All of the things I've mentioned so far - keeping abreast of the field and its technology, learning to communicate better, building and maintaining our network of contacts - help insure our future market-ability. But there's more we can do to provide work "insurance" throughout our lives.
Anyone with a knowledge of data processing is in a good position to develop a part-time business. It doesn't have to be so consuming that it interferes with your primary job, but it can be nurtured to the point where it can provide a measure of security should you find yourself without employment for any period of time. Even the best of us are sometimes the victim of industry forces beyond our control, and having a part-time business to fall back upon can make a big difference in our finances. Not only that: by slowly developing our own business during off time, we expand our network of contacts, add to our experience and knowledge, and, in general, fund our own job insurance.
The whole question of moonlighting for DPers is wrapped up in the larger question of business ethics. Let's take a look at that question from a DPer's perspective.
Anyone with a full-time DP job who uses company time to work on part-time activities, or who uses supplies or company technology for them, is engaged in unethical and unlawful behavior, and there is no excuse for it. Any company issuing you a paycheck deserves your full loyalty and attention during working hours. The same holds true for permanently employed data processors, who use their spare time to do work for a competitor.
On the other hand, there are apparent advantages for an employer when a valuable permanent employee develops an ongoing outside business interest using his or her data processing knowledge. As studies indicate, people attracted to the data processing field have a great need for challenge and growth. Often, as data processing departments become more standardized and bureaucratic, the employer finds it difficult to provide those challenges, and outside business activities by their employees can do it for them.
Another benefit of such activity to the permanent employer is the outlet it provides for good DP employees. Most people's hobbies have nothing to do with their jobs. For many data processors, computers are their hobby, and encouraging them to engage in it provides a psychological lift and, by extension, increased knowledge that can be applied to the permanent job.
There are many ways to apply to data processing companies. Some firms have specific restrictions against moonlighting, and to deliberately ignore them without prior permission is to jeopardize your primary source of income. If that happens, instead of insuring your income you've made sure your primary source will cease.
You can make yourself luckier.
We've talked about the necessity of having the right attitude for success. Now let's turn to having the right strategy.
Once you're entrenched in data processing and have had, through experience and exposure, the opportunity to see yourself and the industry in a broader perspective, it's time to begin evaluating career goals and the steps that will enable you to reach them.
In a sense, we're going back to a more tangible, cognitive approach to your career now. We're talking about doing some hard thinking, which, hopefully, will help you make the right career decisions.
First, don't be afraid to make a move, either within your company or outside it. The fear of failure and rejection causes many people to avoid going after something worthwhile. If that's part of your psychological makeup, work at shedding it. Successful people are not afraid to make a move once they have taken advantage of all available input in their decision making process. Where are the best opportunities in data processing for you? What aspects of the industry look as if they will grow in the coming years? What jobs have you found most pleasing, and how can your experience to date be best utilized? How high do you ultimately want to climb, and what are the best roads leading to that position? Once you have answered these questions, and a host of others that will come to you, you are in a position to take action on the answers.
