How to excel while starting a career in tech

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For as long as you can remember, you’ve been fascinated by technology. Growing up with the internet meant that the average school assignment required less trips to the library and more Google searches than your parents’ generation had to deal with. It also meant that you witnessed the rise of life-changing technological advancements.

In the 2000s, you watched as smartphones emerged, enabling people to access the processing capabilities of computers via a device that could fit in their pockets. When tech companies like Apple conquered the scene, you marveled as they created billions of applications that made everyday life easier. From payments to transportation, you can now do so many activities more efficiently with just a handheld device.

Now, you’re a fresh graduate in your early 20s, eager to make your mark on the tech scene and dreaming to become a tech magnate like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. And to kick off your career, you’ve decided to join a technology associate program.

But what does it take to make the most out of your chosen path?

1. Don’t worry too much

In school, projects and assignments determine students’ grades. Because of this, students may face a lot of pressure to make sure their work is perfect before they submit it. Bringing this mindset to the workplace can be demoralizing, especially when tasks start piling up.

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But Ryan Ashneil, an associate software engineer at Singapore’s Government Technology Agency (GovTech), says that “even if you think you can’t deliver, just do your best.”

“Being a new developer gets pretty overwhelming when you have a lot of things on your plate,” adds Ashneil, who is part of the agency’s Technology Associate Programme. “It’s easy to worry when it gets overwhelming, but overthinking won’t solve anything.”

See: A day in the life of a tech associate

According to Ashneil, building tech products is vastly different from doing school assignments because products and features in the working world can always be improved upon.

“In the following sprints, you can set some time aside to say ‘OK, we’ve reviewed this feature and we’re missing a few things,’ and you can always go back to it,” Ashneil says. “We’re always doing that and we always look forward to it.”

2. Pick up soft skills

There’s more to learn from being a tech associate than just hard skills like writing code and engineering tech products. Often, it also helps to learn soft skills, which are equally important in any industry.

Through the program, Ashneil says that he’s “definitely gained more hands-on experience in software engineering.” But he’s also “picked up some softer skills as well like stakeholder management and communicating within an agile team.”

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Alvin Tan, a technical lead at GovTech who Ashneil regards as his mentor, agrees with him.

“The most important skill to have is the ability to think fast on your feet and know what to do when faced with a problem,” he explains.

According to Tan, it’s very common for software development teams to be stuck when trying to solve problems. As such, it’s crucial for software developers to be able to “evaluate the different possibilities that might result in an issue” so they can immediately address them.

“Associates experience building enterprise-grade applications for citizens across Singapore,” he adds. “But soft skills like problem solving and being able to present solutions in front of a team? I think that’s the core ability that they really need to learn.”

3. Be bold and speak up

In his experience working on projects at GovTech, Tan thinks that the best ideas for solutions often come from technology associates like Ashneil.

“The lead doesn’t have to come up with the best solution or decision,” he shares. “We just need to encourage associates to think about the best way to solve a problem and give them the space to work on it.”

That’s why new associates should never be afraid to voice their opinions or suggest new ways of doing things, points out Tan. After all, as technology advances, new methods and processes will keep emerging.

“Even if you’re new, there are a lot of things that you can make a contribution to and that everyone can learn together,” he says. “The younger generations are the ones that have the brightest ideas.”

4. Take it one step at a time

A few months into GovTech’s Technology Associate Programme, Ashneil realized that dreaming big is not enough to reach one’s maximum potential.

“Since I was young, all of my career goals always went in one direction,” he recalls. “But while I was pursuing those goals, I realized they’re not actually what I wanted. I had to restart the whole process, but then I lost momentum.”

Ashneil shares that working as a tech associate has taught him to set short-term milestones instead of just having long-term goals. Every time he reaches the next milestone, he looks back to see what he did well and what he could do better. With that knowledge, he plans his next target.

I had to restart the whole process, but then I lost momentum.

“I’m trying to train myself to see what’s in my field of vision,” he says. “From there, things become much clearer and much more reachable.”

This also allows Ashneil to adjust his goal-setting whenever he needs to.

“Aside from learning the things you like, it would also be good to pick up adjacent skills,” he adds. “Eventually, you’ll obtain a good set of skills that you can mix and match with other developers’ [skills] to create a cohesive team that can do almost anything.”

The Government Technology Agency is looking for fresh graduates to be a part of its Technology Associate Programme, which focuses on the development of technical competencies and skills through specialist training and mentorship from industry experts.

To learn more about becoming a technology associate, visit GovTech’s website here.