- 1. DON'T BE COMPLACENT, IMPLEMENT CHANGES
- 2. IF YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING OFTEN, AND IT'S PAINFUL, AUTOMATE IT
- 3. KEEP LEARNING
- 4. YOU DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING, AND YOU WON'T KNOW EVERYTHING
- 5. LEARN HOW TO ASK QUESTIONS
- 6. BREAK THINGS
- 7. INSTALL LINUX ON YOUR MACHINE (DELETE WINDOWS)
- 8. DON'T BE AFRAID TO GO HIGH WITH YOUR SALARY EXPECTATIONS
- 9. DON'T GO TOO DEEP INTO SOMETHING
- 10. FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT (SOMETIMES)
- 11. UPDATE YOUR ONLINE PROFILE
- 12. REMEMBER THE PAST
If you see opportunities to make improvements on system, code, processes avoid the temptation to leave it alone. Try and improve it. You'll learn more by breaking and doing than just watching bad processes continue unabatted.
As you progress in your career, you will often find yourself doing painful and repetitive tasks. Stop. Spend a few minutes thinking about what could make this process automated. Computers were meant to automate menial tasks for us, and you work in IT! You will learn new skills, be more productive, and might impress your boss!
IT is an ever changing landscape. Tools and technologies change, but there are underlying technologies which can help you on your journey. Buy books, buy magazines, watch youtube videos, practice what you learn, attend meetup groups.
- docker
- containers
- python
- easy-to-learn and powerful programming language, currently 2nd place behind JavaScript on GitHub
- bash scripting
- very useful in nearly all Cloud-based and Linux-based environents, works on Mac in most cases, too
- puppet, ansible, packer
- automate the creating, configuration, and modification of your infrastructure and Virtual Machines
You will become an expert in something just not everything. You cannot solve every single problem on your own. You will be part of a team, and your skills will be invaluable to the team, and they will rely on you. It's okay to rely on others for help. But you need to learn how to ask questions...
Learning to asking questions well is as important as learning to code. When you get stuck on something, or when something breaks, consider these steps:
- Capture TEXT of your error messages. Avoid a screenshot if you can copy/paste the error text from the screen. It makes it easier for your helper you to Gooogle that error message.
- provide a short version of the code that you are using which causes or relates to the problem
- indicate the 3 things that you already tried to do and were unsuccessful
- provide at least 1 web resource that you read about which relates to the problem you are having
- express what you are trying to achieve by doing this work - what's the outcome you are hoping to see?
There isn't a better to way to understand how something works, than taking it all apart and TRYING to put it back together. Don't worry if you don't succeed you learned a lot by trying to get there.
You can download a Linux distribution for free in 10 minutes, and have it fully running on your system in 30 minutes. Delete windows so you're forced to learn Linux. This will teach you about bash shell scripting, and it a great environment for learning a programming language such as Python.
You are worth more than you think! Do not be timid to ask for a higher number that you think you'll get. If your skills are in demand, and you have good listening and speaking skills, you will be liked by your team and your boss, and you might just get the salary that you're asking for.
Technology changes very quickly. That thing you learned that was all the range in 2010, nobody cares about that any more. Technology is a tool meant to help us achieve our goals: a means to an end. Remember the lessons that were learned on your way to becomming an expert. Those lessons live with you for the rest of your career.
You won't always have all of the requisite experience, but you: - are an avid & constant learner - have earned ICT Certifications relevant in your field of interest - learned higher level concepts from a wide variety of technologies - have been in tricky situations and recovered from your "break things" experience - Have learned to ask questions well.
These skills set up you for nearly any career, and you'll be the Go-To person in no time!
Update your LinkedIn and Seek profiles. Those services are sending candidate data to recruiters all the time. Recruiters will call you and ask you questions about your industry, and about your career aspirations. Don't forget to ask them about what is hot in your industry now? What should be yuor next career step, to pique your interest, and earn you big bucks.
Watch videos or read booksa bout the history of your particular area of interest. Learn about the luminaries, visionaries, and pioneers faced when shaping their industry, and shaping the future. Learn from their mistakes, lest you repeat them.