How do you turn curiosity into your next opportunity? Elif Babaoglu, a software engineer in Equity IT, shares her advice on growing your career in new directions by broadening your experiences and pursuing growth opportunities.
Identify what you want to learn next
Be thoughtful about what you have already learned and where you want to continue developing. Having a clear sense of the skills or experiences you want to gain can help you recognize when it may be time to explore something new.
After four years on my first team at Millennium, I had learned a great deal, but I reached a point where I knew I wanted to take on a new set of technical challenges which led me to a different technology team.
Start the conversation
You do not need to have every next step mapped out before speaking up. Being open about what you want to learn can create conversations around opportunities you may not have considered.
When I shared with my manager that I was interested in exploring something different, he was very receptive. He helped me understand the range of opportunities available across Millennium’s technology teams and gave me the space to consider where I could continue learning and contribute in a new way.
Take ownership of what follows
Finding a new opportunity is only part of the process. Once you get there, taking ownership can help turn that opportunity into meaningful development.
In my current role, I have had the opportunity to build a component end to end, with responsibility extending across development, testing and production support. That has pushed me to wear different hats and understand how my work connects to the broader system around it.
