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The power of a network

Catherine Jaktman, Information Age

18/08/2006 13:31:18

On a flight from Sydney to Canberra, the final leg of a business trip to a conference in Queensland, I sat next to a woman who looked familiar. Just as I was thinking that, she turned to me and said "You look familiar..."

That woman was Karen Abbey, Gartner's federal government client director, on her way back from Gartner Symposium in Sydney. We had met a couple of times during my time as chairman of the ACS Canberra branch. After spending the flight talking about industry issues and the latest movers and shakers, we exchanged business cards. Karen said that while there were no roles available at present, if I was ever interested in working with Gartner I should give her a call.

At the time I had my own IT consulting company with a few employees and several more subcontractors. Running your own company is a great experience that I highly recommend, but the fact is that there are limited opportunities for personal career growth and learning when you are the boss. I once again wanted to be part of a team, working with others towards a shared vision.

A few months later, at the start of the year, I was ready to look for a new role. I planned to call Karen and ask her if there were any opportunities at Gartner, when she called me. We met for coffee, I sent her my CV and the rest is history.

I am now a consulting director for Gartner in Canberra, specialising in IT strategy and architecture. With so many interesting government technology projects under way or in planning right now, being able to develop an enterprise architecture which is aligned with the business and strategy objectives of an organisation is very exciting.

I can honestly say that the only way I would have had this opportunity is through my work with the ACS.

My network of contacts at Gartner also made the company a known entity. I'd seen presentations by Gartner analysts through client projects and met others at ACS branch conferences. I'd also used Gartner research myself back when I wrote RFTs for software development tools, referring to Gartner's famous "magic quadrant".

Those contacts helped me to decide whether the company would be a good employer with career growth opportunities and to understand the kinds of skills I would need for the job.

The benefits of being involved in a professional association will change as your career develops.

I first joined the ACS when I moved to Canberra from Boston in 1992. As a newbie to Australia, what it offered me back then was a way to learn about the local industry and find out about potential jobs. Plus, I'd been an active member of the Boston Computer Society for some years and found the training and development opportunities useful.

Now, the benefits of ACS membership are quite different for me.

When you have worked in the industry for a longer time, you tend not to look in the papers or on SEEK.com.au for a job. A network of contacts becomes your most valuable asset, not only to hear about the job, but understand the organisation's culture and people.

After being made redundant in 2000, I planned to contract for a while to see how I liked it. I soon found I had more work than I could handle, which mostly came from referrals from past clients and people who knew me through the ACS.

That's how I started my own consulting company: I knew many people in senior government IT positions through volunteering to run the ACS IT in government conferences in 2004 and 2005.

For example, one government department offered me a great contract largely because they knew my name. My reputation had preceded me.

Moving from an ACS state branch role to a national role last year broadened my network even further. I am lucky to work with fantastic people from all around Australia and internationally too. Aside from my ACS roles, I have also taught software modelling at the University of Canberra and spoken regularly on women in IT (one of my passions) and attracting young people to IT (another of my passions).

Getting involved and volunteering your time in your chosen industry has so many benefits. It is personally very satisfying to make a difference in the community, you can also build a large network of people who work in the IT industry and raise your profile. Whether you are an employee, a contractor or a business owner, that level of exposure is invaluable.

Catherine Jaktman is director, consulting for analyst Gartner and vice president, ACS