Who Is An Expert?

Who Is An Expert?
An expert, according to Wikipedia, is a person with extensive knowledge or ability in a particular area of study.
An expert can be, by virtue of training, education, profession, publication or experience, believed to have special knowledge of a subject beyond that of the average person.
The last line in the definition of an expert deserves a closer look because it mentions some of the processes that turn an average person into an expert including training, education, profession, publication and experience

Who Is A Technical Expert?
Borrowing from Wikipedia’s definition, for the purposes of this post, I will define a technical expert as someone who has the training, experience or education to give sound advice and information in a technical profession.
The technical professions referred to in this post include those of data analysts, database developers, software developers, business analysts, project managers, software architects, web designers, testers and other software development professional.

Why Should You Become A Technical Expert?
There are two (2) main reasons why you would want to become a technical expert.
Benefits:
If you are a technical expert you are automatically compensated at levels far above the other professionals in your field. You will find that your expectations are easily met that you are worth for.
Name Recognition or Star Power:
I have been in several customer technical interviews where the interviewer googled my name “Franklin Nelson” before the interview. Typically the interviewer takes a note of how many times my name gets mentioned on Google, who is mentioning my name and what websites my name where mentioned on.
My interviewers frequently comment about the books I write or the blogs I manage.I have received both Project Business offers and software consulting offers through visitors who stumbled upon my websites or blogs and then decided to do business with me. In my opinion, one of the biggest benefits of being considered a technical expert is that you will find it easier to get Project Business offers or consulting offers as a technical expert since you have taken the time to make your expertise known and available to the general public
What Do Technical Experts Do?
Marketing Rules:
Recognizing technical expertise is not a 100% objective exercise. A large part of becoming a technical expert deals with how willing you are to market yourself, your skills, your expertise and your domain of specialization to the general public. It is a virtually difficult or impossible to become a technical expert without a fair amount of marketing or writing or speaking or presentation of your skills to the public. No one gets to become a technical expert in the privacy of their own room without showing themselves to the public.
This is one of the greatest secrets or reasons why some people become technical experts and others don’t. Simply put, the more you get your name out there and your name is associated with a field of expertise, the more you are considered to be a technical expert in that field.
The Role of Knowledge:
The other way to enhance your career or profession and become a technical expert is simply to study, educate, train and increase your knowledge in a technical subject to a level far above that of others in your industry. Increasing your knowledge takes time, effort and dedicated practice.
However, if you invest the time to master your technical domain and become an expert, your technical excellence will be noticed by your colleagues, your managers, your clients or the public as you begin to solve increasingly complex or difficult technical problems. For example, several times in my career, I have been called to a client site and given a problem that stumped the team or the experts on the team, only for me to resolve it within a few minutes or hours.
When this happens, my client simply reasons that since I solved in an hour, a problem that has kept the team back for several days, I am worth every penny I am paid and more. I have actually had clients prompt me to increase offer/proposal rates because of the perceived and real value that I bring to the table.
Advancing your skills and knowledge is important because no amount of marketing on your part will replace your ability to resolve a client’s problem within a few minutes of you encountering the problem.
Your knowledge, expertise and personal ability to solve complex or difficult technical problems will also earn you your client’s loyalty, respect and keep you billable on a project long after everyone else is off the project.
So, here is a rule of thumb for aspiring technical experts:
Your marketing skills will get you through your client’s or pre-sales or group/project manager door but your technical expertise will keep you worthy or engaged with your client or employer.
How Do You Become A Technical Expert?
Here are a few things you need to do to build up your skill and become a technical expert:
Education:
You need to stay educated and abreast of all the developments in your field. You must master both the theory, concepts and topics associated with your body of knowledge. When I refer to education, I mean both formal and informal education. If you can afford (time, money and effort) to go to college, do so. If you can afford (time, money and effort) to go to graduate school, do so.
Whether you can attend college or graduate school or not, make sure you are not skimping on buying and reading your professional books (informal education).
Training:
Get as much training as you can. It will look good on your resume and will also improve your skills, knowledge and expertise. Pay attention to online training classes, distance learning or training programs and other training opportunities that present themselves.
Coaching / Mentoring:
Find someone who is experienced enough in your field of specialization to be your mentor or coach and then simply follow their instructions. In my opinion, choosing a qualified mentor or coach can make or break your career and not choosing one is simply not an option.
When you find someone who has built a habit of successfully mentoring or coaching others, simply do what he or she tell asks you to do. Mentoring or coaching is critical to becoming a technical expert because there are so many nuances or details particular to each professional career, that you simply would not and cannot observe or learn in a classroom setting.
These details are meant to be passed on to a willing student by an able mentor. If you miss out on your mentoring or coaching opportunities, you will miss out on wisdom, the kind of wisdom that separates the men from the boys and either distinguishes your career or relegates you to meaningless conformity for the rest of your career. Simply put, to become truly great, you must learn how great minds work.
The saying “The student is only as good as the teacher” is important to keep in mind.
How To Take Action
Choose a field of specialization:
Decide what you want to become a technical expert in. Choose based on market demand / project requirements / company goals for specific skills, job data, your personal strengths and weaknesses or other relevant criteria.
Become The Best:
Train yourself with the goal of becoming one of the best in your field of endeavor. Study, get a coach or mentor, educate yourself and make it your goal to know better than anyone else.
Show Yourself To The World:
Technical experts are not created in oblivion or in the privacy of their own room. To be considered an expert in the public eye, you must be willing to present, sell, educate or market your credentials to the public. It is actually public opinion, public judgment or the opinion of others that confirms you as a technical expert.
So, you must be willing to inform, educate, train and assert what you know with others before you can be accepted as a technical expert. There are several ways to do this, for example, with blogs, newsletters, books, eBooks, magazines, articles. Choose the media that works for you based on your budget, your personality and type of profession and then present yourself to the world.