
Becoming a technology professional is not some scary magical process. IN this seminar I explain how to become a tech professional and also invite you to ask whether this is really the industry for you.
Slide Notes: How-to-Become-a-Tech-Professional-SDDownload
Slide Notes: How-to-Become-a-Tech-Professional-SDDownload
How to Become a Tech Professional
TRIGGER WARNING…
IT’S NOT MAGIC
Don’t Listen to Stupid People
- Is your mom in tech?
- Did your friend hear it from their friends friend of a friend?
- Is the person giving advice getting a commission?
- Nefarious or not, most people are lying to you…
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
- 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
- Know what you want
- Know what the market can handle
- Know yourself…
Networking for Jobs
- Meetups
- Free Education Events
Interviewing
- What do you want to do?
- “Computers” is NOT an answer
- Why do you want to work for this particular company?
- “I need a job” is NOT an answer
- 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
- Why do you have time to side hustle?
- 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