Nearly everyone you meet in IT has had someone teach them a bunch of what they know or at least give them some sage advice on how to surpass their peers. Very few of us learn everything on our own (though you will learn some hard lessons by screwing things up – it’s just part of most jobs). Here are a few things that will get folks in more senior roles to take notice of you and actually want to help you learn and grow.
Listen, and I mean really listen
Hopefully, you will get to work with folks who have a ton more experience than you. This is helpful for a number of reasons, but the main reason is obvious: they know a lot more than you and have seen a ton more things/situations/etc. This is great when tricky situations arise because more than likely they’ve seen some flavor of it in earlier roles.
When they talk, actually listen to what they have to say. Don’t automatically assume that because the are older that they don’t “get it anymore;” similarly, don’t assume that just because you went to <fancy school/program> that you are God’s gift to any organization and wicked smart in ways that matter to this organization. (Quick side note: no one cares how conventionally smart you are; they care about how well you can help solve business problems and make everyone’s life easier.)
While you listen to the more experience folks talk, take mental or actual notes. You don’t have to agree, but you do need to listen.
Ask meaningful, non-leading questions
If you have some actual knowledge around the topic at hand, feel free to ask the more senior folks some genuine questions that are not snarky or leading. What does that mean? There’s a difference between saying, “Is there a reason that we’re not doing <something slightly or completely different>?” and saying, “That’s silly. Why aren’t we doing <something slightly or completely different>? That’s a much smarter way to approach this.”
In the first example, you’re simply asking why one approach is being taken over another. (There are ways to sound snooty or snarky with the first one, but let’s assume you asked it in a completely curious and respectful way.) You’re not suggesting that one way is better or worse than another, but merely asking why this one instead of the other one.
In the second example, you’re providing commentary on the approach suggested by someone with more experience than you, and saying that your way is smarter. Even if your approach is actually more prudent, you’ve almost certainly gotten zero buy-in from anyone in the room because you steamrolled those above you and showed yourself to be a sh*tty collaborator.
Learn how to Google
Ask anyone who has had great success in IT and they’ll tell you that you have got to learn how to research things you do not know. This starts with learning how to use search engines like Google for answer the questions you may have. Sometimes you can get lucky by literally just typing out the question you have (assuming that someone has asked that question before) but the real deep dives will come from learning how to exclude certain terms from the search results, search particular sites only, etc.
It also goes without saying: do not bother folks on your team with questions that are easily and quickly answered by a Google search. It makes you look incredibly lazy when you ask something that is literally a click away. Sites like lmgtfy.com exist to mock folks like this. Don’t be that person!
Make more senior folks lives’ easier
If someone shows you how to do something, learn how to do that thing or ask more good questions until you understand it. Once you understand how to do something, try to take all of those tasks related to that something. If you can take things off of others’ plates and complete them at a high level, folks will have no problem teaching you how to do those things.
This doesn’t mean you are the go-to person for this forever and always, but it does mean that you will get a decent amount of practice at it. This also doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to ask questions or get clarifications when things change slightly. Those folks will almost always be willing to help you out if you show that you tried to solve a problem and need a hand.
Show folks an easier way to do something
This is your chance to shine. Once you fully understand something, see if there is a better way to do it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been able to find a much easier way to do things that more senior people have been doing one way for God-knows-how-long just because that’s how they learned. Technology evolves and certain things get easier with time. Find some easier ways to do things and share that knowledge in a “Hey, look at this! I found an easier way to accomplish this task. Check it out” kind of way, and not a “Hey, look how great I am because I found a better way to do this” kind of way.
When you show a genuine interest in teaching others something new or something easier, people will take notice and will hold you in high regard for it. Trust me.
Publicly praise and give away credit
Contrary to what most jaded folks will tell you, giving away credit for accomplishments does not make it look like you didn’t do anything. And let me be clear: if you did something great, don’t falsely attribute it to someone else, but you should overstate and overweight someone else’s contributions that led to you getting that something done. For example, if you wrote a cool Powershell framework that streamlined account provisioning for your org saving hours per week and one of the senior folks showed you how to pipe your output or some other trick with Powershell, do overstate how much that person helped you write what you wrote; don’t pass up an opportunity to publicly praise or thank someone for helping you, even if you view it as trivial. People will not forget this.
Ask for help when you need it
If you do all of the above, when you genuinely need help with something, most folks will bend over backwards to help you meet your goals. It seems odd, but most folks like being helpful and helping others. Give them every opportunity to help you and they will.
How many of you have witnessed this in your career?