Career story: how to excel as an ICT economist

What does a day in your shoes feel like? And what are the key skills that can make or break a career in your field?

Apolitical has asked a diverse group of public servants to give us their career story. In this article, Jordana Tinto explains why being able to influence the future of a country and the lives of fellow citizens is among the greatest privileges of being a public servant.

What is your role in government and how do you spend your time on a standard workday?

Essentially, my main roles are providing technical input and analysis of ICT programs and projects as well as providing information and analyses for policy development in the government's ICT sector.

As I am tasked with contributing to further development in the government's ICT sector, I usually spend the first part of my day researching knowledge products for capacity building that would support the development of policies, strategies and innovative approaches. A greater part of my day involves providing analyses on different projects.

Here is an example.

I was recently tasked with identifying/projecting a valid number of students without digital connectivity. The aim of this task was to provide data for a proposal to purchase laptops for students and so assist with online classes. In order to fulfil the task, I used several logical assumptions and analytical techniques.

I first had to categorise students, which faced the challenge of existing limitations on data. For instance, a subset of parents had stated that their children would not be participating in online learning. I therefore had to determine how to classify this set of students — do they have internet connectivity or not?

A good place to begin with this sort of problem is to determine first whether I held any existing knowledge of a similar situation. If you’re familiar with basic economics, you may know that people classified as "voluntarily unemployed" are not included in the unemployment rate calculation.

This analogy can help to logically classify other groups, such as the above mentioned set of students.

The trick here is not necessarily in the details, but in the broader ability to critically analyse problems that may arise by making connections in your mind, then use this knowledge to help you make a decision.

In your opinion, what are the most important skills someone needs to excel in your field?

I believe that the key skills needed to excel in any field, including this one, are the kind of analytical thinking skills which allow for problem-solving. Many problems don't have solutions you can directly find online.

Hence, it is crucial for young adults to exercise independent thinking. A problem can be defined as any matter involving doubt, uncertainty, or difficulty. Given this definition, I recall my secondary school examination for economics. I studied the textbook inside out and was confident that I was ready to answer any question that came my way immediately.

Then when faced with the paper, and I realised that none of the questions were like anything I’d seen before, or even expected. I couldn’t provide a textbook answer to those questions, but understood that I had to use what I’d learnt to formulate some sort of answer.

A paper others later described as “too difficult” or “not what they studied for”, I in fact did well at. This experience made me appreciate that it’s not always what you know, but how you use what you know, that matters.

Schooling moulds our thinking in a particular way, and often we learn what to think instead of how to think. We must learn not just to regurgitate other’s ideas and opinions, but to have our own.

What is your favourite part of your job? What would you change if you could wave a magic wand?

My favourite part of my job is the variety of projects. With ICT’s pervasive presence in our everyday lives, it is difficult to identify an area where ICTs do not at least play a role. Hence, you regularly find yourself on projects in unrelated areas, which keeps things interesting.

If I had a magic wand, I would change the boring traditional office set-up and design, and create a more modern work environment that fosters creativity. This is where we spend a substantial amount of our time, and we are products of our environment, after all.

What advice would you give to young public servants who are interested in a career in your field?

Figure out your purpose, then let your purpose fuel everything you do. Everyone, including public servants, should push themselves to identify their purpose. This is essentially what keeps you going when things get difficult. In fact, interest without purpose is nearly impossible to sustain for a lifetime.

There is a difference between a job, career and a calling. While many of us would like to identify with the third, we more often identify with the first or second.

Strengthen your resolve to figuring out your purpose. This may involve continually praying for it to be revealed to you. It may also involve trying new things. Trial and error is inherent in the process of discovery. Until you can write your top-level goal in indelible ink, work in pencil.

Reading is not among my favorite activities, but just as you need food to sustain your body, the same is true of books and the mind. Some titles I would recommend that are a great start include: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy and Grit by Angela Duckworth. — Jordana Tinto

[caption id="attachment_8403753" align="alignnone" width="232"] Jordana Tinto[/caption]