How to Become a Tech Professional

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How to Become a Tech Professional
TRIGGER WARNING…
IT’S NOT MAGIC
Don’t Listen to Stupid People
Why You Are HIRED
-To Solve Problems
-To Make the Company More Profit
-To Make Your Bosses Job Easier
-To Comply with Regulations
Your Boss is HUMAN
-Pretend that your boss is a human just like you and has their own wants, needs, fears, and issues
-Bosses are nicer to employees that are nice to them and do their jobs
-Learn about your bosses life outside of work and talk about non work things
-Build a relationship and then ask how you can make their jobs easier
Education Types
-Certifications
-Bootcamps
-College Degrees
-Self Study
-Each type of education has a purpose, a place, and works differently for different people.
-Many people will end up doing all (I have degree, certifications, attended a bootcamp, and continuously self study)
Certifications
-ASK YOUR BOSS
-Certifications are for Specific Products
-Some vendors give benefits if employees have certifications
-Government contracts may require certifications
-Test Prep takes as long or Longer than learning material
-Certifications cost significant money
Bootcamps
-Good for tech professionals that need to retrain
-Short Training Time
-Good to get started quickly
-Bad for retention and understanding
-Employment stats are misleading, for not complete lies
-Spend a month learning before starting a Bootcamp
College
-Gives students time to learn and find their place
Easy to get funding
Be realistic about debt and educational value
Community college transfer programs
Degrees are good further into your career as you move into management
Take internship/ volunteer opportunities
Self Study
Great for if you know what you need to learn and why
Can become a dead end if not paired with experience or additional training
Online Education
Good for disciplined, self starters, who have a workable plan
Bad for almost everyone else
Getting Experience
Experience shows that you both can, and want to do the work
Volunteer, Internship, fixing grandmas computer can count
I once got a job by having a crappy website on my resume that had existed for 2 years…
Be a “consultant”… (Grandma’s can be rough clients…)
Geography of Jobs
There need to be OPEN JOBS to be hired
I love Custer SD, but there are 9000 people and no tech jobs
Different Geographies specialize in different technology
Microsoft on East Coast, Novell on West Coat
PHP on East Coast, Ruby on West Coast
Washington DC still needs COBOL coders because on Government Systems
Portfolio of Work
Github for Coding
Spiceworks Projects for IT
https://community.spiceworks.com/peop...
Blog
Publish or Perish
Publish Blog Posts
Publish YouTube Videos
Getting Hired vs. CPM
If you publish about niche topics future employers are likely to run across your work.
Write / Record about all things that might seem valuable
DON’T publish too many specifics about your enviornment (Hackers)
Social Media
Tag and @ companies and people on social media when you use their products of advice
Keep the social media accounts clean and professional
Applying for Jobs
Apply for jobs you want
Apply for jobs you are under qualified for
Employers hire the best AVAILABLE applicant
Generally stay in a job 2 years, but…
It takes up to 6 months to get a new employee up to speed
Be careful about padding your resume
Negotiations
Know what you need, want and the market can handle
Networking for Jobs
Meetups
Interviewing
What do you want to do?
Why do you want to work for this particular company?
Learn about company and who is interviewing you.
Have questions ready
Corporate vs. Startup Jobs
Corporate world has more stability
Startups offer more experience
* be careful of “Fake” Startups
Company Cultures
The same job in different companies can make you feel different
Side Hustles
Would you be better off improving yourself for current job?
SHOULD You Be a Tech Professional
There’s an actual job to do…
…and it kinda sucks much of the time…
Tech jobs are not some type of utopia, and there are other ways to make a lot of money.
“Passion” is a buzzword… seek fulfillment… tech can be soul destroying…
Be Careful of…
Offers of Equity instead of salary - most equity will be worthless
Beer Taps and Arcade Games - This means they don’t want you to go home even to drink beer
Company Culture - Brogrammers are a real thing, Activist employees are a real thing, and parents who want to do 9-5 and then go home and coach little league are real too. They generally do not work for the same companies.
If the CEO works the day after their parent dies don’t think they’ll expect different from you.
The industry ebbs and flows, it is in regular flux and you need to plan/ budget for down times
It’s All a Gamble
It’s more or less educated, but you do have to roll the dice
Think of success on a decade frame