This Wednesday, we had the pleasure of hosting a career development workshop “The future of you: How to be outstanding at work”, as part of this year’s Job Fair organized by BEST, The workshop covered a variety of both tech and soft skills, as well as advice on how to start a career and develop it into a successful one.

Joana Temelkovska, Talent Acquisition Specialist and Angel Filov, Tech Lead from our Skopje office led the workshop and shared their knowledge and experience with the students. In case you didn’t make it, or just simply want to learn more on the topic, scroll along as we go through the key takeaways from our career development workshop.

Career development doesn’t start on the first day of your job

It actually starts at the moment when you decide to look deeper into your needs, interests, and plans for the future. It is a complex process with plenty of ups and downs, but this is exactly what will help you develop your career in the right direction. There’s a saying that patience is a virtue, and in this case it is very true, because becoming building the career of your dreams takes a lot of time and effort.

Confidence is built up by learning the right skills

You need to have a set of three skills to overcome the obstacles at work: tech-related, problem solving, and being a team player. Each of these is equally important. To be great at what you do, you must possess the right technical skills. Very often, you gain these skills by solving problems you face by working. Last, but not least, it’s important to work it through together with the team, which takes us to the next takeaway…

Team work makes the dream work

As cliche as it sounds, there’s a lot of truth in it. You can’t climb the ladder of success all by yourself. As Angel says: “Teamwork starts on the first day of your job”. Most often than not, it is not something you can just skip. You need to learn how to work as a part of a group and be a good team member. Many obstacles are easier to overcome together as a team, rather than just going solo.

Learn, work, repeat

Whether you want to focus on front-end, back-end, or QA, once you make your decision, you need to invest many hours in learning everything there is to know and then put your knowledge to work. Every field comes with its own set of challenges, and you must have the right skills and attitude to overcome them. Learning is a never-ending process – one you must be willing to go through if you want to be on top of the game. For tech skills, Angel recommends to check out the Competency Matrix.

Find your sweet spot

And the best way to do it is to invest more of your time in R&D and pet projects. These two will enable you to explore different aspects of your future job and to learn the ins and outs before entering the job market. It will help you to gain a clear(er) image of where you want to position yourself in the future. Now is the time to start the project that always sparked your interest, but you put it away because you thought it won’t make any difference. Trust us, in the long run, it definitely will.

Your comfort zone is not a friend

If you want to have a successful career, you won’t be able to build it from the inside of your comfort zone. If the thought of leaving it terrifies you, start with small steps and eventually make bigger ones. In the meantime, make sure to pay attention to what works for you and what doesn’t. Then, put the required effort into overcoming the obstacles or achieving the goals you have set for yourself.

Research your way into the IT industry

Sending a CV won’t be enough to catch the attention of a company’s recruiter. You need to show WHY you want to be part of the team, and to do it, you need to research. So take the time to explore a couple of companies where you picture yourself to work and learn more about their mission and vision. Then, use this knowledge to your advantage during interviews or for writing cover letters.

Keep it Simple

As we previously mentioned, there’s a sea of tech students and graduates looking for a job. One of the ways to position yourself above your competition is to send a CV that will present you in a clear and concise way. But don’t leave the design out. It’s just as important to send a visually good-looking CV. Wondering if your photo matters? Joana says: “It is up to you whether to include it or not. But it definitely doesn’t and it shouldn’t affect a recruiter’s decision about you.”

How you manage your time & attention matters

And that is, A LOT. These two skills are crucial and you only get better at them by practicing. It comes with experience, but you also need to be willing to improve. A couple of ways that can help are taking regular breaks, exercise your brain with word puzzles and logic-based games, healthy sleeping habits, and exercise.

It’s never too late to build the career you want

Maybe somewhere along the way, you will realize that you’re more interested in another tech field. Or, maybe you come from a completely different industry and want to switch. Whatever your case is – it is never too late. Challenge yourself to do what it takes to build a career you’ll be proud of having and don’t be put off of how hard can get. Your efforts will pay off in the end!

Our career development workshop has been such a fantastic opportunity to share our knowledge and help students make their first step in the tech industry. Who knows, maybe we even met some of our future teammates! If you want to join us and be a part of the #FlutterFamily, check out our Career page for more information. In the meantime, take a look at some of our favorite moments from the workshop.