5 Essential Requisites To Outperform in the IT Sector One of the fundamental qualities of the IT industry is that it evolves rapidly

Information Technology (IT) sector is one of the most competitive yet well-paying industries in India which employs nearly 3 million professionals and generates an annual revenue of approximately $150 billion according to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation. Despite the industry size and revenue, it remains fiercely competitive amongst professionals for high paying positions.

One of the fundamental qualities of the IT industry is that it evolves rapidly. Considering this, technologies such as Big Data, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence has transformed the lives of many end users in the past decade. The rapid evolution of technology demands that professionals working in the IT sector continuously upgrade their skills to remain valuable to employers and to outperform the competition.

The necessity of having domain expertise to succeed in this sector makes it essential for current IT professionals to re-skill in domains that are prized by tech companies. Expertise in domains such as Data Science and Web Development will remain of high value to companies and according to industry estimates, there will be a shortfall of over 7 million qualified Data Scientists and Web Developers globally by 2021.

Some essential traits professionals must absorb and learn to outperform in the IT sector are elaborated below:

Proficient in coding:

Professionals, who want to be successful in the IT sector, must know how to code well. Furthermore, IT professionals who know more than one coding language have an edge over their peers. Programming languages like Javascript are in much demand these days by companies, thus having a thorough knowledge of it is invaluable for an IT professional.

Expertise in Latest Technologies

To be competitive in the job market, professional developers must regularly upgrade their skills. Two of the newest and most powerful domains to be an expert in, are Data Science and Mean Stack technology.

Data Science helps companies structure and organize huge volumes of unstructured data. Traditional Business Intelligence tools are unable to help analyse large volumes of such data. It is estimated that within 2 years 80% of the data collected by organizations will be unstructured and will need to be mined using data science tools. Data science will help organizations gain meaningful insights into the mined data. The goal of Data Science is to add business value to an organization. The average annual starting salary for Data Scientists in the US is $120 K while in India a Data Scientist may earn an annual package of INR 400,000.

MEAN stack is an acronym for MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS, and Node.js all of which are a collection of JavaScript-based technologies used to develop web applications and websites. An advantage of MEAN Stack is that every level of an application is run using a single language, JavaScript. The ease of using a single language on every level of an application makes JavaScript efficient and modern in the eyes of talented web developers.

Expertise in both these domains can be crucial for a professional's success.

Knack for Planning and Execution of a Project

One of the key skills that companies look for in potential hires is their ability to handle and execute a project. As projects are integral part of any company/organization, it becomes of utmost importance that the professionals have an eye towards various stages and aspects involved in it i.e. ideation, planning, execution and time management. So every professional must imbibe this ability to be able to shine above the rest of the lot.

Readiness to up-skill for the Future

The knowledge that the technology industry change rapidly is old hat. Whether one has the adaptability to change with it or not, should be the concern for every professional. .

The advantage enjoyed by many Indian IT companies is under threat in the US. They have been laggards in adopting digital technologies. Hence, Indian IT companies have begun to increase their overseas employee headcount at the expense of local Indian talent.

To outperform, Indian IT professionals should up-skill and learn new technologies such as AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, and the Internet of Things. For one to sustain in the IT industry, working professionals must become lifelong students.

Good Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Intelligence is highly valued in today's hyper-competitive corporate environment. Organizations have realized that good communication skills are crucial to being able to work seamlessly with clients and peers.

Additionally, companies today want to hire the "leaders of tomorrow". To do so, top IT companies look beyond hiring people who have an expertise in a specific technology, they look for people who can work well with other professionals and lead a team when required.

In order to really differentiate oneself and outperform, one must closely endeavour to hone the skill set ecosystem within ourselves.

What to Expect

As technologies grow more sophisticated, greater expertise will be required on the part of companies to exploit these technologies and add value. Professionals who work on cutting edge technology and have the right skills will be in great demand and shall command higher salaries than those without the right skill-set.