lot of job opportunities, but in my opinion, he should make his choice on his own and try to see different areas, to work in different areas and find that. area or that department or that topic, he loves it. It is that easy. So in my opinion, and it's not only for IT, you should try to find a job you love to work with. Because if you do a job you do not really enjoy working with or working in. I think on the long... After some time or after some long, longer time, you will have a problem with your so -called work life balance. Because in my opinion, if you have a job you love to work in and you love to work for, you don't need that thing called work life balance. You just need something to recharge your batteries. But if you love things you do or your job you do,

Michael Seidl: You don't need those heartbreak, cold work life balance. So in my opinion, you should try to find that topic, that area you really like to do and not do that things. What is right now booming and, and highly requested because it doesn't make you happy. If you like to do security, of course, if you like to work with artificial intelligence, of course, let's go. But don't choose your topic because it's booming right now. So we are in that situation, at least in talking about Europe, but I see also in different areas and different continents that in IT or IT people are highly requested. Of course, good educated and good people, but that's for every topic, every area. We are in a good situation that good IT people are highly requested. Every company, every country, every company, every business is looking for good IT people. So it doesn't matter if you do security, if you do AI, if you do network, if you do server, whatever. If you do your job good, it doesn't matter what topic, in my opinion, you will find a job. So. And it. And it is not bad that you're maybe around 20 before after mid 20, whatever, and still not sure what your favorite topic is. So especially in my situation, so who is not knowing me better? I'm 41 years old and myself decided or. Not decided. I figured it out by myself in the last 10 to 15 years that automation is that thing I love to do. On looking further back for after school or maybe in school, I see a lot of things back then I love to automate, but it wasn't clear in my mind that I want to work in that area, especially in IT. So 20.

Michael Seidl: 23 years ago, I started in a small consulting company doing client and server rollouts for small companies, 10 people, 50 people, whatever. Then I switched to different consulting company for larger customers, 10 ,000 of employees. In that time, I figured out that I really love to automate. things. So, and in my case, it doesn't matter if I automate for our customers, mainly in IT infrastructure. So user on offboarding, help desk tasks, infrastructure stuff. And it doesn't matter if they use our automated portal or if they use ServiceNow or Chira or whatever. So we focus on automation. And it doesn't matter, as I said, if you do it for the customer or if I do it for us internally in our company to improve our bookkeeping or whatever. At least if I can automate anything, that's what I love. So, but this took me back then, I think 10 years to figure out that that's the topic I love. And from that point on, I focused on that stuff and yeah, I founded my own company doing automation. So it is not bad if you after school, it depends if you're 17, 18 or after you studied, if you're 22, 23, whatever, and still don't know what you want to do. And it doesn't matter if it's about the IT or any different area. It doesn't matter because you need to see what is out. You need to see the opinions or the options. out there to make yourself aware of what is the topic you love, you want to do the rest of your life. But to be honest, you haven't do this the rest of your life. So if after 10 years, if you say, I want to do something else, why not? I think the main reason or the main property, the mindset should be that you...

Michael Seidl: do something, you do it very good. And then it doesn't matter if you switch a topic, you switch an area, if you still do it good, you will be requested and you will have a job, in my opinion. So don't focus on the topic, what is right now booming. See the topic, try to find the topic you love. Maybe you can start in a service desk or something like this. So service desk, you see a lot of different areas. And that's a very good time to see different areas, to see different departments. So you can figure out what maybe is fun or makes you happy to work with or makes fun. Maybe you can switch to different companies to see a different department, different area. But don't be in that hurry that you have to decide right after school what specific area in IT you want to work for your whole life or the rest of your work life. So take your time, see what, try to see different areas or speak to two different people. So maybe you can speak to your colleagues in your company. Maybe you visit a tea conferences and you speak to those speakers or other attendees and ask them, hey, what does your role look like in the daily business? So most of the time or very often we have a picture of an area of a tea professional in a specific area, but might be different from the reality. So. Try to go out to people on conferences in your company, on community events, whatever, and ask those people how their daily work looks like. And maybe so you can feel a little bit what area might be yours. So you can try that a little bit better. You can knock out other areas where you think those definitely not mine, but don't.

Michael Seidl: hurry yourself to find that specific area and to do for the rest of your life. So take your time, find your area, find what really makes you what really makes you joy at work and then try to be a specialist in that area. Because in my opinion, if you are a specialist in a specific area, you will be more requested in the future than a broader knowledge or maybe an overall of a lot of topics. My opinion, if you have a very specific, if you have a specialist in a specific topic, I think you will be highly requested in the future by companies, by employee, as an employee, whatever. So for example, what we do, we do a T -process automation. We don't do Asia consulting. We don't do Azure design, whatever. We do IT process automation. It doesn't matter if they use our Automator Self Service Portal, our own product, or ServiceNow, or Chira, whatever. In that case, we work with partners, but we focused on the automation stuff. So for example, ServiceNow is doing a partner and we jump in when it comes to automation started by ServiceNow with Asia automation, for example. So really focused on IT process automation. And that was the reason we founded, founded my own company. and we really specified on that topic. We are not doing, power automate or something like this. We really do. Asia automation, PowerShell, systems and orchestrator, for example. So that's what we do. If someone asks if we work with, I don't know, I don't know the other tools to be honest right now. We definitely and nicely say, no, we do automation with those handy tools. That's it. Nothing else. And that's, I see over the time that there is a highly request for specialists in specific topics. So if you found your.

Michael Seidl: area, your topic you want to work within, then try to be a specialist on that topic. That's it. And then you will be a highly requested employee or company when you're self -employed, whatever. So if you have any questions for the next episodes of this, of the Get Shipped Done in IT podcast, please contact me on LinkedIn and send me your messages or your voice messages or text messages, whatever you like. I hope you enjoyed the episode and see you next time. Stay productive. Bye bye.