How to future-proof your career in Telecom Expense Management
When you work in a new and niche area such as Telecoms Expense Management (TEM), it’s hard to know what the future holds. TEM itself is still a relatively new field, and it is changing constantly as new technologies, products and services become available.
With all this in mind, the idea of future-proofing a career in TEM probably seems ridiculous. But it can be done. You just need a bit of foresight, a pro-active attitude and an ear to the ground at all time.
- Get ahead of the next trend
You aren’t going to learn much about the next big TEM trend by sitting in the same office every day, and doing the same tasks. Future-proofing your career in TEM means anticipating what comes next for the industry, and acting early to get ahead of the trend.
Telecoms conferences are great places to meet like-minded professionals, and hear about the latest developments or upcoming legislation. Knowledge is power, and once you know where the industry is headed, you can take the necessary steps to make yourself indispensable.
Convince your boss that being tied to your office managing network reports is not the best way to invest in your TEM department, and make time instead to attend conferences at least once or twice a year. In between events, stay on top of the latest news through social media and company blogs, and look out for any training courses which may help to build or diversify your existing skillset.
- Be good at your job
This is probably the most obvious way to future-proof your career, no matter what.. But in TEM, being good at your job means more than simply turning up on time and following orders.
The best TEM professionals are the ones who prioritize efficiency and accuracy, and are prepared for every eventuality. If there is an outage, you should know exactly what to do in the moment to get the systems back up and running as quickly as possible: have an outage management process in place as to i) what you should do, ii) how you identify the issue, iii) what the impact is likely to be and iv) what to do when things are back to normal to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Or for example, if there is a benchmarking exercise coming up, you should already have the relevant inventory data to hand.
Preparation and efficiency will help you to understand where things are going in terms of pricing, products, technology and new networks and new suppliers. That sort of knowledge will prove invaluable over time, which will in turn make you not just an invaluable member of your TEM team, but invaluable to your organisation who depend on your network.
- Impress your suppliers
When major hires are being made, headhunters and company bosses like to be extremely thorough. They won’t just interview you for the job, they’ll also interview your colleagues and your suppliers to get a truer sense of what you are like to work with.
TEM is still a relatively small sector, so even if you move to a new company you are likely to be dealing with some of the same suppliers. Fostering good supplier relations is crucial when it comes to negotiating the best contracts and benchmarking accurately. Your suppliers will remember the people who are good at their job…and they will definitely remember the people who aren’t.
Don’t simply try to squeeze them for the best deal each time their contract comes up for renewal. Treat your suppliers like the professionals that they are, and work on building strong long-term relationships with them that are built on mutual respect. Not only will this make your current job much easier, it will bolster your reputation and open up new doors for you further down the line.
Don’t miss our post on making sure your TEM Team is managing your telecom environment efficiently – “3 ways to know you and your team are on top of TEM.”