At this point, a pattern should be emerging where finding success in data processing is concerned. From the very beginning - deciding what career path to take, looking for available jobs, preparing a resume, rehearsing for the interview, and now taking stock of your attitudes for success-it has been the intangible factors that played the most prevalent roles.
No matter how technically prepared you are for the data processing field, you'll have to look beyond that preparation if you are to achieve true success.
A survey recently reported in Dow Jones's National Business Employment Weekly indicates that of all the factors directly relating to employee advancement, getting exposure was considered most important by 60 percent of those surveyed. Thirty percent felt that image was the crucial ingredient, and only 10 percent pointed to job performance.
A literal reading of this would lead you to believe that you don't have to know your job or perform it in order to get ahead.
We know this isn't what the study intended. Don't do your job and not only will you fail to achieve success, but you will be fired.
Every data processor knows the importance of doing an effective job, and most work hard at it. The point made by the above survey-and hundreds of others that touch on similar subjects-is that of the hundreds performing well at their data processing jobs, only a few will make a smooth and timely advance through the ranks to higher positions. Technical knowledge and performance are not questioned by top management. They are expected. What sets those few achievers apart from the others is, as the survey indicates, exposure and image, along with other intangible factors to which this chapter is devoted.
Let's take the matter of exposure. I have written countless columns and given numerous interviews on the subject of exposure because its importance is beyond debate. What do we mean by "exposure"? When you were looking for a job, you obviously weren't going to find one unless people knew about you and that you were available. You used your network to get the word out. You called friends, and friends of friends, and you sent letters not only in response to want ads in the newspapers and trade magazines, but to companies that had not advertised a job but for whom you felt you'd be interested in working. You gained exposure for yourself.
Within the Industry
In effect, every data processor has two industries to consider when looking for increased exposure. The first, of course, is data processing itself. The second is the industry in which the company competes. For example, if you are a programmer with a large bank, you can seek exposure through data processing trade journals and organizations as well as through groups and publications within the banking industry. Obviously, taking advantage of both opportunities broadens your scope and gives you a double chance to promote yourself.
There seems to be at least one trade journal for every pursuit, and the popular professions and occupations spawn a number of them. Like the editors of company newsletters, trade journal editors are constantly on the lookout for material. It isn't easy putting out a monthly publication about a single discipline, and people who approach them with ideas and articles are welcome.
There is nothing more impressive to a potential new employer than a person who has been "published." We've all heard the term "publish or perish," which is generally applied to the academic world. Professors who are not published in leading scholarly journals find themselves falling behind when it comes to advancement within the academic ranks. The same might not be so literally true for other professions, but there is a lesson to be learned. Recognition outside your own company carries with it an image of achievement that can't fail to impress your boss or the person you approach for your next job in data processing.
Again, it comes down to becoming comfortable with the written word, and I urge you to use whatever educational opportunities are available to sharpen your writing skills. The demands of writing for trade journals are not so stringent that only those about to write the great American novel need apply. Far from it; good ideas and projects written about with some sense of clarity and order will be turned into a publishable piece by the editors. That doesn't mean that you can turn in sloppy work. Any submission to a trade magazine should be typewritten (or written on a word processor), double-spaced, and should incorporate very basic writing skills. If some of the grammar, syntax, and punctuation is off, those are the kinds of things an editor will correct.
Some companies have a policy that employees writing for outside publications must clear the material through their supervisor. This is the exception rather than the rule, however. The impact of having your boss pick up a leading trade journal and see an article written by you is significant. It establishes you as a recognizable person within the broad field of data processing.
