#5 How to Stay Relevant in Tech
Five Key Steps I Use For Staying Relevant As An Engineer
It’s no secret that the tech industry is moving at a faster pace than ever before. In mid 2017, a research paper titled Attention Is All You Need was published, introducing the Transformer architecture, which has since revolutionised the way AI is being used and gave us Generative AI (and ruined my masters thesis!). Today, we have services powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) and ChatGPT is now at our fingertips.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all this new technologies. One day you’re using a tech to build another tech, the next day people get excited by another tech. That’s totally okay—you’re not alone. The key here isn’t to learn everything but to embrace the fact that learning is a lifelong journey. If you bump into someone who says:
“I’ve learned everything I need. There’s nothing else I need to know to succeed”
Give them this red flag for me. 🚩
Jokes aside, staying relevant in tech requires planning and practice. There will be some friction at the beginning as you get used to things, and that’s perfectly fine. The goal is to build a system that allows you to integrate small new routines into your life every now and then without majorly disrupting your work/life commitments. I’ve applied five key steps that have helped me build that system in my life. Let’s go over each one of them.
Note that you don’t have to adopt all of them at once—feel free to mix and match. Different combinations can still help you stay relevant.
Five Key Steps for Staying Relevant are:
I. Commit to Lifelong Learning
The most successful engineers understand that learning never stops. Technology is constantly evolving, and the best way to keep up is to be proactive about your knowledge and skills.
Here are some examples of lifelong learning:
Follow Industry Leaders: Subscribe to blogs, podcasts, or newsletters from industry leaders in your field that you find interesting. I listened to a DevOps engineering podcast during my work commute for 2-3 months and just by introducing this small change into my daily routine, I’ve developed a better understanding (and learned new ideas) of that space.
Attend Webinars or Conferences: Even if you don’t have an in-person event nearby, attend an online one. These sessions can provide insights into the latest tech and emerging trends which will help you stay up-to-date. I first time learned about OpenTelemetry when I attended an online 1-hour session hosted by Grafana.
[Proactive Engineer Mindset] Share your new insights or findings with your team. Is there an interesting event that you recently attended? What did you learn recently? Is there a new article that you found interesting recently?
If you’re a tech lead, is there a space for your team to exchange knowledge and ideas? If not, maybe you can introduce that space and support others in sharing ideas for their own growth. This could take the form of bi-weekly or monthly sessions. I leave you to decide the best cadence depending on your org.
II. Embrace New Tools and Languages
“I have been using Poetry for managing all Python projects in this team, and I will never change it, again.”
I like to think of this as beach surfing: waves will come at you, and you can either learn to ride them or let them splash in your face 🌊. The tools you’re using to solve a business problem might be outdated in a couple of years—no big deal. Having transferable skills allow you to work with any technology as long as it (A) solves the current problem at hand and (B) You deeply understand (to some extent) how this tech solves the problem. Don’t use tool X because it is “cool” or “trendy”, use it if it solves a technical problem or improves your (and your team) developer workflow.
III. Be Adaptable
The ability to adapt to change is one of the most valuable traits in a tech professional.
As both you and your company grow, you’ll encounter technical or team changes driven by either leadership or business needs. You might need to adapt to new ways of working, adopt a new solution in your tech stack, work with a different team/department, or learn about a new customer problem.
These changes are normal and provide new experiences for you to embrace, allowing you to exercise your “adaptability” skill. From my experience, this is one of the top qualities businesses look for in their engineers. Don’t perceive change as a negative thing, approach it with focus and curiosity.
IV. Engage in Open-Source Projects
Learned a new programming language? Put it into practice. Get your hands dirty!
Open-source contributions are an excellent way to gain hands-on experience with new technologies while collaborating with other professionals.
I recently learned Rust as part of my work at Faculty AI and I noticed that we were using an open-source tool written in Rust. One of the things I did for learning the language was to search for “first issue” tickets of that tool on GitHub and explore potential things I can work on as part of my learning journey. I took on a small task, made the changes, and got it merged! This was a great learning experience because (A) I learned how to navigate a large codebase written in Rust, and (B) My code was reviewed by more experienced Rust developers. Their feedback was a top-quality teaching time for myself as a Rust noob! 🦀
V. Build a Professional Network
Staying relevant isn’t just about technical skills; it’s also about the connections you build with.
We sometimes forget that we work with people (I know I do), and it’s important to stay in tune with the business needs and emerging customer problems. The problems customers had 20 years ago are not the same as those they face today, can be even different from last year. Engaging with people from product, sales, marketing, and even people from other organisations can broaden your vision of the industry. Software Engineering is a high-demanding role. However, the real unicorns are the ones who practice their craft with an entrepreneurial spirit 🦄.
Examples of building a professional network:
Collaborate with Others: Find a common problem that you and your colleagues are interested in ,and work together on designing a solution. Your colleagues could be in the same team, an adjacent team, or even from a different department.
Have you noticed a common pain point for your teams building Terraform modules? Can you introduce a template or a best practice for it?
[Proactive Mindset] Identify the current pain points and team up with others to solve them!Seek Out Mentorship: Mentors are an important key player in your career. They can help you succeed in your job, get you promoted, and many more. Mentors are people who are just 1-2 steps ahead of you who have valuable insights and experiences that they can share with you. If you currently don’t have a mentor,
there is a great platform like ADPList with a large network of professionals who offer free mentorship sessions for you to request.
Having a mentor is a valuable opportunity to learn from more experienced engineers who can guide and support you on your path to career growth!
Conclusion
Staying relevant in a rapidly changing tech landscape requires a proactive mindset toward learning, networking, and adaptability. By committing to lifelong learning, embracing new tools, engaging in open-source projects, building a strong network, and remaining adaptable, you can continue to grow and thrive in your tech career. Remember, the key isn’t just to keep up with change but to embrace it as an opportunity for growth.
The Five things I want you to take away from this post is this:
Commit to Lifelong Learning
Embrace New Tools and Tech
Be Adaptable
Engage in Open-Source Projects
Build a Professional Network